Polymer photovoltaic cells with power conversion efficiencies approaching 5 % have been fabricated using titanium oxide (TiOx) as an optical spacer (see Figure). Solar cells with a TiOx layer (deposited via a sol–gel process) between the active layer and the electron‐collecting aluminum electrode exhibit approximately a 50 % enhancement in short‐circuit current compared to similar devices without the optical spacer, as a result of modification of the spatial distribution of the light intensity inside the device.

To understand the collective properties of nanoparticles, it is necessary to control the particle size, spacing and ordering. Here we describe the chemical synthesis of well-controlled silver nanoparticles, the wet coat preparation and the optical properties of its film. The light incidence angle and polarization dependency of the resonant spectra show distinctive surface plasmon resonance extinction peaks for isolated particles and the coupled modes of neighbouring particles. Furthermore, we discuss the thermal treatment and dielectric surrounding effects on the optical properties of silver nanoparticle film.

Background: Empagliflozin (empa), a selective sodium-glucose cotransporter (SGLT)2 inhibitor, reduced cardiovascular mortality and hospitalization for heart failure in patients with type 2 diabetes at high cardiovascular risk independent of glycemic control. The cardiovascular protective effect of empa was evaluated in an experimental model of metabolic syndrome, the obese ZSF1 rat, and its' lean control. Methods: Lean and obese ZSF1 rats were either non-treated or treated with empa (30 mg/kg/day) for 6 weeks. Vascular reactivity was assessed using mesenteric artery rings, systolic blood pressure by tail-cuff sphygmomanometry, heart function and structural changes by echocardiography, and protein expression levels by Western blot analysis. Results: Empa treatment reduced blood glucose levels from 275 to 196 mg/dl in obese ZSF1 rats whereas normoglycemia (134 mg/dl) was present in control lean ZSF1 rats and was unaffected by empa. Obese ZSF1 rats showed increased systolic blood pressure, and blunted endothelium-dependent relaxations associated with the appearance of endothelium-dependent contractile responses (EDCFs) compared to control lean rats. These effects were prevented by the empa treatment. Obese ZSF1 rats showed increased weight of the heart and of the left ventricle volume without the presence of diastolic or systolic dysfunction, which were improved by the empa treatment. An increased expression level of senescence markers (p53, p21, p16), tissue factor, VCAM-1, SGLT1 and SGLT2 and a down-regulation of eNOS were observed in the aortic inner curvature compared to the outer one in the control lean rats, which were prevented by the empa treatment. In the obese ZSF1 rats, no such effects were observed. The empa treatment reduced the increased body weight and weight of lungs, spleen, liver and perirenal fat, hyperglycemia and the increased levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides in obese ZSF1 rats, and increased blood ketone levels and urinary glucose excretion in control lean and obese ZSF1 rats. Conclusion: Empa reduced glucose levels by 28% and improved both endothelial function and cardiac remodeling in the obese ZSF1 rat. Empa also reduced the increased expression level of senescence, and atherothrombotic markers at arterial sites at risk in the control lean, but not obese, ZSF1 rat.

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This paper considers limited feedback for a twocell interfering multiple input multiple output multiple access channel (MIMO-MAC). We propose a QR decomposition-based interference alignment (QRD-IA) scheme for an efficient limited feedback and investigate the conditions for the antenna configuration. We characterize the interference leakage caused by quantization error as a function of the number of feedback bits. To minimize the interference leakage, we further propose a quantized precoder-based IA (QP-IA) scheme by modifying the proposed QRD-IA scheme. By characterizing the interference leakage of QP-IA scheme, we investigate the number of feedback bits to maintain the degrees of freedom in the two-cell interfering MIMO-MAC and a feedback bits allocation algorithm to improve the sum rate. From simulation results, we demonstrate that our proposed schemes can provide better sum rate performance than the existing scheme using the same number of feedback bits and our feedback bits allocation algorithm provides a higher sum rate compared with equal feedback bits allocation.Index Terms-Two-cell interfering multiple-input multipleoutput multiple access channel, limited feedback, matrix quantization, interference alignment, feedback bits allocation.