When a strong electric field pulse of a few microseconds is applied to biological cells, small pores are formed in the cell membranes; this process is called electroporation. At high field strengths and/or long pulse durations the membranes will be damaged permanently. This eventually leads to cell kill. We have developed a modified flow cytometer in which one can electroporate individual cells...

Electric pulses applied to fluid phospholipid vesicles deform them and can induce the formation of pores, which reseal after the end of the pulse. The mechanical and rheological properties of membranes in the gel phase differ significantly from those of fluid membranes, thus a difference in the vesicle behavior in electric fields is expected. However, studies addressing this problem are scarce....

Nature is replete with predator venoms that immobilize prey by targeting ion channels. Electric eels (Electrophorus electricus) take a different tactic to accomplish the same end. Striking eels emit electricity in volleys of 1 ms, high-voltage pulses. Each pulse is capable of activating prey motor neuron efferents, and hence muscles. In a typical attack, eel discharges cause brief, immobilizing...

We theoretically study time delays obtained using the attosecond-streaking technique. To this end, we compute time delays by numerically solving the corresponding time-dependent Schrödinger equation and analyze the delays using two classical methods, namely, a perturbative approach and a full numerical solution of Newton’s equation describing the motion of the photoelectron in the continuum. A ...

Nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEF) induce apoptotic pathways in human cancer cells. The potential therapeutic effective of nsPEF has been reported in cell lines and in xenograft animal tumor model. The present study investigated the ability of nsPEF to cause cancer cell death in vivo using carcinogen-induced animal tumor model, and the pulse duration of nsPEF was only 7 and 14 nano secon...

The effect of the application of pulsed electric fields to potato tissue on the diffusion of the fluorescent dye FM1-43 through the cell wall was studied. Potato tissue was subjected to field strengths ranging from 30 to 500 V/cm, with one 1 ms rectangular pulse, before application of FM1-43 and microscopic examination. Our results show a slower diffusion of FM1-43 in the electropulsed tissue w...

Experiments have been conducted on a dual electric grid thermionic device to investigate an alternative method of space charge mitigation in a thermionic energy convertor (TEC). Two electric grids, the attractor and deflector grids, provide opposing electric fields to overcome space charge while minimizing power losses to the attractor grid. Electron beams are formed in the electrode gap provid...

Understanding fixed motor pattern diversity across related species provides a window for exploring the evolution of their underlying neural mechanisms. The electric organ discharges of weakly electric fishes offer several advantages as paradigmatic models for investigating how a neural decision is transformed into a spatiotemporal pattern of action. Here, we compared the far fields, the near fi...

One manifestation of energetic particle acceleration during magnetospheric substorms is the sudden appearance of particle injections into the inner magnetosphere, often observed near geosynchronous orbit. Injections that show simultaneous flux increases in all energy ranges of a detector are called dispersionless injections, and are most often observed in a narrow region around local midnight. ...