According to our knowledge, there are no previous studies where t

According to our knowledge, there are no previous studies where the PRAL method is used to evaluate the quality of food for the investigation of the effect of nutrition on aerobic performance in humans. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore if a low-protein vegetarian diet, which was designed with the help of PRAL to enhance the production of bases, has an effect on acid–base balance in men. Moreover, the study was planned to determine whether the possible changes C646 chemical structure in venous blood acid–base status influence performance or fuel selection during submaximal and maximal cycling. It was hypothesized that a diet low in protein and rich in alkali-producing vegetables

and fruits may have the potential to alter the blood acid–base status and, thus, enable higher aerobic capacity and influence fuel selection during exercise. Methods Subjects Nine healthy, recreationally active men volunteered for the study and signed an informed consent.

Subjects were students of University of Jyväskylä and were exercising recreationally (e.g. learn more walking, jogging, cycling, resistance training). Subjects who were obese (body mass index above 30), were training for competitive purposes, were using any medication or had any food allergy were excluded from the study. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the University’s Ethics Committee and the study followed the declaration of Helsinki. Pre-testing Before the actual experimental cross-over design, VO2max and maximal workload of the subjects were measured (measurement 1, M1). Before M1 the subjects followed their normal diet and kept food diaries for 4 days, thus, the eating and drinking habits of the subjects were checked to be in accordance with general dietary guidelines. On the fifth

day, the subjects performed M1, which was an incremental VO2max test performed on a mechanically braked cycle ergometer (Ergomedic 839E, Monark Exercise AB, Thymidine kinase Vansbro, Sweden). The workload was initially 75 W and was increased by 25 W every 2 min until exhaustion. The pedaling GSK458 manufacturer frequency was sustained at 60 rpm throughout the test. Before the ergometer test, height, weight and body mass index (BMI) of the subjects were determined. For the estimation of body fat percentage, a 4-point skinfold method was used. Thicknesses of biceps, triceps, subscapular and suprailiac skinfolds were measured and standard equations of Durnin & Womersley [16] were used for the determination of fat percentage. Experimental design The study design is presented in Figure  1. After M1, subjects were randomly divided into two groups. Group 1 (n=5) followed a normal diet (ND) first and then a low-protein vegetarian diet (LPVD). Group 2 (n=4) followed LPVD first and then ND.

To determine if there were

To determine if there were differences in the total number of Fedratinib order bacteria on the tongue (Bacterial Load), the total integer score for each sample was then tallied over all the probes on the array

and mean values were compared between controls and HIV infected groups. Similar to the Species Score, no statistically significant difference was detected in Bacterial Load between uninfected and infected groups (Figure 2B). In addition, we found that Species Score and Bacterial Load data were highly correlated in individual samples across all experimental groups buy EPZ015938 and controls (Figure 2C). Although the Species Score and Bacterial Load data does not address proportional shifts in bacterial species between experimental groups and controls, the findings do indicate that the capacity of the lingual epithelium to support complex polymicrobial communities was not impaired by chronic HIV infection or the administration of www.selleckchem.com/products/Vorinostat-saha.html ART. Figure 2 HOMIM-based analysis of bacterial growth in the lingual microbiome. (A) Comparison of the number of bacterial species (Species Score) detected by HOMIM assay on the tongue epithelium of healthy

HIV- controls, ART naive chronically HIV infected patients, and HIV infected patients on ART. Median values are shown in horizontal bars. (B). HOMIM-based comparison of total bacterial populations (Bacterial Load) on the tongue epithelium of HIV- controls and HIV + patient groups. (C) Correlation between Species Score and Bacterial Load data as determined by Spearman rank correlation coefficient analysis. Modulations in the lingual microbiome of HIV infected

patients To evaluate whether HIV infection was associated with alterations in the community structure of the lingual Resminostat microbiota in HIV patients, we next analyzed the phylogenetic distribution of species that were detected in the majority of subjects in each patient group (Figure 3). As observed in previous studies, Streptococcus species dominated the oral microbiome of healthy subjects [18–21], comprising ~38% of all species detected by HOMIM, followed by Veillonella (~19% of all species) and Rothia (~7% of all species). In total, 11 different genera were represented in the oral microbiome of at least one-half of all healthy controls. In contrast, 14 genera were detected in ART naive HIV infected patients, which included all of the genera detected in healthy controls as well as Megasphaera Eubacterium, and Solobacterium. Notably, higher representation of these 3 genera appeared to be counterbalanced by lower relative proportions of core commensal Streptococcus and Veillonella species.

References 1 Torgerson DJ, Bell-Syer SE (2001) Hormone replaceme

References 1. Torgerson DJ, Bell-Syer SE (2001) Hormone replacement therapy and prevention of vertebral fractures:

a meta-analysis of randomised trials. BMC Musculoskelet Savolitinib manufacturer Disord 2:7PubMedCrossRef 2. Torgerson DJ, Bell-Syer SE (2001) Hormone replacement therapy and prevention of nonvertebral fractures: a selleck chemicals llc meta-analysis of randomized trials. JAMA 285:2891–2897PubMedCrossRef 3. Rossouw JE, Anderson GL, Prentice RL, LaCroix AZ, Kooperberg C, Stefanick ML, Jackson RD, Beresford SA, Howard BV, Johnson KC, Kotchen JM, Ockene J (2002) Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women: principal results from the Women’s Health Initiative randomized controlled trial. JAMA 288:321–333PubMedCrossRef 4. Anderson GL, Limacher M, Assaf AR, Bassford T, Beresford SA, Black H, Bonds D, Brunner R, Brzyski R, Caan B, Chlebowski R, Curb D, Gass M, Hays J, Heiss G, Hendrix S, AMN-107 price Howard BV, Hsia J, Hubbell A, Jackson R, Johnson KC, Judd H, Kotchen JM, Kuller L, LaCroix AZ, Lane D, Langer RD, Lasser N, Lewis CE, Manson J, Margolis K, Ockene J, O’Sullivan MJ, Phillips L, Prentice RL, Ritenbaugh C, Robbins J, Rossouw JE, Sarto G, Stefanick ML, Van Horn L, Wactawski-Wende J, Wallace R, Wassertheil-Smoller S (2004) Effects of conjugated equine estrogen in postmenopausal women with hysterectomy:

the Women’s Health Initiative randomized controlled trial. JAMA 291:1701–1712PubMedCrossRef mafosfamide 5. Miksicek RJ (1994) Interaction of naturally occurring nonsteroidal estrogens with expressed recombinant human estrogen receptor. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 49:153–160PubMedCrossRef 6. Zava DT, Duwe G (1997) Estrogenic and antiproliferative properties of genistein and other flavonoids in human breast cancer cells in vitro. Nutr Cancer 27:31–40PubMedCrossRef 7. Brandi ML (1997) Natural

and synthetic isoflavones in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. Calcif Tissue Int 61(Suppl 1):S5–S8PubMedCrossRef 8. Potter SM, Baum JA, Teng H, Stillman RJ, Shay NF, Erdman JW Jr (1998) Soy protein and isoflavones: their effects on blood lipids and bone density in postmenopausal women. Am J Clin Nutr 68:1375S–1379SPubMed 9. Alekel DL, Germain AS, Peterson CT, Hanson KB, Stewart JW, Toda T (2000) Isoflavone-rich soy protein isolate attenuates bone loss in the lumbar spine of perimenopausal women. Am J Clin Nutr 72:844–852PubMed 10. Morabito N, Crisafulli A, Vergara C, Gaudio A, Lasco A, Frisina N, D’Anna R, Corrado F, Pizzoleo MA, Cincotta M, Altavilla D, Ientile R, Squadrito F (2002) Effects of genistein and hormone-replacement therapy on bone loss in early postmenopausal women: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study. J Bone Miner Res 17:1904–1912PubMedCrossRef 11.

Indeed, alumina-based waveguides that are very important for opti

Indeed, Natural Product Library alumina-based waveguides that are very important for optical communications have been developed [11, 12]. Alumina co-doped with Si-ncs and Er3+ ions is more promising than

similarly co-doped silica due to higher solubility of Er3+ ions in alumina host. However, in spite of promising properties, Si-nc-Al2O3 materials were not well addressed. Several approaches have been used to form Si-ncs in amorphous and/or crystalline Al2O3. Most known methods are Si ion implantation [13, 14] and electron beam evaporation followed by subsequent high-temperature annealing as well as laser ablation [15]. learn more For these systems, the successful Si-nc formation was already demonstrated. However, in spite of the relative simplicity of magnetron sputtering technique and its wide application for the fabrication of Si-rich SiO2 materials [5, 8], only few groups applied this method for deposition of Si-rich alumina [16]. The present paper reports the fabrication of Si-rich Al2O3 films with different Si content by magnetron co-sputtering and the effect of post-deposition processing on the structural

and luminescent properties of these materials. Methods The Si-rich Al2O3 films were deposited by radio frequency (RF) magnetron co-sputtering of two separate 2-in. targets (pure Si and Al2O3) on a long quartz substrate at room temperature. The use of long substrate allowed the variation Selleck FRAX597 of the composition along film length in a single deposition run. The length and the Tyrosine-protein kinase BLK width of deposited film were 140 and 4 mm, respectively. The distance between the targets and the substrate was fixed at 64 mm. The background vacuum in the chamber was about 1 × 10−5 Pa prior to the

deposition with the pure argon plasma. The RF power applied on Si and Al2O3 targets were 40 and 80 W, respectively. Apart from Si-rich Al2O3 films, pure Si and pure Al2O3 were deposited at the same conditions from one target only. The deposition time was 250 min for each deposition run. The as-deposited original films were cut then to smaller (1 cm in length) segments (called hereafter as samples) to simplify the investigation of their properties. To study the chemical composition of the films, their refractive index and thickness, the spectroscopic ellipsometry measurement was performed by means of a Jobin-Yvon ellipsometer (UVISEL, HORIBA Ltd., Kyoto, Japan), where the incident light was scanned in the range of 1.5 to 4.5 eV under an incident angle of 66.3°. The fitting of the experimental data was performed using DeltaPsi2 software (HORIBA Ltd., Kyoto, Japan) [17] and allowed to get information about variation of refractive index and thickness along the film length. Additionally, the film thickness was controlled by means of a Dektak 3030 Profilometer (Veeco, Plainview, NY, USA).

faecium is able to adhere to human and mouse intestinal mucus in

faecium is able to adhere to human and mouse intestinal mucus in vitro and becomes associated in vivo with SN-38 the intestinal mucus layer of clindamycin treated mice [37–39]. This suggests an interaction

between the bacterium and the mucus or with the epithelium itself. To examine the role of Esp in intestinal adherence and colonization, an Esp expressing strain of E. faecium (E1162) and its isogenic Esp-deficient mutant (E1162Δesp) were studied for adherence to differentiated Caco-2 cells and colonization of murine intestines. E1162, a hospital-acquired strain, exhibited significantly higher adherence to Caco-2 cells than E135, a representative of the indigenous flora. These results are consistent with an earlier study performed by Lund et al. [23]. However, no difference in adherence to Caco-2 cells between the E1162 and the E1162Δesp was found, indicating that Esp is not the determining factor responsible for the observed difference in Caco-2 cell adherence between nosocomial and indigenous E. faecium strains. This also implies that other determinants present in hospital-acquired

E. faecium strains contribute to adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells. Comparative selleck compound genomic hybridizations of 97 E. faecium nosocomial, commensal and animal isolates Selleckchem A 769662 identified more than 100 genes that were enriched in nosocomial strains, including genes encoding putative adhesins, antibiotic resistance, IS elements, phage sequences, and novel metabolic pathways [40]. In addition, similar levels of intestinal

colonization or translocation were found after inoculation with E1162 wild type or the isogenic Esp mutant E1162Δesp. These data are in accordance with a study performed by Pultz et al. [27] in which they showed that Esp did not AZD9291 facilitate intestinal colonization or translocation of E. faecalis in clindamycin-treated mice. Only from the small bowel contents of mice when inoculated separately with E1162 wild type and the Esp-mutant strain significantly more E1162Δesp compared to E1162 was isolated. This was an unexpected observation and we have no explanation for the fact that the levels of E1162Δesp in the small bowel are as high as in the cecum. Relatively lower levels as seen for E1162 are more typical for the small bowel. Conclusion Our data clearly demonstrate that Esp is not essential for high density colonization of the GI tract by nosocomial strains. Other possible candidate traits implicated in this process could include novel adhesins, like the novel cell surface proteins recently identified [41], bacteriocins, factors that resist specific or non-specific host defence mechanisms, and/or the ability to utilize new growth substrates. It is interesting in this respect that we recently identified a novel genomic island highly specific for nosocomial strains that tentatively encodes novel sugar uptake system [42]. For nosocomial E.

8% (16/62) and 74 2% (46/62) samples, respectively

(Fig

8% (16/62) and 74.2% (46/62) samples, respectively

(Fig. 1C). Caspase8 was undetectable in 8.3% (6/72) and detected in 91.7% (66/72) samples, respectively. In details, score 1 or score 2 was detected Screening Library clinical trial in 44.4% (32 samples) and 47.3% (34 samples), respectively. Intermediate/high or low intensity cytoplasmatic staining of Caspase8 was detected in 68.2% (45/66) and 31.8% (21/66) samples, respectively (Fig. 1D and Table 2). The statistical analysis of these data showed that the staining intensity of the four analyzed proteins directly correlated with the number of positive cells (p < 0.05). Moreover, we found a simultaneous activation of pJNK and Erk-1 in the evaluated blasts (r = 0.26; p = 0.025). In order to validate the results obtained in ICC, we have evaluated the expression of p-Erk-1 with western blotting with conventional antibodies used for the determination of p-Erk-1 and 2 and total Erk-1/2. The lower band shown in the gel, corresponding to

a M.W. of 44 KDa, is BGB324 price clearly assessable in all the samples. The activity of the enzyme in the different evaluable patients strongly correlated to that one derived from experiments selleck kinase inhibitor performed on blasts with ICC. An example of Erk-1 expression and activity on 10 different samples is now shown in Figure 2. Similar results were also obtained on all the other samples (data not shown). Figure 2 Western blot assay for the expression of pErk 1 and 2 and total Erk 1 and 2. The cells were processed for the determination of the phosphorylation and expression oxyclozanide of Erk-1 and 2 evaluated after blotting with a specific anti-pMAPK and an anti-MAPK Mab, respectively, as described in “”Materials and Methods”". Expression of the house-keeping protein α-tubulin was used as loading control. In the same figure, the scores of the staining intensities of pErk-1 obtained

at ICC in the same samples are also shown. The experiments were performed at least three different times and the results were always similar. Protein activation levels in different groups subdivided for type of disease When patients where subdivided into two different groups according to the diagnosis of neoplastic disease (ALL/NHL vs AML) we found a statistically significant difference of Gadd45a (p < 0.0001), pJNK (p = 0.0001), and Caspase8 (p = 0.004) between AML and ALL/NHL patients. Conversely, no difference in the phosphorylation of Erk-1 was detectable (p = 0.09). Interestingly, all AML patients showed an upregulation of the four studied proteins (Table 3). Table 3 Proteins status in neoplasia subgroups   GADD45a   pERK-1   c-JUN   CASP ASE8   Score 0 1 2 p 0 1 2 p 0 1 2 p 0 1 2 p ALL/NHL 12 12 3 < 0.001 3 10 14 0.09 10 10 7 0.0001 6 10 11 0.004 AML 0 18 27   0 12 33   0 26 19   0 22 23   p values in bold are statistically significant. Correlation between constitutive proteins activation and outcome At the time of this analysis 23 patients (31.9%) were alive in continuous complete remission, three patients (5.

Multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) was calculated by dividing t

Multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) was calculated by dividing the total number of antibiotics used by number of antibiotics resistant to particular isolates [17]. In this study, 9 antibiotics were used and are represented as (b), while number of antibiotics resistant to particular isolate is as e.g. 4 (a). MAR is calculated as a/b, which means that in this particular case, MAR is 4/9 = 0.44. Statistical analysis Data entry, management and analysis was done using program Microsoft Office Excel 2007. The Anlotinib association between different risk factors and the antibiotics resistivity pattern of isolated Campylobacters

were compared statistically by a Chi-square (χ [2]) analysis using commercial software PHStat2 version 2.5 and Fisher exact test with significance level defined at the p < 0.05. The diameter of zone of inhibition of different antibiotics was compared by using t-Test: Two samples assuming equal variances. Results The prevalence rate was found to be 38.85% (54/139). Among the isolates, 42 (77.8%) were Campylobacter coli and 12 (22.2%) were Campylobacter jejuni.

The prevalence rate in male and female carcass is 32.4% (11/34) and 41% (43/105) respectively. The sex-wise prevalence MLN2238 in vitro was statistically non-significant (p > 0.05). The antimicrobial sensitivity pattern of C. coli and C. jejuni is shown in Figures  1 and 2 respectively. The Campylobacter spp. showed significant (p < 0.05)

difference in resistivity pattern with tetracycline and nalidixic acid however, both the species showed similar resistivity pattern with other antimicrobials (Figure  3). GS-4997 concentration Figure 1 Antimicrobial sensitivity pattern of C. coli from dressed porcine carcass. Figure 2 Antimicrobial eltoprazine sensitivity pattern of C. jejuni from dressed porcine carcass. Figure 3 Antimicrobial resistance pattern of C. coli and C. jejuni. The mean disc diffusion zone among C. coli and C. jejuni were significantly different (p < 0.01) for chloramphenicol and gentamicin and non significant (p > 0.05) for ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, ampicillin, nalidixic acid, cotrimoxazole, tetracycline and colistin (Table  1). Table 1 Mean disc diffusion zone diameter for Campylobacter spp. Antimicrobials C. coli Mean ± SE (mm) C. jejuni Mean ± SE (mm) p-value Ampicillin 9.36 ± 0.201 9.17 ± 0.167 p > 0.05 Chloramphenicol 25.50 ± 0.464 21.75 ± 1.232 p < 0.01 Ciprofloxacin 21.43 ± 1.037 20.75 ± 2.125 p > 0.05 Erythromycin 11.14 ± 0.417 10.42 ± 0.417 p > 0.05 Nalidixic acid 15.57 ± 0.996 14.75 ± 0.863 p > 0.05 Tetracycline 18.36 ± 1.078 19.25 ± 1.887 p > 0.05 Gentamicin 16.64 ± 0.467 20.50 ± 1.422 p < 0.01 Cotrimoxazole 15.86 ± 1.167 15.00 ± 1.

Acknowledgment The author acknowledges the financial support from

Acknowledgment The author acknowledges the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China under

grant number 61076102 and Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province under grant number BK2012614. References 1. Szkutnik PD, Karmous A, Bassani F, Ronda A, Berbezier I, Gacem K, Hdiy AE, Troyon M: Ge nanocrystals formation on SiO2 by dewetting: application to memory. Eur Phys J Appl Phys 2008, 41:103.CrossRef 2. Hdiy AE, Gacem K, Troyon M, Ronda A, Bassani F, Berbezier I: Germanium nanocrystal density and size effects on carrier storage and emission. J Appl Phys 2008, 104:063716.CrossRef 3. Akca IB, Dâna A, Aydinli A, Turan R: Comparison of electron and hole charge–discharge dynamics in germanium nanocrystal BX-795 ic50 flash memories. Appl Phys Lett 2008, 92:052103.CrossRef 4. Niquet YM, Allan G, Delerue C, Lannoo M: Quantum confinement in germanium nanocrystals. Appl Phys Lett 2000, 77:1182.CrossRef 5. Weissker H-C, Furthmüller J, Bechstedt F: Optical properties of Ge and Si nanocrystallites learn more from ab initio calculations. II. PF299 manufacturer Hydrogenated nanocrystallites. Phys Rev B 2002, 65:155328.CrossRef 6. Gacem K, Hdiy AE, Troyon M, Berbezier I, Szkutnik PD, Karmous A, Ronda A: Memory and Coulomb blockade effects in germanium nanocrystals embedded in amorphous silicon on silicon

dioxide. J Appl Phys 2007, 102:093704.CrossRef 7. Yang M, Chen TP, Wong JI, Ng CY, mafosfamide Liu Y, Ding L, Fung S, Trigg AD, Tung CH, Li CM: Charge trapping and retention behaviors of Ge nanocrystals distributed in the gate oxide near the gate synthesized by low-energy ion implantation. J Appl Phys 2007, 10:124313.CrossRef 8. Mao LF: The quantum size effects on the surface potential of nanocrystalline silicon thin film transistors. Thin Sol Films 2010, 518:3396.CrossRef 9. Mao LF: Effects of the size of silicon grain on the gate-leakage current in nanocrystalline silicon thin-film transistors. J Vac Sci Technol

2010, 28:460.CrossRef 10. Ando Y, Itoh T: Calculation of transmission tunneling current across arbitrary potential barriers. J Appl Phys 1987, 61:1497.CrossRef 11. Adikaari AADT, Carey JD, Stolojan V, Keddie JL, Silva SRP: Bandgap enhancement of layered nanocrystalline silicon from excimer laser crystallization. Nanotechnology 2006, 17:5412.CrossRef 12. Yue G, Kong G, Zhang D, Ma Z, Sheng S, Liao X: Dielectric response and its light-induced change in undoped a-Si:H films below 13 MHz. Phys Rev B 1998, 57:2387.CrossRef 13. Matsuura H, Okuno T, Okushi H, Tanaka K: Electrical properties of n-amorphous/p-crystalline silicon heterojunctions. J Appl Phys 1984, 55:1012.CrossRef Competing interest The author declares that he has no competing interest.

Most of these terms can typically be associated with the plasma m

Most of these terms can typically be associated with the plasma membrane, including binding, signal transducer activity (Z > 14), and structural constituent of cytoskeleton (Z > 22). In the whole kidney, 7 terms were significantly enriched, including structural molecule (Z > 6) and transporter activity Dinaciclib (Z > 7) (Fig. 5b). In biological processes, 19 terms were significantly enriched in the

VEC plasma membrane fraction, including cell–cell adhesion (Z > 6) and protein transport (Z > 16). In the whole-kidney lysate, 5 terms were significantly enriched, such as metabolic process (Z > 28) and response to hormone stimulus (Z > 9) (Fig. 5c). In this study, we identified

16 PF299 concentration proteins known to be VEC marker membrane proteins in the CCSN-labeled plasma membrane fraction (Table 1). In addition, 8 proteins not previously reported to be VEC proteins in the kidney were confirmed to be VEC proteins on the basis of the immunolocalization of these orthologous proteins in the kidney as demonstrated in the Human Protein Crenigacestat Atlas (Table 2). Among these proteins, we focused on Deltex 3-like (Dll3), because growing evidence suggests that Dll families (Dll1, Dll3, and Dll4) act as Notch signaling ligands and participate in regulation of vasculogenesis and angiogenesis by modulating Notch signaling pathway [24]. This has not been demonstrated previously in VECs of any Sclareol organ.

We then investigated the actual subcellular location of Dll3 by immunohistochemical and double-labeled immunofluorescence techniques using human kidney sections and anti-Dll3 antibody. The results of immunohistochemical analysis showed Dll3 expression in VECs specifically in kidney (Fig. 6a, b). Immunofluorescence microscopy showed co-localization of Dll3 and caveolin-1 to glomerular capillaries, veins, and arteries, but not to tubules elsewhere (Fig. 6c–k). Table 1 VEC membrane marker proteins identified in the VEC membrane fraction Prot Desc Accession No.a Prot_Matches Prot_Scoreb Prot_Sequence Mass cover (%) Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 IPI00208422 35 297 88,774 17.5 Carbonic anhydrase 3 IPI00230788 32 434 29,698 12.4 Sodium/potassium-transporting ATPase subunit alpha-1 IPI00326305 28 613 114,293 17.6 Integrin alpha-1 IPI00191681 16 149 91,687 12.9 Integrin beta-3 IPI00198695 11 118 90,066 10.9 Integrin beta-2 IPI00360541 9 113 87,955 13.7 Epidermal growth factor receptor IPI00212694 7 47 138,225 11.7 Scavenger receptor class B type 2 IPI00464469 7 56 56,705 7.3 Von Willebrand factor A domain-containing protein 5A IPI00400616 6 49 92,280 7.

The ZnO/CdTe core-shell NW arrays were dipped in a saturated CdCl

The ZnO/CdTe core-shell NW arrays were dipped in a saturated CdCl2:methanol solution for 30 min and then annealed under argon atmosphere for 1 h at different annealing temperatures in the range of 300°C to 500°C.

FESEM, XRD, Raman scattering, PL, and absorption measurements The structural properties of the ZnO/CdTe core-shell NW arrays were investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, and Raman scattering measurements. FESEM images were recorded with a ZEISS Ultra 55 microscope (Oberkochen, Germany). this website HRTEM specimens were prepared by dispersing ZnO/CdTe core-shell NWs kept in an ethanol solution on a copper grid. HRTEM images were recorded with a JEOL JEM-2010 microscope (Tokyo, Japan) operating at 200 kV. XRD patterns were collected with a PanAlytical diffractometer (Almelo, The Netherlands) using CuKα radiation according to the Bragg-Brentano configuration. The texture of the CdTe shell was quantitatively analyzed from the Kα1 component in the framework of the Harris method by determining both the degree of preferred orientation and texture coefficients [40, 41]. The θ-2θ XRD measurements were performed in the range of 20° to 100° (in

2θ scale). Seven CdTe diffraction peaks SB202190 were taken into account for the texture analysis: (111), (220), (311), (400), (331), (422), and (531). The (511) diffraction peak was excluded from the texture analysis, as being superimposed with the (333) diffraction peak. The intensity of each CdTe diffraction peak was precisely determined by pseudo-Voigt fits, and their deconvolution with other SnO2 or ZnO diffraction peaks was carefully achieved when required. The 00-041-1445, 00-036-1451, and 00-0150770 files of the International Center for Diffraction Data (ICDD) were used for SnO2, ZnO, dipyridamole and CdTe, respectively. Absorption measurements were performed with a UV-visible-NIR Perkin Elmer Lambda 950 spectrophotometer (Waltham, MA, USA). An integrating sphere was used for light-harvesting

efficiency measurements by determining the total optical transmittance and reflectance. The 5 K PL measurements were achieved in a helium flow cryostat by using a frequency-doubled argon laser operating at 244 nm. The 5 K PL spectra were analyzed by using a spectrometer equipped with a 600-line/mm grating and ABT-737 mouse detected with a liquid-nitrogen cooled charge-coupled device (i.e., CCD detector). The excitation power was varied by using an optical attenuator. For all of the PL spectra, the spot size was about 100 μm. Raman measurements were performed with an argon laser operating at 514.5 nm, and the scattered light was analyzed using a Jobin-Yvon T64000 triple spectrometer (Palaiseau, France) equipped with a CCD detector.