“…In the mixture framework extended in our recent studies 5, 35, it was assumed to a lowest-order approximation that solute diffusivity and partitioning are constant material properties in the model. However, it is known from experiments that these properties may vary significantly with solute concentration 28, 40, 44 and with gel porosity 12, 22, 28, 32, 46, 47. Indeed, osmotic loading of cells with membrane-permeant osmolytes may involve a wide range of concentrations in certain applications, ranging for example from 0 to 1.4 M 56.…”