Genomic DNA is constantly subjected to various mechanical stresses arising from its biological functions and cell packaging. If the local mechanical properties of DNA change under torsional and tensional stress, the activity of DNA-modifying proteins and transcription factors can be affected and regulated allosterically. To check this possibility, appropriate steady forces and torques were appl...

We study a variant of the classic viscous fingering instability in Hele-Shaw cells where the interface separating the fluids is elastic, and presents a curvature-dependent bending rigidity. By employing a second-order mode-coupling approach we investigate how the elastic nature of the interface influences the morphology of emerging interfacial patterns. This is done by focusing our attention on...

We study semiflexible colloidal polymers assembled from di-patch particles via critical Casimir forces. By tuning the bond strength and resulting bending rigidity with temperature, we directly observe elastic relaxation internal friction effects.

This paper numerically investigates the self-propelled swimming of a flexible filament driven by coupled pitching and plunging motions at leading edge. The influences bending rigidity some actuation parameters (including phase offset between plunging, amplitudes motions) on performance are explored. It is found that with increasing rigidity, style gradually transits from undulatory mode to osci...

Microtubules are rigid polymers that contribute to the static mechanical properties of cells. Because microtubules are dynamic structures whose polymerization is regulated during changes in cell shape, we have asked whether the mechanical properties of microtubules might also be modulated. We measured the flexural rigidity, or bending stiffness, of individual microtubules under a number of diff...

A first-order transition is numerically found in a spherical surface model with skeletons, which are linked to each other at junctions. The shape of triangulated surfaces is maintained by skeletons, which have a one-dimensional bending elasticity characterized by the bending rigidity b, and the surfaces has no two-dimensional bending elasticity except at the junctions. The surfaces swell and be...

Welding thin-plate panel structures often results in warping of the panels. Several mitigation methods, including preheating and prestressing the plates during assembly, have been investigated and used by some fabricators. This paper studies the distortion mechanisms and the effect of welding sequence on panel distortion. In this study, distortion behaviors, including local plate bending and bu...