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Register a new userAnalytical Solutions for the Equilibrium states of a Swollen Hydrogel Shell and an Extended Method of Matched Asymptotics
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A polymer network can imbibe water, forming an aggregate called hydrogel, and undergo large and inhomogeneous deformation with external mechanical constraint. Due to the large deformation, nonlinearity plays a crucial role, which also causes the mathematical difficulty for obtaining analytical solutions. Based on an existing model for equilibrium states of a swollen hydrogel with a core-shell structure, this paper seeks analytical solutions of the deformations by perturbation methods for three cases, i.e. free-swelling, nearly free-swelling and general inhomogeneous swelling. Particularly for the general inhomogeneous swelling, we introduce an extended method of matched asymptotics to construct the analytical solution of the governing nonlinear second-order variable-coefficient differential equation. The analytical solution captures the boundary layer behavior of the deformation. Also, analytical formulas for the radial and hoop stretches and stresses are obtained at the two boundary surfaces of the shell, making the influence of the parameters explicit. An interesting finding is that the deformation is characterized by a single material parameter (called the hydrogel deformation constant), although the free-energy function for the hydrogel contains two material parameters. Comparisons with numerical solutions are also made and good agreements are found.
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The eye grows during childhood to position the retina at the correct distance behind the lens to enable focused vision, a process called emmetropization. Animal studies have demonstrated that this growth process is dependent upon visual stimuli, while genetic and environmental factors that affect the likelihood of developing myopia have also been identified. The coupling between growth, remodeling and elastic response in the eye is particularly challenging to understand. To analyse this coupling, we develop a simple model of an eye growing under intraocular pressure in response to visual stimuli. Distinct to existing three-dimensional finite-element models of the eye, we treat the sclera as a thin axisymmetric hyperelastic shell which undergoes local growth in response to external stimulus. This simplified analytic model provides a tractable framework in which to evaluate various emmetropization hypotheses and understand different types of growth feedback, which we exemplify by demonstrating that local growth laws are sufficient to tune the global size and shape of the eye for focused vision across a range of parameter values.
We present a fast, high-throughput method for characterizing the motility of microorganisms in 3D based on standard imaging microscopy. Instead of tracking individual cells, we analyse the spatio-temporal fluctuations of the intensity in the sample from time-lapse images and obtain the intermediate scattering function (ISF) of the system. We demonstrate our method on two different types of microorganisms: bacteria, both smooth swimming (run only) and wild type (run and tumble) Escherichia coli, and the bi-flagellate alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We validate the methodology using computer simulations and particle tracking. From the ISF, we are able to extract (i) for E. coli: the swimming speed distribution, the fraction of motile cells and the diffusivity, and (ii) for C. reinhardtii: the swimming speed distribution, the amplitude and frequency of the oscillatory dynamics. In both cases, the motility parameters are averaged over approx 10^4 cells and obtained in a few minutes.
The low-Reynolds number hydrodynamics of slender ribbons is accurately captured by slender-ribbon theory, an asymptotic solution to the Stokes equation which assumes that the three length scales characterising the ribbons are well separated. We show in this paper that the force distribution across the width of an isolated ribbon located in a infinite fluid can be determined analytically, irrespective of the ribbons shape. This, in turn, reduces the surface integrals in the slender-ribbon theory equations to a line integral analogous to the one arising in slender-body theory to determine the dynamics of filaments. This result is then used to derive analytical solutions to the motion of a rigid plate ellipsoid and a ribbon torus and to propose a ribbon resistive-force theory, thereby extending the resistive-force theory for slender filaments.
By embedding inert tracer particles (TPs) in a growing multicellular spheroid the local stresses on the cancer cells (CCs) can be measured. In order for this technique to be effective the unknown effect of the dynamics of the TPs on the CCs has to be elucidated to ensure that the TPs do not greatly alter the local stresses on the CCs. We show, using theory and simulations, that the self-generated (active) forces arising from proliferation and apoptosis of the CCs drive the dynamics of the TPs far from equilibrium. On time scales less than the division times of the CCs, the TPs exhibit sub-diffusive dynamics (the mean square displacement, $Delta_{TP}(t) sim t^{beta_{TP}}$ with $beta_{TP}<1$), similar to glass-forming systems. Surprisingly, in the long-time limit, the motion of the TPs is hyper-diffusive ($Delta_{TP}(t) sim t^{alpha_{TP}}$ with $alpha_{TP}>2$) due to persistent directed motion for long times. In comparison, proliferation of the CCs randomizes their motion leading to superdiffusive behavior with $alpha_{CC}$ exceeding unity. Most importantly, $alpha_{CC}$ is not significantly affected by the TPs. Our predictions could be tested using textit{in vitro} imaging methods where the motion of the TPs and the CCs can be tracked.
The cytoskeleton is an inhomogeneous network of semi-flexible filaments, which are involved in a wide variety of active biological processes. Although the cytoskeletal filaments can be very stiff and embedded in a dense and cross-linked network, it has been shown that, in cells, they typically exhibit significant bending on all length scales. In this work we propose a model of a semi-flexible filament deformed by different types of cross-linkers for which one can compute and investigate the bending spectrum. Our model allows to couple the evolution of the deformation of the semi-flexible polymer with the stochastic dynamics of linkers which exert transversal forces onto the filament. We observe a $q^{-2}$ dependence of the bending spectrum for some biologically relevant parameters and in a certain range of wavenumbers $q$. However, generically, the spatially localized forcing and the non-thermal dynamics both introduce deviations from the thermal-like $q^{-2}$ spectrum.
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