This Review focuses on recent developments in the use of ZnO nanostructures for dye‐sensitized solar cell (DSC) applications. It is shown that carefully designed and fabricated nanostructured ZnO films are advantageous for use as a DSC photoelectrode as they offer larger surface areas than bulk film material, direct electron pathways, or effective light‐scattering centers, and, when combined with TiO2, produce a core–shell structure that reduces the combination rate. The limitations of ZnO‐based DSCs are also discussed and several possible methods are proposed so as to expand the knowledge of ZnO to TiO2, motivating further improvement in the power‐conversion efficiency of DSCs.

Nanostructured materials are advantageous in offering huge surface to volume ratios, favorable transport properties, altered physical properties, and confinement effects resulting from the nanoscale dimensions, and have been extensively studied for energy-related applications such as solar cells, catalysts, thermoelectrics, lithium ion batteries, supercapacitors, and hydrogen storage systems. This review focuses on a few select aspects regarding these topics, demonstrating that nanostructured materials benefit these applications by (1) providing a large surface area to boost the electrochemical reaction or molecular adsorption occurring at the solid-liquid or solid-gas interface, (2) generating optical effects to improve optical absorption in solar cells, and (3) giving rise to high crystallinity and/or porous structure to facilitate the electron or ion transport and electrolyte diffusion, so as to ensure the electrochemical process occurs with high efficiency. It is emphasized that, to further enhance the capability of nanostructured materials for energy conversion and storage, new mechanisms and structures are anticipated. In addition to highlighting the obvious advantages of nanostructured materials, the limitations and challenges of nanostructured materials while being used for solar cells, lithium ion batteries, supercapacitors, and hydrogen storage systems have also been addressed in this review.

Background: The magnitude of risk conferred by the interaction between tobacco and alcohol use on the risk of head and neck cancers is not clear because studies have used various methods to quantify the excess head and neck cancer burden. Methods: We analyzed individual-level pooled data from 17 European and American case-control studies (11,221 cases and 16,168 controls) participating in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology consortium. We estimated the multiplicative interaction parameter (y) and population attributable risks (PAR). Results: A greater than multiplicative joint effect between ever tobacco and alcohol use was observed for head and neck cancer risk (y = 2.15; 95% confidence interval, 1.53-3.04). The PAR for tobacco or alcohol was 72% (95% confidence interval, 61-79%) for head and

Our results represent the most precise estimates available of the independent association of each of the two main risk factors of head and neck cancer, and they exemplify the strengths of large-scale consortia in cancer epidemiology.

SummaryA functional genomics study revealed that the activity of acetyl-CoA synthetase 2 (ACSS2) contributes to cancer cell growth under low-oxygen and lipid-depleted conditions. Comparative metabolomics and lipidomics demonstrated that acetate is used as a nutritional source by cancer cells in an ACSS2-dependent manner, and supplied a significant fraction of the carbon within the fatty acid and phospholipid pools. ACSS2 expression is upregulated under metabolically stressed conditions and ACSS2 silencing reduced the growth of tumor xenografts. ACSS2 exhibits copy-number gain in human breast tumors, and ACSS2 expression correlates with disease progression. These results signify a critical role for acetate consumption in the production of lipid biomass within the harsh tumor microenvironment.

Here comes the sun: A conversion efficiency as high as 5.4 % has been achieved on dye‐sensitized ZnO solar cells with photoelectrode films consisting of polydisperse aggregates, compared to 2.4 % for the films with only nanosized crystallites. The aggregation of nanocrystallites with a broad size distribution is effective in enhancing the light‐harvesting efficiency by inducing light scattering within the photoelectrode films.

An in vivo model of antiangiogenic therapy allowed us to identify genes upregulated by bevacizumab treatment, including Fatty Acid Binding Protein 3 (FABP3) and FABP7, both of which are involved in fatty acid uptake. In vitro, both were induced by hypoxia in a hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α)-dependent manner. There was a significant lipid droplet (LD) accumulation in hypoxia that was time and O2 concentration dependent. Knockdown of endogenous expression of FABP3, FABP7, or Adipophilin (an essential LD structural component) significantly impaired LD formation under hypoxia. We showed that LD accumulation is due to FABP3/7-dependent fatty acid uptake while de novo fatty acid synthesis is repressed in hypoxia. We also showed that ATP production occurs via β-oxidation or glycogen degradation in a cell-type-dependent manner in hypoxia-reoxygenation. Finally, inhibition of lipid storage reduced protection against reactive oxygen species toxicity, decreased the survival of cells subjected to hypoxia-reoxygenation in vitro, and strongly impaired tumorigenesis in vivo.

The interest in dye-sensitized solar cells has increased due to reduced energy sources and higher energy production costs. For the most part, titania (TiO 2 ) has been the material of choice for dye-sensitized solar cells and so far have shown to exhibit the highest overall light conversion efficiency ∼ 11 %.[1] However, zinc oxide (ZnO) has recently been explored as an alternative material in dye-sensitized solar cells with great potential.[2] The main reasons for this increase in research surrounding ZnO material include: 1) ZnO having a bandgap similar to that for TiO 2 at 3.2 eV, [3] and 2) ZnO having a much higher electron mobility ∼ 115-155 cm 2 V -1 s -1 [4] than that for anatase titania (TiO 2 ), which is reported to be ∼ 10 -5 cm 2 V -1 s -1. [5] In addition, ZnO has a few advantages as the semiconductor electrode when compared to TiO 2 , including 1) simpler tailoring of the nanostructure as compared to TiO 2 , and 2) easier modification of the surface structure. These advantages [6] are thought to provide a promising means for improving the solar cell performance of the working electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells. It was reported [7] that the surface structure, the particle size and shape, and the porosity are all important factors for optimizing the solar cell performance of dye-sensitized solar cells. With ZnO, these factors can easily be tailored through the modification of solution growth and wet-chemical methods to fabricate various nanostructures. In addition, the surface structure and crystallinity of ZnO for dye-sensitized solar cells can be easily modified through the use of aqueous solution methods to increase the surface area.[8] For example, aligned ZnO nanowires can be prepared by electrochemical deposition, VLS or nucleation growth, or thermal evaporation; whereas, the growth of TiO 2 nanowires are less likely to occur and much more difficult to obtain using such solution growth methods.So far, the highest overall light conversion efficiency obtained for ZnO nanoparticle film has been ∼ 5 % [9] by utilizing additional compression methods for better particle packing. With typical nanoparticle film processing techniques, the highest overall light conversion efficiency obtained for ZnO has been ∼ 1.5 %.[10]