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Thermoelectric Properties of Fe0.2Co3.8Sb12-xTex ... - Physics

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Title : Measurement <strong>of</strong> Forces applied by C. elegans moving on Agarose surfaces.<br />

Authors: Siddharth Madhav Khare*, Pr<strong>of</strong>. V. Venkataraman*, Pr<strong>of</strong>. Sandhya P. Koushika#<br />

* Department <strong>of</strong> <strong>Physics</strong>, IISc Bangalore #TIFR, Mumbai<br />

Abstract:<br />

The technique <strong>of</strong> using flexible micropillars as force sensors has already been used to probe a<br />

wide range <strong>of</strong> forces in the range <strong>of</strong> piconewtons to micronewtons. Micro-pillars made <strong>of</strong> SU8<br />

have been used by Doll et. al. 1 to measure force exerted by C. elegans moving on agar pieces.<br />

Force pattern <strong>of</strong> moving C. elegans using poly Dimethyl Siloxane(PDMS) pillar arrays has been<br />

recorded by A. Ghanbari et.al. 2<br />

In the present work we use a similar technique. We fabricate micropillars <strong>of</strong> PDMS using<br />

photolithography on SU8 followed by replica molding. Pillar height is maintained at<br />

134(±10.78)µm and diameter is maintained at 48(±1.73) µm. Inter pillar distance is 50µm.<br />

Stiffness <strong>of</strong> the pillar is calculated to be 1.01µN/µm. 2 Force patterns <strong>of</strong> C. elegans wild type and<br />

touch defective animals have been recorded. Our device geometry is simple to fabricate, easy to<br />

handle and easy to use. We are attempting to determine whether different mutants <strong>of</strong> C. elegans<br />

generate different forces during locomotion. C. elegans strains N2 have been shown to move<br />

faster than mec-4(e1339) and mec-10(e1515) in periodic agar structures by Park et.al. 4<br />

Our device is capable <strong>of</strong> combining force measurement with the artificial soil like environment. 3<br />

References:<br />

1. Joseph C. Doll, Nahid Harjee, Nathan Klejwa, Ronald Kwon, Sarah M. Coulthard, Bryan Petzold, Miriam<br />

B. Goodman and Beth L. Pruitt, Lab Chip, 2009, 9, 1449–1454<br />

2. Ali Ghanbari, Volker Nock, Shazlina Johari, Richard Blaikie, XiaoQi Chen and WenhuiWang, J.<br />

Micromech. Microeng. 22(2012) 095009<br />

3. S. R. Lockery, K. J. Lawton, J. C. Doll, S. Faumont, S. M. Coulthard, T. R. Thiele, N. Chronis, K. E.<br />

McCormick, M. B. Goodman, and B. L. Pruitt, J Neurophysiol 99: 3136–3143, 2008.<br />

4. Sungsu Park, Hyejin Hwang, Seong-Won Nam, Fernando Martinez, Robert H. Austin, William S. Ryu,<br />

PLoS ONE 3(6): e2550. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002550

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