138 research outputs found
First-Principles Approach to Electrorotation Assay
We have presented a theoretical study of electrorotation assay based on the
spectral representation theory. We consider unshelled and shelled spheroidal
particles as an extension to spherical ones. From the theoretical analysis, we
find that the coating can change the characteristic frequency at which the
maximum rotational angular velocity occurs. The shift in the characteristic
frequency is attributed to a change in the dielectric properties of the
bead-coating complex with respect to those of the uncoated particles. By
adjusting the dielectric properties and the thickness of the coating, it is
possible to obtain good agreement between our theoretical predictions and the
assay data.Comment: 17 pages, 4 eps figures; minor revisions, accepted for publications
by J. Phys.: Condens. Matte
Electrorotation of a pair of spherical particles
We present a theoretical study of electrorotation (ER) of two spherical
particles under the action of a rotating electric field. When the two particles
approach and finally touch, the mutual polarization interaction between the
particles leads to a change in the dipole moment of the individual particle and
hence the ER spectrum, as compared to that of the well-separated particles. The
mutual polarization effects are captured by the method of multiple images. From
the theoretical analysis, we find that the mutual polarization effects can
change the characteristic frequency at which the maximum angular velocity of
electrorotation occurs. The numerical results can be understood in the spectral
representation theory.Comment: Minor revisions; accepted by Phys. Rev.
ac-field-induced fluid pumping in microsystems with asymmetric temperature gradients
We present two different designs of electrohydrodynamic micropumps for microfluidic systems. The micropumps have no movable parts, and their simple design allows for fabrication by microsystems technology. The pumps are operated by ac voltages from 1to60V and were tested with aqueous solutions in the conductivity range of 1–112mSm−1. The pump effect is induced by an ac electric field across a fluid medium with an inhomogeneous temperature distribution. It is constant over a wide range of the ac field frequency with a conductivity-dependent drop-off at high frequencies. The temperature-dependent conductivity and permittivity distributions in the fluid induce space charges that interact with the electric field and induce fluid motion. The temperature distribution can be generated either by Joule heating in the medium or by external heating. We present experimental results obtained with two prototypes featuring Joule heating and external heating by a heating filament. Experimental and numerical results are compared with an analytical model
Theory of ac electrokinetic behavior of spheroidal cell suspensions with an intrinsic dispersion
The dielectric dispersion, dielectrophoretic (DEP) and electrorotational (ER)
spectra of spheroidal biological cell suspensions with an intrinsic dispersion
in the constituent dielectric constants are investigated. By means of the
spectral representation method, we express analytically the characteristic
frequencies and dispersion strengths both for the effective dielectric constant
and the Clausius-Mossotti factor (CMF). We identify four and six characteristic
frequencies for the effective dielectric spectra and CMF respectively, all of
them being dependent on the depolarization factor (or the cell shape). The
analytical results allow us to examine the effects of the cell shape, the
dispersion strength and the intrinsic frequency on the dielectric dispersion,
DEP and ER spectra. Furthermore, we include the local-field effects due to the
mutual interactions between cells in a dense suspension, and study the
dependence of co-field or anti-field dispersion peaks on the volume fractions.Comment: accepted by Phys. Rev.
Dielectric behaviour of graded spherical cells with an intrinsic dispersion
The dielectric properties of single-shell spherical cells with an intrinsic
dielectric dispersion has been investigated. By means of the dielectric
dispersion spectral representation (DDSR) for the Clausius-Mossotti (CM)
factor, we express the dispersion strengths as well as the characteristic
frequencies of the CM factor analytically in terms of the parameters of the
cell model. These analytic expressions enable us to assess the influence of
various model parameters on the electrokinetics of cells. Various interesting
behaviours have been reported. We extend our considerations to a more realistic
cell model with a graded core, which can have spatial gradients in the
conductivity and/or permittivity. To this end, we address the effects of a
graded profile in a small-gradient expansion in the framework of DDSR.Comment: accepted by European Physical Journal
Dielectric Behavior of Nonspherical Cell Suspensions
Recent experiments revealed that the dielectric dispersion spectrum of
fission yeast cells in a suspension was mainly composed of two sub-dispersions.
The low-frequency sub-dispersion depended on the cell length, whereas the
high-frequency one was independent of it. The cell shape effect was
qualitatively simulated by an ellipsoidal cell model. However, the comparison
between theory and experiment was far from being satisfactory. In an attempt to
close up the gap between theory and experiment, we considered the more
realistic cells of spherocylinders, i.e., circular cylinders with two
hemispherical caps at both ends. We have formulated a Green function formalism
for calculating the spectral representation of cells of finite length. The
Green function can be reduced because of the azimuthal symmetry of the cell.
This simplification enables us to calculate the dispersion spectrum and hence
access the effect of cell structure on the dielectric behavior of cell
suspensions.Comment: Preliminary results have been reported in the 2001 March Meeting of
the American Physical Society. Accepted for publications in J. Phys.:
Condens. Matte
Attachment of Rod-Like (BAR) Proteins and Membrane Shape
Previous studies have shown that cellular function depends on rod-like membrane proteins, among them Bin/Amphiphysin/Rvs (BAR) proteins may curve the membrane leading to physiologically important membrane invaginations and membrane protrusions. The membrane shaping induced by BAR proteins has a major role in various biological processes such as cell motility and cell growth. Different models of binding of BAR domains to the lipid bilayer are described. The binding includes hydrophobic insertion loops and electrostatic interactions between basic amino acids at the concave region of the BAR domain and negatively charged lipids. To shed light on the elusive binding dynamics, a novel experiment is proposed to expand the technique of single-molecule AFM for the traction of binding energy of a single BAR domain
The prolate-to-oblate shape transition of phospholipid vesicles in response to frequency variation of an AC electric field can be explained by the dielectric anisotropy of a phospholipid bilayer
The external electric field deforms flaccid phospholipid vesicles into
spheroidal bodies, with the rotational axis aligned with its direction.
Deformation is frequency dependent: in the low frequency range (~ 1 kHz), the
deformation is typically prolate, while increasing the frequency to the 10 kHz
range changes the deformation to oblate. We attempt to explain this behaviour
with a theoretical model, based on the minimization of the total free energy of
the vesicle. The energy terms taken into account include the membrane bending
energy and the energy of the electric field. The latter is calculated from the
electric field via the Maxwell stress tensor, where the membrane is modelled as
anisotropic lossy dielectric. Vesicle deformation in response to varying
frequency is calculated numerically. Using a series expansion, we also derive a
simplified expression for the deformation, which retains the frequency
dependence of the exact expression and may provide a better substitute for the
series expansion used by Winterhalter and Helfrich, which was found to be valid
only in the limit of low frequencies. The model with the anisotropic membrane
permittivity imposes two constraints on the values of material constants:
tangential component of dielectric permittivity tensor of the phospholipid
membrane must exceed its radial component by approximately a factor of 3; and
the membrane conductivity has to be relatively high, approximately one tenth of
the conductivity of the external aqueous medium.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication in J. Phys.: Condens.
Matte
Dynamic polarizability of rotating particles in electrorheological fluids
A rotating particle in electrorheological (ER) fluid leads to a displacement
of its polarization charges on the surface which relax towards the external
applied field , resulting in a steady-state polarization at an angle
with respect to . This dynamic effect has shown to affect the ER
fluids properties dramatically. In this paper, we develop a dynamic effective
medium theory (EMT) for a system containing rotating particles of finite volume
fraction. This is a generalization of established EMT to account for the
interactions between many rotating particles. While the theory is valid for
three dimensions, the results in a special two dimensional configuration show
that the system exhibits an off-diagonal polarization response, in addition to
a diagonal polarization response, which resembles the classic Hall effect. The
diagonal response monotonically decreases with an increasing rotational speed,
whereas the off-diagonal response exhibits a maximum at a reduced rotational
angular velocity comparing to the case of isolated rotating
particles. This implies a way of measurement on the interacting relaxation
time. The dependencies of the diagonal and off-diagonal responses on various
factors, such as , the volume fraction, and the dielectric contrast,
are discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted to J. Phys. Chem.
Transmembrane potential induced on the internal organelle by a time-varying magnetic field: a model study
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>When a cell is exposed to a time-varying magnetic field, this leads to an induced voltage on the cytoplasmic membrane, as well as on the membranes of the internal organelles, such as mitochondria. These potential changes in the organelles could have a significant impact on their functionality. However, a quantitative analysis on the magnetically-induced membrane potential on the internal organelles has not been performed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using a two-shell model, we provided the first analytical solution for the transmembrane potential in the organelle membrane induced by a time-varying magnetic field. We then analyzed factors that impact on the polarization of the organelle, including the frequency of the magnetic field, the presence of the outer cytoplasmic membrane, and electrical and geometrical parameters of the cytoplasmic membrane and the organelle membrane.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The amount of polarization in the organelle was less than its counterpart in the cytoplasmic membrane. This was largely due to the presence of the cell membrane, which "shielded" the internal organelle from excessive polarization by the field. Organelle polarization was largely dependent on the frequency of the magnetic field, and its polarization was not significant under the low frequency band used for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Both the properties of the cytoplasmic and the organelle membranes affect the polarization of the internal organelle in a frequency-dependent manner.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The work provided a theoretical framework and insights into factors affecting mitochondrial function under time-varying magnetic stimulation, and provided evidence that TMS does not affect normal mitochondrial functionality by altering its membrane potential.</p
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