Single electron tunneling rates in multijunction circuits

The rate of electron tunneling through normal metal tunnel junctions is calculated for the case of ultrasmall junction capacitances. The so-called Coulomb blockade of electron tunneling at low temperatures is shown to be strongly affected by the external electrical circuit. Under the common experimental condition of a low impedance environment the Coulomb blockade is suppressed for single tunnel junctions. However, a Coulomb gap structure emerges for junctions embedded in a high impedance environment. For a double junction setup a Coulomb blockade of tunneling arises even for low impedance environments due to the charge quantization on the metallic island between the junctions. An approach using circuit analysis is presented which allows to reduce the calculation of tunneling rates in multijunction circuits to those of a single junction in series with an effective capacitance. The range of validity of the socalled local rule and global rule rates is clarified. It is found that the tunneling rate tends towards the global rule rate as the number of junctions is increased. Some specific results are given for a one-dimensional array of tunnel junctions.     

Kinetics of epidermal growth factor/receptor binding on cells measured by total internal reflection/fluorescence recovery after photobleaching

Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy is used to measure the dissociation kinetic rate of fluorescein-labeled epidermal growth factor from its specific receptors on the surface of intact but mildly fixed A431 human epidermoid cells in culture. Prior applications of TIRF microscopy have been limited to nonreceptor binding or to model membrane systems. The evanescent field excites fluorescence selectively at the surface of the cell proximal to the coverslip. Prismless epiillumination TIR is employed to avoid space limitations and is achieved by passing the excitation laser beam through a high (1.4)-aperture objective so that the light is incident at the glass/water interface beyond the critical angle. Long-term focus is maintained by a special feedback system. Of the possible effects that can influence the time course of the postbleach fluorescence recoveries—the EGF/receptor dissociation ratek ₂, the bulk solution diffusion rate of EGF, and the cell surface motion of the receptors—we infer that the dissociation ratek ₂ dominates. Several fitting schemes are compared and indicate the presence of a multiplicity of values fork ₂, ranging from about 0.05 to 0.004 s^–1, with an average value of about 0.012 s^–1. These results compare well with values previously obtained by radiolabel/washing techniques. The significance of the results in terms of kinetic models and the advantages of the TIRF technique for these sorts of measurements are discussed.     

Expanding perspectives in care of the speaking voice

The effective voice clinician has always had to borrow from various disciplines: voice science, otolaryngology, psychology, and speech-language pathology. Such eclecticism requires, however, that the clinician integrate the perspectives of these various disciplines into some kind of theoretical clinical bias. One bias might be that with greater use of instrumentation in voice therapy, the voice clinician must not substitute data collection for attending to the feelings of the patient. By using the clinical input from various disciplines, for example, voice clinicians might develop a useful clinical perspective that vocal hyperfunction is one of the primary causes of many voice disorders. Consequently, from such a clinical view might come a treatment perspective that can clearly define the problem (too much effort while speaking) and offer a rationale for voice remediation.     

Muonic x-ray intensity measurements on a highT c superconductor

Muonic x-ray spectra from the high-T _c superconductor YBa₂Cu₃O_6.95 have been measured in the superconducting and normal states. No significant differences were found between the two spectra when comparing the intensities of 27 lines.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. H. J. Mang on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Dynamics of heart rate

Heart rate oscillates on several different time scales and has long-term variability in the form of 1/f noise. The physiological control of heart rate is briefly reviewed, and several typical patterns of heart rate variability, in health and sickness, are described. Considered briefly are some possible dynamical mechanisms for heart rate variability.     

Surface energy modification by electron beam

We observe a pronounced variation of wettability properties in solid state materials induced by a low-energy electron beam. The phenomenon occurs in several stages characterized by various mechanisms. We show that for low electron doses the irradiation leads to decrease in the wetting of a dielectric surface due to induced surface electric potential. The higher electron charge leads to formation of a chemical monolayer on material’s surface. It has been found that the electron irradiation strongly modifies the surface free energy of SiO₂ by decreasing its total surface free energy value, almost twice. However, electron-induced variations of dispersive and polar components of the surface free energy are quite different and depend of incident electron charge.     

Gels and glasses in a single system: evidence for an intricate free-energy landscape of glassy materials

In the free-energy landscape picture of glassy systems, their slow dynamics is due to a complicated free-energy landscape with many local minima. We show that for a colloidal glassy material multiple paths can be taken through the free-energy landscape. The evolution of the nonergodicity parameter shows two distinct master curves that we identify as gels and glasses. We show that for a range of colloid concentrations, the transition to nonergodicity can occur in either direction (gel or glass), accompanied by "hesitations" between the two. Thus, colloidal gels and glasses are merely global free-energy minima in the same free-energy landscape, and the paths leading to these minima can be complicated.     

Sound radiation around a flying fly

Many insects produce sounds during flight. These acoustic emissions result from the oscillation of the wings in air. To date, most studies have measured the frequency characteristics of flight sounds, leaving other acoustic characteristics--and their possible biological functions--unexplored. Here, using close-range acoustic recording, we describe both the directional radiation pattern and the detailed frequency composition of the sound produced by a tethered flying (Lucilia sericata). The flapping wings produce a sound wave consisting of a series of harmonics, the first harmonic occurring around 190 Hz. In the horizontal plane of the fly, the first harmonic shows a dipolelike amplitude distribution whereas the second harmonic shows a monopolelike radiation pattern. The first frequency component is dominant in front of the fly while the second harmonic is dominant at the sides. Sound with a broad frequency content, typical of that produced by wind, is also recorded at the back of the fly. This sound qualifies as pseudo-sound and results from the vortices generated during wing kinematics. Frequency and amplitude features may be used by flies in different behavioral contexts such as sexual communication, competitive communication, or navigation within the environment.