UNS:Collaborative Research: Transport and Chemotaxis of Swimming Cells in Porous Media Flows

【参考翻译】：Dunkel， Joern / Guasto， jeffrey这个项目的目标是确定在多孔介质中控制游泳细胞运输和趋化的物理机制。许多种类的细胞都能在液体中产生自己的推进力。在它们的自然栖息地和工程系统中，游动细胞必须在复杂的微观结构中导航，以响应来自食物来源和其他生物体的各种化学信号。研究人员将采用理论、数值模拟和实验相结合的方法来检验流体流动、边界结构和化学刺激对单个细胞和细胞群运动的相对重要性。研究结果将适用于生态过程和各种技术，包括生物反应器、生物修复和清洁水的保存。将招募当地高中生参与该项目。游动细胞和合成自推进粒子构成了一类新兴的主动悬浮液，其传输特性与被动标量和颗粒流有很大不同。悬浮液的微观结构和流动对多孔介质中细胞运输的影响将研究不同类型细胞的稀和密悬浮液，这些细胞跨越典型的游泳方式和体型。微流控装置将被设计用于创造良好的控制环境，以模拟多孔介质中的自然流动条件和化学梯度。微生物悬浮液的高速视频显微镜将提供大细胞集合的统计特征，以及鞭毛和流体动力学相互作用介导大规模行为的细胞尺度的机械视图。多孔介质结构对化学梯度中化学运输细胞输运系数的影响也将被研究。基于连续体和颗粒的模型将在数值上实现，结果将通过实验系统地验证，以建立多孔介质流动中活跃细胞运输的定量预测框架。

CBET 1510768 / 1511340PIs: Dunkel, Joern / Guasto, JeffreyThe goal of this project is to determine the physical mechanisms that govern transport and chemotaxis of swimming cells in porous media. Many kinds of cells are capable of generating their own propulsion in liquids. In their natural habitats and in engineered systems, swimming cells have to navigate through complex microstructures in response to various chemical signals from food sources and other organisms. The investigators will use a combination of theory, numerical simulation, and experiments to examine the relative importance of fluid flows, boundary structures and chemical stimuli on the locomotion of individual cells and collections of cells. The results will be applicable to ecological processes and diverse technologies, including bioreactors, bioremediation, and preservation of clean water. Local high-school students will be recruited to participate in the project.Swimming cells and synthetic self-propelled particles comprise an emerging class of active suspensions, whose transport properties can differ significantly from those of passive scalars and particulate flows. The effects of suspension microstructure and flow on cell transport in porous media will be investigated for dilute and dense suspensions of various cells that span canonical swimming styles and body shapes. Microfluidic devices will be designed to create well-controlled environments that simulate natural flow conditions and chemical gradients in a porous medium. High-speed video microscopy of microbial suspensions will provide a statistical characterization of large cell ensembles as well as a mechanistic cell-scale view of the flagellar and hydrodynamic interactions mediating large-scale behaviors. The effects of porous media structure on the transport coefficients of chemotaxing cells in chemical gradients will also be examined. Continuum and particle-based models will be implemented numerically and results will be systematically validated against experiments to establish a quantitative, predictive framework for active cell transport in porous media flows.