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CMB Seminar – Emma Sorrell

October 17, 2019 | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Title: Mechanical Modeling of Cylindrical Packing and Pattern Detection as Applied to the Notochord

Abstract: The notochord, a biological structure that develops into the nucleus pulposus of intervertebral discs and is the defining feature of chordates, has inner vacuolated cells surrounded by a thin layer of epithelial cells that form a constraining sheath. These inner cells form configurations reminiscent of the phyllotactic patterns found in cylindrical foams, and the patterns are influenced by the physical properties of the sheath. We have created a novel algorithm to quantify the often irregular patterns formed by these vacuolated cells as they arrange in the notochord during morphogenesis. The application of this algorithm to zebrafish notochords reveals commonalities between notochord packing and the packing in an inert analog system, which provides justification for a mechanical model of the notochord. We present three mechanical models of foams in tubes of previously unstudied varying cross sections and varying physical properties, and we analyze the lowest-order regular patterns in these models and identify a bifurcation to a previously unidentified packing pattern.

Host: Karen Daniels

Details

Date:
October 17, 2019
Time:
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Event Category:

Venue

Riddick 314