D-pi-A Dye System Containing Cyano-Benzoic Acid as Anchoring Group for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

A D-pi-A dye (KM-1) incorporating cyanobenzoic acid as a new acceptor/anchoring group has been synthesized for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) with a high molar extinction coefficient of 66 700 M-1 cm(-1) at 437 nm. Theoretical calculations show that the hydrogen bond between -CN and surface hydroxyl leads to the most stable configuration on the surface of TiO2. In addition, the adsorption of the dye on TiO2 follows a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) isotherm. Multilayer adsorption of KM-1 on TiO2 seems to take place particularly at higher dye concentrations. DSC device using KM-1 reached a maximum incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 84%, with a solar to electric power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.3% at AM1.5 G illumination (100 mW cm(-2)). This new type of anchoring group paves a way to light harvesting with strong binding to the metal oxide surface. design new dyes that combine good visibl

Influence of the Anchoring Modes on the Electronic and Photovoltaic Properties of D−π–A Dyes

Five new donor−π-bridge−acceptor (D−π−A) organic sensitizers with cyano and/or triple bond substituted benzoic acid as acceptor/anchoring groups were synthesized and tested for their performance in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The systematic incorporation of a cyano group on the benzoic acid anchoring part and an additional acetylene bond at the para-position to −COOH lead to a variation of the photoelectrochemical properties, electronic transitions, and device performances. Characterization of the molecular structure, the electronic/optical properties of the dyes, as well as their photovoltaic performance in DSCs was accomplished by means of electrochemistry, quantum chemical methods, and various spectroscopic techniques such as photoinduced absorption, steady-state spectroscopy, and time-resolved transient absorption studies on femto- and nanosecond time scales. Thereby, significant dependence of DSCs performances on the substituents and anchoring groups was observed. In general, cyano substituents lead to improved DSCs performances. On the other hand, the insertion of an acetylene linker in combination with a cyano group does not enhance the device efficiencies. Devices composed of a para-cyano benzoic acid as anchor revealed maximum IPCE values of 80% with a PCE of 4.50% at AM 1.5 G illumination (100 mW cm−2) due to retarded charge recombination dynamics

Effect of Extended π-Conjugation of the Donor Structure of Organic D–A−π–A Dyes on the Photovoltaic Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Two new D−A−π-spacer−A organic dyes, KM-10 and KM-11, containing a benzothiadiazole unit in a π-spacer and a cyanoacrylic acid as an acceptor have been synthesized and tested as sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells. Structural variations of the donor moiety, i.e., π-extension of the diphenylamine electron-donating groups, gave rise to different photovoltaic efficiencies –7.1% for KM-10 and 8% for KM-11– despite having comparable absorption properties. A detailed investigation, including transient photo- current and photovoltage decay measurement, transient absorption spectroscopy, and quantum chemical methods, provided important conclusions about the nature of the substitution on the photovoltaic properties of dyes

Quantitative proteomics identify Tenascin-C as a promoter of lung cancer progression and contributor to a signature prognostic of patient survival

The extracellular microenvironment is an integral component of normal and diseased tissues that is poorly understood owing to its complexity. To investigate the contribution of the microenvironment to lung fibrosis and adenocarcinoma progression, two pathologies characterized by excessive stromal expansion, we used mouse models to characterize the extracellular matrix (ECM) composition of normal lung, fibrotic lung, lung tumors, and metastases. Using quantitative proteomics, we identified and assayed the abundance of 113 ECM proteins, which revealed robust ECM protein signatures unique to fibrosis, primary tumors, or metastases. These analyses indicated significantly increased abundance of several S100 proteins, including Fibronectin and Tenascin-C (Tnc), in primary lung tumors and associated lymph node metastases compared with normal tissue. We further showed that Tnc expression is repressed by the transcription factor Nkx2-1, a well-established suppressor of metastatic progression. We found that increasing the levels of Tnc, via CRISPR-mediated transcriptional activation of the endogenous gene, enhanced the metastatic dissemination of lung adenocarcinoma cells. Interrogation of human cancer gene expression data revealed that high TNC expression correlates with worse prognosis for lung adenocarcinoma, and that a three-gene expression signature comprising TNC, S100A10, and S100A11 is a robust predictor of patient survival independent of age, sex, smoking history, and mutational load. Our findings suggest that the poorly understood ECM composition of the fibrotic and tumor microenvironment is an underexplored source of diagnostic markers and potential therapeutic targets for cancer patients

Maternal Dietary Supplementation with Oligofructose-Enriched Inulin in Gestating/Lactating Rats Preserves Maternal Bone and Improves Bone Microarchitecture in Their Offspring

This study received financial support from Abbott Nutrition, a commercial company, and coauthors PBV, MM, JMLP and RR are employees of Abbott Nutrition. There are two patents related with the data presented (EP 2502507 A1 and EP 2745706 A1).Some of these results were presented in the 7th World Congress of DOHaD (2011) and in the World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Disease (WCO-IOF-ESCEO) (2014).Nutrition during pregnancy and lactation could exert a key role not only on maternal bone, but also could influence the skeletal development of the offspring. This study was performed in rats to assess the relationship between maternal dietary intake of prebiotic oligofructose-enriched inulin and its role in bone turnover during gestation and lactation, as well as its effect on offspring peak bone mass/architecture during early adulthood. Rat dams were fed either with standard rodent diet (CC group), calcium-fortified diet (Ca group), or prebiotic oligofructose-enriched inulin supplemented diet (Pre group), during the second half of gestation and lactation. Bone mineral density (BMD) and content (BMC), as well as micro-structure of dams and offspring at different stages were analysed. Dams in the Pre group had significantly higher trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV) and smaller specific bone surface (BS/BV) of the tibia in comparison with CC dams. The Pre group offspring during early adulthood had an increase of the lumbar vertebra BMD when compared with offspring of CC and Ca groups. The Pre group offspring also showed significant increase versus CC in cancellous and cortical structural parameters of the lumbar vertebra 4 such as Tb.Th, cortical BMD and decreased BS/BV. The results indicate that oligofructose-enriched inulin supplementation can be considered as a plausible nutritional option for protecting against maternal bone loss during gestation and lactation preventing bone fragility and for optimizing peak bone mass and architecture of the offspring in order to increase bone strength.This study was funded by Abbott Nutrition R&D, and co-authors PBV, MM, JMLP and RR receive salary from Abbott Nutrition

Charge-parity symmetry observed through Friedel oscillations in chiral charge-density waves

We discovered a chiral behavior of Friedel oscillations (FOs), which have both triangular symmetry and inverse chirality from chiral charge-density waves (CDWs) in 1T-TiSe2 by using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Surprisingly, the existence of FOs with the opposite chirality to the underlying CDWs suggests that the excess electron induced by impurity reduces the local helicity of CDWs without CDW breaking. This FOs can be explained with a two-branch model with different chiralities, which permits excitation from one branch to another, that is, Dirac-type dispersion. Moreover, we found two states that correspond to electron addition and electron removal. In terms of the chirality of electrons, these two states are the same. This result provides an evidence for the charge-parity (CP) symmetry conservation in CDW systems

S100A16, a promising candidate as a prognostic marker for platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy in resected lung adenocarcinoma

Ken Katono,1 Yuichi Sato,2 Makoto Kobayashi,3 Ryo Nagashio,2 Shinichiro Ryuge,1 Satoshi Igawa,1 Masaaki Ichinoe,4 Yoshiki Murakumo,4 Makoto Saegusa,4 Noriyuki Masuda1 1Department of Respiratory Medicine, School of Medicine, 2Department of Molecular Diagnostics, School of Allied Health Sciences, 3Department of Applied Tumor Pathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 4Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Kitasato University, Minami-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan Purpose: Although cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy improves the survival of patients with resected non-small-cell lung cancer, not all patients show a survival benefit, and some patients experience severe toxicity. Therefore, identifying biomarkers is important for selecting subgroups of patients who may show improved survival with platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy. S100A16 is thought to play key roles during different steps of tumor progression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of S100A16 expression as a prognostic marker in patients with completely resected lung adenocarcinoma receiving platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: S100A16 expression was immunohistochemically studied in 65 consecutive lung adenocarcinoma patients who underwent complete resection and received platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the effect of S100A16 expression on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).Results: S100A16 expression was detected in 26 of the 65 (40.0%) lung adenocarcinoma patients. Although S100A16 expression was not correlated with DFS (P=0.062), it was significantly correlated with OS (P=0.009). In addition, multivariable analysis revealed that S100A16 expression independently predicted a poorer survival (HR =4.79; 95% CI =1.87–12.23; P=0.001). Conclusion: The present study revealed that S100A16 is a promising candidate as a prognostic marker for platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy in resected lung adenocarcinoma. A further large-scale study is needed to confirm the present results. Keywords: S100A16, lung adenocarcinoma, platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy, immunohistochemistry, prognostic marke