Chronic Loss of Melanin-Concentrating Hormone Affects Motivational Aspects of Feeding in the Rat

Current epidemic obesity levels apply great medical and financial pressure to the strenuous economy of obesity-prone cultures, and neuropeptides involved in body weight regulation are regarded as attractive targets for a possible treatment of obesity in humans. The lateral hypothalamus and the nucleus accumbens shell (AcbSh) form a hypothalamic-limbic neuropeptide feeding circuit mediated by Melanin-Concentrating Hormone (MCH). MCH promotes feeding behavior via MCH receptor-1 (MCH1R) in the AcbSh, although this relationship has not been fully characterized. Given the AcbSh mediates reinforcing properties of food, we hypothesized that MCH modulates motivational aspects of feeding

Zr-based AB(2)-type hydrogen storage alloys as dual catalysts of gas-diffusion electrodes in an alkaline fuel cell

Zr-based AB(2)-type hydrogen storage alloys as dual catalysts for hydrogen adsorption and oxidation reactions in alkaline fuel cells were investigated. A hydrogen-diffusion electrode composed of this hydride alloy was constructed, and its performance in terms of catalytic activities and durability was evaluated. Results demonstrated that the hydrogen-diffusion electrode had not only good activity but also excellent stability at a current density of 40-60 mA/cm(2) after surface treatments using a 1.0 M HF solution. XPS analyses showed that the improvement in catalytic activity is related to the formation of a nickel-rich layer and the removal of other oxides on the catalyst surface. The novel possible application of Zr-based hydride alloys could lead to an attempt to exploit new catalysts to lower material cost for hydrogen fuel cells.</p

Novel amorphous silicon solar cell using a manufacturing procedure with a temporary superstrate

\u3cp\u3eWe developed a novel temporary-superstrate concept for SnO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e/p-i-n amorphous silicon solar cells. This concept combines roll-to-roll manufacturability, the utilization of light scattering, the conductive properties of SnO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e:F, and the possibility of monolithic series connection. To this purpose, the deposition of high quality textured SnO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e:F layers on aluminum foil has been developed using APCVD. Layers have been obtained with a transmission of 80% and a sheet resistance of 12 Ω/□. After definition of the entire p-i-n cell structure including the back contact, the cell is laminated with a permanent carrier foil. By removing the aluminum foil, light can enter the cell through the textured TCO layer. A wide variety of transparent encapsulants can be used to finalize the (flexible or preshaped) product. Preliminary cells made according to this scheme have an efficiency of 6%.\u3c/p\u3