Coppola, Simone (2021) Microswimmer navigation in external fields. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

We characterize the behaviour of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and ram sperm when they navigate through sharp viscosity gradients, showing that the swimming gait plays a key role in determining how a microswimmer is affected when crossing the interface between the two media.

In addition to that, we investigate how the temperature of the surrounding environment affects the motility of bull sperm, revealing a previously unreported phenomenon at high temperatures. We also study the thermotactic behaviour of bull sperm through the use of microfluidics, showing results in line with others published for different mammalian cells.

Lastly, we develop microfluidics devices which allow to control the swimming direction of bacteria and concentrate them in a specific region, using experiments and simulations to guide the design process and identify how to obtain the best results from bacteria rectification devices.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	Q Science > QC Physics Q Science > QK Botany Q Science > QP Physiology T Technology > TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Spermatozoa -- Motility, Spermatozoa -- Motility -- Effect of temperature on, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Viscosity, Microfluidic devices
Official Date:	December 2021
Dates:	Date Event December 2021 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Physics
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Kantsler, Vasily
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	x, 94 leaves : illustrations
Language:	eng

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