Bulletin of the American Physical Society
68th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics
Volume 60, Number 21
Sunday–Tuesday, November 22–24, 2015; Boston, Massachusetts
Session G26: Biofluids: Mechanics of Smelling, Breathing and Tasting |
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Chair: David Zwicker, Harvard University Room: 306 |
Monday, November 23, 2015 8:00AM - 8:13AM |
G26.00001: Shape of the human nasal cavity promotes retronasal smell Sophie Trastour, Simone Melchionna, Shruti Mishra, David Zwicker, Daniel E. Lieberman, Efthimios Kaxiras, Michael P. Brenner Humans are exceptionally good at perceiving the flavor of food. Flavor includes sensory input from taste receptors but is dominated by olfactory (smell) receptors. To smell food while eating, odors must be transported to the nasal cavity during exhalation. Olfactory performance of this retronasal route depends, among other factors, on the position of the olfactory receptors and the shape of the nasal cavity. One biological hypothesis is that the derived configuration of the human nasal cavity has resulted in a greater capacity for retronasal smell, hence enhanced flavor perception. We here study the air flow and resulting odor deposition as a function of the nasal geometry and the parameters of exhalation. We perform computational fluid dynamics simulations in realistic geometries obtained from CT scans of humans. Using the resulting flow fields, we then study the deposition of tracer particles in the nasal cavity. Additionally, we derive scaling laws for the odor deposition rate as a function of flow parameters and geometry using boundary layer theory. These results allow us to assess which changes in the evolution of the human nose led to significant improvements of retronasal smell. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, November 23, 2015 8:13AM - 8:26AM |
G26.00002: How do mice follow odor trails? David Zwicker, Sophie Trastour, Shruti Mishra, Alexander Mathis, Venkatesh Murthy, Michael P. Brenner Mice are excellent at following odor trails e.g. to locate food or to find mates. However, it is not yet understood what navigation strategies they use. In principle, they could either evaluate temporal differences between sniffs or they could use concurrent input from the two nostrils. It is unknown to what extend these two strategies contribute to mice’s performance. When mice follow trails, odors evaporate from the ground, are transported by flow in the air, and are then inhaled with the two nostrils. In order to differentiate between the two navigation strategies, we determine what information the mouse receives: first, we calculate the airflow by numerically solving the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. We then determine the spatiotemporal odor concentration from the resulting advection-diffusion equations. Lastly, we determine the odor amount in each nostril by calculating the inhalation volumes using potential flow theory. Taken together, we determine the odor amount in each nostril during each sniff, allowing a detailed study of navigation strategies. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, November 23, 2015 8:26AM - 8:39AM |
G26.00003: Moths smell with their antennae Thomas Spencer, Matthew Ballard, Alexander Alexeev, David Hu Moths are reported to smell each other from over 6 miles away, locating each other with just 200 airborne molecules. In this study, we investigate how the structure of the antennae influences particle capture. We measure the branching patterns of over 40 species of moths, across two orders of magnitude in weight. We find that moth antennae have 3 levels of hierarchy, with dimensions on each level scaling with body size. We perform lattice-Boltzman simulations to determine optimal flow patterns around antennae branches allowing for capture of small particles. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, November 23, 2015 8:39AM - 8:52AM |
G26.00004: A model for insect tracheolar flow Anne Staples, Krishnashis Chatterjee Tracheoles are the terminal ends of the microscale tracheal channels present in most insect respiratory systems that transport air directly to the tissue. From a fluid dynamics perspective, tracheolar flow is notable because it lies at the intersection of several specialized fluid flow regimes. The flow through tracheoles is creeping, microscale gas flow in the rarefied regime. Here, we use lubrication theory to model the flow through a single microscale tracheole and take into account fluid-structure interactions through an imposed periodic wall deformation corresponding to the rhythmic abdominal compression found in insects, and rarefaction effects using slip boundary conditions. We compare the pressure, axial pressure gradient, and axial and radial velocities in the channel, and the volumetric flow rate through the channel for no-slip, low slip, and high slip conditions under two different channel deformation regimes. We find that the presence of slip tends to reduce the flow rate through the model tracheole and hypothesize that one of the mechanical functions of tracheoles is to act as a diffuser to decelerate the flow, enhance mixing, and increase the residency time of freshly oxygenated air at the surface of the tissue. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, November 23, 2015 8:52AM - 9:05AM |
G26.00005: Fluid Mechanics of Taste Alexis Noel, Nitesh Bhatia, Taren Carter, David Hu Saliva plays a key role in digestion, speech and tactile sensation. Lack of saliva, also known as dry mouth syndrome, increases risk of tooth decay and alters sense of taste; nearly 10\% of the general population suffer from this syndrome. In this experimental study, we investigate the spreading of water drops on wet and dry tongues of pigs and cows. We find that drops spread faster on a wet tongue than a dry tongue. We rationalize the spreading rate by consideration of the tongue microstructure, such as as papillae, in promoting wicking. By investigating how tongue microstructure affects spreading of fluids, we may begin to how understand taste receptors are activated by eating and drinking. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, November 23, 2015 9:05AM - 9:18AM |
G26.00006: Liquid-feeding strategy of the proboscis of butterflies Seung Chul Lee, Sang Joon Lee The liquid-feeding strategy of the proboscis of butterflies was experimentally investigated. Firstly, the liquid uptake from a pool by the proboscis of a nectar-feeding butterfly, cabbage white (Pieris rapae) was tested. Liquid-intake flow phenomenon at the submerged proboscis was visualized by micro-particle image velocimetry. The periodic liquid-feeding flow is induced by the systaltic motion of the cibarial pump. Reynolds number and Womersley number of the liquid-intake flow in the proboscis are low enough to assume quasi-steady laminar flow. Next, the liquid feeding from wet surfaces by the brush-tipped proboscis of a nymphalid butterfly, Asian comma (Polygonia c-aureum) was investigated. The tip of the proboscis was observed especially brush-like sensilla styloconica. The liquid-feeding flow between the proboscis and wet surfaces was also quantitatively visualized. During liquid drinking from the wet surface, the sensilla styloconica enhance liquid uptake rate with accumulation of liquid. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, November 23, 2015 9:18AM - 9:31AM |
G26.00007: Modeling of Transient Nectar Flow in Hummingbird Tongues Alejandro Rico-Guevara, Tai-Hsi Fan, Margaret Rubega We demonstrate that hummingbirds do not pick up floral nectar via capillary action. The long believed capillary rise models were mistaken and unable to predict the dynamic nectar intake process. Instead, hummingbird's tongue acts as an elastic micropump. Nectar is drawn into the tongue grooves during elastic expansion after the grooves are squeezed flat by the beak. The new model is compared with experimental data from high-speed videos of 18 species and tens of individuals of wild hummingbirds. Self-similarity and transitions of short-to-long time behaviours have been resolved for the nectar flow driven by expansive filling. The transient dynamics is characterized by the relative contributions of negative excess pressure and the apparent area modulus of the tongue grooves. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, November 23, 2015 9:31AM - 9:44AM |
G26.00008: How dogs lap: open pumping driven by acceleration Sean Gart, John Socha, Pavlos Vlachos, Sunghwan Jung Dogs drink by lapping because they have incomplete cheeks and cannot suck fluids into the mouth. When lapping, a dog's tongue pulls a liquid column from a bath, which is then swallowed, suggesting that the hydrodynamics of column formation are critical to understanding how dogs drink. We measured the kinematics of lapping from nineteen dogs and used the results to generate a physical model of the tongue's interaction with the air-fluid interface. These experiments with an accelerating rod help to explain how dogs exploit the fluid dynamics of the generated column. The results suggest that effects of acceleration govern lapping frequency, and that dogs curl the tongue ventrally (backwards) and time their bite on the column to increase fluid intake per lap. Comparing lapping in dogs and cats reveals that though they both lap with the same frequency scaling with respect to body mass and have similar morphology, these carnivores lap in different physical regimes: a high-acceleration regime for dogs and a low-acceleration regime for cats. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, November 23, 2015 9:44AM - 9:57AM |
G26.00009: A musculo-mechanical model of esophageal transport based on an immersed boundary-finite element approach Wenjun Kou, Boyce E. Griffith, John E. Pandolfino, Peter J. Kahrilas, Neelesh A. Patankar This work extends a fiber-based immersed boundary (IB) model of esophageal transport by incorporating a continuum model of the deformable esophageal wall. The continuum-based esophagus model adopts finite element approach that is capable of describing more complex and realistic material properties and geometries. The leakage from mismatch between Lagrangian and Eulerian meshes resulting from large deformations of the esophageal wall is avoided by careful choice of interaction points. The esophagus model, which is described as a multi-layered, fiber-reinforced nonlinear elastic material, is coupled to bolus and muscle-activation models using the IB approach to form the esophageal transport model. Cases of esophageal transport with different esophagus models are studied. Results on the transport characteristics, including pressure field and esophageal wall kinematics and stress, are analyzed and compared. [Preview Abstract] |
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