Related papers: On micro-bead mechanics with actin filaments
We have studied the effect of small amounts of added liquid on the dynamic behavior of a granular system consisting of a mixture of glass beads of two different sizes. Segregation of the large beads to the top of the sample is found to…
In this work, we study in detail the distribution of stochastic forces generated by the molecular motors activity, in the actin cortex of pre-muscular cells. By combining active and passive rheology experiments, performed on the same…
The stationary flow field in a quasi-two-dimensional hopper is investigated experimentally. The behavior of materials consisting of beads and elongated particles with different aspect ratio is compared. We show, that while the vertical…
The cytoskeleton protein actin assembles into large bundles when supporting stresses in the cell, but grows into a fine branched network to induce cell motion. Such self-organization processes are studied in artificial networks of…
There is growing interest in functional, adaptive devices built from colloidal subunits of micron size or smaller. A colloidal material with dynamic mechanical properties could facilitate such microrobotic machines. Here we study via…
The correlations between the segments of a semidilute polymer solution are found to induce correlations in the positions of small particles added to the solution. Small means a diameter much less than the polymer's correlation length. In…
The interplay of electronic interactions and frustration in crystalline systems leads to a panoply of correlated phases, including exotic Mott insulators with non-trivial patterns of entanglement. Disorder introduces additional quantum…
Cells and other soft particles are often forced to flow in confined geometries in both laboratory and natural environments, where the elastic deformation induces an additional drag and pressure drop across the particle. In contrast with…
We present a novel method to investigate the dynamics of a single semiflexible polymer, subject to anisotropic friction in a viscous fluid. In contrast to previous approaches, we do not rely on a discrete bead-rod model, but introduce a…
Biological activity gives rise to non-equilibrium fluctuations in the cytoplasm of cells; however, there are few methods to directly measure these fluctuations. Using a reconstituted actin cytoskeleton, we show that the bending dynamics of…
Microbubbles, either in the form of free gas bubbles surrounded by a fluid or encapsulated bubbles used currently as contrast agents for medical echography, exhibit complex dynamics under specific acoustic excitations. Nonetheless,…
Micrometre sized colloidal particles can be viewed as large atoms with tailorable size, shape and interactions. These building blocks can assemble into extremely rich structures and phases, in which the thermal motions of particles can be…
Semiflexible polymers are widely used as a paradigm for understanding structural phases in biomolecules including folding of proteins. Here, we compare bead-spring and bead-stick variants of coarse-grained semiflexible polymer models that…
Polymeric particles are strong candidates for designing artificial materials capable of emulating the complex twisting-based functionality observed in biological systems. In this letter, we provide the first detailed investigation of the…
We have simulated the motion of a bead subjected to a constant force while embedded in a network of semiflexible polymers which can represent actin filaments. We find that the bead displacement obeys the power law x ~ t^alfa. After the…
A number of strange results have been reported for the twist elasticity of a semiflexible filament, actin. In particular dynamic and static methods for determining the torsional twist modulus give very different results. I show here that…
We have investigated the viscosity and the plateau modulus of actin solutions with a magnetically driven rotating disc rheometer. For entangled solutions we observed a scaling of the plateau modulus versus concentration with a power of 7/5.…
Microscopic understanding of liquid properties is essential for advancing a wide range of applications from energy applications such as nuclear reactors and batteries to biomedical applications including drug delivery and microfluidics.…
We present a combined numerical and analytical study of pattern formation in an active system where particles align, possess a density-dependent motility, and are subject to a logistic reaction. This is a model for suspensions of…
Mixed atomistic and continuum methods offer the possibility of carrying out simulations of material properties at both larger length scales and longer times than direct atomistic calculations. The quasi-continuum method links atomistic and…