TY - JOUR A1 - Zaks, Michael A. A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij T1 - Chimeras and complex cluster states in arrays of spin-torque oscillators JF - Scientific reports N2 - We consider synchronization properties of arrays of spin-torque nano-oscillators coupled via an RC load. We show that while the fully synchronized state of identical oscillators may be locally stable in some parameter range, this synchrony is not globally attracting. Instead, regimes of different levels of compositional complexity are observed. These include chimera states (a part of the array forms a cluster while other units are desynchronized), clustered chimeras (several clusters plus desynchronized oscillators), cluster state (all oscillators form several clusters), and partial synchronization (no clusters but a nonvanishing mean field). Dynamically, these states are also complex, demonstrating irregular and close to quasiperiodic modulation. Remarkably, when heterogeneity of spin-torque oscillators is taken into account, dynamical complexity even increases: close to the onset of a macroscopic mean field, the dynamics of this field is rather irregular. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04918-9 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 7 PB - Macmillan Publishers Limited CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Smirnov, Lev A. A1 - Osipov, Grigory V. A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij T1 - Chimera patterns in the Kuramoto-Battogtokh model JF - Journal of physics : A, Mathematical and theoretical N2 - Kuramoto and Battogtokh (2002 Nonlinear Phenom. Complex Syst. 5 380) discovered chimera states represented by stable coexisting synchrony and asynchrony domains in a lattice of coupled oscillators. After a reformulation in terms of a local order parameter, the problem can be reduced to partial differential equations. We find uniformly rotating, spatially periodic chimera patterns as solutions of a reversible ordinary differential equation, and demonstrate a plethora of such states. In the limit of neutral coupling they reduce to analytical solutions in the form of one-and two-point chimera patterns as well as localized chimera solitons. Patterns at weakly attracting coupling are characterized by virtue of a perturbative approach. Stability analysis reveals that only the simplest chimeras with one synchronous region are stable. KW - nonlocal coupled oscillators KW - chimera state KW - coarse-grained order parameter KW - Ott-Antonsen reduction KW - perturbation approach KW - linear stability analysis Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1751-8121/aa55f1 SN - 1751-8113 SN - 1751-8121 VL - 50 IS - 8 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - THES A1 - Leonhardt, Helmar T1 - Chemotaxis, shape and adhesion dynamics of amoeboid cells studied by impedance fluctuations in open and confined spaces T1 - Chemotaxis, Formänderung und Adhäsionsdynamik amöboider Zellen gemessen durch Impedanzfluktuation N2 - Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit elektrischen Impedanzmessungen von ameoboiden Zellen auf Mikroelektroden. Der Modellorganismus Dictyostelium discoideum zeigt unter der Bedingung des Nahrungsentzugs einen Übergang zum kollektiven Verhalten, bei dem sich chemotaktische Zellen zu einem multizellulären Aggregat zusammenschliessen. Wir zeigen wie Impedanzaufnahmen über die Dynamik der Zell-substrat Adhäsion ein präzises Bild der Phasen der Aggregation liefern. Darüberhinaus zeigen wir zum ersten mal systematische Einzelzellmessungen von Wildtyp-Zellen und vier Mutanten, die sich in der Stärke der Substratadh äsion unterscheiden. Wir zeichneten die projizierte Zellfläche durch Zeitverlaufsmikroskopie auf und fanden eine Korrelation zwischen den quasi-periodischen Oszillationen in der Kinetik der projizierten Fläche - der Zellform-Oszillation - und dem Langzeittrend des Impedanzsignals. Amoeboidale Motilität offenbart sich typischerweise durch einen Zyklus von Membranausstülpung, Substratadhäsion, Vorwärtsziehen des Zellkörpers und Einziehen des hinteren Teils der Zelle. Dieser Motilitätszyklus resultiert in quasi-periodischen Oszillationen der projizierten Zellfläche und der Impedanz. In allen gemessenen Zelllinien wurden für diesen Zyklus ähnliche Periodendauern beobachtet trotz der Unterschiede in der Anhaftungsstärke. Wir beobachteten, dass die Stärke der Zell-substrat Anhaftung die Impedanz stark beeinflusst, indem die Abweichungen vom Mittelwert (die Grösse der Fluktuationen) vergrössert sind bei Zellen, die die vom Zytoskelett generierten Kräfte effektiv auf das Substrat übertragen. Zum Beispiel sind bei talA- Zellen, in welchen das Actin verankernde Protein Talin fehlt, die Fluktuationen stark reduziert. Einzelzellkraft-Spektroskopie und Ergebnisse eines Ablösungsassays, bei dem Adhäsionskraft gemessen wird indem Zellen einer Scherspannung ausgesetzt werden, bestätigen, dass die Grösse der Impedanz-fluktuationen ein korrektes Mass für die Stärke der Substratadhäsion ist. Schliesslich haben wir uns auch mit dem Einbau von Zell-substrat-Impedanz-Sensoren in mikro-fluidische Apparaturen befasst. Ein chip-basierter elektrischer Chemotaxis Assay wurde entwickelt, der die Geschwindigkeit chemotaktischer Zellen misst, welche entlang eines chemischen Konzentrationsgradienten über Mikroelektroden wandern. N2 - We present electrical impedance measurements of amoeboid cells on microelectrodes. The model organism Dictyostelium discoideum shows under starvation conditions a transition to collective behavior when chemotactic cells collect in multicellular aggregates. We show how impedance recordings give a precise picture of the stages of aggregation by tracing the dynamics of cell-substrate adhesion. Furthermore, we present for the first time systematic single cell measurements of wild type cells and four mutant strains that differ in their substrate adhesion strength. We recorded the projected cell area by time lapse microscopy and found a correlation between quasi-periodic oscillations in the kinetics of the projected area - the cell shape oscillation - and the long-term trend in the impedance signal. Typically, amoeboid motility advances via a cycle of membrane protrusion, substrate adhesion, traction of the cell body and tail retraction. This motility cycle results in the quasi-periodic oscillations of the projected cell area and the impedance. In all cell lines measured, similar periods were observed for this cycle, despite the differences in attachment strength. We observed that cell-substrate attachment strength strongly affects the impedance in that the deviations from mean (the magnitude of fluctuations) are enhanced in cells that effectively transmit forces, generated by the cytoskeleton, to the substrate. For example, in talA- cells, which lack the actin anchoring protein talin, the fluctuations are strongly reduced. Single cell force spectroscopy and results from a detachment assay, where adhesion is measured by exposing cells to shear stress, confirm that the magnitude of impedance fluctuations is a correct measure for the strength of substrate adhesion. Finally, we also worked on the integration of cell-substrate impedance sensors into microfluidic devices. A chip-based electrical chemotaxis assay is designed which measures the speed of chemotactic cells migrating over microelectrodes along a chemical concentration gradient. KW - ECIS KW - cell-substrate adhesion KW - cell movement KW - electrical chemotaxis assay KW - ECIS KW - Zell-substrat Adhäsion KW - Zell Bewegung KW - elektrischer Chemotaxis Assy Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-405016 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Koopman, Wouter-Willem Adriaan A1 - Natali, Marco A1 - Donati, Giovanni P. A1 - Muccini, Michele A1 - Toffanin, Stefano T1 - Charge-exciton interaction rate in organic field-effect transistors by means of transient photoluminescence electromodulated spectroscopy JF - ACS photonics N2 - Organic light-emitting transistors (OLETs) offer a huge potential for the design of highly integrated multifunctional optoelectronic systems and of intense nano scale light sources, such as the long-searched-for electrically pumped organic laser. In order to fulfill these promises, the efficiency and brightness of the current state-of-the-art devices have to be increased significantly. The dominating quenching process limiting the external quantum efficiency in OLETs is charge-exciton interaction. A comprehensive understanding of this quenching process is therefore of paramount importance. The present article reports a systematic investigation of charge-exciton interaction in organic transistors employing time resolved photoluminescence electro-modulation (PLEM) spectroscopy on the picosecond time scale. The results show that the injected charges reduce the exciton radiative recombination in two ways: (i) charges may prevent the generation of excitons and (ii) charges activate a further nonradiative channel for the exciton decay. Moreover, the transient PLEM measurements clearly reveal that not only trapped charges, as already reported in literature, but rather the entire injected charge density contributes to the quenching of the exciton population. KW - photoluminescence quenching KW - charge density KW - exciton dynamics KW - organic KW - field-effect transistor KW - light emission KW - optical spectroscopy Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.6b00573 SN - 2330-4022 VL - 4 IS - 2 SP - 282 EP - 291 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Roland, Steffen A1 - Yan, Liang A1 - Zhang, Qianqian A1 - Jiao, Xuechen A1 - Hunt, Adrian A1 - Ghasemi, Masoud A1 - Ade, Harald A1 - You, Wei A1 - Neher, Dieter T1 - Charge Generation and Mobility-Limited Performance of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells with a Higher Adduct Fullerene JF - The journal of physical chemistry : C, Nanomaterials and interfaces N2 - Alternative electron acceptors are being actively explored in order to advance the development of bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells (OSCs). The indene-C-60 bisadduct (ICBA) has been regarded as a promising candidate, as it provides high open-circuit voltage in BHJ solar cells; however, the photovoltaic performance of such ICBA-based devices is often inferior when compared to cells with the omnipresent PCBM electron acceptor. Here, by pairing the high performance polymer (FTAZ) as the donor with either PCBM or ICBA as the acceptor, we explore the physical mechanism behind the reduced performance of the ICBA-based device. Time delayed collection field (TDCF) experiments reveal reduced, yet field-independent free charge generation in the FTAZ:ICBA system, explaining the overall lower photocurrent in its cells. Through the analysis of the photoluminescence, photogeneration, and electroluminescence, we find that the lower generation efficiency is neither caused by inefficient exciton splitting, nor do we find evidence for significant energy back-transfer from the CT state to singlet excitons. In fact, the increase in open circuit voltage when replacing PCBM by ICBA is entirely caused by the increase in the CT energy, related to the shift in the LUMO energy, while changes in the radiative and nonradiative recombination losses are nearly absent. On the other hand, space charge limited current (SCLC) and bias-assisted charge extraction (BACE) measurements consistently reveal a severely lower electron mobilitiy in the FTAZ:ICBA blend. Studies of the blends with resonant soft X-ray scattering (R-SoXS), grazing incident wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS), and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) reveal very little differences in the mesoscopic morphology but significantly less nanoscale molecular ordering of the fullerene domains in the ICBA based blends, which we propose as the main cause for the lower generation efficiency and smaller electron mobility. Calculations of the JV curves with an analytical model, using measured values, show good agreement with the experimentally determined JV characteristics, proving that these devices suffer from slow carrier extraction, resulting in significant bimolecular recombination losses. Therefore, this study highlights the importance of high charge carrier mobility for newly synthesized acceptor materials, in addition to having suitable energy levels. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b02288 SN - 1932-7447 VL - 121 SP - 10305 EP - 10316 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - THES A1 - Roland, Steffen T1 - Charge carrier recombination and open circuit voltage in organic solar cells T1 - Ladungsträger Rekombination und Leerlaufspannung in organischen Solarzellen BT - from bilayer-model systems to hybrid multi-junctions BT - von Bilayer Modellsystemen zu hybriden Mehrschichtsolarzellen N2 - Tremendous progress in the development of thin film solar cell techniques has been made over the last decade. The field of organic solar cells is constantly developing, new material classes like Perowskite solar cells are emerging and different types of hybrid organic/inorganic material combinations are being investigated for their physical properties and their applicability in thin film electronics. Besides typical single-junction architectures for solar cells, multi-junction concepts are also being investigated as they enable the overcoming of theoretical limitations of a single-junction. In multi-junction devices each sub-cell operates in different wavelength regimes and should exhibit optimized band-gap energies. It is exactly this tunability of the band-gap energy that renders organic solar cell materials interesting candidates for multi-junction applications. Nevertheless, only few attempts have been made to combine inorganic and organic solar cells in series connected multi-junction architectures. Even though a great diversity of organic solar cells exists nowadays, their open circuit voltage is usually low compared to the band-gap of the active layer. Hence, organic low band-gap solar cells in particular show low open circuit voltages and the key factors that determine the voltage losses are not yet fully understood. Besides open circuit voltage losses the recombination of charges in organic solar cells is also a prevailing research topic, especially with respect to the influence of trap states. The exploratory focus of this work is therefore set, on the one hand, on the development of hybrid organic/inorganic multi-junctions and, on the other hand, on gaining a deeper understanding of the open circuit voltage and the recombination processes of organic solar cells. In the first part of this thesis, the development of a hybrid organic/inorganic triple-junction will be discussed which showed at that time (Jan. 2015) a record power conversion efficiency of 11.7%. The inorganic sub-cells of these devices consist of hydrogenated amorphous silicon and were delivered by the Competence Center Thin-Film and Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics in Berlin. Different recombination contacts and organic sub-cells were tested in conjunction with these inorganic sub-cells on the basis of optical modeling predictions for the optimal layer thicknesses to finally reach record efficiencies for this type of solar cells. In the second part, organic model systems will be investigated to gain a better understanding of the fundamental loss mechanisms that limit the open circuit voltage of organic solar cells. First, bilayer systems with different orientation of the donor and acceptor molecules were investigated to study the influence of the donor/acceptor orientation on non-radiative voltage loss. Secondly, three different bulk heterojunction solar cells all comprising the same amount of fluorination and the same polymer backbone in the donor component were examined to study the influence of long range electrostatics on the open circuit voltage. Thirdly, the device performance of two bulk heterojunction solar cells was compared which consisted of the same donor polymer but used different fullerene acceptor molecules. By this means, the influence of changing the energetics of the acceptor component on the open circuit voltage was investigated and a full analysis of the charge carrier dynamics was presented to unravel the reasons for the worse performance of the solar cell with the higher open circuit voltage. In the third part, a new recombination model for organic solar cells will be introduced and its applicability shown for a typical low band-gap cell. This model sheds new light on the recombination process in organic solar cells in a broader context as it re-evaluates the recombination pathway of charge carriers in devices which show the presence of trap states. Thereby it addresses a current research topic and helps to resolve alleged discrepancies which can arise from the interpretation of data derived by different measurement techniques. N2 - In der Photovoltaikforschung spielen neuartige Dünnschichtsolarzellen eine immer größere Rolle. Neben innovativen Design und Anwendungskonzepten sind Material und Kostenreduzierung in der Herstellung die größten Triebfedern für die Entwicklung neuer Technologien. Hier sind neben den vielversprechenden Perowskitsolarzellen insbesondere organische Solarzellen zu nennen, die sich durch ihre chemische Vielseitigkeit, einfache Verarbeitung und stetige Weiterentwicklung in Bezug auf ihre Effizienz auszeichnen. Diese Vielseitigkeit ermöglicht die Herstellung organischer Solarzellen mit unterschiedlicher spektraler Empfindlichkeit, was wiederum Vorteile für den Einsatz in seriengeschaltete Mehrschichtsolarzellen bietet. Diese erlauben es, fundamentale Limitierungen von Einschichtsolarzellsystemen zu überwinden. Der erste Teil dieser Arbeit befasst sich daher mit der Entwicklung einer neuartigen hybriden Multischichtsolarzelle, die sowohl aus anorganischen als auch organischen Subzellen besteht und zum Zeitpunkt ihrer Veröffentlichung einen neuen Effizienzrekord für diese Klasse von Solarzellen aufzeigte. Der zweite Teil der Arbeit befasst sich mit fundamentalen physikalischen Prozessen in organischen Solarzellen, da viele Funktionsmechanismen noch nicht im Detail geklärt sind. An verschiedenen organischen Modellsolarzellsystemen wurde daher unter anderem der Einfluss molekularer Orientierung von Donor- und Akzeptorkomponenten der Solarzelle oder der Einfluss von Fluorinierung des Donors auf die Leerlaufspannung der Solarzelle untersucht. Auf diese Weise konnten neue wichtige Erkenntnisse über den Einfluss von verschiedenen Verlustkanälen und der Energetik auf die Leerlaufspannung gewonnen werden. Der letzte Teil der Arbeit widmet sich der Entwicklung eines neuen Modells, welches den Rekombinationsprozess von Ladungen in einer bestimmten organischen Solarzelle beschreibt. Dieses neue Modell wurde anhand umfangreicher Experimente validiert und ermöglicht es, insbesondere den Einfluss freier und in sogenannten Fallenzuständen gefangener Ladungen auf die Rekombination zu trennen. Damit hat dieses Modell eine weitreichende Bedeutung, zum einen für die Beurteilung von typischen Rekombinationsexperimenten in organischen Solarzellen und zum anderen für die Bewertung des Einflusses von Fallenzuständen auf den Rekombinationsstrom. KW - organic solar cells KW - charge carrier recombination KW - open circuit voltage KW - hybrid multi-junction solar cell KW - organische Solarzellen KW - Ladungsträgerrekombination KW - Leerlaufspannung KW - hybride Mehrschichtsolarzellen Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-397721 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Laquai, Frederic A1 - Andrienko, Denis A1 - Deibel, Carsten A1 - Neher, Dieter T1 - Charge carrier generation, recombination, and extraction in polymer-fullerene bulk heterojunction organic solar cells JF - Elementary processes in organic photovoltaics N2 - In this chapter we review the basic principles of photocurrent generation in bulk heterojunction organic solar cells, discuss the loss channels limiting their efficiency, and present case studies of several polymer-fullerene blends. Using steady-state and transient, optical, and electrooptical techniques, we create a precise picture of the fundamental processes that ultimately govern solar cell efficiency. KW - Charge extraction KW - Charge generation KW - Charge recombination KW - Organic solar cells KW - PBT7 KW - PBTTT KW - PCPDTBT Y1 - 2026 SN - 978-3-319-28338-8 SN - 978-3-319-28336-4 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28338-8_11 SN - 0065-3195 VL - 272 SP - 267 EP - 291 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Petereit, Johannes A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij T1 - Chaos synchronization by nonlinear coupling JF - Communications in nonlinear science & numerical simulation N2 - We study synchronization properties of three nonlinearly coupled chaotic maps. Coupling is introduced in such a way, that it cannot be reduced to pairwise terms, but includes combined action of all interacting units. For two models of nonlinear coupling we characterize the transition to complete synchrony, as well as partially synchronized states. Relation to hypernetworks of chaotic units is also discussed. KW - Chaos synchronization KW - Partial synchrony KW - Intermittency KW - Hypernetwork Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnsns.2016.09.002 SN - 1007-5704 SN - 1878-7274 VL - 44 SP - 344 EP - 351 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bolotov, Maxim I. A1 - Smirnov, Lev A. A1 - Osipov, Grigory V. A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij T1 - Breathing chimera in a system of phase oscillators JF - JETP Letters N2 - Chimera states consisting of synchronous and asynchronous domains in a medium of nonlinearly coupled phase oscillators have been considered. Stationary inhomogeneous solutions of the Ott-Antonsen equation for a complex order parameter that correspond to fundamental chimeras have been constructed. The direct numerical simulation has shown that these structures under certain conditions are transformed to oscillatory (breathing) chimera regimes because of the development of instability. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1134/S0021364017180059 SN - 0021-3640 SN - 1090-6487 VL - 106 SP - 393 EP - 399 PB - Pleiades Publ. CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zacharias, Michael A1 - Chen, Xuhui A1 - Wagner, Stefan T1 - Attenuation of TeV gamma-rays by the starlight photon field of the host galaxy JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - The absorption of TeV gamma-ray photons produced in relativistic jets by surrounding soft photon fields is a long-standing problem of jet physics. In some cases, the most likely emission site close to the central black hole is ruled out because of the high opacity caused by strong optical and infrared photon sources, such as the broad-line region. Mostly neglected for jet modelling is the absorption of gamma-rays in the starlight photon field of the host galaxy. Analysing the absorption for arbitrary locations and observation angles of the gamma-ray emission site within the host galaxy, we find that the distance to the galaxy centre, the observation angle, and the distribution of starlight in the galaxy are crucial for the amount of absorption. We derive the absorption value for a sample of 20 TeV-detected blazars with a redshift z(r) < 0.2. The absorption value of the gamma-ray emission located in the galaxy centre may be as high as 20 per cent, with an average value of 6 per cent. This is important in order to determine the intrinsic blazar parameters. We see no significant trends in our sample between the degree of absorption and host properties, such as starlight emissivity, galactic size, half-light radius, and redshift. While the uncertainty of the spectral properties of the extragalactic background light exceeds the effect of absorption by stellar light from the host galaxy in distant objects, the latter is a dominant effect in nearby sources. It may also be revealed in a differential comparison of sources with similar redshifts. KW - opacity KW - radiation mechanisms: non-thermal KW - galaxies: active KW - gamma-rays: galaxies Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw3032 SN - 0035-8711 SN - 1365-2966 VL - 465 IS - 3 SP - 3767 EP - 3774 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stolterfoht, Martin A1 - Wolff, Christian Michael A1 - Amir, Yohai A1 - Paulke, Andreas A1 - Perdigón-Toro, Lorena A1 - Caprioglio, Pietro A1 - Neher, Dieter T1 - Approaching the fill factor Shockley-Queisser limit in stable, dopant-free triple cation perovskite solar cells JF - Energy & Environmental Science N2 - Perovskite solar cells now compete with their inorganic counterparts in terms of power conversion efficiency, not least because of their small open-circuit voltage (V-OC) losses. A key to surpass traditional thin-film solar cells is the fill factor (FF). Therefore, more insights into the physical mechanisms that define the bias dependence of the photocurrent are urgently required. In this work, we studied charge extraction and recombination in efficient triple cation perovskite solar cells with undoped organic electron/hole transport layers (ETL/HTL). Using integral time of flight we identify the transit time through the HTL as the key figure of merit for maximizing the fill factor (FF) and efficiency. Complementarily, intensity dependent photocurrent and V-OC measurements elucidate the role of the HTL on the bias dependence of non-radiative and transport-related loss channels. We show that charge transport losses can be completely avoided under certain conditions, yielding devices with FFs of up to 84%. Optimized cells exhibit power conversion efficiencies of above 20% for 6 mm(2) sized pixels and 18.9% for a device area of 1 cm(2). These are record efficiencies for hybrid perovskite devices with dopant-free transport layers, highlighting the potential of this device technology to avoid charge-transport limitations and to approach the Shockley-Queisser limit. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c7ee00899f SN - 1754-5692 SN - 1754-5706 VL - 10 SP - 1530 EP - 1539 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - GEN A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Anomalous Diffusion in Membranes and the Cytoplasm of Biological Cells T2 - Biophysical journal Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2016.11.2577 SN - 0006-3495 SN - 1542-0086 VL - 112 IS - 3 SP - 476A EP - 476A PB - Cell Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - THES A1 - Buschhüter, David T1 - Anforderungsrelevante mathematik- und physikbezogene Leistungsdispositionen von Physikanfängerinnen und - anfängern BT - Zeitlicher Wandel mathematischer und physikalischer Kentnisse und Fähigkeiten (1978/2013) und inkrementelle Validität von Physikbezogenen Leistungsdispositionen für Studienleistungen und Studienabbruch Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stange, Maike A1 - Hintsche, Marius A1 - Sachse, Kirsten A1 - Gerhardt, Matthias A1 - Valleriani, Angelo A1 - Beta, Carsten T1 - Analyzing the spatial positioning of nuclei in polynuclear giant cells JF - Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics N2 - How cells establish and maintain a well-defined size is a fundamental question of cell biology. Here we investigated to what extent the microtubule cytoskeleton can set a predefined cell size, independent of an enclosing cell membrane. We used electropulse-induced cell fusion to form giant multinuclear cells of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. Based on dual-color confocal imaging of cells that expressed fluorescent markers for the cell nucleus and the microtubules, we determined the subcellular distributions of nuclei and centrosomes in the giant cells. Our two- and three-dimensional imaging results showed that the positions of nuclei in giant cells do not fall onto a regular lattice. However, a comparison with model predictions for random positioning showed that the subcellular arrangement of nuclei maintains a low but still detectable degree of ordering. This can be explained by the steric requirements of the microtubule cytoskeleton, as confirmed by the effect of a microtubule degrading drug. KW - Dictyostelium KW - cell nucleus KW - positioning KW - imaging KW - spatial poisson distribution Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/aa8da0 SN - 0022-3727 SN - 1361-6463 VL - 50 IS - 46 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Safdari, Hadiseh A1 - Cherstvy, Andrey G. A1 - Chechkin, Aleksei V. A1 - Bodrova, Anna A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Aging underdamped scaled Brownian motion BT - Ensemble- and time-averaged particle displacements, nonergodicity, and the failure of the overdamping approximation JF - Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics N2 - We investigate both analytically and by computer simulations the ensemble- and time-averaged, nonergodic, and aging properties of massive particles diffusing in a medium with a time dependent diffusivity. We call this stochastic diffusion process the (aging) underdamped scaled Brownian motion (UDSBM). We demonstrate how the mean squared displacement (MSD) and the time-averaged MSD of UDSBM are affected by the inertial term in the Langevin equation, both at short, intermediate, and even long diffusion times. In particular, we quantify the ballistic regime for the MSD and the time-averaged MSD as well as the spread of individual time-averaged MSD trajectories. One of the main effects we observe is that, both for the MSD and the time-averaged MSD, for superdiffusive UDSBM the ballistic regime is much shorter than for ordinary Brownian motion. In contrast, for subdiffusive UDSBM, the ballistic region extends to much longer diffusion times. Therefore, particular care needs to be taken under what conditions the overdamped limit indeed provides a correct description, even in the long time limit. We also analyze to what extent ergodicity in the Boltzmann-Khinchin sense in this nonstationary system is broken, both for subdiffusive and superdiffusive UDSBM. Finally, the limiting case of ultraslow UDSBM is considered, with a mixed logarithmic and power-law dependence of the ensemble-and time-averaged MSDs of the particles. In the limit of strong aging, remarkably, the ordinary UDSBM and the ultraslow UDSBM behave similarly in the short time ballistic limit. The approaches developed here open ways for considering other stochastic processes under physically important conditions when a finite particle mass and aging in the system cannot be neglected. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.95.012120 SN - 2470-0045 SN - 2470-0053 VL - 95 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Anielski, Alexander A1 - Barbosa Pfannes, Eva Katharina A1 - Beta, Carsten T1 - Adaptive microfluidic gradient generator for quantitative chemotaxis experiments JF - Review of scientific instruments : a monthly journal devoted to scientific instruments, apparatus, and techniques N2 - Chemotactic motion in a chemical gradient is an essential cellular function that controls many processes in the living world. For a better understanding and more detailed modelling of the underlying mechanisms of chemotaxis, quantitative investigations in controlled environments are needed. We developed a setup that allows us to separately address the dependencies of the chemotactic motion on the average background concentration and on the gradient steepness of the chemoattractant. In particular, both the background concentration and the gradient steepness can be kept constant at the position of the cell while it moves along in the gradient direction. This is achieved by generating a well-defined chemoattractant gradient using flow photolysis. In this approach, the chemoattractant is released by a light-induced reaction from a caged precursor in a microfluidic flow chamber upstream of the cell. The flow photolysis approach is combined with an automated real-time cell tracker that determines changes in the cell position and triggers movement of the microscope stage such that the cell motion is compensated and the cell remains at the same position in the gradient profile. The gradient profile can be either determined experimentally using a caged fluorescent dye or may be alternatively determined by numerical solutions of the corresponding physical model. To demonstrate the function of this adaptive microfluidic gradient generator, we compare the chemotactic motion of Dictyostelium discoideum cells in a static gradient and in a gradient that adapts to the position of the moving cell. Published by AIP Publishing. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4978535 SN - 0034-6748 SN - 1089-7623 VL - 88 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vandewal, Koen A1 - Benduhn, Johannes A1 - Schellhammer, Karl Sebastian A1 - Vangerven, Tim A1 - Rückert, Janna E. A1 - Piersimoni, Fortunato A1 - Scholz, Reinhard A1 - Zeika, Olaf A1 - Fan, Yeli A1 - Barlow, Stephen A1 - Neher, Dieter A1 - Marder, Seth R. A1 - Manca, Jean A1 - Spoltore, Donato A1 - Cuniberti, Gianaurelio A1 - Ortmann, Frank T1 - Absorption Tails of Donor BT - C-60 Blends Provide Insight into Thermally Activated Charge-Transfer Processes and Polaron Relaxation JF - Journal of the American Chemical Society N2 - In disordered organic semiconductors, the transfer of a rather localized charge carrier from one site to another triggers a deformation of the molecular structure quantified by the intramolecular relaxation energy. A similar structural relaxation occurs upon population of intermolecular charge-transfer (CT) states formed at organic electron donor (D)-acceptor (A) interfaces. Weak CT absorption bands for D A complexes occur at photon energies below the optical gaps of both the donors and the C-60 acceptor as a result of optical transitions from the neutral ground state to the ionic CT state. In this work, we show that temperature-activated intramolecular vibrations of the ground state play a major role in determining the line shape of such CT absorption bands. This allows us to extract values for the relaxation energy related to the geometry change from neutral to ionic CT complexes. Experimental values for the relaxation energies of 20 D:C-60 CT complexes correlate with values calculated within density functional theory. These results provide an experimental method for determining the polaron relaxation energy in solid-state organic D-A blends and show the importance of a reduced relaxation energy, which we introduce to characterize thermally activated CT processes. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.6b12857 SN - 0002-7863 VL - 139 IS - 4 SP - 1699 EP - 1704 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kamann, Sebastian A1 - Husser, T. -O. A1 - Dreizler, S. A1 - Emsellem, E. A1 - Weilbacher, Peter Michael A1 - Martens, S. A1 - Bacon, R. A1 - den Brok, M. A1 - Giesers, B. A1 - Krajnovic, Davor A1 - Roth, Martin M. A1 - Wendt, Martin A1 - Wisotzki, Lutz T1 - A stellar census in globular clusters with MUSE BT - the contribution of rotation to cluster dynamics studied with 200 000 stars JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - This is the first of a series of papers presenting the results from our survey of 25 Galactic globular clusters with the MUSE integral-field spectrograph. In combination with our dedicated algorithm for source deblending, MUSE provides unique multiplex capabilities in crowded stellar fields and allows us to acquire samples of up to 20 000 stars within the half-light radius of each cluster. The present paper focuses on the analysis of the internal dynamics of 22 out of the 25 clusters, using about 500 000 spectra of 200 000 individual stars. Thanks to the large stellar samples per cluster, we are able to perform a detailed analysis of the central rotation and dispersion fields using both radial profiles and two-dimensional maps. The velocity dispersion profiles we derive show a good general agreement with existing radial velocity studies but typically reach closer to the cluster centres. By comparison with proper motion data, we derive or update the dynamical distance estimates to 14 clusters. Compared to previous dynamical distance estimates for 47 Tuc, our value is in much better agreement with other methods. We further find significant (>3 sigma) rotation in the majority (13/22) of our clusters. Our analysis seems to confirm earlier findings of a link between rotation and the ellipticities of globular clusters. In addition, we find a correlation between the strengths of internal rotation and the relaxation times of the clusters, suggesting that the central rotation fields are relics of the cluster formation that are gradually dissipated via two-body relaxation. KW - techniques: imaging spectroscopy KW - stars: kinematics and dynamics KW - globular clusters: general Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx2719 SN - 0035-8711 SN - 1365-2966 VL - 473 IS - 4 SP - 5591 EP - 5616 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Herrmann, Carl J. J. A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - A self-avoiding walk with neural delays as a model of fixational eye movements JF - Scientific reports N2 - Fixational eye movements show scaling behaviour of the positional mean-squared displacement with a characteristic transition from persistence to antipersistence for increasing time-lag. These statistical patterns were found to be mainly shaped by microsaccades (fast, small-amplitude movements). However, our re-analysis of fixational eye-movement data provides evidence that the slow component (physiological drift) of the eyes exhibits scaling behaviour of the mean-squared displacement that varies across human participants. These results suggest that drift is a correlated movement that interacts with microsaccades. Moreover, on the long time scale, the mean-squared displacement of the drift shows oscillations, which is also present in the displacement auto-correlation function. This finding lends support to the presence of time-delayed feedback in the control of drift movements. Based on an earlier non-linear delayed feedback model of fixational eye movements, we propose and discuss different versions of a new model that combines a self-avoiding walk with time delay. As a result, we identify a model that reproduces oscillatory correlation functions, the transition from persistence to antipersistence, and microsaccades. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13489-8 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 7 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Springer Nature CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Herrmann, Carl J. J. A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - A self-avoiding walk with neural delays as a model of fixational eye movements N2 - Fixational eye movements show scaling behaviour of the positional mean-squared displacement with a characteristic transition from persistence to antipersistence for increasing time-lag. These statistical patterns were found to be mainly shaped by microsaccades (fast, small-amplitude movements). However, our re-analysis of fixational eye-movement data provides evidence that the slow component (physiological drift) of the eyes exhibits scaling behaviour of the mean-squared displacement that varies across human participants. These results suggest that drift is a correlated movement that interacts with microsaccades. Moreover, on the long time scale, the mean-squared displacement of the drift shows oscillations, which is also present in the displacement auto-correlation function. This finding lends support to the presence of time-delayed feedback in the control of drift movements. Based on an earlier non-linear delayed feedback model of fixational eye movements, we propose and discuss different versions of a new model that combines a self-avoiding walk with time delay. As a result, we identify a model that reproduces oscillatory correlation functions, the transition from persistence to antipersistence, and microsaccades. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 392 Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-403742 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Postnov, K. A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Torrejon, J. M. T1 - A propelling neutron star in the enigmatic Be-star gamma Cassiopeia JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - gamma Cassiopeia (gamma Cas), is known to be a binary system consisting of a Be-type star and a low-mass (M similar to 1M(circle dot)) companion of unknown nature orbiting in the Be-disc plane. Here, we apply the quasi-spherical accretion theory on to a compact magnetized star and show that if the low-mass companion of gamma Cas is a fast spinning neutron star, the key observational signatures of. Cas are remarkably well reproduced. Direct accretion on to this fast rotating neutron star is impeded by the propeller mechanism. In this case, around the neutron star magnetosphere a hot shell is formed which emits thermal X-rays in qualitative and quantitative agreement with observed properties of the X-ray emission from gamma Cas. We suggest that gamma Cas and its analogues constitute a new subclass of Be-type X-ray binaries hosting rapidly rotating neutron stars formed in supernova explosions with small kicks. The subsequent evolutionary stage of gamma Cas and its analogues should be the X Per-type binaries comprising low-luminosity slowly rotating X-ray pulsars. The model explains the enigmatic X-ray emission from gamma Cas, and also establishes evolutionary connections between various types of rotating magnetized neutron stars in Be-binaries. KW - stars: emission-line, Be KW - stars: neutron Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slw223 SN - 0035-8711 SN - 1365-2966 VL - 465 IS - 1 SP - L119 EP - L123 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hintsche, Marius A1 - Waljor, Veronika A1 - Grossmann, Robert A1 - Kühn, Marco J. A1 - Thormann, Kai M. A1 - Peruani, Fernando A1 - Beta, Carsten T1 - A polar bundle of flagella can drive bacterial swimming by pushing, pulling, or coiling around the cell body JF - Scientific reports N2 - Bacteria swim in sequences of straight runs that are interrupted by turning events. They drive their swimming locomotion with the help of rotating helical flagella. Depending on the number of flagella and their arrangement across the cell body, different run-and-turn patterns can be observed. Here, we present fluorescence microscopy recordings showing that cells of the soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida that are decorated with a polar tuft of helical flagella, can alternate between two distinct swimming patterns. On the one hand, they can undergo a classical push-pull-push cycle that is well known from monopolarly flagellated bacteria but has not been reported for species with a polar bundle of multiple flagella. Alternatively, upon leaving the pulling mode, they can enter a third slow swimming phase, where they propel themselves with their helical bundle wrapped around the cell body. A theoretical estimate based on a random-walk model shows that the spreading of a population of swimmers is strongly enhanced when cycling through a sequence of pushing, pulling, and wrapped flagellar configurations as compared to the simple push-pull-push pattern. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-16428-9 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 7 PB - Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Abeysekara, A. U. A1 - Archambault, S. A1 - Archer, A. A1 - Benbow, Wystan A1 - Bird, Ralph A1 - Buchovecky, M. A1 - Buckley, J. H. A1 - Bugaev, V. A1 - Byrum, K. A1 - Cerruti, M. A1 - Chen, X. A1 - Ciupik, L. A1 - Cui, W. A1 - Dickinson, H. J. A1 - Eisch, J. D. A1 - Errando, M. A1 - Falcone, A. A1 - Feng, Q. A1 - Finley, J. P. A1 - Fleischhack, H. A1 - Fortson, L. A1 - Furniss, A. A1 - Gillanders, G. H. A1 - Griffin, S. A1 - Grube, J. A1 - Hutten, M. A1 - Hakansson, N. A1 - Hanna, D. A1 - Holder, J. A1 - Humensky, T. B. A1 - Johnson, C. A. A1 - Kaaret, P. A1 - Kar, P. A1 - Kertzman, M. A1 - Kieda, D. A1 - Krause, M. A1 - Krennrich, F. A1 - Kumar, S. A1 - Lang, M. J. A1 - Maier, G. A1 - McArthur, S. A1 - McCann, A. A1 - Meagher, K. A1 - Moriarty, P. A1 - Mukherjee, R. A1 - Nguyen, T. A1 - Nieto, D. A1 - Ong, R. A. A1 - Otte, A. N. A1 - Park, N. A1 - Pelassa, V. A1 - Pohl, Martin A1 - Popkow, A. A1 - Pueschel, Elisa A1 - Quinn, J. A1 - Ragan, K. A1 - Reynolds, P. T. A1 - Richards, G. T. A1 - Roache, E. A1 - Rulten, C. A1 - Santander, M. A1 - Sembroski, G. H. A1 - Shahinyan, K. A1 - Staszak, D. A1 - Telezhinsky, Igor O. A1 - Tucci, J. V. A1 - Tyler, J. A1 - Wakely, S. P. A1 - Weiner, O. M. A1 - Weinstein, A. A1 - Wilhelm, Alina A1 - Williams, D. A. A1 - Fegan, S. A1 - Giebels, B. A1 - Horan, D. A1 - Berdyugin, A. A1 - Kuan, J. A1 - Lindfors, E. A1 - Nilsson, K. A1 - Oksanen, A. A1 - Prokoph, H. A1 - Reinthal, R. A1 - Takalo, L. A1 - Zefi, F. T1 - A Luminous and Isolated Gamma-Ray Flare from the Blazar B2 1215+30 JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics N2 - B2 1215+30 is a BL-Lac-type blazar that was first detected at TeV energies by the MAGIC atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes and subsequently confirmed by the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) observatory with data collected between 2009 and 2012. In 2014 February 08, VERITAS detected a large-amplitude flare from B2. 1215+30 during routine monitoring observations of the blazar 1ES. 1218+304, located in the same field of view. The TeV flux reached 2.4 times the Crab Nebula flux with a variability timescale of <3.6 hr. Multiwavelength observations with Fermi-LAT, Swift, and the Tuorla Observatory revealed a correlated high GeV flux state and no significant optical counterpart to the flare, with a spectral energy distribution where the gamma-ray luminosity exceeds the synchrotron luminosity. When interpreted in the framework of a onezone leptonic model, the observed emission implies a high degree of beaming, with Doppler factor delta > 10, and an electron population with spectral index p < 2.3. KW - BL Lacertae objects: individual (B2 1215+30, VER J1217+301) KW - galaxies: active KW - galaxies: jets KW - galaxies: nuclei KW - gamma rays: galaxies Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/836/2/205 SN - 0004-637X SN - 1538-4357 VL - 836 IS - 2 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - THES A1 - Håkansson, Nils T1 - A Dark Matter line search using 3D-modeling of Cherenkov showers below 10 TeV with VERITAS T1 - Die Suche nach Dunkler Materie mit VERITAS durch Liniensuche und 3D Modellierung von Cherenkov-Schauern unter 10 TeV N2 - Dark matter, DM, has not yet been directly observed, but it has a very solid theoretical basis. There are observations that provide indirect evidence, like galactic rotation curves that show that the galaxies are rotating too fast to keep their constituent parts, and galaxy clusters that bends the light coming from behind-lying galaxies more than expected with respect to the mass that can be calculated from what can be visibly seen. These observations, among many others, can be explained with theories that include DM. The missing piece is to detect something that can exclusively be explained by DM. Direct observation in a particle accelerator is one way and indirect detection using telescopes is another. This thesis is focused on the latter method. The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System, V ERITAS, is a telescope array that detects Cherenkov radiation. Theory predicts that DM particles annihilate into, e.g., a γγ pair and create a distinctive energy spectrum when detected by such telescopes, e.i., a monoenergetic line at the same energy as the particle mass. This so called ”smoking-gun” signature is sought with a sliding window line search within the sub-range ∼ 0.3 − 10 TeV of the VERITAS energy range, ∼ 0.01 − 30 TeV. Standard analysis within the VERITAS collaboration uses Hillas analysis and look-up tables, acquired by analysing particle simulations, to calculate the energy of the particle causing the Cherenkov shower. In this thesis, an improved analysis method has been used. Modelling each shower as a 3Dgaussian should increase the energy recreation quality. Five dwarf spheroidal galaxies were chosen as targets with a total of ∼ 224 hours of data. The targets were analysed individually and stacked. Particle simulations were based on two simulation packages, CARE and GrISU. Improvements have been made to the energy resolution and bias correction, up to a few percent each, in comparison to standard analysis. Nevertheless, no line with a relevant significance has been detected. The most promising line is at an energy of ∼ 422 GeV with an upper limit cross section of 8.10 · 10^−24 cm^3 s^−1 and a significance of ∼ 2.73 σ, before trials correction and ∼ 1.56 σ after. Upper limit cross sections have also been calculated for the γγ annihilation process and four other outcomes. The limits are in line with current limits using other methods, from ∼ 8.56 · 10^−26 − 6.61 · 10^−23 cm^3s^−1. Future larger telescope arrays, like the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array, CTA, will provide better results with the help of this analysis method. N2 - Dunkle Materie, DM, wurde noch nicht direkt beobachtet, aber die Theorie ist sehr solide. Es gibt Beobachtungen, die als indirekte Beweise gelten, z.B. galaktische Rotationskurven, die besagen, dass Galaxien zu schnell rotieren um ohne eine zusätzliche Massenkomponente zusammenhalten zu können, oder elliptische Zwerggalaxien, die massereicher sind als die sichtbare Materie vermuten lässt. Diese Beobachtungen könnten z.B. mit dem Vorhandensein von DM erkärt werden, aber bis jetzt fehlt die Beobachtung eines Phänomens, das ausschließlich durch DM erklärt werden kann. Eine Möglichkeit wäre die Beobachtung einer speziellen Energiesignatur durch Teleskope, welche das Thema der vorliegenden Arbeit ist. Das Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System, VERITAS, ist ein Teleskoparray für Cherenkov-Strahlung. Entsprechend der Theorie sollten Teilchen dunkler Materie annihilieren und z.B. ein γγ Paar bilden. Dieses sollte im Teleskop eine spezielle Energiesignatur hinterlassen, nämlich eine monoenergetische Linie bei einer Energie, die der Teilchenmasse entspricht. Diese ”smoking-gun” Signatur wird mit einer sliding window Liniensuche bei Energien < 10TeV gesucht. In der VERITAS Kollaboration werden standardm¨aßig eine Hillas-Analyse und Nachschlagetabellen aus Teilchensimulationen verwendet, um die Energie des Teilchens zu berechnen, das den Cherenkov-Schauer verursacht hat. Hier wird eine verbesserte Analysemethode verwendet. Dabei wird jeder Schauer als 3D-Gaußkurve modelliert, was die Qualität der Energierekonstruktion erheblich verbessern sollte. Dafur wurden funf elliptische Zwerggalaxien beobachtet und einzeln sowie insgesamt analysiert, insgesamt ~ 224 h Beobachtungszeit. Dabei werden zwei verschiedene Teilchensimulationsprogramme verwendet, CARE und GrISU. In dieser Arbeit wurde die Energieauflösung und die Bias-Korrektur um einige Prozent gegen¨uber der Standardanalyse verbessert. Es wurde jedoch keine signifikante Linie detektiert. Die vielversprechendste Linie befindet sich bei einer Energie von ~ 422GeV und hat einen Querschnitt von 8.10·10^−24 cm^3 s^−1 und ein Signifikanzlevel von ~ 2.73 σ bzw. 1.56σ vor bzw. nach statistischer Korrektur. Außerdem wurden obere Grenzwerte fur verschiedene Annihilierungsprozesse berechnet. Sie stimmen mit anderen aktuellen Grenzwerten überein (~ 8.56 · 10^−26 − 6.61 · 10^−23 cm^3s^−1). Zukünftig werden mehr Beobachtungsdaten und neue Teleskoparrays, wie das Cherenkov Telescope Array, CTA, mit Hilfe dieser Analysemethode bessere Ergebnisse ermöglichen. KW - Dark Matter KW - line search KW - VERITAS KW - 3D-modeling KW - Cherenkov showers KW - Dunkler Materie KW - Line Suche KW - VERITAS KW - 3D Modellierung KW - Cherenkov-Schauern Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-397670 ER - TY - THES A1 - Ehrig, Sebastian T1 - 3D curvature and its role on tissue organization N2 - Shape change is a fundamental process occurring in biological tissues during embryonic development and regeneration of tissues and organs. This process is regulated by cells that are constrained within a complex environment of biochemical and physical cues. The spatial constraint due to geometry has a determining role on tissue mechanics and the spatial distribution of force patterns that, in turn, influences the organization of the tissue structure. An understanding of the underlying principles of tissue organization may have wide consequences for the understanding of healing processes and the development of organs and, as such, is of fundamental interest for the tissue engineering community. This thesis aims to further our understanding of how the collective behaviour of cells is influenced by the 3D geometry of the environment. Previous research studying the role of geometry on tissue growth has mainly focused either on flat surfaces or on substrates where at least one of the principal curvatures is zero. In the present work, tissue growth from MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts was investigated on surfaces of controlled mean curvature. One key aspect of this thesis was the development of substrates of controlled mean curvature and their visualization in 3D. It was demonstrated that substrates of controlled mean curvature suitable for cell culture can be fabricated using liquid polymers and surface tension effects. Using these substrates, it was shown that the mean surface curvature has a strong impact on the rate of tissue growth and on the organization of the tissue structure. It was thereby not only demonstrated that the amount of tissue produced (i.e. growth rates) by the cells depends on the mean curvature of the substrate but also that the tissue surface behaves like a viscous fluid with an equilibrium shape governed by the Laplace-Young-law. It was observed that more tissue was formed on highly concave surfaces compared to flat or convex surfaces. Motivated by these observations, an analytical model was developed, where the rate of tissue growth is a function of the mean curvature, which could successfully describe the growth kinetics. This model was also able to reproduce the growth kinetics of previous experiments where tissues have been cultured in straight-sided prismatic pores. A second part of this thesis focuses on the tissue structure, which influences the mechanical properties of the mature bone tissue. Since the extracellular matrix is produced by the cells, the cell orientation has a strong impact on the direction of the tissue fibres. In addition, it was recently shown that some cell types exhibit collective alignment similar to liquid crystals. Based on this observation, a computational model of self-propelled active particles was developed to explore in an abstract manner how the collective behaviour of cells is influenced by 3D curvature. It was demonstrated that the 3D curvature has a strong impact on the self-organization of active particles and gives, therefore, first insights into the principles of self-organization of cells on curved surfaces. N2 - Formänderung ist ein fundamentaler Vorgang während der embryonalen Entwicklung und der Regeneration von Geweben und Organen. Dieser Prozess wird von Zellen reguliert die in einer komplexen Umgebung von biochemischen und physikalischen Signalen eingebettet sind. Die räumliche Begrenzung der Zellen führt dabei zu Unterschieden in der Gewebemechanik und der räumlichen Verteilung von Kräften und hat damit einen Einfluss auf die Organisation der Gewebestruktur. Ein Verständnis der Organisationsprozesse von Geweben hat weitreichende Konsequenzen im Hinblick auf das Verständnis von Heilungsprozessen und der Entwicklung von Organen bis hin zu medizinischen Anwendungen wie der Entwicklung von Implantaten. Die vorliegende Arbeit zielt auf ein besseres Verständnis wie das kollektive Verhalten von Gewebezellen von der dreidimensionalen Krümmung der Umgebung beeinflusst wird. Die bisherige Forschung war bislang limitiert auf flache Oberflächen oder auf Substrate in denen zumindest eine der beiden Hauptkrümmungen Null ist. In dieser Arbeit wurde daher das Gewebewachstum von MC3T3-E1 Pre-Osteoblasten auf Oberflächen mit konstanter mittlerer Krümmung studiert. Ein wichtiger Teil der Arbeit war die Entwicklung von Substraten mit kontrollierter mittlerer Krümmung und deren Visualisierung in 3D. Es wurde gezeigt, dass sich die Oberflächen- spannung von Polymerlösungen nutzen lässt um eben solche Substrate zu erzeugen. Mit Hilfe dieser Substrate wurde gezeigt, dass die mittlere Krümmung der Oberfläche einen entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Wachstumsrate und die Organisation der Gewebestruktur hat. Es konnte nicht nur gezeigt werden dass die Menge an gebildetem Gewebe von der mittleren Krümmung abhängig ist, sondern auch dass die Oberfläche des Gewebes sich dabei wie eine Flüssigkeit verhält und dem Laplace-Young Gesetz folgt. Es wurde beobachtet dass sich mehr Gewebe auf konkaven als auf flachen oder konvexen Oberflächen gebildet hat. Basierend auf diesen Beobachtungen wurde ein analytisches Modell entwickelt, welches die Wachstumsrate als Funktion der mittleren Krümmung beschreibt und mit Hilfe dessen sich das Gewebewachstum erfolgreich beschreiben lässt. Dieses Modell kann auch die Ergebnisse früherer Arbeiten reproduzieren, in denen Gewebe in prismatischen Poren kultiviert wurden. Ein weiterer Teil der Arbeit befasste sich mit der Struktur des Gewebes, welche einen Einfluss auf die späteren mechanischen Eigenschaften des maturierten Knochengewebes hat. Da die extrazelluläre Matrix des Gewebes von den Zellen gebildet wird, hat die Orientierung der Zellen einen entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Ausrichtung der Gewebefasern. Außerdem wurde vor kurzem gezeigt, dass sich manche Zellen wie Flüssigkristalle anordnen können. Basierend auf dieser Beobachtung wurde ein Computermodell aktiver Partikel entwickelt, mit dessen Hilfe sich der Einfluss des kollektiven Verhaltens der Zellen auf dreidimensional gekrümmten Oberflächen abstrahieren lässt. Es konnte dabei gezeigt werden, dass die dreidimensionale Krümmung einen entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Selbstorganisation dieser Partikel hat und gibt damit erste Einblicke in ein mögliches Organisationsverhalten von Zellen auf 3D Oberflächen. KW - biophysics KW - tissue engineering KW - mechanobiology Y1 - 2017 ER -