20,592 research outputs found
Active dynamics of tissue shear flow
We present a hydrodynamic theory to describe shear flows in developing
epithelial tissues. We introduce hydrodynamic fields corresponding to state
properties of constituent cells as well as a contribution to overall tissue
shear flow due to rearrangements in cell network topology. We then construct a
generic linear constitutive equation for the shear rate due to topological
rearrangements and we investigate a novel rheological behaviour resulting from
memory effects in the tissue. We identify two distinct active cellular
processes: generation of active stress in the tissue, and actively driven
topological rearrangements. We find that these two active processes can produce
distinct cellular and tissue shape changes, depending on boundary conditions
applied on the tissue. Our findings have consequences for the understanding of
tissue morphogenesis during development
Dislocation-mediated growth of bacterial cell walls
Recent experiments have illuminated a remarkable growth mechanism of
rod-shaped bacteria: proteins associated with cell wall extension move at
constant velocity in circles oriented approximately along the cell
circumference (Garner et al., Science (2011), Dominguez-Escobar et al. Science
(2011), van Teeffelen et al. PNAS (2011). We view these as dislocations in the
partially ordered peptidoglycan structure, activated by glycan strand extension
machinery, and study theoretically the dynamics of these interacting defects on
the surface of a cylinder. Generation and motion of these interacting defects
lead to surprising effects arising from the cylindrical geometry, with
important implications for growth. We also discuss how long range elastic
interactions and turgor pressure affect the dynamics of the fraction of
actively moving dislocations in the bacterial cell wall.Comment: to appear in PNA
First imaging of corotating interaction regions using the STEREO spacecraft
Plasma parcels are observed propagating from the Sun out to the large coronal heights monitored by the Heliospheric Imagers (HI) instruments onboard the NASA STEREO spacecraft during September 2007. The source region of these out-flowing parcels is found to corotate with the Sun and to be rooted near the western boundary of an equatorial coronal hole. These plasma enhancements evolve during their propagation through the HI cameras’ fields of view and only becoming fully developed in the outer camera field of view. We provide evidence that HI is observing the formation of a Corotating Interaction Region(CIR) where fast solar wind from the equatorial coronal hole is interacting with the slow solar wind of the streamer belt located on the western edge of that coronal hole. A dense plasma parcel is also observed near the footpoint of the observed CIR at a distance less than 0.1AU from the Sun where fast wind would have not had time to catch up slow wind. We suggest that this low-lying plasma enhancement is a plasma parcel which has been disconnected from a helmet streamer and subsequently becomes embedded inside the corotating interaction region
The Size and Shape of Voids in Three-Dimensional Galaxy Surveys
The sizes and shapes of voids in a galaxy survey depend not only on the
physics of structure formation, but also on the sampling density of the survey
and on the algorithm used to define voids. Using an N-body simulation with a
CDM power spectrum, we study the properties of voids in samples with different
number densities of galaxies, both in redshift space and in real space. When
voids are defined as regions totally empty of galaxies, their characteristic
volume is strongly dependent on sampling density; when they are defined as
regions whose density is 0.2 times the mean galaxy density, the dependence is
less strong. We compare two void-finding algorithms, one in which voids are
nonoverlapping spheres, and one, based on the algorithm of Aikio and Mahonen,
which does not predefine the shape of a void. Regardless of the algorithm
chosen, the characteristic void size is larger in redshift space than in real
space, and is larger for low sampling densities than for high sampling
densities. We define an elongation statistic Q which measures the tendency of
voids to be stretched or squashed along the line of sight. Using this
statistic, we find that at sufficiently high sampling densities (comparable to
the number densities of galaxies brighter than L_*), large voids tend to be
slightly elongated along the line of sight in redshift space.Comment: LaTex, 21 pages (including 7 figures), ApJ, submitte
Conformations of confined biopolymers
Nanoscale and microscale confinement of biopolymers naturally occurs in cells
and has been recently achieved in artificial structures designed for
nanotechnological applications. Here, we present an extensive theoretical
investigation of the conformations and shape of a biopolymer with varying
stiffness confined to a narrow channel. Combining scaling arguments, analytical
calculations, and Monte Carlo simulations, we identify various scaling regimes
where master curves quantify the functional dependence of the polymer
conformations on the chain stiffness and strength of confinement.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, minor correction
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