CrossRefPubMed 17. Segarra G, Casanova E, Bellido D, Odena MA, Oliveira E, Trillas I: Proteome, salicylic acid, and jasmonic acid changes in cucumber plants inoculated with Trichoderma asperellum strain T34. Proteomics 2007, 7:3943–52.CrossRefPubMed 18. Shoresh M, Harman GE: The molecular basis of shoot responses of maize seedlings to Trichoderma harzianum T22 inoculation of the root: a proteomic approach. Plant Physiol 2008, 147:2147–63.CrossRefPubMed 19. Breakspear A, Momany M: The first fifty microarray

studies in filamentous fungi. Microbiology 2007, 153:7–15.CrossRefPubMed 20. Martínez D, Berka RM, Henrissat B, Saloheimo M, Arvas M, Baker SE, Chapman J, Chertkov O, Coutinho PM, Cullen D, Danchin EG, Grigoriev IV, Harris P, selleck compound Jackson M, Kubicek CP, Han CS, Ho I, Larrondo LF, de Leon AL, Magnuson JK, Merino S, Misra M, Nelson B, Putnam N, Robbertse B, Salamov AA, Schmoll M, Terry A, Thayer N, Westerholm-Parvinen A, Schoch CL, Yao J, Barabote R, Nelson MA, Detter C, Bruce D, Kuske CR, Xie G, Richardson P, Rokhsar DS, Lucas SM, Rubin EM, Dunn-Coleman N, Ward M, Brettin TS: Genome sequencing and analysis of the biomass-degrading fungus Trichoderma reesei (syn. Hypocrea

jecorina ). Nat Biotechnol 2008, 26:553–60.CrossRefPubMed 21. JGI Trichoderma atroviride v1.0[http://​genome.​jgi-psf.​org/​Triat1/​Triat1.​home.​html] 22. JGI Trichoderma virens v1.0[http://​genome.​jgi-psf.​org/​Trive1/​Trive1.​home.​html] 23. Vizcaíno JA, González FJ, Suárez MB, Redondo J, Heinrich J, Delgado-Jarana J, Hermosa R, Gutiérrez Selleckchem Luminespib S, Monte E, Llobell A, Rey M: Generation, annotation and analysis of ESTs from Trichoderma harzianum CECT 2413. BMC Genomics 2006, 7:193.CrossRefPubMed

24. Rey M, Llobell A, Monte E, Scala F, Lorito M, Monte E: Genomics of Trichoderma. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol Elsevier, Amsterdam 2007, 4:225–248. Fungal Genomics 25. Rey M, Llobell A, Monte E, Lorito M: Genomics of Trichoderma. Appl Micol & Biotechnol 2004, 4:225–248.CrossRef RAS p21 protein activator 1 26. Suárez MB, Vizcaíno JA, Llobell A, Monte E: Characterization of genes encoding novel peptidases in the biocontrol fungus Trichoderma harzianum CECT 2413 using the TrichoEST functional genomics approach. Curr Genet 2007, 51:331–42.CrossRefPubMed 27. Gotz S, García-Gómez JM, Terol J, Williams TD, Nagaraj SH, Nueda MJ, Robles M, Talon M, Dopazo J, Conesa A: High-throughput functional annotation and data mining with the Blast2GO suite. Nucleic Acids Res 2008, 36:3420–35.CrossRefPubMed 28. Gowda M, Venu RC, Raghupathy MB, Nobuta K, Li H, Wing R, Stahlberg E, Couglan S, Haudenschild CD, Dean R, Nahm BH, Meyers BC, Wang GL: Deep and comparative analysis of the mycelium and appressorium transcriptomes of Magnaporthe grisea using MPSS, RL-SAGE, and oligoarray methods. BMC Genomics 2006, 7:310.CrossRefPubMed 29. Djonovic S, Pozo MJ, Dangott LJ, Howell CR, Kenerley CM: Sm1, a proteinaceous elicitor secreted by the biocontrol fungus Trichoderma virens induces plant defense responses and systemic resistance.

These studies clearly reflect some of the emerging health topics of concern in other developed Western countries. In brief, the studies presented here illustrate how family therapy research and practice may constitute an effective tool to address important psychosocial 4SC-202 ic50 variables

in a variety of relational and medical contexts. The lead article, “Congruence of the Marital Relationship during Transition to Parenthood: A Study with Couples who Conceived Spontaneously or through Assisted Reproductive Technologies” by Sofia Gameiro, Mariana Moura-Ramos, Maria Cristina Canavarro, Teresa Almeida-Santos and Frank Dattilio, addresses the marital relationship and satisfaction in couples conceiving through assisted technologies. This is a very recent medical procedure that was legislated in Portugal in 2006, and has been, or will be soon available in most developed Western countries. The second article, “Ecological Contexts in Adolescent Pregnancy: The Role of Individual, Sociodemographic, Familial and Relational Variables in Understanding Risk of Occurrence and Adjustment” by Anabela Pedrosa, Raquel Pires, Paula Carvalho, Maria Cristina Canavarro and Frank

Dattilio, addresses 3-Methyladenine cell line the adjustment of adolescent mothers in relation to their family and social contexts. Portugal has systematically reported elevated rates of teenage pregnancy, which are also

observable (though in much higher incidences) in the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as in some of the most recently created European nations (i.e., Slovakia, Estonia, Hungary). This is followed by the article titled “Amniocentesis Due to Advanced Maternal Age: The Role of Marital Intimacy in Couples Decision-Making Process” by Bárbara Nazaré, Ana Fonseca, Sofia Gameiro, Maria Cristina Canavarro and Frank Dattilio, which focuses on couple functioning in situations of Amino acid late pregnancy, whose prevalence tends to increase in modern societies where financial achievement and work production assume significant proportions. An additional study, “Couple-Focused Interventions for HIV-Serodiscordant Couples during Transition to Motherhood” by Marco Pereira, Frank Dattilio, Maria Cristina Canavarro and Isabel Narciso, addresses therapeutic couple-focused strategies that may be outlined for serodiscordant spouses facing immediate reproductive decisions and a number of future uncertainties following the diagnosis of HIV infection in women during prenatal examinations. This is one of the most common situations in contemporary society in which a woman becomes aware of an HIV condition.

5 cm wide Collins speculum. If introduction of this speculum was judged impossible or if the patient indicated that introduction was too painful, a more slender (2 cm wide) speculum was used. The speculum was only minimally lubricated with a few drops of sterile water. We refrained deliberately from the see more use of anything other than sterile water in order to avoid interference with the vaginal microflora. With the speculum in place, a cotton-tipped swab was rolled around against the mid-portion of one lateral wall to obtain a vaginal smear. The swab was then immediately smeared on a plain glass slide and allowed to dry at room temperature. A second

sterile swab for culture and molecular analysis was rolled around against the same lateral wall of the mid-portion of the vagina and then placed into liquid Amies find more transport medium (Eswab, Nuova Aptaca, Canelli, Italy) and processed at the laboratory within 4 hours. Two commercial (nitrazine) pH strips were used to assess the pH of the neo-vagina: one with pH range from 1 to 10 (with accuracy of 1.0) and another one with pH range from 4 to 7 (with accuracy of 0.1) (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany). These strips were placed against the vaginal wall

until sufficiently moistened and compared with the manufacturer’s standard by a single observer (SW). In one patient insertion of the speculum was impossible due to an almost complete obliteration of the vagina. In this patient all vaginal swabs and pH-strips were taken superficially at the “”introitus”". Chlamydia was determined on a urine sample using a commercial real time PCR assay (Abbott RealTime CT, Abbott Laboratories, Illinois, US). After completion of the study, we were left with some additional questions which we thought might be of Urease influence on the vaginal microflora. Therefore the patients were sent an additional questionnaire in which they were asked about the regular use of vaginal hygiene products (once a month or more) and about

the presence of bad-smelling vaginal discharge (once a month or more). Staining of slides Smears were Gram stained (Mirastainer, Merck-Belgolabo, Overijse, Belgium) and examined under oil immersion at a magnification of 1000 by a single observer (GC). Culture and identification of cultured isolates by tDNA-PCR For the first 30 women, 100 μl of liquid Amies transport medium was streaked onto 5 different agar plates upon arrival at the microbiology laboratory. The culture medium for recovering aerobic bacteria was Tryptic Soy Agar supplemented with 5% sheep blood (Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, NJ). Staphylococci were recovered on Mannitol Salt Agar (Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, NJ). Both media were incubated aerobically at 37°C for 24 h. The culture medium for cultivation of anaerobic bacteria was Columbia based agar with 5% sheep blood (Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, NJ). MRS agar plates (Oxoid, Hampshire, UK) were used for the culture of lactobacilli.

Nat Photonics 2012, 6:115–120.CrossRef 5. Zou JY, Yip HL, Zhang Y, Gao Y, Chien SC, O’Malley K, Chueh CC, Chen HZ, Jen AKY: High-performance inverted polymer solar cells: device characterization, optical modeling, and hole-transporting modifications. Adv Funct Mater 2012,22(13):2804–2811.CrossRef 6. Park SH, Roy A, Beaupre S, Cho S, Coates N, Moon JS, Moses D, Leclerc M, Lee K, Heeger AJ: Bulk heterojunction solar cells with internal

quantum efficiency Selleck JPH203 approaching 100%. Nat Photon 2009, 3:297–302.CrossRef 7. Hau SK, Yip HL, Acton O, Baek NS, Ma H, Jen AKY: Interfacial modification to improve inverted polymer solar cells. J Mater Chem 2008, 18:5113–5119.CrossRef 8. Lin ZH, Jiang CY, Zhu CX, Zhang J: Development of inverted organic solar cells with TiO 2 interface layer by using low-temperature atomic layer deposition. Acs Appl Mater Inter 2013, 5:713–718.CrossRef 9. Shim JW, Cheun H, Dindar A, Kim Y, Zhou YH: Indium tin oxide modified by titanium dioxide nanoparticles dispersed in poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) for use as an electron-collecting layer in organic solar cells with an inverted structure. J Mater Res 2013, 28:535–540.CrossRef

10. Ornek O: The effect of TiO 2 layer annealing medium on efficiency in solar cells in inverted structure prepared by TiO 2 . Ener Educ Sci Tech-A 2012, 30:97–102. 11. Tao C, Ruan S, Xie G, Kong X, Shen L, Meng F, Liu C, Zhang X, Dong selleck compound W, Chen W: Role of tungsten oxide in inverted polymer solar cells. Appl Phys Lett 2009, 94:043311.CrossRef 12. Seim R, Choulis SA, Schilinsky P, Brabec CJ: Formation and impact of hot spots on the performance of organic unless photovoltaic cells. Appl Phys Lett 2009, 94:043304.CrossRef 13.

Waldauf C, Morana M, Denk P, Schilinsky P, Coakley K, Choulis SA, Brabec CJ: Highly efficient inverted organic photovoltaics using solution based titanium oxide as electron selective contact. Appl Phys Lett 2006, 89:233517.CrossRef 14. Yang TB, Sun K, Liu XL, Wei W, Yu TZ, Gong X, Wang DL, Cao Y: Zinc oxide nanowire as an electron-extraction layer for broadband polymer photodetectors with an inverted device structure. J Phys Chem C 2012, 116:13650–13653.CrossRef 15. Gholamkhass B, Kiasari NM, Servati P: An efficient inverted organic solar cell with improved ZnO and gold contact layers. Org Electron 2012, 13:945–953.CrossRef 16. Kuwabara T, Nakashima T, Yamaguchi T, Takahashi K: Flexible inverted polymer solar cells on polyethylene terephthalate substrate containing zinc oxide electron-collection-layer prepared by novel sol–gel method and low-temperature treatments. Org Electron 2012, 13:1136–1140.CrossRef 17. Norrman K, Madsen MV, Gevorgyan SA, Krebs FC: Degradation patterns in water and oxygen of an inverted polymer solar cell. J Am Chem Soc 2010, 132:16883–16892.CrossRef 18.

Compared to the non-annealed EDC NPs, it can be observed that the bandgap is biased towards 3 eV, which is approximately the bandgap energy for Ce2O3.

Thus, there is a high concentration of Ce3+ and oxygen vacancies [10], after the anneal at 700°C. The bandgap energy of the EDC NPs is slightly larger following the 800°C anneal, Vactosertib nmr indicative of a lower concentration of Ce3+ in the nanoparticles [21]. However, there is a significant shift in the bandgap of the EDC NPs annealed at 900°C, which suggests that the cerium ions in the EDC NPs have been almost completely converted from the Ce3+ ions into Ce4+ states during the 900°C anneal, similar to the unannealed composition. Figure 3 Absorbance dispersion curves (a), graphs to calculate direct bandgap (b), SEM image (c), and XRD pattern. (a) Absorbance dispersion curves for the EDC NPs annealed at 700°C, 800°C, and 900°C; (b) the graphs used to calculate the direct bandgap of the annealed EDC NPs, and MDV3100 order (c) a SEM image of and (d) XRD pattern from a sample of the EDC NPs following the 800°C anneal, as a representative example (AS, as-synthesized or unannealed). The annealed EDC NPs are imaged using TEM and compared

to that of the unannealed EDC NPs. A representative image is shown in Figure 3c; it is an image of the EDC NPs after an 800°C anneal. Following the anneal temperature range between 700°C to 900°C, the mean diameter is found to be in the range of 9 to 13 nm as compared to a mean diameter of 7 nm for the unannealed (as-synthesized) EDC NPs. The synthesized EDC NPs have mean diameter smaller than other optical nanoparticles

that have been studied as an optical active medium for down- or up-conversion [22–25]. An X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern is presented in Figure 3d, measured on a sample of the EDC NPs annealed at 800°C, to demonstrate that the predominant nanostructure of the EDC NPs is cerium dioxide [10, 26]. The diffraction find more peaks in the XRD patterns measured on the as-synthesized EDC NPs and the nanoparticles annealed at 700°C and 900°C also are characteristics of ceria. Under near-UV (λ = 430 nm) excitation, the visible emission from the EDC NPs is centered around 520 nm, as shown in Figure 4a. As can be seen, the anneal conditions at 700°C and 800°C are optimum for the down-conversion process, which involves the radiative relaxation of 5d to 4f transition of an excited Ce3+ ions in Ce2O3 that results in broadband emission in the green wavelength [10, 27]. A further explanation of the down-conversion process is as follows: When the EDC NPs containing some fraction of Ce2O3 are illuminated with near-UV light, some fraction of the valence band electrons are excited to an oxygen vacancy defect state located within the CeO2 bandgap. From the defect state, the electron undergoes multiple transitions as it returns to the ground state. Only one of the transitions results in radiative emission and the other transitions are non-radiative.

The phase II COIN-B trial randomized patients to receive cetuximab and chemotherapy (Arm D) in an intermittent schedule versus intermittent chemotherapy with continuous cetuximab administration (Arm E). Upon RECIST progression on either arm, the same chemotherapy plus cetuximab was restarted and continued until progression. Continuous cetuximab administration as maintenance was associated with a longer CFI and longer Selleckchem CHIR-99021 PFS (5,1 and 13,7 months respectively vs 3,7 and 12 months in the arm D) [43]. The MACRO TTD phase III trial randomized 480

previously untreated mCRC patients to receive 6 cycles of bevacizumab and Xelox followed by Xelox and bevacizumab (arm A) or bevacizumab alone (Arm B). There were not statistically significant differences in PFS and OS between the 2 arms [44]. This study confirmed the efficacy of a maintenance therapy with bevacizumab after a predefined period of chemotherapy induction but did not investigated the role of bevacizumab maintenance in a stop-and-go strategy with a subsequent reintroduction of the same chemotherapy when disease progression see more occurs. In the ongoing AIO study, maintenance treatment with capecitabine or 5-FU/folinic acid and bevacizumab is

compared with bevacizumab alone or no maintenance treatment in subjects with inoperable and non-progressive metastatic colorectal cancer after first line induction treatment for 24 weeks with a fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin- and bevacizumab-based

chemotherapy. Reinduction treatment will be done in case of progression (Table 3). Table 3 Clinical evidences evaluating different strategies for treatment of mCRC EGFR therapy rechallenge – A multicenter phase II prospective study confirmed the activity of cetuximab rechallenge plus irinotecan-based therapy after an intervening chemotherapy [30] – A phase II prospective study did not show any response to panitumumab administrated after progression on prior cetuximab-based therapy [31] Chemotherapy stop-and go strategy – OPTIMOX 1 study shows that ceasing oxaliplatin after 6 cycles, followed by leucovorin–5-FU alone, achieves RR, PFS, and OS equivalent to that with continuing oxaliplatin Gemcitabine mw until progression or toxicity [38] – OPTIMOX 2 study shows that continuing treatment with a maintenance chemotherapy led to a longer PFS, compared with pausing treatment [39] – COIN study did not show a non inferiority of chemotherapy free interval versus continuous treatment but treatment holiday significantly reduced cumulative toxic effects, and improved quality of life [41] Biological treatment of chemotherapy-free interval – NORDIC VIII phase III trial showed that cetuximab maintenance do not improve survival data comparing to intermittent treatment [42]. – COIN B phase II trial showed that cetuximab maintenance significantly improved chemotherapy free interval and PFS [43].

The amplification conditions were as follows: 95°C for 5 min, then a 20 cycle of 95°C for 1 min, 50°C for 1 min, 72°C for 1 min, and 72°C for 7 min. Western blotting for NF-κB, IκB-α and Smad7 Interferon

gamma (IFN-γ) (PeproTech Inc., NJ, USA) 50 μl (100 ng/ml) was added to each dish in the experimental studies. The cytoplasmic and nuclear extracts were washed with ice-cold PBS and lysed in a 0.5 ml/well lysis buffer (150 mmol/l NaCl, 20 mmol/l Tris, pH 7.5, 0.1% Triton X-100, 1 mmol/l phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride [PMSF] and 10 μg/ml aprotonin) as modified from the reports of Kim et al. and Moon et al. [33, 34]. Protein concentrations in the lysates were determined using the NSC23766 research buy Pierce BCA Protein Assay Kit (Thermo scientific, USA). Protein/lane 10 μg was then size-fractionated into a denaturing, non-reducing 10% polyacrylamide minigel and electrophoretically

transferred to polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) (0.45-μm pore size) (Millpore Corparation, USA). Specific proteins were detected Selleck PND-1186 using rabbit antihuman NF-κB p65, rabbit anti-human IκB-α (1:1000, Cell Signaling, Boston, MA, USA), and mouse anti-human Smad7 (1:500, R&D System, USA, MN) as primary antibodies, and peroxidase-conjugated anti-rabbit IgG, anti-mouse IgG (1:10000) as a secondary antibody. Specifically bound peroxidase was detected by Chemiluminescent HRP Substrate (ECL system, Millpore Corparation, USA) and then exposed to x-ray (GE Healthcare, UK) for 10-30 s. Statistical analysis The Student’s t test and paired t test were used, as appropriate, for parametric differences. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Bonferroni’s correction was applied for the multiple testing of data. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for the difference between non-parametric data while Pearson’s χ2 test was used for non-parametric proportion difference. All tests were two-tailed and a P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Cell viability after incubation with H. pylori and L. acidophilus The cytotoxicity and viability of MKN45 cells incubated with H.

pylori (MOI 100) and L. acidophilus (MOI 1-1000) were determined by assessing the percentage leakage of LDH and non-stained trypan blue at the 4th and 8th hours, respectively (Table 1). Plasma membrane Ribonucleotide reductase damage assessed by the percentage of LDH leakage from MKN45 after H. pylori incubation (18.1%) was not different to those of control cells (18.0%). Moreover, the viable cell count calculated by non-stained trypan blue did not markedly decrease. When L. acidophilus was incubated with MKN45 cells for 8 hours, the cytotoxicity and viable cell count at MOI 1-100 were not significantly affected. However, LDH leakage and cell death slightly increased as incubation with MOI 1,000 for 8 hours. Therefore, the optimal dose of bacteria used for the experimental study was limited to MOI 100.

GX and GCW drafted the manuscript. JYH

prepared the CNT film and metal deposition. GCW and CY carried out the fabrication of LED devices. GX conducted the experiment design and analysis of all the experiments. LQQ and FSS participated in all the discussion on this study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background The complex mechanisms that allow ferromagnetic order at room temperature in diluted magnetic oxides (DMO) are a controversial subject as magnetic behavior is strongly dependent on the synthesis method and it is very difficult to obtain reproducible homogeneity on samples. It has been widely supported that BIBW2992 manufacturer ferromagnetism is originated by structural defects [1, 2], mainly oxygen vacancies [3], but there exist some other structural defects such as interstitial cations [1, 4], cation vacancies [5],

impurities [6], and if we consider so, the common doping with 3d ions [7]. It has been shown theoretically and experimentally ([8] and references there in, [9]) that almost all of these defects have magnetic moment. On the other hand, some other systems report the absence of room temperature ferromagnetism on the same material combination. Coey et al. reported the construction of a phase diagram [10] for DMO, including percolation thresholds for oxygen vacancies (VO) and doping cations. Depending on the combination of these important defects, AZD5363 cell line ferromagnetic, paramagnetic, or antiferromagnetic order can be presented on semiconducting or insulating oxides. Structural disorder can also be present in epitaxial thin films where crystalline order does not mean absence of Schottky and Frenkel defects. Epitaxial films are normally grown under thermodynamic equilibrium, avoiding an excessive formation Ponatinib in vivo of punctual defects higher than that intrinsically found: interstitial cations or VO in ZnO, TiO2, or SnO2. The most popular mechanism for ferromagnetic order in DMO is the bound magnetic polaron (BMP) where a trapped electron at the site of the VO, with a hydrogenic radius (0.4 to 0.6 nm), intercepts and polarizes the magnetic moment from 3d

ions creating ferromagnetic order. Percolation of such BMPs creates a spin-polarized impurity band. The polarization of this band depends on the energetic overlapping with the spin split 3d bands of the cation. This is a reason which holds that no ferromagnetism would be expected for certain systems such as SnO2: Sc, Ti, and Zn [3] or ZnO: Cr [11]. On the other hand, ferromagnetism evidence on SnO2:Zn nanorods [12] was recently reported. It was proposed that substitutional Zn induced the formation of Sni defects to which is attributed the magnetic moment. This model is reinforced by theoretical calculations carried out by several groups [13, 14]. The model used to refer the origin of magnetism based on interstitial cations is named BMP’ [15].

For Pd doping, 0.01 M solution of Pd was prepared

by mixing the required amount of palladium chloride (PdCl2, 99.999%; Sigma-Aldrich) in ethanol. The solution was stirred overnight to completely dissolve the Pd particles. Five-microliter portion of the above solution was precisely transferred onto the synthesized ZnO nanorods using a micropipette, and the whole mixture was heated at 250°C for 5 min to dry out the residual chloride. The structural properties of the Pd-sensitized ZnO nanorods were investigated using Bruker X-ray diffractometer (D8 Advance, Bruker AXS GMBH, Karlsruhe, Germany) with Cu Kα radiation at λ = 1.5406 Å. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern was recorded in the range of 20° to 60° operating at a voltage of 40 kV and a selleck compound current of 40 mA. The X-ray spectra peak analysis

was carried out by Diffraction plus 2003 version of Eva 9.0 rev.0 software. The material composition was analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) (Omicron Dar400, Omicron, Erlangen, Germany). The chamber pressure was maintained at 2.4 e−10 Torr throughout the measurement. CasaXPS software was used for the XPS peak deconvolution. Morphological studies were performed using a scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM-6460LA, Akishima, Tokyo, Japan). Gas sensing measurements were carried out in a homemade gas chamber of 3-L capacity. The base of the chamber was made up Z-DEVD-FMK supplier of stainless steel, and the upper area was covered with a high-vacuum glass dome. All the measurements were performed under atmospheric pressure. The chamber inlet was connected with the air pump and 1% H2 in balance

N2 gas (Moxlinde, Malaysia). The flow of 1% H2 gas was regulated using a mass flow controller (GFC-17, 0 to 100 ml/min; AALBORG, Orangeburg, NY, USA), whereas Oxymatrine the air flow was controlled using a mass flow meter. Impedance spectra were collected at room temperature (RT) in the frequency range of 1 Hz to 10 MHz using Novocontrol alpha high-frequency analyzer (Hundsangen, Germany) under the exposure of variable ppm levels of hydrogen. Results and discussion The scanning electron micrograph depicting the morphological feature of ZnO nanorods grown on a thermally oxidized silicon substrate is shown in Figure 2. Uniformly distributed perpendicular and oblique ZnO nanorods of hexagonal shape having 50- to 100-nm diameter and 2- to 3-μm length were observed. Figure 2 SEM image of Pd-sensitized ZnO nanorods. The XRD spectra demonstrated two noticeable peaks at 34.5° (002) and 38.53° (211) planes (Figure 3a). The sharp peak located at 34.5° (002) plane of the synthesized ZnO nanorods revealed their high-quality crystals and c-axis alignment. The second peak at 38.53° (211) plane confirmed the presence of palladium oxide (PdO). The EDX spectrum of Pd-sensitized ZnO nanorods is presented in Figure 3b.

ACS Nano 2011, 5:1012.CrossRef 35. Rodrigues JNB, Gonçlves PAD, Rodrigues NFG, Ribeiro RM, Lopes dos Santos JMB, Peres NMR: Zigzag graphene nanoribbon edge reconstruction with Stone-Wales defects. Phys Rev B 2011, 84:155435.CrossRef 36. Karamitaheri H, Neophytou N, Pourfath M, Faez R, Kosina H: Engineering enhanced see more thermoelectric properties in zigzag graphene nanoribbons. J Appl Phys 2012, 111:054501.CrossRef 37. Song J, Liu H, Jiang H, Sun Qf, Xie XC: One-dimensional quantum channel in a graphene line defect. Phys Rev B 2012, 86:085437.CrossRef 38. Lin X,

Ni J: Half-metallicity in graphene nanoribbons with topological line defects. Phys Rev B 2011, 84:075461.CrossRef 39. Hu T, Zhou 1 J, Dong J, Kawazoe Y: Strain-induced RGFP966 solubility dmso ferromagnetism in zigzag edge graphene nanoribbon with a topological line defect. Phys Rev B 2012, 86:125420.CrossRef

40. Lü XL, Liu Z, Yao HB, Jiang LW, Gao WZ, Zheng YS: Valley polarized electronic transmission through a line defect superlattice of graphene. Phys Rev B 2012, 86:045410.CrossRef 41. Büttiker M: Four-terminal phase-coherent conductance. Phys Rev Lett 1986, 57:1761.CrossRef 42. Datta S: Electronic Transport in Mesoscopic Systems. (Cambridge University Press, New York, 1995). 43. Jiang L, Zheng Y, Yi C, Li H, Lü T: Analytical study of edge states in a semi-infinite graphene nanoribbon. Phys Rev B 2009, 80:155454.CrossRef 44. Gong W, Han Y, Wei G: Antiresonance and bound states in the continuum in electron transport through parallel-coupled quantum-dot structures. J Phys: Condens Matt 2009, 21:175801.CrossRef Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’ contributions WJG designed the theoretical model, deduced the relevant formula, and drafted the manuscript. XYS and YW carried out the numerical DOK2 calculations. GDY participated in the analysis about the results. XHC improved the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background Photovoltaic

(PV) devices, converting photon into electricity as an elegant and clean renewable energy, have attracted tremendous attentions on research and developments. Among emerging PV technologies, organic photovoltaic devices (OPV) composed of polymer matrices can be considered as promising third-generation solar cell due to its exceptional mechanical flexibility for versatile applications [1, 2]. Moreover, the solution processes of OPV enables versatile and simple processes, including dip coating, ink jet printing, screen printing, and roll-to-roll method [3, 4]. Nonetheless, OPVs suffer from the low carrier mobility issues, which hinder the performance far behind to conventional inorganic solar cells. In order to promote carrier mobility in OPV systems, inorganic semiconductor materials was introduced into OPV as electron acceptor materials, so called hybrid solar cells [5]. Hybrid solar cells utilize an advantage of intrinsically high carrier mobility from inorganic materials in organic matrices.