Role of cilia activity and surrounding viscous fluid on properties of metachronal waves

Large groups of active cilia collectively beat in a fluid medium as metachronal waves, essential for some microorganisms motility and for flow generation in mucociliary clearance. Several models can predict the emergence of metachronal waves, but what controls the properties of metachronal waves is still unclear. Here, we investigate numerically a simple model for cilia in the presence of noise on regular lattices in one- and two-dimensions. We characterize the wave using spatial correlation and the frequency of collective beating. Our results clearly show that the viscosity of the fluid medium does not affect the wavelength; the activity of the cilia does. These numerical results are supported by a dimensional analysis, which is expected to be robust against the model for active force generation, unless surrounding fluid influences the cilia activity. Interestingly, enhancement of cilia activity increases the wavelength and decreases the beating frequency, keeping the wave velocity almost unchanged. These results might have significance in understanding paramecium locomotion and mucociliary clearance diseases.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Fragility and Mechanosensing in a Thermalized Cytoskeleton Model with Forced Protein Unfolding

We describe a model of cytoskeletal mechanics based on the force-induced conformational change of protein cross-links in a stressed polymer network. Slow deformation of simulated networks containing cross-links that undergo repeated, serial domain unfolding leads to an unusual state — with many cross-links accumulating near the critical force for further unfolding. This state is robust to thermalization and does not occur in similar protein unbinding based simulations. Moreover, we note that the unusual configuration of near-critical protein cross-links in the fragile state provides a physical mechanism for the chemical transduction of cell-level mechanical strain and extra-cellular matrix stiffness

Vegetable oil hybrid films cross-linked at the air-water interface: formation kinetics and physical characterization

Vegetable oil based hybrid films were developed thanks to a novel solvent- and heating- free method at the air-water interface using silylated castor oil cross-linked via a sol-gel reaction. To understand the mechanism of the hybrid film formation, the reaction kinetics was studied in detail by using complementary techniques: rheology, thermogravimetric analysis, and infrared spectroscopy. The mechanical properties of the final films were investigated by nano-indentation, whereas their structure was studied using a combination of wide-angle X-ray scattering, electron diffraction, and atomic force microscopy. We found that solid and transparent films form in 24 hours and, by changing the silica precursor to castor oil ratio, their mechanical properties are tunable in the MPa-range by about a factor of twenty. In addition to that, a possible optimization of the cross-linking reaction with different catalysts was explored and finally, cytotoxicity tests were performed on fibroblasts proving the absence of film toxicity. The results of this work pave the way to a straightforward synthesis of castor-oil films with tunable mechanical properties: hybrid films cross-linked at the air-water interface combine an easy and cheap spreading protocol with the features of their thermal history optimized for possible future micro/nano drug loading, thus representing excellent candidates for the replacement of non-environment friendly petroleum-based materials

Structure factor of polymers interacting via a short range repulsive potential: application to hairy wormlike micelles

We use the Random Phase Approximation (RPA) to compute the structure factor, S(q), of a solution of chains interacting through a soft and short range repulsive potential V. Above a threshold polymer concentration, whose magnitude is essentially controlled by the range of the potential, S(q) exhibits a peak whose position depends on the concentration. We take advantage of the close analogy between polymers and wormlike micelles and apply our model, using a Gaussian function for V, to quantitatively analyze experimental small angle neutron scattering profiles of semi-dilute solutions of hairy wormlike micelles. These samples, which consist in surfactant self-assembled flexible cylinders decorated by amphiphilic copolymer, provide indeed an appropriate experimental model system to study the structure of sterically interacting polymer solutions

Curling dynamics of naturally curved ribbons: from high to low Reynolds numbers

Curling deformation of thin elastic sheets appears in numerous structures in nature, such as membranes of red blood cells, epithelial tissues or green algae colonies to cite just a few examples. However, despite its ubiquity, the dynamics of curling propagation in a naturally curved material remains still poorly investigated. Here, we present a coupled experimental and theoretical study of the dynamical curling deformation of naturally curved ribbons. Using thermoplastic and metallic ribbons molded on cylinders of different radii, we tune separately the natural curvature and the geometry to study curling dynamics in air, water and in viscous oils, thus spanning a wide range of Reynolds numbers. Our theoretical and experimental approaches separate the role of elasticity, gravity and hydrodynamic dissipation from inertia and emphasize the fundamental differences between the curling of a naturally curved ribbon and a rod described by the classical Elastica. Ribbons are indeed an intermediate class of objects between rods, which can be totally described by one-dimensional deformations, and sheets. Since Lord Rayleigh, it is known that a thin sheet can easily be bent but not stretched. As a result, large deformations in thin sheets usually lead to the localization of deformations into small peaks and ridges as observed by crumpling a simple piece of paper. These elastic defects induce critical buckling situations studied in detail statically in the literature, while experimental and theoretical studies on their dynamics are scarce. Our work shows evidence for the propagation of such a single instability front, selected by a local buckling mechanism. Finally, we show that depending on gravity, and both the Reynolds and the Cauchy numbers, the curling speed and shape are modified by the large scale drag and the local lubrication forces, shedding a new light on microscopic experiences where curling is observed

Numerical simulation of the crossing of a liquid-liquid interface by a droplet

Numerical simulations of a drop crossing a plane liquid-liquid interface in a centrifugal field have been performed by using the Level-Set method. The objective is to characterize the hydrodynamical parameters controlling the coating volume of the droplet, which results from the rupture of the liquid column of lighter phase entrained by the droplet during the crossing of the interface in the tailing regime. The numerical method has been first validated in two-phase flow simulations of a drop rising in a stagnant liquid, then in three-phase flow configurations to reproduce the theoretical critical condition for a drop to cross an interface in static conditions (without initial velocity). Then, in inertial conditions, extensive simulations of crossing droplets have been performed in a wide range of flow parameters and phase properties, for two types of drop: solid-like droplets (mimicking rigid particles) and deformable drops. The crossing criteria is found to remain very close to that given by the theory in static conditions, either for a spherical or a deformed droplet. For each studied case, the crossing time, the maximum length of the column of liquid pulled by the droplet and the volume encapsulating the drop after crossing have been computed and scaled as a function of an inertia parameter, which is the ratio F* between the inertial stresses pushing on the interface, defined from the minimum drop velocity reached during crossing as characteristic velocity, and the opposite stress pulling back the entrained column towards the interface. The maximal column length increases with F* (when rescaled by the minimal inertial required for crossing) under two distinct growth rates according to the flow regime in the column. For solid-like drops, the final coating volume is a unique function of F*, and grows with F* at large inertia. In the case of deformable droplets, the coating volume evolution can also be well predicted by F* but corrected by the drop-to-film viscosity ratio, which strongly affects the drainage rate of the film along the drop surface during the encapsulation process

Anharmonic vs. relaxational sound damping in glasses: I. Brillouin scattering from densified silica

This series discusses the origin of sound damping and dispersion in glasses. In particular, we address the relative importance of anharmonicity versus thermally activated relaxation. In this first article, Brillouin-scattering measurements of permanently densified silica glass are presented. It is found that in this case the results are compatible with a model in which damping and dispersion are only produced by the anharmonic coupling of the sound waves with thermally excited modes. The thermal relaxation time and the unrelaxed velocity are estimated.Comment: 9 pages with 7 figures, added reference