RESUMEN
During the agglomeration of nanoparticles and in particular, soot, a change in both the flow regime (from free molecular to near continuum) as well as the change of agglomeration regime (from ballistic to diffusive) is expected. However, these effects are rarely taken into account in numerical simulations of particle agglomeration and yet, they are suspected to have an important impact on the agglomeration kinetics, particle morphologies, and size distributions. This work intends to study these properties by using the Monte Carlo Aggregation Code (MCAC) presented in the preceding work (part 1), focusing on the physical impacts of varying the particle volume fraction and monomers size and polydispersity. The results show an important sensitivity of the kinetics of agglomeration, coagulation homogeneity, and agglomerate morphology to the size of monomers. First, for smaller monomer diameters, the agglomeration kinetic is enhanced and agglomerates are characterized by larger fractal dimensions. Second, for large monomer diameters, fractal dimensions down to 1.67 can be found being smaller than the classical 1.78 for Diffusion Limited Cluster Agglomeration (DLCA) mechanism. One important conclusion is that variation in time of both regimes has to be considered for a more accurate simulation of the agglomerate size distribution and morphology.
RESUMEN
The application of Monte Carlo methods to simulate the agglomeration of suspended nanoparticles is currently limited to specific agglomeration regimes with reduced accuracy in terms of the particle's physical residence time. The definition of specific particles persistent distance, its corresponding time step and subsequent probabilities for particle displacements may improve the accuracy of this method. To solve these issues, a new persistent distance and its corresponding time step based on Langevin dynamics simulations are introduced. Additionally, a probability of particle displacements, not restricted to a specific agglomeration regime, is introduced. All the modifications are validated by comparison with Langevin dynamics simulations. Finally, the above mentioned modifications considerably improve the accuracy of Monte Carlo methods to predict the dynamics and agglomeration of suspended nanoparticles.
RESUMEN
It has previously been suggested that southern Tunisian oases may be suitable areas for the circulation of flaviviruses. In order to anticipate and prevent possible epidemiological spread of flaviviruses in humans and domestic animals, the ecology of their transmission in the oasis system needs to be better understood. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the seroprevalence of anti-flavivirus antibodies in the laughing dove (Spilopelia senegalensis), an abundant resident bird in Tunisian oases. Anti-flavivirus antibodies were detected in 17% of sampled doves. Ten per cent of the total tested doves were West Nile virus (WNV) seropositive and 4% were Usutu virus (USUV) seropositive, which provides the first evidence of USUV circulation in Tunisian birds. We also found that the occurrence probability of anti-flavivirus antibodies in dove plasma increased with decreasing distance to coast, suggesting that doves inhabiting coastal oases were more exposed to flaviviruses compared with those inhabiting inland oases. We also found significantly higher antibody occurrence probability in adult doves compared with young doves, which underlines the effect of exposure time. Overall, our results suggest that the laughing dove may be used for WNV and USUV surveillance in southern Tunisia. They also stress the need for investigations combining data on birds and mosquitoes to better understand the ecological factors governing the circulation of flaviviruses in this area.
