Electric fields, contact guidance and the direction of nerve growth

Development ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 245-255
Author(s):  
Colin D. McCaig

Nerve orientation in response to electrical guidance cues in one direction and contact guidance cues in an orthogonal direction has been studied. Where neurites had a free choice between following contact guidance cues or electrical cues, the direction of nerve growth was determined predominantly by the vector of the applied electric field.

1989 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 715-721
Author(s):  
C.D. McCaig

Nerve orientation may involve a biasing of the distribution of tension at the growth cone. Chemical and electrical guidance cues cause more filopodia to appear on one side of the growth cone and this may determine turning behaviour. In a small applied electric field, filopodia predominate on the cathodal side of the growth cone and nerves turn towards the cathode. Removing all filopodia by treatment with cytochalasin D did not prevent nerves from continued slow growth and nerves still oriented towards the cathode. It is concluded that nerves can perform some types of orienting behaviour in the complete absence of filopodia.


1989 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-730
Author(s):  
C.D. McCaig

The mechanism of nerve orientation in an applied electric field has been investigated using a number of pharmacological agents. Galvanotropism may depend on redistribution within the plasma membrane of integral membrane proteins (IMP); blocking this with concanavalin A inhibited orientation. Orientation may depend also on an influx of Ca2+; Co2+ and La3+ blockade of calcium channels inhibited turning in an electric field. Organic blockers of calcium channels did not influence orientation, suggesting that L-type Ca2+ channels may not be present at the growth cone. Procedures that may induce asymmetric entry of Ca2+ on the anodal side of cells caused a reversal of normal galvanotropism, with growth directed towards the anode. This may implicate local levels of cytoplasmic Ca2+ within the growth cone in controlling turning behaviour. An asymmetric distribution of filopodia precedes and may predict the direction of nerve growth in an electric field. Various pharmacological agents perturbed the distribution of filopodia in such a way that this did not reflect subsequent orientation. It is suggested that, normally, local Ca2+ increases and an asymmetry of filopodia operate together in determining orientation, but that filopodial activity is subordinate to and can be overriden by local Ca2+ levels in the growth cone. In addition, two of the drug treatments markedly increased rates of nerve growth, which may be of importance in nerve regeneration.


2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 1715-1720 ◽  
Author(s):  
NANA METREVELI ◽  
ZAUR KACHLISHVILI ◽  
BEKA BOCHORISHVILI

The transverse runaway (TR) is a phenomenon whereby for a certain combination of energy and momentum scattering mechanisms of hot electrons, and for a certain threshold of the applied electric field, the internal (total) field tends to infinity. In this work, the effect of the magnetic field on the transverse runaway threshold is considered. It is shown that with increasing magnetic field, the applied critical electric fields relevant to TR decrease. The obtained results are important for practical applications of the TR effect as well as for the investigation of possible nonlinear oscillations that may occur near the TR threshold.


1998 ◽  
Vol 53 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 17-26
Author(s):  
Mohamed Fahmy El-Sayed

Abstract A linear stability analysis of a novel electrohydrodynamic Kelvin-Helmholtz system consisting of the superposition of two uniformly rotating dielectric media is presented. The characteristic equation for such an arrangement is derived, which in turn yields a stability criterion for velocity differences of disturbances at a given rotation frequency. The conditions of stability for long and short wave perturbations are obtained, and their dependence on rotation, surface tension and applied electric field is discussed. Limiting cases for vanishing fluid velocities, rotation frequency, and applied electric field are also discussed. Under suitable limits, results of previous works are recovered. A detailed analysis for tangential and normal applied electric fields, in the presence and absence of surface charges, is carried out.


Particles ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanislav A. Smolyansky ◽  
Anatolii D. Panferov ◽  
David B. Blaschke ◽  
Narine T. Gevorgyan

On the basis of the well-known kinetic description of e − e + vacuum pair creation in strong electromagnetic fields in D = 3 + 1 QED we construct a nonperturbative kinetic approach to electron-hole excitations in graphene under the action of strong, time-dependent electric fields. We start from the simplest model of low-energy excitations around the Dirac points in the Brillouin zone. The corresponding kinetic equations are analyzed by nonperturbative analytical and numerical methods that allow to avoid difficulties characteristic for the perturbation theory. We consider different models for external fields acting in both, one and two dimensions. In the latter case we discuss the nonlinear interaction of the orthogonal currents in graphene which plays the role of an active nonlinear medium. In particular, this allows to govern the current in one direction by means of the electric field acting in the orthogonal direction. Investigating the polarization current we detected the existence of high frequency damped oscillations in a constant external electric field. When the electric field is abruptly turned off residual inertial oscillations of the polarization current are obtained. Further nonlinear effects are discussed.


2012 ◽  
Vol 706-709 ◽  
pp. 2617-2621
Author(s):  
Chang Shu He ◽  
Xiang Zhao ◽  
Wei Ping Tong ◽  
Liang Zuo

Specimens cut from a cold-rolled IF steel sheet of 1 mm thickness were respectively annealed at 750°C for 20min under a range of DC electric fields (1kV/cm~4kV/cm). The Effect of electric field strength on recrystallization texture of IF steel sheet was studied by mean of X-ray diffraction ODF analysis. It was found that γ-fiber textures were notably enhanced as electric field strength increased. The strength of γ-fiber textures got their peak values as the applied electric field reached to 4kV/cm. The possible reason for such phenomena was discussed in the viewpoint of interaction between the applied electric field and the orientation-dependent stored-energy in deformed metals which is known as the driving force for recrystallization during annealing.


Author(s):  
Enakshi Wikramanayake ◽  
Vaibhav Bahadur

Abstract Dropwise condensation yields higher heat transfer coefficients by avoiding the thermal resistance of the condensate film, seen during filmwise condensation. This work explores further enhancement of dropwise condensation heat transfer through the use of electrowetting to achieve faster droplet growth via coalescence of the condensed droplets. Electrowetting is a well understood microfluidic technique to actuate and control droplets. This work shows that AC electric fields can significantly enhance droplet growth dynamics. This enhancement is a result of coalescence triggered by various types of droplet motion (translation of droplets, oscillations of three phase line), which in turn depends on the frequency of the applied AC waveform. The applied electric field modifies droplet condensation patterns as well as the roll-off dynamics on the surface. Experiments are conducted to study early-stage droplet growth dynamics, as well as steady state condensation rates under the influence of electric fields. It is noted that this study deals with condensation of humid air, and not pure steam. Results show that increasing the voltage magnitude and frequency increases droplet growth rate and overall condensation rate. Overall, this study reports more than a 30 % enhancement in condensation rate resulting from the applied electric field, which highlights the potential of this concept for condensation heat transfer enhancement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kia Dastani ◽  
Mahdi Moghimi Zand ◽  
Hanie Kavand ◽  
Reza Javidi ◽  
Amin Hadi ◽  
...  

AbstractElectroporation is defined as cell membrane permeabilization under the application of electric fields. The mechanism of hydrophilic pore formation is not yet well understood. When cells are exposed to electric fields, electrical stresses act on their surfaces. These electrical stresses play a crucial role in cell membrane structural changes, which lead to cell permeabilization. These electrical stresses depend on the dielectric properties of the cell, buffer solution, and the applied electric field characteristics. In the current study, the effect of electric field frequency on the electrical stresses distribution on the cell surface and cell deformation is numerically and experimentally investigated. As previous studies were mostly focused on the effect of electric fields on a group of cells, the present study focused on the behavior of a single cell exposed to an electric field. To accomplish this, the effect of cells on electrostatic potential distribution and electric field must be considered. To do this, Fast immersed interface method (IIM) was used to discretize the governing quasi-electrostatic equations. Numerical results confirmed the accuracy of fast IIM in satisfying the internal electrical boundary conditions on the cell surface. Finally, experimental results showed the effect of applied electric field on cell deformation at different frequencies.


2007 ◽  
Vol 353-358 ◽  
pp. 1544-1547
Author(s):  
Byeung Gun Nam ◽  
H.S. Na ◽  
R. Liu ◽  
Katsuhiko Watanabe

The effect of electromechanical loadings including their sequence, which was motivated by the property of crack energy density for piezoelectric material, was experimentally investigated. Three-point bending fracture test was performed for two piezoelectric ceramics under different electromechanical loading conditions. It was found that the fracture loads under closed circuit condition are greater than those under open circuit condition. Effect of applied electric field on fracture load in the test varied with materials. Applied electric field always enhanced crack extension in C-21 ceramics regardless of their directions, while it produced very little effect on crack extension under negative electric fields in C-2 ceramics. It was also found that electromechanical loading sequence clearly affects fracture strength, although its effect varies also with materials.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 2984
Author(s):  
Muhammad Salman Abbasi ◽  
Haroon Farooq ◽  
Hassan Ali ◽  
Ali Hussain Kazim ◽  
Rabia Nazir ◽  
...  

The electrohydrodynamic deformation of an emulsion droplet with a clean and particle-covered interface was explored. Here, the electrohydrodynamic deformation was numerically and experimentally demonstrated under the stimuli of moderate and strong electric fields. The numerical method involves the coupling of the Navier–Stokes equation with the level set equation of interface tracking and the governing equations of so-called leaky dielectric theory. The simulation model developed for a clean interface droplet was then extended to a capsule model for densely particle-covered droplets. The experiments were conducted using various combinations of immiscible oils and particle suspensions while the electric field strength ~105 V/m was generated using a high voltage supply. The experimental images obtained by the camera were post-processed using an in-house image processing code developed on the plat-form of MATLAB software. The results show that particle-free droplets can undergo prolate (deformation in the applied electric field direction) or oblate deformation (deformation that is perpendicular to the direction of the applied electric field) of the droplet interface, whereas the low-conductivity particles can be manipulated at the emulsion interface to form a ‘belt’, ‘helmet’ or ‘cup’ morphologies. A densely particle-covered droplet may not restore to its initial spherical shape due to ‘particle jamming’ at the interface, resulting in the formation of unique droplet shapes. Densely particle-covered droplets behave like droplets covered with a thin particle sheet, a capsule. The deformation of such droplets is explored using a simulation model under a range of electric capillary numbers (i.e., the ratio of the electric stresses to the capillary stresses acting at the droplet interface). The results obtained are then compared with the theory and experimental findings. It was shown that the proposed simulation model can serve as a tool to predict the deformation/distortion of both the particle-free and the densely particle-covered droplets within the small deformation limit. We believe that this study could provide new findings for the fabrication of complex-shaped species and colloidosomes.


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