Outflow boundary condition (OBC) is a critical issue in computational fluid dynamics. As a type of numerical method for fluid flows, the lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) method has gained much success in a variety of complex flows, and certain OBCs have been suggested for the LBE in simulating simple single-phase flows. However, very few discussions on the OBCs have been made for the two-phase LBE method. In this work, three types of OBCs that are widely used in the LBE for single-phase flows, i.e., the Neumann boundary condition, the convective boundary condition, and the extrapolation boundary condition, are extended to a two-phase LBE method and their performances are investigated. The comprehensive results of several two-phase flows show that these boundary conditions behave quite differently in the simulations of two-phase flows. Specifically, it is found that the Neumann boundary condition and the extrapolation boundary condition give rather poor predictions, while the type of convective boundary conditions work well, although the choice of the convection velocity has some slight influences on the results. We also apply these OBC schemes to some other two-phase models, and similar observations are found.

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Purpose: To investigate the CT features of drug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis (DR-PTB) and the diagnostic value of CT in DR-PTB diagnosis to provide imaging evidence for the timely detection of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Materials and Methods: A total of 1546 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) with complete clinical data, chest CT images and defined drug sensitivity testing results were consecutively enrolled; 516 cases of DR-PTB were included in the drug-resistant group, and 1030 cases of drug-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis (DS-PTB) were included in the drugsensitivity group. Comparative analyses of clinical symptoms and imaging findings were conducted. Univariate and logistic regression analyses were performed, a regression equation model was developed, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed. Results: In the univariate analysis, some features, including whole-lung involvement, multiple cavities, thick-walled cavities, collapsed lung, disseminated lesions along the bronchi, bronchiectasis, emphysema, atelectasis, calcification, proliferative lesions, encapsulated effusion, etc., were observed more frequently in the DR-PTB group than in the DS-PTB group, and the differences were statistically significant (p<0.05). Exudative lesions and pneumoconiosis were observed more frequently in the drug-sensitivity group than in the drug-resistant group (p<0.05). Logistic regression analysis indicated that whole-lung involvement, multiple cavities, thick-walled cavities, disseminated lesions along the bronchi, bronchiectasis, and emphysema were independent risk factors for DR-PTB, and exudative diseases were protective factors. The total prediction accuracy of the regression model was 80.6%, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 82.6%. Conclusion: Chest CT manifestations of DR-PTB had certain characteristics that significantly indicated the possibility of drug resistance in tuberculosis patients, specifically when multifarious imaging findings, including multiple cavities, thick-walled cavities, disseminated lesions along the bronchi, whole-lung involvement, etc., coexisted simultaneously. These results may provide imaging evidence for timely drug resistance detection in suspected drug-resistant cases and contribute to the early diagnosis of DR-PTB.

Discretization of interaction force is an important issue in the lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) method for two-phase systems. A variety of discretization schemes for the interaction force have been developed from different viewpoints. Although these schemes are totally identical mathematically, they may have quite different behaviors in actual applications. In this paper we investigate the mass conservation properties of four discretization forcing schemes that have been adopted in a variety of two-phase LBE models. It is found that LBE with the mixed scheme does not conserve the total mass, and the violation is related to grid resolution, fluid velocity, and density variation.

Control of turbulence in two kinds of typical heterogeneous excitable media by applying a combined method is investigated. It is found that local-low-amplitude and high-frequency pacing (LHP) is effective to suppress turbulence if the deviation of the heterogeneity is minor. However, LHP is invalid when the deviation is large. Studies show that an additional radial electric field can greatly increase the efficiency of LHP. The underlying mechanisms of successful control in the two kinds of cases are different and are discussed separately. Since the developed strategy of combining LHP with a radial electric field can terminate turbulence in excitable media with a high degree of inhomogeneity, it has the potential contribution to promote the practical low-amplitude defibrillation approach.