Efficient and Stable Solid‐State Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells Based on a High‐Molar‐Extinction‐Coefficient Sensitizer

The high‐molar‐extinction‐coefficient heteroleptic ruthenium dye, cis‐Ru (4,4′‐bis(5‐octylthieno[3,2‐b] thiophen‐2‐yl)‐2,2′‐bipyridine) (4,4′‐dicarboxyl‐2,2′‐bipyridine) (NCS)₂, exhibits an AM 1.5 solar (100 mW cm^?2)‐to‐electric power‐conversion efficiency of 4.6% in a solid‐state dye‐sensitized solar cell (SSDSC) with 2,2′, 7,7′‐tetrakis‐(N,N‐di‐p‐methoxyphenylamine)9,9′‐spirobifluorene (spiro‐MeOTAD) as the organic hole‐transporting material. These SSDSC devices exhibit good durability during accelerated tests under visible‐light soaking for 1000 h at 60 °C. This demonstration elucidates a class of photovoltaic devices with potential for stable and low‐cost power generation. The electron recombination dynamics and charge collection that take place at the dye‐sensitized heterojunction are studied by means of impedance and transient photovoltage decay techniques.     

REMOVAL OF HEAVY METALS IN ACTIVATED SLUDGE TREATMENT SYSTEMS

Studies were conducted to determine the removal of heavy metals in three normally operating activated sludge wastewater treatment plants having only moderate industrial inputs. The removals of the soluble and particulate fractions varied with primary and secondary treatment, and in one instance a tertiary sand filter.     

Alkaline protease from Bacillus cereus VITSN04: Potential application as a dehairing agent

The objective of this work is to use protease enzyme as an ecofriendly alternative to chemicals in dehairing. An alkaline protease producing bacterium was isolated from protein-rich soil sample. The bacterium was identified as Bacillus cereus VITSN04 by 16S rRNA gene sequencing method. Growth characteristics and protease activity were studied in yeast, malt, beef, nutrient broth and soybean casein digest media and the enzyme secretion was found to correspond with growth. Maximum protease production was obtained in soybean casein digest medium at 16h with the activity of 200.1±0.68U/ml and a correlation coefficient of 0.965 between growth and enzyme production. The crude enzyme was found to have maximum activity at 30°C and pH 8.0. The protease was purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation, Sephadex G-50 and G-100 gel filtration chromatography. The purified protease was homogeneous on non-denaturing PAGE and its molecular weight was estimated to be 32kDa. The purified protease was of the serine type as it was inhibited by phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride. The crude enzyme preparation was found to be effective in dehairing goat skins in leather processing.     

Decoding the Synaptic Proteome with Long-Term Exposure to Midazolam during Early Development

The intensive use of anesthetic and sedative agents in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has raised controversial concerns about the potential neurodevelopmental risks. This study focused on midazolam (MDZ), a common benzodiazepine regularly used as a sedative on neonates in the NICU. Mounting evidence suggests a single exposure to MDZ during the neonatal period leads to learning disturbances. However, a knowledge gap that remains is how long-term exposure to MDZ during very early stages of life impacts synaptic alterations. Using a preclinical rodent model system, we mimicked a dose-escalation regimen on postnatal day 3 (P3) pups until day 21. Next, purified synaptosomes from P21 control and MDZ animals were subjected to quantitative mass-spectrometry-based proteomics, to identify potential proteomic signatures. Further analysis by ClueGO identified enrichment of proteins associated with actin-binding and protein depolymerization process. One potential hit identified was alpha adducin (ADD1), belonging to the family of cytoskeleton proteins, which was upregulated in the MDZ group and whose expression was further validated by Western blot. In summary, this study sheds new information on the long-term exposure of MDZ during the early stages of development impacts synaptic function, which could subsequently perturb neurobehavioral outcomes at later stages of life.