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The purpose of the presented study is to examine the impact of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on the spectrum features of poly [2-methoxy-5-(3′,7′-dimethyloctyloxy)-1, 4-phenylenevinylene] (MDMO-PPV). The characteristics of the MDMO-PPV and doped ZnO NPS samples were assessed using several techniques. A set of solutions of MDMO-PPV in toluene that were doped with different ratio percentages of ZnO NPs was prepared to obtain thin films. Pristine and composite solutions were spin-coated on glass substrates. It was observed that MDMO-PPV had two distinct absorbance bands at 310 and 500 nm in its absorption spectrum. The UV-Vis spectrum was dramatically changed when 5% of ZnO NPs were added. The result showed a significant reduction in absorption of the band 500 nm, while 310 nm absorption increased rapidly and became more pronounced. Upon adding (10%) ZnONPs to the sample, no noticeable change was observed in the 500 nm band. However, the 310 nm band shifted towards the blue region. There is a dominant peak in the PL spectrum of MDMO-PPV in its pristine form around 575 nm and a smaller hump around 600 nm of the spectrum. The spectral profile at 600 nm and the intensity of both bands are improved by raising the ZnO NP concentration. These bands feature two vibronic transitions identified as (0-0) and (0-1). When the dopant concentration increased to the maximum dopant percentage (10%), the energy band gap values increased by 0.21 eV compared to the pristine MDMO-PPV. In addition, the refractive index (n) decreased to its lowest value of 2.30 with the presence of concentrations of ZnO NPs.

Brookite TiO2 is the most difficult TiO2 polymorph to synthesize. The available methods in the literature to produce brookite nanostructures mostly use water-based techniques for the preparation of water-soluble Ti complexes first, followed by a hydrothermal growth of the brookite nanostructures. Besides its multi-step nature, achieving a single brookite phase and optimizing the aqueous growth environment are all issues to be hardly controlled. In this work, pure brookite TiO2 nanorods are synthesized using tetrabutyl titanate Ti(OBu)4 and Sodium Fluoride (NaF) as precursor materials in a simple non-aqueous one-pot solvothermal process. Alcoholysis of only Ti(OBu)4 in ethanol resulted in pure anatase nanoparticles, while the addition of NaF was essential to promote the growth of highly pure brookite nanorods. The phase purity is confirmed by X-Ray Diffraction, Raman Spectroscopy, and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy. The growth mechanism is explained according to the Ostwald’s step rule, where Na+ ions are anticipated to have a potential role in driving the growth process towards the brookite phase.

Endothelial cells are often present at inflammation sites. This is the case of endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) of patients afflicted with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or multiple sclerosis, as well as in cases of bacterial meningitis, trauma, or tumor-associated ischemia. Inflammation is a known modulator of gene expression through the activation of transcription factors, mostly NF-κB. RLIP76 (a.k.a. RALBP1), an ATP-dependent transporter of electrophile-glutathione conjugates, modulates BBB permeability through the regulation of tight junction function, cell adhesion, and exocytosis. Genes and pathways regulated by RLIP76 are transcriptional targets of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) pro-inflammatory molecule, suggesting that RLIP76 may also be an inflammation target. To assess the effects of TNF-α on RLIP76, we faced the problem of choosing reference genes impervious to TNF-α. Since such genes were not known in human BBB endothelial cells, we subjected these to TNF-α, and measured by quantitative RT-PCR the expression of housekeeping genes commonly used as reference genes. We find most to be modulated, and analysis of several inflammation datasets as well as a metaanalysis of more than 5000 human tissue samples encompassing more than 300 cell types and diseases show that no single housekeeping gene may be used as a reference gene. Using three different algorithms, however, we uncovered a reference geneset impervious to TNF-α, and show for the first time that RLIP76 expression is induced by TNF-α and follows the induction kinetics of inflammation markers, suggesting that inflammation can influence RLIP76 expression at the BBB. We also show that MRP1 (a.k.a. ABCC1), another electrophile-glutathione transporter, is not modulated in the same cells and conditions, indicating that RLIP76 regulation by TNF-α is not a general property of glutathione transporters. The reference geneset uncovered herein should aid in future gene expression studies in inflammatory conditions of the BBB.

Abstract The ToxiLaus study aims at evaluating the impact of environmental toxic species on health and diseases’ onset and development. Specifically, the ubiquitous presence of trace elements (TEs) in the environment urges for a better characterization of their influence on human organism. In its primary phase, the ToxiLaus study focused on measuring the urinary concentrations of 23 TEs in the baseline samples from the CoLaus|PsyCoLaus population-based cohort, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Statistical analyses were carried out on 5866 participants, investigating links between TEs concentrations and smoking status, metabolic syndrome and body mass index (BMI). Smoking status was associated with Cd, Zn, Pb, Mo and Hg (respectively OR = 3.64, 1.42, 1.20, 0.69 and 0.58) while metabolic syndrome was associated with Zn and Cd (OR = 1.81 and 1.24 respectively). Concentrations of Zn, Hg, Co, Ni, Cu, Mo, As, Sn, Tl, Fe where significantly different (p

The purpose of the presented study is to examine the impact of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on the spectrum features of poly [2-methoxy-5-(3′,7′-dimethyloctyloxy)-1, 4-phenylenevinylene] (MDMO-PPV). The characteristics of the MDMO-PPV and doped ZnO NPS samples were assessed using several techniques. A set of solutions of MDMO-PPV in toluene that were doped with different ratio percentages of ZnO NPs was prepared to obtain thin films. Pristine and composite solutions were spin-coated on glass substrates. It was observed that MDMO-PPV had two distinct absorbance bands at 310 and 500   nm in its absorption spectrum. The UV-Vis spectrum was dramatically changed when 5 % of ZnO NPs were added. The result showed a significant reduction in absorption of the band 500   nm , while 310   nm absorption increased rapidly and became more pronounced. Upon adding (10%) ZnONPs to the sample, no noticeable change was observed in the 500 nm band. However, the 310 nm band shifted towards the blue region. There is a dominant peak in the PL spectrum of MDMO-PPV in its pristine form around 575   nm and a smaller hump around 600   nm of the spectrum. The spectral profile at 600 nm and the intensity of both bands are improved by raising the ZnO NP concentration. These bands feature two vibronic transitions identified as (0-0) and (0-1). When the dopant concentration increased to the maximum dopant percentage ( 10 % ), the energy band gap values increased by 0.21   eV compared to the pristine MDMO-PPV. In addition, the refractive index (n) decreased to its lowest value of 2.30 with the presence of concentrations of ZnO NPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present two type of contributions to the study of two-phases problems. In such problems, the main focus is on optimising a diffusion function $ a $ under $ L^\infty $ and $ L^1 $ constraints, this function $ a $ appearing in a diffusive term of the form $ -{{\nabla}} \cdot(a{{\nabla}}) $ in the model, in order to maximise a certain criterion. We provide a parabolic Talenti inequality and a partial bang-bang property in radial geometries for a general class of elliptic optimisation problems: namely, if a radial solution exists, then it must saturate, at almost every point, the $ L^\infty $ constraints defining the admissible class. This is done using an oscillatory method.

Abstract Background Tuberculosis (TB) is endemic in many low‐income countries, which can affect the spine in 1%–5% of those with an active infection. This study reports the clinical characteristics of patients admitted for spinal TB in Kabul, Afghanistan, a country with very limited resources. Methods This was a descriptive study among 26 patients treated for spinal TB in three major referral hospitals in Kabul, Afghanistan, between March 2019 and April 2020. The sociodemographic and clinical details, gender, age, site of infection, presenting complaints, signs, and symptoms of the patients were retrieved from their medical records. Summary statistics were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Ethics approval was obtained from the ethics committee of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran. Results Data were available for 26 patients with spinal TB admitted consecutively. The mean age of the sample was 38.2 years (SD 17.5), and there were 16 males and 10 females. Median time from symptom onset to hospital admission was 60 days. The most common diagnostic imaging technique used was magnetic resonance imaging (92.3%), followed by computed tomography (7.7%). The majority of the lesions involved the lumbar spine (61.4%), followed by the thoracolumbar spine (30.8%). Back pain was the most common manifestation in 21 patients (80.8%), and varying degrees of neurological impairment were found in 16 (61.5%) patients. There were no deaths among the patients up to the discharge date. Conclusions This study describes the clinical characteristics of spinal TB among patients in Kabul, Afghanistan. It is essential to strengthen preventive strategies and to improve health awareness about clinical features of spinal TB in patients with chronic back pain even in the absence of signs of TB.

The article presents the results of experimental and finite element analyses of the flexural vibration behavior sandwich composite with different debonding ratios. Sandwich composite consists of two thin skins composed of E-glass fiber and epoxy resin bonded to lightweight and weaker core material of PVC foams. Experimental tests using the impulse technique were performed on the sandwich constituents and sandwich composites with different debonding lengths. The modal dynamic characteristics of sandwich composite were measured and discussed for each debonding ratio. A finite element modeling was used to determine the natural frequencies, modal shapes, and stress and strain fields for each element of sandwich composites for each debonding ratio. The modal strain energy approach was used to determine the contribution of energies dissipated of the core and the skins in the total dissipated energy and the global damping of the different sandwich composites. The results obtained by this approach are compared with those obtained experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents the experimental results of the effect of water ageing in flax fibers reinforced greenpoxy resin matrix composite materials. The experimental study was carried out on two cross-ply laminates ([0/90]s and [+45/−45]s). First, the water uptake of the two composite materials was studied. Second, the mechanical properties were identified as a function of the immersion time. The results obtained show that the Young's modulus of composites decreases progressively to 26% for [0/90]s specimens and 46.36% for [+45/−45]s specimens after 30 days of ageing. Finally, the effects of interactions between water ageing and cyclic fatigue behavior were studied. We consider stiffness loss, hysteresis curves, energy dissipation and loss factor versus number of cycles as a function of different immersions time. A significant decrease in the mechanical characteristics of the composites as a function of the immersion time is observed. [+45/−45]s specimens are more sensitive to both fatigue and water ageing phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The activities of four pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins (Beta-1, 3-glucanase, chitinase, polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase) were determined in both Bemisia tabaci infested and non-infested tomato plants. Beta-1, 3-glucanase activity in non-infested and 24, 48, 72 and 96 h infested tomato plants with B. tabaci, were spectrophotometrically determined. The results show that the activity of the enzyme was significantly increased in comparison to control. The activity of β- 1,3-glucanases was slightly pronounced one day after infestation and reached maximum level after three days (3.3-folds than control). The accumulation of chitinase started to increase with time one day after infestation (1.2 folds over control). Chitinase specific activity increased significantly after 48 h of whitefly feeding and continued in elevation with time until it reached the maximum in the fourth day of feeding. In all treatments, polyphenol oxidase activity after 24, 48, 72 or 96 h of whitefly infestation increased more than control. The activity increased substantially after 24 h of feeding of whitefly (4.3 folds than control). The maximum rate of activity of peroxidase was exhibited after 48 h exposure to whitefly that it had recorded 1.8 folds greater than 0-time and followed by 24 h whitefly-infested plants with 1.6-folds increase in peroxidase activity compared to control then 72 h and 96 h after infestation (1.35 and 1.27 folds greater than control respectively). The PR proteins play an important defensive role against whiteflies. Pseudomonas chlororaphis (nonpathogenic bacteria) reduced the mean numbers of whitefly adults/cm2 by about 36.5%. These results provide clear evidence that tomato plants resistance is based on a variety of defense systems against several pests. The treatment of tomato plants with Pseudomonas spp. caused rapid trigger systemic defenses against herbivores and pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can contribute to cancers that are driven by Sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling. Here the authors report that lncRNA HHIP-AS1 stabilises the mRNA of dynein complex 1, thereby, promoting the pro-mitotic effects of SHH-driven tumors.

Third-generation solar cells are understood to be the pathway to overcoming the issues and drawbacks of the existing solar cell technologies. Since the introduction of graphene in solar cells, it has been providing attractive properties for the next generation of solar cells. Currently, there are more theoretical predictions rather than practical recognitions in third-generation solar cells. Some of the potential of graphene has been explored in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), but it has yet to be fully comprehended in the recent third-generation inorganic-organic hybrid perovskite solar cells. In this review, the diverse role of graphene in third-generation OPVs and DSSCs will be deliberated to provide an insight on the prospects and challenges of graphene in inorganic-organic hybrid perovskite solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Sudan, the most diverse country in the African continent, is experiencing growing cancers problems. However, little is known about thyroid cancer epidemiology and patterns. the study aimed to analyse and describe the epidemiological characteristics and trends of thyroid cancer in, in the period1st January 2005 and 31st December 2015. Methods: This is retrospective population and hospital-based study. We analysed epidemiological data for digital medical records at both Radiation and Isotope Centre Khartoum (RICK), and Soba University Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan were reviewed. Results: In total, 1,062 cases were reported during 1st January 2005 and 31st December 2015. Of these, (360; 33.9%) were male and (702; 66.1%) were female. The highest number of cases was in the 25-54-year-old age group (451; 42.5%), and more than 65-year-old age (331; 31.2%). The most predominant type of thyroid cancer among the Sudanese population was Papillary carcinoma (734; 69.1%) followed by Follicular carcinoma 178(16.8%) and Medullary carcinoma (150; 14.1%). There were significant differences in gender, age groups and types of thyroid cancer (P=0.001). Based on geographical distribution thyroid cancer showed high prevalence in Khartoum, North Kurdufan, River Nile, Kassala, North Darfur, Northern, and south Kurdufan. Whereas, low distribution is seen in Red sea, West Darfur, West Kurdufan, East Darfur, Al Gadarif, and the Blue Nile. Conclusion: our results suggest that thyroid cancer continuous presenting alarming challenge with an increasing the prevalence in females. Papillary carcinoma is the most common type among Sudanese populations. Further epidemiological studies are required in policy strategies for control and prevention strategies of thyroid cancer in Sudan.

This report focuses particularly on liquid crystals display (LCD) panels because they represent a significant amount of all WEEE collected. Technologies involving liquid crystals (LCs) have enjoyed considerable success since the 1970s in all fields of LC displays (LCDs). This currently provokes the problem of waste generated by such equipment. Based on current statistical data, the LC amount represents approximately 1.3 g for a 35-inch diameter LCD panel unit possessing a total weight of 15 kg. In France, a recent study revealed LCD waste to represent an average of 5.6 panels per household. This represents an important quantity of LCs, which are generally destroyed by incineration or washed out with detergents during the recycling processes of end-of-life (EOL) LCDs. Hence, the aim of this study is to show that it is possible to remove LC molecules from EOL-LCD panels with the goal of valorizing them in new sectors. EOL-LCD panels have undergone various stages of dismantling, chemical treatments and characterization. The first stage of manual dismantling enables the elimination of the remaining physical components of the panels to process LC molecules only, sandwiched between the two glass plates. Mechanical treatment by scraping allows us to obtain a concentrate of LCs. The results obtained from chemical and physical techniques show that these molecules retain the characteristics essential for their operation in the field of optical and electro-optical devices. As the use of LCD surfaces continues to rise significantly, the amounts and economic stakes are huge, fully justifying the development of an LC recovery process for used panels. Many potential uses have been identified for these LC molecules: in new flat LCD panels after purification of the LCs concentrate, in PDLC systems, as lubricants or in thermal applications.

A new additional benzothiazole (BT) acceptor has been introduced into metal-free organic dyes ( MCG1- MCG4) to construct donor-acceptor-π-acceptor (D-A-π-A) architecture with the systematic replacement of diheteroanthracene donors and heteroaromatic π-bridge components. BT not only facilitates effective electron transfer from the donor to the anchoring group, but also lowers the band gap. The planarity of the sensitizers induces J aggregation on TiO2, causes the redshift on TiO2, and enhances the light-harvesting efficiency up to λ=750-800 nm. Transient absorption spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy have been used to understand the trends in short-circuit current ( Jsc) and open-circuit voltage ( Voc). Dye MCG4 showed a superior efficiency of 6.46 %. DFT has been complemented with experimentally determined photoelectrochemical properties. These molecules are new and support π-bridge extension with BT for better performance of D-A-π-A organic sensitizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endothelial cells are often present at inflammation sites. This is the case of endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) of patients afflicted with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or multiple sclerosis, as well as in cases of bacterial meningitis, trauma, or tumor-associated ischemia. Inflammation is a known modulator of gene expression through the activation of transcription factors, mostly NF-κB. RLIP76 (a.k.a. RALBP1), an ATP-dependent transporter of electrophile-glutathione conjugates, modulates BBB permeability through the regulation of tight junction function, cell adhesion, and exocytosis. Genes and pathways regulated by RLIP76 are transcriptional targets of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) pro-inflammatory molecule, suggesting that RLIP76 may also be an inflammation target. To assess the effects of TNF-α on RLIP76, we faced the problem of choosing reference genes impervious to TNF-α. Since such genes were not known in human BBB endothelial cells, we subjected these to TNF-α, and measured by quantitative RT-PCR the expression of housekeeping genes commonly used as reference genes. We find most to be modulated, and analysis of several inflammation datasets as well as a metaanalysis of more than 5000 human tissue samples encompassing more than 300 cell types and diseases show that no single housekeeping gene may be used as a reference gene. Using three different algorithms, however, we uncovered a reference geneset impervious to TNF-α, and show for the first time that RLIP76 expression is induced by TNF-α and follows the induction kinetics of inflammation markers, suggesting that inflammation can influence RLIP76 expression at the BBB. We also show that MRP1 (a.k.a. ABCC1), another electrophile-glutathione transporter, is not modulated in the same cells and conditions, indicating that RLIP76 regulation by TNF-α is not a general property of glutathione transporters. The reference geneset uncovered herein should aid in future gene expression studies in inflammatory conditions of the BBB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of succinonitrile on cell efficiency, interfacial resistance, and dye regeneration time of [0.5 poly(ethylene oxide):0.5 succinonitrile] blend/LiI-I2 solid polymer electrolyte is reported for the first time. The addition of succinonitrile increased the electrical conductivity of poly(ethylene oxide)/ LiI-I2 by more than an order in magnitude to ~3×10-4 S cm-1 due to the plasticizing and molecular diffusing properties of succinonitrile. This resulted in an enhancement of the cell efficiency from 0.5% to 2%. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy revealed a large decrease of interfacial resistances. The transient absorption spectroscopy showed an improvement of the dye regeneration time from 15 to 5µs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Several gene databases, including heavily used ones such as the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database, erroneously assign, on occasion, literature references to genes or proteins. These mistakes are mostly due to an overlap in gene aliases, whereby two distinct genes share a pseudonym. This is particularly confusing when the gene products have also biological properties in common, are part of signaling pathways that cross-talk to one another, or are regulated by the same effectors. We present examples spanning several research fields including apoptosis, ubiquitin-dependent degradation, signaling by Notch, Wnt, and small G proteins, transporters of glutathione conjugates of electrophiles, and mitochondrial and ribosomal RNA genes. To solve the problem, we argue in favor of including Entrez gene numbers in papers submitted for publication as unique gene identifiers to allow precise identification of genes and species studied. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Presents information on a study which showed that Drosophila protein Chip interacts with diverse homeodomain (HD) proteins. Effects of Chip on activation by Bicoid in yeast; Effects of Chip on segmentation gene expression; Results and discussion.

The newly introduced castor bean whitefly (CBW) Trialeurodes ricini (Misra) has become an important pest which is widely spread all over Egypt. Biochemical studies were conducted to distinguish the different T. ricini biotypes and to determine the biotype economic threshold based on its ability to transmit plant viruses. Forty-five samples of T. ricini adults were collected from castor bean ( Ricinus communis) at different geographical locations representing the Egyptian Delta and Nile valley governorates. Esterase banding patterns were investigated to evaluate the extent of variation among the tested populations of the castor bean whitefly. Electrophoresis of homogenates of individual T. ricini females showed that there are five different biotypes (C1-C5). The predominant biotype (C1 type) was found in about 80% of the tested locations. In transmission studies, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect geminiviruses in nucleic acid extracted from the different castor bean whitefly biotypes. PCR revealed that the five biotypes of T. ricini are viruliferous. To evaluate the efficiency of the predominant T. ricini biotype for transmitting the tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), acquisition and inoculation access periods were determined. PCR indicated that 50% of whitefly adults collected from castor bean, acquired the virus after 10 h exposure to TYLCV infected tomato. Experimentally, the rate of transmission increased as the inoculation access period was lengthened and reached a maximum after 4 h. The obtained symptomatological results were also confirmed by PCR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple Actions of Anticholinesterase Agents on Chemosensitive Synapses: Molecular Basis for Prophylaxis and Treatment of Organophosphate Poisoning. ALBUQUERQUE, E. X., DESHPANDE, S. S., KAWABUCHI, M., ARACAVA, Y., IDRISS, M., RICKETT, D. L, AND BOYNE, A. F. (1985). . 5, S182–S2O3. The present study demonstrates that the reversible and irreversible anti-ChE agents have direct actions on the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-ionic channel (AChR) and on the locust glutamatergic neuromuscular junction. In addition, the prophylaxis of lethality of organophosphorus anti-ChE compounds was studied. The lethality of VX and sarin was diminished when the rats were pretreated with physostigmine and atropine. The effectiveness of this protection, however, was markedly increased when a ganglionic blocker, either mecamylamine or chlorisondamine, was added, such that all the animals survived after receiving four times a lethal dose of VX. Pretreated animals receiving sarin showed significant recovery of morphological and functional properties of the neuromuscular junction as compared to the damage of structures from animals without pretreatment. Blood ChE inhibition was slightly decreased while brain and muscle AChE levels were significantly recovered (from 98 and 70% to 56 and 32%, respectively) by the pretreatment. This effect may partially explain the protection given by physostigmine but not that afforded by addition of a non-anti-ChE agent. Physostigmine, at concentrations >20 μM, showed both a marked depression of the peak amplitudes of the end-plate current (EPC) and a shortening of the decay time constants EPC. These effects were mostly due to a direct drug interaction with the nicotinic AChR blocking the ionic channel in its open conformation. Single-channel recordings showed that physostigmine decreases conductance and open times of the channels activated in the presence of ACh and in addition has an agonistic property on the nicotinic AChR. VX, on the other hand, only shortened the open times of ACh-activated channels without affecting the conductance. No agonist property was detected with VX. On glutamatergic synapses, the ChE inhibitors generated spontaneous firing of end-plate potentials (EPPs) and action potentials (APs). This effect was blocked in the presence of low external Ca concentration or tetrodotoxin. It seems that the spontaneous EPP and AP firing resulted from an increased transmitter release induced by an increase in Na influx at the presynpatic nerve terminal. Physostigmine and some irreversible ChE inhibitors (VX and DFP) also blocked the postjunctional glutamate receptors. Similar to the nicotinic AChR, this effect was mostly related to a blockade of the open channels. In conclusion, the present studies showed significant protection of rats by physostigmine in combination with some ganglionic antagonists against lethality by organophosphate agents. They also revealed direct action of reversible and irreversible ChE inhibitors on the nicotinic and glutamatergic synapses which could account for some of the observed effects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Silicon (Si) nanoparticles with average size of 13 nm and orange-red luminescence under UV absorption were synthesized using electrochemical etching of silicon wafers. A film of Si nanoparticles with thickness of 0.75 µm to 2.6 µm was coated on the glass (TiO2 side) of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The cell exhibited nearly 9% enhancement in power conversion efficiency ( η) at film thickness of ∼2.4 µm under solar irradiation of 100 mW/cm2 (AM 1.5) with improved fill factor and short-circuit current density. This study revealed for the first time that the Si-nanoparticle film converting UV into visible light and helping in homogeneous irradiation, can be utilized for improving the efficiency of the DSSCs. (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]