883 research outputs found
Swimming Efficiency of Bacterium Escherichia Coli
We use in vivo measurements of swimming bacteria in an optical trap to
determine fundamental properties of bacterial propulsion. In particular, we
determine the propulsion matrix, which relates the angular velocity of the
flagellum to the torques and forces propelling the bacterium. From the
propulsion matrix dynamical properties such as forces, torques, swimming speed
and power can be obtained from measurements of the angular velocity of the
motor. We find significant heterogeneities among different individuals even
though all bacteria started from a single colony. The propulsive efficiency,
defined as the ratio of the propulsive power output to the rotary power input
provided by the motors, is found to be 0.2%.Comment: 6 page
The Bacterial Chemotactic Response Reflects a Compromise Between Transient and Steady State Behavior
Swimming bacteria detect chemical gradients by performing temporal
comparisons of recent measurements of chemical concentration. These comparisons
are described quantitatively by the chemotactic response function, which we
expect to optimize chemotactic behavioral performance. We identify two
independent chemotactic performance criteria: in the short run, a favorable
response function should move bacteria up chemoattractant gradients, while in
the long run, bacteria should aggregate at peaks of chemoattractant
concentration. Surprisingly, these two criteria conflict, so that when one
performance criterion is most favorable, the other is unfavorable. Since both
types of behavior are biologically relevant, we include both behaviors in a
composite optimization that yields a response function that closely resembles
experimental measurements. Our work suggests that the bacterial chemotactic
response function can be derived from simple behavioral considerations, and
sheds light on how the response function contributes to chemotactic
performance.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure
The role of body rotation in bacterial flagellar bundling
In bacterial chemotaxis, E. coli cells drift up chemical gradients by a
series of runs and tumbles. Runs are periods of directed swimming, and tumbles
are abrupt changes in swimming direction. Near the beginning of each run, the
rotating helical flagellar filaments which propel the cell form a bundle. Using
resistive-force theory, we show that the counter-rotation of the cell body
necessary for torque balance is sufficient to wrap the filaments into a bundle,
even in the absence of the swirling flows produced by each individual filament
Anterosuperior Glenoid Impingement Syndrome
Anterosuperior glenoid impingement is a well documented cause of shoulder pain. It occurs when there is deep tearing of the subscapularis, with fibers becoming embedded between the anterosuperior glenoid and humeral head. To our knowledge, this has not been described in radiologic literature and we present MRI findings depicting this entit
Twirling Elastica: Kinks, Viscous Drag, and Torsional Stress
Biological filaments such as DNA or bacterial flagella are typically curved
in their natural states. To elucidate the interplay of viscous drag, twisting,
and bending in the overdamped dynamics of such filaments, we compute the
steady-state torsional stress and shape of a rotating rod with a kink. Drag
deforms the rod, ultimately extending or folding it depending on the kink
angle. For certain kink angles and kink locations, both states are possible at
high rotation rates. The agreement between our macroscopic experiments and the
theory is good, with no adjustable parameters.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
SLIP-Based Control of Bipedal Walking Based on Two-Level Control Strategy
In this research, we propose a two-level control strategy for simultaneous gait generation and stable control of planar walking of the Assume The Robot Is A Sphere (ATRIAS) biped robot with unlocked torso, utilizing active spring-loaded inverted pendulum (ASLIP) as reference models. The upper level consists of an energy-regulating control calculated using the ASLIP model, producing reference ground reaction forces (GRFs) for the desired gait. In the lower level controller, PID force controllers for the motors ensure tracking of the reference GRFs for ATRIAS direct dynamics. Meanwhile, ATRIAS torso angle is controlled stably to make it able to follow a point mass template model. Advantages of the proposed control strategy include simplicity and efficiency. Simulation results using ATRIAS’s complete dynamic model show that the proposed two-level controller can reject initial condition disturbances while generating stable and steady walking motion
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