Following a lead obtained from stem-bark extract of Butea monosperma, two structurally related methoxyisoflavones; cajanin and isoformononetin were studied for their effects in osteoblasts. Cajanin had strong mitogenic as well as differentiation-promoting effects on osteoblasts that involved subsequent activation of MEK-Erk and Akt pathways. On the other hand, isoformononetin exhibited potent anti-apoptotic effect in addition to promoting osteoblast differentiation that involved parallel activation of MEK-Erk and Akt pathways. Unlike genistein or daidzein, none of these two compounds appear to act via estrogen receptors in osteoblast. Once daily oral (by gavage) treatment for 30 consecutive days was given to recently weaned female Sprague-Dawley rats with each of these compounds at 10.0 mg kg(-1) day(-1) dose. Cajanin increased bone mineral density (BMD) at all skeletal sites studied, bone biomechanical strength, mineral apposition rate (MAR) and bone formation rate (BFR), compared with control. BMD levels at various anatomic positions were also increased with isoformononetin compared with control however, its effect was less potent than cajanin. Isoformononetin had no effect on the parameters of bone biomechanical strength although it enhanced MAR and BFR compared with control. Isoformononetin had very mild uterotrophic effect, whereas cajanin was devoid of any such effect. Our data suggest that cajanin is more potent than isoformononetin in accelerating peak bone mass achievement. To the best of our knowledge, this work represents the first attempt to elucidate structure-activity relationship between the two methoxylated isoflavones regarding their effects in osteoblasts and bone formation.
Electricity has been generated from evaporation-driven water flow in films of carbon soot particles and other porous media. This paper reports the placement of carbon nanofiber mats (CNMs) on fiberglass screens for the construction of efficient water-evaporation-induced generators (WEIGs). These CNMs are prepared from carbonizing electrospun polyacrylonitrile nanofiber mats and then treating them with oxygen plasma. After electrode attachment to the two ends of a CNM, one electrode is immersed into water. Water rises in the mat due to capillary action and evaporates from the mat surface due to thermal energy provided by the environment. The steady rise of water pushes the dissociated ions of the surface functionalities upward, resulting in a streaming current and an electric potential. This paper investigates how the generated short-circuit current, I s, and open-circuit voltage, V o, of the WEIG change with structural parameters of the CNMs. Under optimized conditions, these CNMs produce electricity at an areal power density of 83 nW/cm2, which is almost 10 times those offered by some existing ones. Thus, the easy-to-handle CNMs are an attractive porous scaffold for WEIGs.
This review focuses on our work on metal-free sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Sensitizers based on D-A'-π-A architecture (D is a donor, A is an acceptor, A' is an electron-deficient entity) exhibit better light harvesting than D-π-A-type sensitizers. However, appropriate molecular design is needed to avoid excessive aggregation of negative charge at the electron-deficient entity upon photoexcitation. Rigidified aromatics, including aromatic segments comprising fused electron-excessive and -deficient units in the spacer, allow effective electronic communication, and good photoinduced charge transfer leads to excellent cell performance. Sensitizers with two anchors/acceptors, D(-π-A)2 , can more efficiently harvest light, inject electrons, and suppress dark current compared with congeners with a single anchor. Appropriate incorporation of heteroaromatic units in the spacer is beneficial to DSSC performance. High-performance, aqueous-based DSSCs can be achieved with a dual redox couple comprising imidazolium iodide and 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-N-oxyl, and/or using dyes of improved wettability through the incorporation of a triethylene oxide methyl ether chain.
Metal-free dye sensitized solar cells emerged as an important source of a renewable energy resource because of low production, simple fabrication process and a wide availablility of organic dyes. This review mainly focuses on metal-free sensitizers having rigidifed-aromatics as the conjugated spacer for applications in DSSCs. Based on their structures dyes have been divided into three major subsegments: (i) ladder type polyphenylenes with or without heteroatoms; (ii) rigidfied-aromatics as a donor segments; (iii) fused polyaromatics. Planarization of organic molecules through rigidification of aromatics allows effective communication and their smaller reorganization energy is beneficial to photoinduced charge transfer. Dyes having rigidified aromatics as a conjugated spacer emerged as promising candidates and a maximum efficiency of 12.5 % has been achieved with DSSCs without coadsorbate or co-sensitizer.
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