effect of methanol concentration and channel depth of bipolar plates on the performance of single direct methanol fuel cell was investigated experimentally. the membrane used in this experiment was nafion117. dimension of the single cell were 10cm 10 cm. methanol concentrations of 0.50, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0 molar were used. channel depth of the bipolar plates were chosen to be 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 mm, a...

We investigate the microscopic contact of a cell/semiconductor hybrid. The semiconductor is nanostructured with the aim of single channel recording of ion channels in cell membranes. This approach will overcome many limitations of the classical patch-clamp technique. The integration of silicon-based devices 'on-chip' promises novel types of experiments on single ion channels.

Microstructured planar substrates have been shown to be suitable for patch clamp recording from both whole cells and isolated patches of membrane, as well as for measurements from planar lipid bilayers. Here, we further explore this technology with respect to high-resolution, low noise single-channel recording. Using solvent-free lipid bilayers from giant unilamellar vesicles obtained by electr...

Although the tandem pore potassium channel TASK-3 is thought to open and shut at its selectivity filter in response to changes of extracellular pH, it is currently unknown whether the channel also shows gating at its inner, cytoplasmic mouth through movements of membrane helices M2 and M4. We used two electrode voltage clamp and single channel recording to show that TASK-3 responds to voltage i...

The NMDA ionotropic glutamate receptor is ubiquitous in mammalian central neurons. Because partial agonists bind to the same site as glutamate but induce less channel activation, these compounds provide an opportunity to probe the mechanism of activation of NMDA-type glutamate receptors. Molecular dynamics simulations and site-directed mutagenesis demonstrate that the partial agonist homoquinol...

Fetal Electrocardiogram (FECG) can provide important clinical information for the assessment of fetal well-being. However, the extraction of FECG from the maternal abdominal wall remains an open problem due to various kinds of interferences and noises, where the maternal Electrocardiogram (MECG) is the dominant source of interference. In this study, a novel FECG extraction framework by combinin...

Using single-channel recording, we have been able to obtain some insight into the molecular mechanism of a modulatory transmitter action in Aplysia sensory neurones. Our results show that serotonin produces a slow EPSP and increases action potential duration in the sensory neurones by producing prolonged closures of the S potassium channel. Such closures appear to be mediated by cyclic AMP-depe...