Coulomb-blockade transport in single-crystal organic thin-film transistors

Coulomb-blockade transport--whereby the Coulomb interaction between electrons can prohibit their transport around a circuit--occurs in systems in which both the tunnel resistance, Rb between neighbouring sites is large (>h/e2) and the charging energy, E(C) (E(C) = e2/2C, where C is the capacitance of the site), of an excess electron on a site is large compared to kT. (Here e is the charge of an electron, k is Boltzmann's constant, and h is Planck's constant.) The nature of the individual sites--metallic, superconducting, semiconducting or quantum dot--is to first order irrelevant for this phenomenon to be observed. Coulomb blockade has also been observed in two-dimensional arrays of normal-metal tunnel junctions, but the relatively large capacitances of these micrometre-sized metal islands results in a small charging energy, and so the effect can be seen only at extremely low temperatures. Here we demonstrate that organic thin-film transistors based on highly ordered molecular materials can, to first order, also be considered as an array of sites separated by tunnel resistances. And as a result of the sub-nanometre sizes of the sites (the individual molecules), and hence their small capacitances, the charging energy dominates at room temperature. Conductivity measurements as a function of both gate bias and temperature reveal the presence of thermally activated transport, consistent with the conventional model of Coulomb blockade.     

Beat to beat analysis of the radiocardiogram

Zusammenfassung Ein 3-Kanal-Magnetbandgerät ist für die gleichzeitige Registrierung von Electrocardiogramm und Radiocardiogramm verwendet worden. Die Methode ermöglicht das Studium der Veränderungen des Blutvolumens des Herzens während eines Schlagcyclus. Dadurch können Schlagvolumen und Residualvolumen der beiden Herzkammern getrennt gemessen werden.     

Millennial-scale paleoceanography in Okinawa Trough during Late Quaternary period

Based on the analyses of foraminifer and accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon dating in DGKS9603 core from mid-Okinawa Trough close to bottom, oscillation curve, which expressed the relation between the surface water temperature and the depth, has been obtained by using foraminifer analysis and calculation of FP-12E transfer function. The whole core indicated seven cold phases and eight warm phases. Obvious expression of low temperature event during Middle and Late Holocene, YD,H1,H2,H3 and H4 events, as well as the short cold phase during the middle last glacial period, implied that short shifts since 50 kaBP would have been global significance. Sedimentation rate during cold phases is usually faster than that in warm stages, with the lowest rate in Holocene, which may be connected with rising sea level and principal axial of Kuroshio Current moving to west. Volcanic activities highly developed in Okinawa Trough during the Quaternary period, thus abundant volcanic glass and pumice were well preserved.     

A broad deglacial δ13C minimum event in planktonic foraminiferal records in the Okinawa Trough

The equatorial Pacific upwelling zone has been suspected of playing an important role in the global atmospheric CO2 changes associated with glacial-interglacial cycles.In order to assess the influencing scope of the surface water deglacial δ13C minimum in the tropical Iow-latitude Pacific,the core DGKS9603, collected from the middle Okinawa Trough, was examined for δ13C records of planktonic foraminifera N. dutertrei and G. ruber. The planktonic foraminiferal δ13C records show a clear decreasing event from 20 to 6 cal. kaBP., which is characterized by long duration of about 14 ka and amplitude shift of 0.4 × 10-3. Its minimum value occurred at 15.7 cai kaBP. The event shows fairly synchrony with the surface water deglacial δ13C minimum identiffed in the tropical Pacific and its marginal seas. Because there is no evidence in planktonic foraminiferal fauna and δ18O records for upwelling and river runoff enhancement,the broad deglacial δ13C minimum event in planktonic foraminiferal records revealed in core DGKS9603 might have been the direct influencing result of the deglacial surface water of the tropical Pacific. The identification for the event in the Okinawa Trough provides new evidence that the water evolution in the tropical low-latitude Pacific plays a key role in large regional, even global carbon cycle.     

Observation of a dewetting transition in the collapse of the melittin tetramer

Marked hydration changes occur during the self-assembly of the melittin protein tetramer in water. Hydrophobicity induces a drying transition in the gap between simple sufficiently large (more than 1 nm(2)) strongly hydrophobic surfaces as they approach each other, resulting in the subsequent collapse of the system, as well as a depletion of water next to single surfaces. Here we investigate whether the hydrophobic induced collapse of multidomain proteins or the formation of protein oligimers exhibits a similar drying transition. We performed computer simulations to study the collapse of the tetramer of melittin in water, and observed a marked water drying transition inside a nanoscale channel of the tetramer (with a channel size of up to two or three water-molecule diameters). This transition, although occurring on a microscopic length scale, is analogous to a first-order phase transition from liquid to vapour. We find that this drying is very sensitive to single mutations of the three isoleucines to less hydrophobic residues and that such mutations in the right locations can switch the channel from being dry to being wet. Thus, quite subtle changes in hydrophobic surface topology can profoundly influence the drying transition. We show that, even in the presence of the polar protein backbone, sufficiently hydrophobic protein surfaces can induce a liquid-vapour transition providing an enormous driving force towards further collapse. This behaviour was unexpected because of the absence of drying in the collapse of the multidomain protein 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl dioxygenase (BphC).     

The paleoclimatic events and cause in the Okinawa Trough during 50 kaBP

Planktonic foraminiferal δ ¹⁸O record for core DGKS9603 from the Okinawa Trough shows a series of climatic fluctuations and sudden cooling events in short time scale during 50 kaBP, which appear to correlate closely to the Younger Dryas and Heinrich events H1-5 recorded in Chinese loess, the South China Sea, the North Atlantic cores and the Greenland ice cores. Three polarity reversal events, correlating to Gothenburg, Mungo and Laschamp events, approximately correspond to Heinrich events H1, H3 and H5 respectively, which could be a cause of global climate changes. The δ ¹⁸O curve of the Okinawa Trough is well associated with the grain size record of the Lijiayuan loess profile in northwestern China and is somewhat different from the climate fluctuations documented in the Greenland ice cores. These correlation results indicate that regional factors play an important role in controlling the climate changes in the East Asia, and the East Asian Monsoon could be the prominent regional controlling factor.     

冲绳海槽晚第四纪千年尺度的古海洋学研究

对位于冲绳海槽中段近槽底岩芯ＤＧＫＳ９６０３有孔虫分析,ＡＭＳ＾１４Ｃ年龄测试和ＦＰ－１２Ｅ转换函数计算,获得冬季和夏季海水表面古温度随深度的变化曲线,整个岩芯可见７个冷期和８个暖期,全新世中晚期的低温事低,ＹＤ,Ｈ１,Ｈ２,Ｈ３和Ｈ４事件,以及末次冰期中的小冷期均有明显反映,说明５０ｋａＢＰ以来的短周期变冷事件很可能具有全球性意义,冷期时的沉积速率普遍大于暖期,全新世为最低,可能与海面上升,黑潮     

Probing the chemistry of thioredoxin catalysis with force

Thioredoxins are enzymes that catalyse disulphide bond reduction in all living organisms. Although catalysis is thought to proceed through a substitution nucleophilic bimolecular (S(N)2) reaction, the role of the enzyme in modulating this chemical reaction is unknown. Here, using single-molecule force-clamp spectroscopy, we investigate the catalytic mechanism of Escherichia coli thioredoxin (Trx). We applied mechanical force in the range of 25-600 pN to a disulphide bond substrate and monitored the reduction of these bonds by individual enzymes. We detected two alternative forms of the catalytic reaction, the first requiring a reorientation of the substrate disulphide bond, causing a shortening of the substrate polypeptide by 0.79 +/- 0.09 A (+/- s.e.m.), and the second elongating the substrate disulphide bond by 0.17 +/- 0.02 A (+/- s.e.m.). These results support the view that the Trx active site regulates the geometry of the participating sulphur atoms with sub-?ngstr?m precision to achieve efficient catalysis. Our results indicate that substrate conformational changes may be important in the regulation of Trx activity under conditions of oxidative stress and mechanical injury, such as those experienced in cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, single-molecule atomic force microscopy techniques, as shown here, can probe dynamic rearrangements within an enzyme's active site during catalysis that cannot be resolved with any other current structural biological technique.     

冲绳海槽5万年以来的古气候事件

冲绳海槽ＤＧＫＳ９６０３孔岩芯δ＾１８Ｏ曲线记录了５０ｋａＢＰ以来的气候波 及短尺度的古气候突变事件。这些古气候事件可以与中国西北黄土、南海与北大西洋岩芯以及格陵兰冰芯记录的ＹＤ,Ｈ１,Ｈ２,Ｈ３,Ｈ４,Ｈ５事件对比。古地磁分析的３个地球磁极倒转事件可分别与Ｇｏｔｈｅｎｂｕｒｇ Ｍｕｎｇｏ和Ｌａｓｃｈａｍｐ事件对应,并大致可与Ｈ１,Ｈ３,Ｈ５事件对应,这可能是造成全球气候变化的一个原因。冲绳海槽岩     

冲绳海槽末次冰消期浮游有孔虫δ 13C的宽幅低值事件

赤道太平洋上升流区是影响全球冰期-间冰期CO2循环的重要区域.为验证末次冰消期热带低纬度太平洋表层水的δ13C宽幅低值事件的影响范围,对取自冲绳海槽中部的DGKS9603孔浮游有孔虫N.dutertrei和 G。ruberδ13C记录进行了分析.该孔浮游有孔虫δ13C记录表明在20～6 kaBP（cal）期间出现明显的变轻事件,年代跨度较大,约为14 ka,最大变幅为0.4 × 10-3,最轻值出现在15.7kaBP（cal）左右,与识别于热带太平洋及其边缘海的表层水δ13C低值事件具有非常好的可比性.由于浮游有孔虫特征属种分布特征和δ18O记录没有上升流作用及河流注入加强的证据,因此该孔所记录的浮游有孔虫δ13C的宽幅低值事件很可能是受到热带太平洋末次冰消期表层水的影响所致.该事件在冲绳海槽的识别为热带太平洋低纬度海区的水体演化在影响大区域乃至全球碳循环变化过程中所发挥的重要作用提供了新的证据.