scholarly journals 3D steerable, acoustically powered microswimmers for single-particle manipulation

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. eaax3084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liqiang Ren ◽  
Nitesh Nama ◽  
Jeffrey M. McNeill ◽  
Fernando Soto ◽  
Zhifei Yan ◽  
...  

The ability to precisely maneuver micro/nano objects in fluids in a contactless, biocompatible manner can enable innovative technologies and may have far-reaching impact in fields such as biology, chemical engineering, and nanotechnology. Here, we report a design for acoustically powered bubble-based microswimmers that are capable of autonomous motion in three dimensions and selectively transporting individual synthetic colloids and mammalian cells in a crowded group without labeling, surface modification, or effect on nearby objects. In contrast to previously reported microswimmers, their motion does not require operation at acoustic pressure nodes, enabling propulsion at low power and far from an ultrasonic transducer. In a megahertz acoustic field, the microswimmers are subject to two predominant forces: the secondary Bjerknes force and a locally generated acoustic streaming propulsive force. The combination of these two forces enables the microswimmers to independently swim on three dimensional boundaries or in free space under magnetical steering.

IUCrJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengkun Yao ◽  
Jiadong Fan ◽  
Zhiyun Chen ◽  
Yunbing Zong ◽  
Jianhua Zhang ◽  
...  

Knowledge of the interactions between nanomaterials and large-size mammalian cells, including cellular uptake, intracellular localization and translocation, has greatly advanced nanomedicine and nanotoxicology. Imaging techniques that can locate nanomaterials within the structures of intact large-size cells at nanoscale resolution play crucial roles in acquiring this knowledge. Here, the quantitative imaging of intracellular nanomaterials in three dimensions was performed by combining dual-energy contrast X-ray microscopy and an iterative tomographic algorithm termed equally sloped tomography (EST). Macrophages with a size of ∼20 µm that had been exposed to the potential antitumour agent [Gd@C82(OH)22]nwere investigated. Large numbers of nanoparticles (NPs) aggregated within the cell and were mainly located in phagosomes. No NPs were observed in the nucleus. Imaging of the nanomedicine within whole cells advanced the understanding of the high-efficiency antitumour activity and the low toxicity of this agent. This imaging technique can be used to probe nanomaterials within intact large-size cells at nanometre resolution uniformly in three dimensions and may greatly benefit the fields of nanomedicine and nanotoxicology.


Author(s):  
Jui-Ming Yang ◽  
Philip R. LeDuc

Stimulation of living mammalian cells is primarily accomplished by the delivery of chemical agents to single cells or cell populations. Due to the fast response time of diffusion for these agents over the small size scale of individual cells, localized stimulation is limited. Currently, there are alternate techniques that can produce localized gradients of chemical stimulants over single cells, but they lack the ability for long time scale events that are requisite for many cellular processes because of this diffusion limitation. We have developed a device that is able to create chemical agent separation in three dimensions along distinct boundaries that can be applied to cells. As many techniques are two-dimensionally constrained, this provides us with a more physiologically relevant system for investigating cellular signal transduction and can allow basal to apical activation separations. To accomplish this, multiple flow paths were introduced to manipulate spatiotemporally distinct regions inside a single capillary channel. Solutions that flow laminarly inside these fluidic channels deliver predefined chemicals to specific locations without turbulent mixing. Separation using this system under laminar flows created not only side by side domains in this capillary but also vertical as well. This device has multiple potential applications both in cell and molecular biology as well as in fluid dynamics and fabrication processes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriella Gagliano ◽  
Tyler Nelson ◽  
Nahima Saliba ◽  
Sofía Vargas-Hernández ◽  
Anna-Karin Gustavsson

The function of the neuronal synapse depends on the dynamics and interactions of individual molecules at the nanoscale. With the development of single-molecule super-resolution microscopy over the last decades, researchers now have a powerful and versatile imaging tool for mapping the molecular mechanisms behind the biological function. However, imaging of thicker samples, such as mammalian cells and tissue, in all three dimensions is still challenging due to increased fluorescence background and imaging volumes. The combination of single-molecule imaging with light sheet illumination is an emerging approach that allows for imaging of biological samples with reduced fluorescence background, photobleaching, and photodamage. In this review, we first present a brief overview of light sheet illumination and previous super-resolution techniques used for imaging of neurons and synapses. We then provide an in-depth technical review of the fundamental concepts and the current state of the art in the fields of three-dimensional single-molecule tracking and super-resolution imaging with light sheet illumination. We review how light sheet illumination can improve single-molecule tracking and super-resolution imaging in individual neurons and synapses, and we discuss emerging perspectives and new innovations that have the potential to enable and improve single-molecule imaging in brain tissue.


2006 ◽  
Vol 324-325 ◽  
pp. 1075-1078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yool Kwon Oh ◽  
Ho Dong Yang

The present study was investigated on the melting phenomena and the accelerative factors of phase change material (PCM) by acoustic streaming induced ultrasonic vibrations. To investigate the melting phenomena and accelerative factors, the experimental study was measured the liquid temperature and melting time of PCM and was observed the velocity vectors and thermal fluid flow induced acoustic streaming to investigate the heat transfer using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and infrared thermo vision camera, respectively. Also, the numerical study based on a coupled finite element-boundary element method (Coupled FE-BEM) was performed to investigate the analysis of pressure field in the PCM. The results of experimental works revealed that acoustic streaming observed by PIV and infrared thermo vision camera is one of the prime effects accelerating phase change heat transfer. And, the final temperature of PCM is lower and melting speed is 2.6 times faster than that without ultrasonic vibrations when ultrasonic vibrations are applied. The results of numerical work presented that acoustic pressure is higher near the ultrasonic transducer than other points where no ultrasonic transducer was installed and develops more intensive flow such as acoustic streaming, destroying the flow instability. Moreover, the profile of acoustic pressure variation is consistent with that of enhancement of heat transfer.


Author(s):  
J. A. Eades ◽  
A. E. Smith ◽  
D. F. Lynch

It is quite simple (in the transmission electron microscope) to obtain convergent-beam patterns from the surface of a bulk crystal. The beam is focussed onto the surface at near grazing incidence (figure 1) and if the surface is flat the appropriate pattern is obtained in the diffraction plane (figure 2). Such patterns are potentially valuable for the characterization of surfaces just as normal convergent-beam patterns are valuable for the characterization of crystals.There are, however, several important ways in which reflection diffraction from surfaces differs from the more familiar electron diffraction in transmission.GeometryIn reflection diffraction, because of the surface, it is not possible to describe the specimen as periodic in three dimensions, nor is it possible to associate diffraction with a conventional three-dimensional reciprocal lattice.


1997 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 176-178
Author(s):  
Frank O'Brien

The author's population density index ( PDI) model is extended to three-dimensional distributions. A derived formula is presented that allows for the calculation of the lower and upper bounds of density in three-dimensional space for any finite lattice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nima Afkhami-Jeddi ◽  
Henry Cohn ◽  
Thomas Hartman ◽  
Amirhossein Tajdini

Abstract We study the torus partition functions of free bosonic CFTs in two dimensions. Integrating over Narain moduli defines an ensemble-averaged free CFT. We calculate the averaged partition function and show that it can be reinterpreted as a sum over topologies in three dimensions. This result leads us to conjecture that an averaged free CFT in two dimensions is holographically dual to an exotic theory of three-dimensional gravity with U(1)c×U(1)c symmetry and a composite boundary graviton. Additionally, for small central charge c, we obtain general constraints on the spectral gap of free CFTs using the spinning modular bootstrap, construct examples of Narain compactifications with a large gap, and find an analytic bootstrap functional corresponding to a single self-dual boson.


2012 ◽  
Vol 696 ◽  
pp. 228-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Kourmatzis ◽  
J. S. Shrimpton

AbstractThe fundamental mechanisms responsible for the creation of electrohydrodynamically driven roll structures in free electroconvection between two plates are analysed with reference to traditional Rayleigh–Bénard convection (RBC). Previously available knowledge limited to two dimensions is extended to three-dimensions, and a wide range of electric Reynolds numbers is analysed, extending into a fully inherently three-dimensional turbulent regime. Results reveal that structures appearing in three-dimensional electrohydrodynamics (EHD) are similar to those observed for RBC, and while two-dimensional EHD results bear some similarities with the three-dimensional results there are distinct differences. Analysis of two-point correlations and integral length scales show that full three-dimensional electroconvection is more chaotic than in two dimensions and this is also noted by qualitatively observing the roll structures that arise for both low (${\mathit{Re}}_{E} = 1$) and high electric Reynolds numbers (up to ${\mathit{Re}}_{E} = 120$). Furthermore, calculations of mean profiles and second-order moments along with energy budgets and spectra have examined the validity of neglecting the fluctuating electric field ${ E}_{i}^{\ensuremath{\prime} } $ in the Reynolds-averaged EHD equations and provide insight into the generation and transport mechanisms of turbulent EHD. Spectral and spatial data clearly indicate how fluctuating energy is transferred from electrical to hydrodynamic forms, on moving through the domain away from the charging electrode. It is shown that ${ E}_{i}^{\ensuremath{\prime} } $ is not negligible close to the walls and terms acting as sources and sinks in the turbulent kinetic energy, turbulent scalar flux and turbulent scalar variance equations are examined. Profiles of hydrodynamic terms in the budgets resemble those in the literature for RBC; however there are terms specific to EHD that are significant, indicating that the transfer of energy in EHD is also attributed to further electrodynamic terms and a strong coupling exists between the charge flux and variance, due to the ionic drift term.


Author(s):  
Jonna Nyman

Abstract Security shapes everyday life, but despite a growing literature on everyday security there is no consensus on the meaning of the “everyday.” At the same time, the research methods that dominate the field are designed to study elites and high politics. This paper does two things. First, it brings together and synthesizes the existing literature on everyday security to argue that we should think about the everyday life of security as constituted across three dimensions: space, practice, and affect. Thus, the paper adds conceptual clarity, demonstrating that the everyday life of security is multifaceted and exists in mundane spaces, routine practices, and affective/lived experiences. Second, it works through the methodological implications of a three-dimensional understanding of everyday security. In order to capture all three dimensions and the ways in which they interact, we need to explore different methods. The paper offers one such method, exploring the everyday life of security in contemporary China through a participatory photography project with six ordinary citizens in Beijing. The central contribution of the paper is capturing—conceptually and methodologically—all three dimensions, in order to develop our understanding of the everyday life of security.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolfo Panerai ◽  
Antonio Pittelli ◽  
Konstantina Polydorou

Abstract We find a one-dimensional protected subsector of $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 matter theories on a general class of three-dimensional manifolds. By means of equivariant localization we identify a dual quantum mechanics computing BPS correlators of the original model in three dimensions. Specifically, applying the Atiyah-Bott-Berline-Vergne formula to the original action demonstrates that this localizes on a one-dimensional action with support on the fixed-point submanifold of suitable isometries. We first show that our approach reproduces previous results obtained on S3. Then, we apply it to the novel case of S2× S1 and show that the theory localizes on two noninteracting quantum mechanics with disjoint support. We prove that the BPS operators of such models are naturally associated with a noncom- mutative star product, while their correlation functions are essentially topological. Finally, we couple the three-dimensional theory to general $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = (2, 2) surface defects and extend the localization computation to capture the full partition function and BPS correlators of the mixed-dimensional system.


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