Imaging electron wave functions of quantized energy levels in carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes provide a unique system for studying one-dimensional quantization phenomena. Scanning tunneling microscopy was used to observe the electronic wave functions that correspond to quantized energy levels in short metallic carbon nanotubes. Discrete electron waves were apparent from periodic oscillations in the differential conductance as a function of the position along the tube axis, with a period that differed from that of the atomic lattice. Wave functions could be observed for several electron states at adjacent discrete energies. The measured wavelengths are in good agreement with the calculated Fermi wavelength for armchair nanotubes.     

Stepwise quenching of exciton fluorescence in carbon nanotubes by single-molecule reactions

Single-molecule chemical reactions with individual single-walled carbon nanotubes were observed through near-infrared photoluminescence microscopy. The emission intensity within distinct submicrometer segments of single nanotubes changed in discrete steps after exposure to acid, base, or diazonium reactants. The steps were uncorrelated in space and time and reflected the quenching of mobile excitons at localized sites of reversible or irreversible chemical attack. Analysis of step amplitudes revealed an exciton diffusional range of about 90 nanometers, independent of nanotube structure. Each exciton visited about 10,000 atomic sites during its lifetime, providing highly efficient sensing of local chemical and physical perturbations.     

Identification of a neuropeptide hormone that regulates sex pheromone production in female moths

A pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN) hormone that controls sex pheromone production in female moths was identified from the brain-subesophageal ganglion complexes of the adult corn earworm, Heliothis zea. PBAN has 33 amino acid residues and a molecular weight of 3900. Its amino acid sequence has no significant homology with any of the fully characterized peptide hormones. The synthetic peptide, at a dose of between 2 and 4 picomoles, induced production of a normal quantity of sex pheromone in ligated H. zea females. The peptide also induced pheromone production in six other species of moths, thus indicating that this or similar peptides may be responsible for the regulation of pheromone production in moths.     

Self-assembled hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene graphitic nanotube

An amphiphilic hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene self-assembles to form a pi-electronic, discrete nanotubular object. The object is characterized by an aspect ratio greater than 1000 and has a uniform, 14-nanometer-wide, open-ended hollow space, which is an order of magnitude larger than those of carbon nanotubes. The wall is 3 nanometers thick and consists of helical arrays of the pi-stacked graphene molecule, whose exterior and interior surfaces are covered by hydrophilic triethylene glycol chains. The graphitic nanotube is redox active, and a single piece of the nanotube across 180-nanometer-gap electrodes shows, upon oxidation, an electrical resistance of 2.5 megohms at 285 kelvin [corrected]. This family of molecularly engineered graphite with a one-dimensional tubular shape and a chemically accessible surface constitutes an important step toward molecular electronics.     

MATERIALS SCIENCE: Putting a New Spin on Carbon Nanotubes

Nanotube fibers are expected to have a wide range of applications from energy storage to high-strength mechanical devices. But as Baughman explains in his Perspective, methods for making such fibers have been of limited success. In contrast, the process reported by Vigolo et al. shows great promise. Together with a recently reported, more economically viable nanotube production process, this method may open the door to large-scale devices and materials based on carbon nanotubes.     

基于全基因组序列预测里氏木霉QM6a的分泌蛋白

里氏木霉(Trichoderma reesei)QM6a为重要的产纤维素酶工业生产菌株,为明确其内存在的分泌蛋白,对该菌分泌蛋白进行预测,并明确其特征。利用SignalP、ProtComp等5个软件对该菌中9 143条蛋白质序列进行分泌蛋白预测,并对上述分泌蛋白的氨基酸大小分布情况、信号肽长度及其切割位点等性质进行分析。里氏木霉中含有分泌蛋白356个,其氨基酸长度、信号肽长度与其他植物病原菌不同;信号肽切割位点属于A-X-A类型,与其他已经报道的植物病原真菌、细菌以及卵菌中分泌蛋白信号肽切割位点一致。通过上述生物信息学分析方法有效地实现了里氏木霉分泌蛋白的预测,也证明了分泌蛋白的信号肽切割位点具有物种保守性特点。     

Synthetic amphiphilic peptide models for protein ion channels

Ion channel proteins are important for the conduction of ions across biological membranes. Recent analyses of their sequences have suggested that they are composed of bundles of alpha-helices that associate to form ion-conducting channels. To gain insight into the mechanisms by which alpha-helices can aggregate and conduct ions, three model peptides containing only leucine and serine residues were synthesized and characterized. A 21-residue peptide, H2N-(Leu-Ser-Ser-Leu-Leu-Ser-Leu)3-CONH2, which was designed to be a membrane-spanning amphiphilic alpha-helix, formed well-defined ion channels with ion permeability and lifetime characteristics resembling the acetylcholine receptor. In contrast, a 14-residue version of this peptide, which was too short to span the phospolipid bilayer as an alpha-helix, failed to form discrete, stable channels. A third peptide, H2N-(Leu-Ser-Leu-Leu-Leu-Ser-Leu)3-CONH2, in which one serine per heptad repeat was replaced by leucine, produced proton-selective channels. Computer graphics and energy minimization were used to create molecular models that were consistent with the observed properties of the channels.     

抗菌肽作用机制及其在畜禽养殖中应用

抗菌肽又称宿主防御肽,是一种具有广谱抗菌活性小肽类物质,是生物先天免疫系统的重要组成部分。抗菌肽具有抗细菌,抗真菌、抗寄生虫、抗病毒、抗癌细胞和免疫调节等功能,与抗生素作用机制不同,不易产生耐药性,有望成为抗生素替代品,在畜禽生产中应用广泛。文章综述抗菌肽作用机制及其在畜牧养殖中的应用,初步探讨抗菌肽作为抗生素替代物的应用前景。     

大豆肽液体发酵工艺的响应面优化

[目的]利用Minitab软件优化大豆肽发酵条件,为液体发酵法生产大豆肽提供参考。[方法]采用Plackett-Burman试验设计法,对影响芽孢杆菌y-6发酵豆粕产大豆肽的主要影响因子进行了筛选;采用Box-Behnken试验设计法对发酵条件进行优化,得到大豆肽转化率的数学模型,通过对该模型求解,得最佳发酵条件。[结果]Plackett-Burman试验表明,影响大豆肽转化率的主要因子为接种量、发酵温度、摇床转速;Box-Behnken试验得最佳发酵条件:接种量为6.3%,发酵温度为39.89℃,摇床转速为187 r/min。优化发酵参数后,大豆肽的转化率由最初的63.70%提高到了78.15%。[结论]响应面分析法有效地提高了大豆肽的制取率。     

大豆肽饲料的营养特点及其在畜禽生产中的应用

大豆肽是大豆蛋白质的水解产物,主要功能性营养物质包括:多肽、寡肽、游离氨基酸和糖类,其相对分子质量低,易于消化吸收。丰富的小肽能调节矿物质、脂类代谢,降低胆固醇,提高免疫力。文章综述了大豆肽的饲料营养特点、制备工艺及在畜禽生产中的应用。     

Cell lineage analysis by intracellular injection of fluorescent tracers

Cell lineages during development of the leech are revealed by injection of a fluorescent peptide, rhodamine-D-peptide, into identified embryonic cells. Use of this peptide together with a nuclear stain showed a stereotypic cleavage pattern of stem cells and their progeny. Combined injection of rhodamine-D-peptide and pronase demonstrated the arrest of stem cell production in the pronase-injected teloblast.     

酶法制备活性肽的讨论

酶解蛋白质产生的短肽混合物中,一些肽段不仅提供营养,而且具有特殊生理功 能,称为活性肽。目前,由于蛋白酶解制备法可实现规模化大生产,活性肽的主要生产方法是酶 法制备活性肽。本文讨论了酶法制备活性肽工艺流程的主要步骤,判定酶解效果的指标,酶的 选用,酶解各种影响因素如温度、酸度、加酶量、底物浓度、水解时间等对应参数的确定。对当前 存在的问题提出了理论上的的解决方法,并对在新的技术背景下,如何更高效率地生产活性肽 进行了展望。     

Macroscopic fibers and ribbons of oriented carbon nanotubes

A simple method was used to assemble single-walled carbon nanotubes into indefinitely long ribbons and fibers. The processing consists of dispersing the nanotubes in surfactant solutions, recondensing the nanotubes in the flow of a polymer solution to form a nanotube mesh, and then collating this mesh to a nanotube fiber. Flow-induced alignment may lead to a preferential orientation of the nanotubes in the mesh that has the form of a ribbon. Unlike classical carbon fibers, the nanotube fibers can be strongly bent without breaking. Their obtained elastic modulus is 10 times higher than the modulus of high-quality bucky paper.     

Selective etching of metallic carbon nanotubes by gas-phase reaction

Metallic and semiconducting carbon nanotubes generally coexist in as-grown materials. We present a gas-phase plasma hydrocarbonation reaction to selectively etch and gasify metallic nanotubes, retaining the semiconducting nanotubes in near-pristine form. With this process, 100% of purely semiconducting nanotubes were obtained and connected in parallel for high-current transistors. The diameter- and metallicity-dependent "dry" chemical etching approach is scalable and compatible with existing semiconductor processing for future integrated circuits.     

Optical spectroscopy of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes of defined chiral structure

We simultaneously determined the physical structure and optical transition energies of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes by combining electron diffraction with Rayleigh scattering spectroscopy. These results test fundamental features of the excited electronic states of carbon nanotubes. We directly verified the systematic changes in transition energies of semiconducting nanotubes as a function of their chirality and observed predicted energy splittings of optical transitions in metallic nanotubes.     

Band gap fluorescence from individual single-walled carbon nanotubes

Fluorescence has been observed directly across the band gap of semiconducting carbon nanotubes. We obtained individual nanotubes, each encased in a cylindrical micelle, by ultrasonically agitating an aqueous dispersion of raw single-walled carbon nanotubes in sodium dodecyl sulfate and then centrifuging to remove tube bundles, ropes, and residual catalyst. Aggregation of nanotubes into bundles otherwise quenches the fluorescence through interactions with metallic tubes and substantially broadens the absorption spectra. At pH less than 5, the absorption and emission spectra of individual nanotubes show evidence of band gap-selective protonation of the side walls of the tube. This protonation is readily reversed by treatment with base or ultraviolet light.     

大豆多肽制备中蛋白酶的选择

对酶解法制备大豆多肽中不同来源蛋白酶的价格、酶解工艺、产品特性等进行了比较,指出了微生物蛋白酶作为制备大豆多肽用酶的优越性,分析了目前大豆多肽研究中存在的一些问题,并针对存在的问题提出了几点建议.     

基于MES的农机制造业物料管理系统研究

农机制造企业属于典型的需求驱动的离散型制造企业,具有产品结构复杂、不确定因素多、交货期严格、生产计划复杂、物料需求计划多变等特点.结合制造业信息化,以农机产品的生产过程为例,以多品种小批量生产模式下的装配生产MES中的物料管理为研究对象,提出了相应的物料管理模型,研究了在制品的跟踪与管理,开发了基于MES的物料管理信息系统,旨在搭建物料库存与车间生产及管理者之间的桥梁,及时进行信息的追踪与反馈,提高整个生产运作的效率.     

Energy gaps in "metallic" single-walled carbon nanotubes

Metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes have been proposed to be good one-dimensional conductors. However, the finite curvature of the graphene sheet that forms the nanotubes and the broken symmetry due to the local environment may modify their electronic properties. We used low-temperature atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy to investigate zigzag and armchair nanotubes, both thought to be metallic. "Metallic" zigzag nanotubes were found to have energy gaps with magnitudes that depend inversely on the square of the tube radius, whereas isolated armchair tubes do not have energy gaps. Additionally, armchair nanotubes packed in bundles have pseudogaps, which exhibit an inverse dependence on tube radius. These observed energy gaps suggest that most "metallic" single-walled nanotubes are not true metals, and they have implications for our understanding of the electronic properties and potential applications of carbon nanotubes.