Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) possess extraordinary mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties due to their atomically perfect structure and sp2-hybridization. Recently, Single-wall CNTs (SWCNTs) have become an interesting host for the nanoscale confinement of fluids, with a wealth of surprising phenomena appearing: spontaneous filling, frictionless mass transport, unusual phase diagram, etc[1]. Most of these phenomena are still under debate and call for experimental confirmation. But the field is struggling with finding experimental approaches sensitive enough to carry out measurements at the level of individual nanotubes. SWCNT field effect transistors (SWCNT-FETs) showed that the electronic properties of SWCNTs are sensitive to their diameter, defects, doping, adsorbates, and environment [2], [3].In this contribution, we demonstrate that individual carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNTFET) are excellent tools for this aim, for the first time allowing to precisely identify water confined inside the nanotube. By studying the electrical performances of several unopened and opened CNTFETs submitted to various atmosphere and temperature treatments, i.e. dry air, humidity, secondary vacuum, and current annealing, we show that it is possible to distinguish water being outside and inside the nanotube, just outside, or the nanotube free from water. We thus observed that for opened SWCNT both secondary vacuum and current annealing move threshold gate voltage towards more negative values, while for closed SWCNT secondary vacuum had no effect compared to current annealing. To sum up, the current annealing treatment is essential to distinguish water adsorbed outside from water confined inside. We show that this behavior is universal, as all devices' metallicities behave similarly, provided that the surface of the nanotube is pre-cleaned by current annealing. We will also discuss the mechanisms behind the coupling of electronic transport and the presence of water.Our results open up the possibility to use CNTFET for instance reliable, selective, and sensitive chemical and biological sensors, and also, to resolve the long-standing questions in the nanofluidic community about the behavior of water under nanoscale confinement.Reference:[1] T. A. Pascal, W. A. Goddard, and Y. Jung, “Entropy and the driving force for the filling of carbon nanotubes with water,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., vol. 108, no. 29, pp. 11794–11798, 2011, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1108073108.[2] D. Cao et al., “Electronic sensitivity of carbon nanotubes to internal water wetting,” ACS Nano, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 3113–3119, 2011, DOI: 10.1021/nn200251z.[3] I. Heller, A. M. Janssens, J. Männik, E. D. Minot, S. G. Lemay, and C. Dekker, “Identifying the mechanism of biosensing with carbon nanotube transistors,” Nano Lett., vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 591–595, 2008, DOI: 10.1021/nl072996i.

The growth and composition of fleshy fruits depend on resource acquisition and distribution in the plant. In tomato, the pedicel serves as the final connection between plant and fruit. However, very few quantitative data are available for the conducting tissues of the pedicel, nor is their genetic variability known. In the present study, a histological approach was combined with process-based modeling to evaluate the potential contribution made by the anatomy and histology of the pedicel to variations in fruit mass. Eleven genotypes were characterized and the impact of water deficit was studied for a single genotype using stress intensity and stage of application as variables. The results highlighted extensive variations in the relative proportions of the different pedicel tissues and in the absolute areas of xylem and phloem between genotypes. The model suggests that the variations in the area of the pedicel's vascular tissues induced by differences in genotype and water-deficit environments partly contributed to fruit mass variability. They therefore warrant phenotyping for use in the development of plant strains adapted to future environmental constraints. The results also demonstrated the need to develop non-invasive in vivo measurement methods to establish the number and size of active vessels and the flow rates in these vessels to improve prediction of water fluxes in plant architecture.