Influence of FK209 Cobalt Doped Electron Transport Layer in Cesium Based Perovskite Solar Cells

The efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) depend not only on the perovskite film quality, but they are also influenced by the charge carriers of both the electron and hole transport layers (ETL and HTL). Doping of the carrier transport layers is considered one of effective technique applied to enhance the efficiency and performance of the PSCs. FK209 cobalt TFSI and lithium TFSI salt were investigated as dopants for mesoporous TiO2 (M-TiO2) in the ETL. Herein, FK209 cobalt doping offers improved conductivity, reproducibility and stability compared to other doping or undoped M-TiO2 control device. It has been found that an optimum concentration of 2.5 mg FK209 cobalt in the M-TiO2 has resulted in an efficiency of 15.6% on 0.36 cm2 active device area, whereas, the undoped M-TiO2 yielded an average efficiency of 10.8%. The enhanced efficiency is due to the improved conductivity of the ETL while maintaining high transparency and low surface roughness with FK209 doping. The M-TiO2 doped with FK209 has a transparency of the 90% over the visible range and its measured energy gap was 3.59 eV. Perovskite films deposited on the M-TiO2 doped with FK209 has also a lower PL intensity indicating faster charge extraction. The measured lifetime of the perovskite films deposited on the optimised M-TiO2 film was 115.8 ns

Health promotion, disease prevention and periodic health checks: perceptions and practice among family physicians in eastern Mediterranean region

Introduction: The aim of this study was to identify the current practices and perceptions of family physicians regarding health promotion, disease prevention including periodic screening and health checks in Eastern Mediterranean Region. Methods: A multi-country cross-sectional study was conducted in six countries of EMR, from September 2014 to March 2015. Family Physicians who were currently practicing in different countries of EMR were invited to participate in the study through email. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was entered and analyzed on SPSS 19 and logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: A total of 100 physicians data was included in the final analysis. The majority were female physicians (76%): 63% were 25 to 35 years of age. Approximately 53% of Family physicians always recommend periodic screening and health checks to their patients. The common screening question asked to patients in medical history was related to their blood pressure (86%). Almost all (99%) of the Family physicians believe they should conduct periodic health checks. Those who had postgraduate training in Family Medicine (OR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.39-1.67) and attended CME sessions regularly (OR: 0.11; 95% CI: 0.01-0.93), are more likely to recommend periodic screening and health checks to their patients. Conclusion: Periodic screening and health check is an important strategy to prevent disease and maintain health. It is an underutilized practice and a great need exists for its implementation in family practice

New leadership model for family physicians in the Eastern Mediterranean region: a pilot study across selected countries

Background: Family Medicine is growing rapidly across the Eastern Mediterranean Region. However, it needs support in terms of overall health system development. This will require strong leadership in family medicine to implement the change required to improve current conditions. Objective: To collect data that will support the development of a leadership program for the future family physicians in the region. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2016 to September 2016 in eight countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, (Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia). These countries were selected to obtain perceptions of Family Physicians (FPs) regarding the current leadership model and to explore the need for a new future innovative model in Family Medicine (FM) across the region. Results: The information of 68 family physicians was included in the final analysis. The majority of the FPs was females as compared to males (71% vs. 29%). Forty-four percent of the FPs had 10 to 19 years of experience. Almost all of the FPs (96%) had completed some training in family medicine after graduation. About three fifths of the FPs had completed postgraduate qualifications and out of those, 64% had passed Board or Membership Examinations. Twenty-one percent of them are currently in a leadership role and 45% who were not in any leadership role responded that the current situation of FM in their country is poor. All of the leaders believed that it is important to develop strong leadership in FM to take the specialty forward. Almost similar proportions (67% and 64%) of leaders and non-leaders thought that establishing regional associations would enhance the FM practice model. Approximately two thirds of leaders (67%) responded that the current role of decision makers in the Ministry of Health (MOH) regarding capacity building in FM is not effective. The majority of the FPs (54% and 38%) considers that the existing postgraduate curriculum does not address leadership skill development in FM. Eighty-eight percent of the FPs both from leadership and non-leadership groups agreed that academic institutions and practicing FPs can play an effective leadership role in taking FM forward. Conclusion: The Family Medicine specialty will have to develop leadership capabilities in line with today’s fast-moving changes in healthcare for it to obtain the due recognition in the healthcare delivery system

Barriers, challenges and way forward for implementation of person centered care model of patient and physician consultation: a survey of patients’ perspective from Eastern Mediterranean countries

Background: Person-Centered Care (PCC) is now considered a mandatory approach in Patient-Physician consultation. The aim of the study was to identify patients’ perception regarding barriers and possible remedies for implementation of PCC in Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). Methods: A cross-sectional multi-country study was conducted in six countries of EMR during May 2014 to October 2014. Expert Family Physicians from each country were identified and asked to participate in the study. The Family Physicians then recruited Patients from their own clinics (\u3e18 years). Data analysis was performed on SPSS 19 and results are reported in the form of proportions, odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results: A total of 234 patients were recruited, 60.6% were aged between 20 to 30 years and 36.3% of them were males. 56% of the patients preferred Person-Centered Care model for patient-physician consultation. The major barriers identified by patients in its implementing were; time constraints (73.9%, OR: 1.5; 95% CI: 0.86-2.78), doctors desire to control patient (OR: 2.6; 95% CI: 1.55-4.49), cultural and religious reasons (52.1%), increased cost (50.9%). Patients responded that increased cost related to Person-Centered Care practice would be acceptable (58.1%), if increase proved to be in the interest of better health and care outcomes (40.6%). Conclusion: Person-Centered Care (PCC) is associated with significant barriers in its implementation in Eastern Mediterranean Region. These barriers can be overcome in the interest of better health and care related outcomes

Health promotion, disease prevention and periodic health checks: perceptions and practice among family physicians in Eastern Mediterranean region

Introduction: The aim of this study was to identify the current practices and perceptions of family physicians regarding health promotion, disease prevention including periodic screening and health checks in Eastern Mediterranean Region. Methods: A multi-country cross-sectional study was conducted in six countries of EMR, from September 2014 to March 2015. Family Physicians who were currently practicing in different countries of EMR were invited to participate in the study through email. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was entered and analyzed on SPSS 19 and logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: A total of 100 physicians’ data was included in the final analysis. The majority were female physicians (76%): 63% were 25 to 35 years of age. Approximately 53% of Family physicians always recommend periodic screening and health checks to their patients. The common screening question asked to patients in medical history was related to their blood pressure (86%). Almost all (99%) of the Family physicians believe they should conduct periodic health checks. Those who had postgraduate training in Family Medicine (OR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.39-1.67) and attended CME sessions regularly (OR: 0.11; 95% CI: 0.01-0.93), are more likely to recommend periodic screening and health checks to their patients. Conclusion: Periodic screening and health check is an important strategy to prevent disease and maintain health. It is an underutilized practice and a great need exists for its implementation in family practice

Surface texturing for silcon solar cells using reactive ion etching technique

Surface texturing is an effective and more lasting technique in reducing reflections and improving light trapping compared to antireflection coatings. A surface texturing technique using Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) method suitable for crystalline and multi crystalline solar cells, which resulted in surfaces with negligible reflection in the visible band is described. Different texturing structures (pillars, holes and black silicon) have been studied and compared in the wavelength range from 250nm-2500nm. It is found that the reflectance of the textured column structures were less than 0.4% at wavelengths from 500nm to 1000nm and showed a minimum of 0.29% at 1000 nm while the reflectivity from black silicon is around 1% and hole structures is around 6.8% in the same wavelength range

Fabrication of free-standing casein Devices with micro- and nanostructured regular and bioimprinted surface features

This work introduces a novel process for the fabrication of free-standing biodegradable casein devices with micro- and nanoscale regular and biomimetic surface features. Fabrication of intermediate polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) moulds from photoresist masters and liquid-casting of casein is used to transfer arbitrary geometrical shapes onto the surface of casein devices. Casein film composition was optimized for mechanical stability and pattern resolution. It was found that 15% casein in 0.2% NaOH solution, mixed with 10% glycerol, and cross-linked by addition of 2% glutaraldehyde produced the best pattern transfer results. Biomimetic cell-like shapes were transferred onto casein by use of bioimprinting of two-dimensional cell-cultures into PDMS. To demonstrate this process, C2C12 mouse myoblasts were cultured on microscope slides, replicated into PDMS and casein using liquid casting and drying. Recessed alignment grids were integrated into the microscope glass slides to facilitate direct comparison of original cells and their bioimprints on PDMS and casein. Optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy confirmed the transfer of micron-scale morphological features, such as cell outlines, nuclei and larger lamellipodia, into the casein surface. Nanoscale feature resolution in casein was found to be limited compared to the PDMS intermediate moulds, which was attributed to limited wetting of the aqueous casein solution. Strategies to increase resolution of the casein transfer step, as well as degradation behavior of the fabricated devices in cell culture media are currently underway. Substrates fabricated with this process have applications in stem cell engineering, regenerative medicine, and implantable device

Subradiant resonances in Au and Ag bipartite lattices in the visible spectrum

Subradiant surface lattice resonances are of interest due to their remarkably high quality factors. In this work, these high quality resonances are experimentally investigated in the visible spectrum with Au and Ag bipartite disk lattices fabricated with electron beam lithography. Subradiant resonances are also compared to unipartite surface lattice resonance with angle-resolved extinction measurements, which are supported by numerical models. Finally, the lattice parameters are optimized to show high quality factors in lattices where the elements have a diameter difference as small as 10 nm

Damage studies in dry etched textured silicon surfaces

Surface texturing is a more permanent and effective solution to eliminate reflections compared with antireflection coatings in optical devices. In this study texturing was performed using a reactive ion etching technique, reflectance was measured and th

Micro- and Nanopatterning of Freestanding Protein Films

Biodegradable casein films have significant potential for use as non-supported stand-alone sheeting in orthopaedic implants and tissue engineering substrates. Multi-scale surface patterns can be used to modulate and guide cell interaction by means of an engineered construct. The majority of work on cell-pattern interaction has so far focused on non-degradable materials. In this paper we demonstrate for the first time the fabrication of micro- and nano-scale geometric patterns on the surface of a crosslinked biodegradable casein film. To achieve this we introduce a two-step fabrication procedure based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) soft-lithography. We will show the reproduction of micro- and nano-scale patterns in liquid-cast casein films. We also demonstrate film formation and cross-linking using glutaraldehyde and discuss the use of these films as cell-culture substrates