Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy has almost been restricted to the study of only three noble metals of Au, Ag and Cu for two decades. Recently, a new confocal Raman microscope and special surface pretreatments have allowed the acquisition of high-quality surface Raman spectra of organic and inorganic molecules adsorbed on bare Pt, Ni, Co, Fe, Pd, Rh, Ru and Si electrodes over a wide applied potential range for the Ðrst time. The present results demonstrate several advantages of in situ surface Raman spectroscopy that could probably make it a general technique widely used in surface science and electrochemistry.

Nanocrystalline titanium oxide thin films have been successfully deposited on ITO coated glass by pulsed laser ablation of metallic Ti target in O-3/O-2 ambient gases. The intercalation of Li ions in the anatase TiO2 film electrode is examined by cyclic voltammetry. The electrochromic behaviour of TiO2 electrode is investigated by in-situ visible transmittance measurement, and two absorption bands at 420 and 650 nm are observed. The absorption falling and rising in color changing with excellent revisibility is relative to the insertion and deintercalation processes of Li ion. These results suggest that nanocrystalline titanium oxide films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition exhibit excellent spectroelectrochemical property

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Hoxa10, a homeobox gene, is necessary for endometrial receptivity to blastocyst implantation. The aim of this study was to investigate the differential expression of Hoxa10 in canine uterus during early pregnancy and its regulation under different conditions by in situ hybridization. Hoxa10 mRNA was mainly localized in glandular epithelium and myometrium in canine uterus. There was a low level of Hoxa10 expression in the glandular epithelium on days 6, 12 and 17 of pregnancy. On day 20 of pregnancy when embryo implanted, Hoxa10 mRNA was highly expressed in the glandular epithelium surrounding the embryo, but not in the luminal epithelium. The expression of Hoxa10 mRNA gradually declined from day 23 and reached a low level on day 28. In the myometrium, a low level of Hoxa10 mRNA signal was seen on days 6, 12 and 17 of pregnancy and reached a high level on day 20 of pregnancy. During the estrous cycle, a high level of Hoxa10 mRNA expression was seen in the estrous uterus. Either estrogen or progesterone significantly induced the expression of Hoxa10 mRNA in the ovariectomized canine uterus. These results suggest that Hoxa10 expression is closely related to canine embryo implantation and upregulated by estrogen and progesterone.