Related papers: Dynamics of bacterial aggregates in microflows
Biological active materials such as bacterial biofilms and eukaryotic cells thrive in confined micro-spaces. Here, we show through numerical simulations that confinement can serve as a mechanical guidance to achieve distinct modes of…
Biological microswimmers often encounter deformable boundaries in physiological conditions; for instance, the viscoelastic walls of reproductive tract during migration of spermatozoa, or host tissue during early bacterial biofilm formation.…
A model of submonolayer thin film growth is studied, where the attachment of atoms to island edges is hindered by an energy barrier. A novel behavior of the density of islands, N_s, is predicted as a function of flux F and temperature T.…
Numerical Simulations are employed to create amorphous nano-films of a chosen thickness on a crystalline substrate which induces strain on the film. The films are grown by a vapor deposition technique which was recently developed to create…
Bacterial colonies are a well-known example of living active matter, exhibiting collective behaviors such as nematic alignment and collective motion that play an important role in the spread of microbial infections. While the underlying…
Several groups have reported spontaneous formation of periodic pillar-like arrays in molten polymer nanofilms confined within closely spaced substrates maintained at different temperatures. These formations have been attributed to a…
Using three-dimensional numerical simulations, we demonstrate the growth saturation of an unstable thin liquid film on micropatterned hydrophilic-hydrophobic substrates. We consider different transverse-striped micropatterns, characterized…
Thin films made of deformable micro- and nano-units, such as biological membranes, polymer interfaces, and particle-laden liquid surfaces, exhibit a complex behavior during drying, with consequences for various applications like wound…
Bacteria can form a great variety of spatially heterogeneous cell density patterns, ranging from simple concentric rings to dynamical spiral waves appearing in growing colonies. These pattern formation phenomena are important as they…
One of the central puzzles concerning the interaction of low Reynolds number (Re<<1) fluid transport with bacterial biomass is the formation of filamentous structures called streamers. In this manuscript, we report our discovery of a new…
Understanding the dynamics of instabilities along fluid-solid interfaces is critical for the efficacy of focused ultrasound therapy tools (e.g., histotripsy) and microcavitation rheometry techniques. Non-uniform pressure fields generated by…
Thin film dynamics and associated instability mechanisms have triggered a wide range of scientific innovations, as attributed to their abilities of creating fascinating patterns over small scales. Here, we demonstrate a new thin film…
Myelin figures are interfacial structures formed when certain surfactants swell in excess water. Here, I present data and model calculations suggesting myelin formation and growth is due to the fluid flow of surfactant, driven by the…
Many biological materials must couple mechanical strength with the ability to rapidly self-assemble at a specific location. In particular, biomolecular condensates readily self-assemble via phase separation, but may also need to resist…
The field of active matter explores the behaviors of self propelled agents out of equilibrium, with active suspensions, such as swimming bacteria in solutions, serving as impactful models. These systems exhibit spatio-temporal patterns akin…
We study colonies of non-motile, rod-shaped bacteria growing on solid substrates. In our model, bacteria interact purely mechanically, by pushing each other away as they grow, and consume a diffusing nutrient. We show that mechanical…
The expansion of biological species in natural environments is usually described as the combined effect of individual spatial dispersal and growth. In the case of aquatic ecosystems flow transport can also be extremely relevant as an extra,…
Biomolecular condensates are liquid- or gel-like droplets of proteins and nucleic acids formed at least in part through liquid-liquid phase separation. Condensates enable diverse functions of cells and the pathogens that infect them,…
How motile bacteria move near a surface is a problem of fundamental biophysical interest and is key to the emergence of several phenomena of biological, ecological and medical relevance, including biofilm formation. Solid boundaries can…
We formulate the thin-film hydrodynamics of a suspension of polar self-driven particles and show that it is prone to several instabilities through the interplay of activity, polarity and the existence of a free surface. Our approach…