A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) using two dyes achieved high external quantum efficiency as sensitizers. We confirmed that terpyridine complex (black dye, Solaronix) and an indoline dye (D131, Mitsubishi Paper Mill) were adsorbed by the TiO2 electrode without either dye interfering with the electron transfer of the other dye to the electrode. The high performance of the new arrangement is made possible by the dissociation function of these two particular dyes. The multiple dye system achieved a power conversion efficiency of 11.0%. Moreover, the fabrication of the multiple dye system only mixed the two reagents in one pot.

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Neural stem cells (NSCs) are undifferentiated neural cells characterized by their high proliferative potential and the capacity for self-renewal with retention of multipotency. Over the past two decades, there has been a huge effort to identify NSCs morphologically, genetically, and molecular biologically. It is still controversial, however, what bona fide NSCs are. To define and characterize NSCs more systematically, it is crucial to explore novel cell-surface marker molecules of NSCs. In this study, we focused on GD3, a b-series ganglioside that is enriched in the immature brain and the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the postnatal and adult brain, and evaluated the usefulness of GD3 as a cell-surface biomarker for identifying NSCs. We demonstrated that GD3 was expressed in more than 80% of NSCs prepared from embryonic, postnatal, and adult mouse brain tissue by the neurosphere culture method. The percentage of GD3-expressing NSCs in neurospheres was nearly the same as it was in neurospheres derived from embryonic, postnatal, and adult brains but decreased drastically to about 40% after differentiation. GD3(+) cells isolated from embryonic mouse striata, postnatal, and adult mouse SVZs by fluorescence-activated cell sorting with an R24 anti-GD3 monoclonal antibody efficiently generated neurospheres compared with GD3(-) cells. These cells possessed multipotency to differentiate into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. These data indicate that GD3 is a unique and powerful cell-surface biomarker to identify and isolate NSCs.

In superconductor-topological insulator-superconductor hybrid junctions, the barrier edge states are expected to be protected against backscattering, to generate unconventional proximity effects, and, possibly, to signal the presence of Majorana fermions. The standards of proximity modes for these types of structures have to be settled for a neat identification of possible new entities. Through a systematic and complete set of measurements of the Josephson properties we find evidence of ballistic transport in coplanar Al-Bi2Se3-Al junctions that we attribute to a coherent transport through the topological edge state. The shunting effect of the bulk only influences the normal transport. This behavior, which can be considered to some extent universal, is fairly independent of the specific features of superconducting electrodes. A comparative study of Shubnikov -de Haas oscillations and Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy gave an experimental signature compatible with a two dimensional electron transport channel with a Dirac dispersion relation. A reduction of the size of the Bi2Se3 flakes to the nanoscale is an unavoidable step to drive Josephson junctions in the proper regime to detect possible distinctive features of Majorana fermions.

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