TY - JOUR A1 - Li, Yongge A1 - Mei, Ruoxing A1 - Xu, Yong A1 - Kurths, Jürgen A1 - Duan, Jinqiao A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Particle dynamics and transport enhancement in a confined channel with position-dependent diffusivity JF - New Journal of Physics N2 - This work focuses on the dynamics of particles in a confined geometry with position-dependent diffusivity, where the confinement is modelled by a periodic channel consisting of unit cells connected by narrow passage ways. We consider three functional forms for the diffusivity, corresponding to the scenarios of a constant (D ₀), as well as a low (D ₘ) and a high (D d) mobility diffusion in cell centre of the longitudinally symmetric cells. Due to the interaction among the diffusivity, channel shape and external force, the system exhibits complex and interesting phenomena. By calculating the probability density function, mean velocity and mean first exit time with the Itô calculus form, we find that in the absence of external forces the diffusivity D d will redistribute particles near the channel wall, while the diffusivity D ₘ will trap them near the cell centre. The superposition of external forces will break their static distributions. Besides, our results demonstrate that for the diffusivity D d, a high dependence on the x coordinate (parallel with the central channel line) will improve the mean velocity of the particles. In contrast, for the diffusivity D ₘ, a weak dependence on the x coordinate will dramatically accelerate the moving speed. In addition, it shows that a large external force can weaken the influences of different diffusivities; inversely, for a small external force, the types of diffusivity affect significantly the particle dynamics. In practice, one can apply these results to achieve a prominent enhancement of the particle transport in two- or three-dimensional channels by modulating the local tracer diffusivity via an engineered gel of varying porosity or by adding a cold tube to cool down the diffusivity along the central line, which may be a relevant effect in engineering applications. Effects of different stochastic calculi in the evaluation of the underlying multiplicative stochastic equation for different physical scenarios are discussed. KW - diffusion KW - channel KW - space-dependent diffusivity Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ab81b9 SN - 1367-2630 VL - 22 PB - Dt. Physikalische Ges. CY - Bad Honnef ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lucia Gomez-Porras, Judith A1 - Mauricio Riano-Pachon, Diego A1 - Benito, Begona A1 - Haro, Rosario A1 - Sklodowski, Kamil A1 - Rodriguez-Navarro, Alonso A1 - Dreyer, Ingo T1 - Phylogenetic analysis of K+ transporters in bryophytes, lycophytes, and flowering plants indicates a specialization of vascular plants JF - Frontiers in plant science N2 - As heritage from early evolution, potassium (K+) is absolutely necessary for all living cells. It plays significant roles as stabilizer in metabolism and is important for enzyme activation, stabilization of protein synthesis, and neutralization of negative charges on cellular molecules as proteins and nucleic acids. Land plants even enlarged this spectrum of K+ utilization after having gone ashore, despite the fact that K+ is far less available in their new oligotrophic habitats than in sea water. Inevitably, plant cells had to improve and to develop unique transport systems for K+ accumulation and distribution. In the past two decades a manifold of K+ transporters from flowering plants has been identified at the molecular level. The recently published genome of the fern ally Selaginella moellendorffii now helps in providing a better understanding on the molecular changes involved in the colonization of land and the development of the vasculature and the seeds. In this article we present an inventory of K+ transporters of this lycophyte and pigeonhole them together with their relatives from the moss Physcomitrella patens, the monocotyledon Oryza sativa, and two dicotyledonous species, the herbaceous plant Arabidopsis thaliana, and the tree Populus trichocarpa. Interestingly, the transition of green plants from an aqueous to a dry environment coincides with a dramatic reduction in the diversity of voltage-gated potassium channels followed by a diversification on the basis of one surviving K+ channel class. The first appearance of K+ release (K-out) channels in S. moellendorffii that were shown in Arabidopsis to be involved in xylem loading and guard cell closure coincides with the specialization of vascular plants and may indicate an important adaptive step. KW - potassium KW - transport KW - channel KW - voltage-dependent KW - voltage-independent KW - high-affinity KW - Selaginella Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2012.00167 SN - 1664-462X VL - 3 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER -