The present study has been designed to investigate the protective effect of L-theanine against 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP)-induced Huntington's disease (HD)-like symptoms in rats. The present experimental protocol design includes systemic 3-NP acid (10 mg/kg intraperitonially) treatment for 14 d. L-theanine (100 and 200 mg/kg) was given orally, once a day, 1 h before 3-NP acid treatment for 14 d. Body weight and behavioral parameters (Morris water maze, open field test (OFT), forced swim test (FST) and rotarod activity) were assessed on 1st, 5th, 10th and 15th day post-3-NP acid administration. Malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) levels and mitochondrial enzyme complex. Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) were measured on the 15th day in the striatum. Systemic 3-NP acid treatment significantly reduced body weight, locomotor activity and oxidative defense. The mitochondrial enzyme activity was also significantly impaired in the striatum region in 3-NP acid-treated animals. L-theanine (100 and 200 mg/kg b.wt.) treatment significantly attenuated the impairment in behavioral, biochemical and mitochondrial enzyme activities as compared to the 3-NP acid-treated group. The results of the present study suggest that pretreatment with L-theanine significantly attenuated 3-NP induced oxidative stress and restored the decreased SOD, GSH, CAT and SDH activity. It also decreased the neuronal damage as evidenced by histopathological analysis of striatum. Based on the above study, it has been proved that L-theanine has neuroprotective activity against 3-NP induced neurotoxicity.

a b s t r a c tWe studied the response to various realistic outdoor conditions of thin-film silicon-based triple-bandgap, triple-junction cells that were made in house. The triple-junction cells consist of a stack of protoSi:H/proto-SiGe:H/nanocrystalline (nc)-Si:H cells in an n-i-p configuration, fabricated using hot-wire chemical vapour deposition (CVD). Current matching was determined for modeled spectra of four different days of the year that are typical for the northwestern European climate. Spectral modeling was based on measured irradiation data. The results showed that on a clear day in June, when the actual spectrum was closest to the reference AM1.5 spectrum, the matching was ideal. As the spectral shape varied during the course of the day with respect to the AM1.5 reference the matching became progressively worse. We found that the top cell (1.8 eV) and bottom cell (1.1 eV) are most sensitive to spectral changes, whereas the middle cell (1.5 eV) is less sensitive. Overall, it was evident that either cloudiness or seasonal variations led to an increase in current mismatch between the cells. If the subcells are closely matched, it may even occur that a cell designed to be current limiting no longer fulfills that role.

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