Equilibrium shape of liquid lenses and correlations of beating cilia on the surface of frog embryos

This thesis reports the results of two unrelated projects: liquid lenses and cilia motion. A liquid lens is the equilibrium configuration of a non-wetting 3-fluid system, and the profile of the 3 interfaces can, in principle, be determined by solving the Young-Laplace differential equation for each interface if the surface tensions of all three interfaces are accurately known. Fluid interfacial tensions are not tabulated and are spectacularly sensitive to impurities, so in practice these quantities must be measured. We have developed a method of measuring these parameters by comparing the observed shape of liquid lenses to calculated equilibrium shapes. We have experimentally studied lenses of alkanes floating on water. These results were compared with various liquid lens systems. The profile of these lens systems was measured using ray tracing and Morie imaging, and found to be in excellent agreement with the calculated lens shapes for pure fluids. Upon the introduction of a surfactant, dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide(DTAB), we find that there is a minimum in the dihedral angle of the lens as a function of surfactant concentration, corresponding to the transition from partial-wetting to pseudo-partial wetting.;The development and orientation of ciliated cells on Xenopus laevis larval skin was examined using high speed video microscopy. The intercellular orientation of wild-type, dominant negative mutants, and Vangl2MO morpholinos was studied by scoring the beating direction of ciliated cells and measuring the correlation with nearest neighbors. No significant difference between the mutant and wild type was found. Time lapse videos of developing cilia indicate that intracellular ordering is non-existent in early development, with ordering occurring by maturity. Further work needs to be done to determine what role fluid flow plays in that ordering.