High Injection Effects on Solar Cell Performances

Experiments are performed on solar cells under concentrated sunlight in order to explore fundamental physical processes with high injection conditions. Saturation effects are observed on the cell open circuit voltage and on the extracted values of the recombination current. A large decrease of the initial decay of the transient voltage have been measured. High injection effects are shown to be correlated with the increase of recombination current in the space charge region together with an increase of the emitterbase coupling

Personal Data, Algorithms and Profiling in the EU: Overcoming the Binary Notion ofPersonal Data through Quantum Mechanics

In this paper I propose to analyse the binary notion of personal data and highlight its limits, in order to propose a different conception of personal data. From a risk regulation perspective, the binary notion of personal data is not particularly fit for purpose, considering that data collection and information flows are tremendously big and complex. As a result, the use of a binary system to determine the applicability of EU data protection law may be a simplistic approach. In an effort of bringing physics and law together, certain principles elaborated within the quantum theory are surprisingly applicable to data protection law, and can be used as guidance to shed light on many of today’s data complexities. Lastly, I will discuss the implications and the effects that certain processing operations may have on the possibility of qualifying certain data as personal. In other terms, how the chances to identify certain data as personal is dependent upon the processing operations that a data controller might put in place

Alzheimer's Disease and Anesthesia

Cognitive disorders such as postoperative cognitive dysfunction, confusion, and delirium, are common following anesthesia in the elderly, with symptoms persisting for months or years in some patients. Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients appear to be particularly at risk of cognitive deterioration following anesthesia, and some studies suggest that exposure to anesthetics may increase the risk of AD. Here, we review the literature linking anesthesia to AD, with a focus on the biochemical consequences of anesthetic exposure on AD pathogenic pathways

Unusual case of life threatening subcutaneous hemorrhage in a blunt trauma patient

AbstractIntroductionHemorrhage is the most common cause of shock in injured patients. Bleeding into the subcutaneous plane is underestimated cause of hypovolemic shock.Presentation of caseUnrestrained male driver involved in a rollover car crash. On examination, his pulse rate was 144bpm, blood pressure 80/30mmHg, and GCS was 7/15. His right pupil was dilated but reactive. Back examination revealed severe contusion with friction burns and lacerations. A Focused Assessment Sonography for Trauma (FAST) was performed. No free intraperitoneal fluid was detected. CT scan of the brain has shown right temporo-parietal subdural hematoma and extensive hematoma in the deep subcutaneous soft tissues of the back. Decompressive cranicotomy and evacuation of the subdural hematoma was performed. On the 4th postoperative day, three liters of dark brown altered blood was drained from the subcutaneous plane.DiscussionThe patient developed severe hypovolemic shock and our aim was to identify and control the source of bleeding during the resuscitation. The source of bleeding was not obvious. Severe shearing force in blunt trauma causes separation between the loose subcutaneous tissues and the underlying relatively immobile deep fascia. This is known as post-traumatic closed degloving injury. To our knowledge this is the first reported case in the English Literature with severe subcutaneous hemorrhage in blunt trauma patients without any previous medical disease.ConclusionBleeding into the subcutaneous plane in closed degloving injury can cause severe hypovolemic shock. It is important for the clinicians managing trauma patients to be aware this serious injury

Matrix Isolation and Computational Study of Isodifluorodibromomethane (F2 Cbr-Br): A Route to Br2 Formation in Cf2 Br2 Photolysis

The photolysis products of dibromodifluoromethane (CF2 Br 2) were characterized by matrix isolation infrared and UV/Visible spectroscopy, supported by ab initio calculations. Photolysis at wavelengths of 240 and 266 nm of CF2 Br2:Ar samples (∼1:5000) held at ∼5 K yielded iso- CF2 Br2 (F2 CBrBr), a weakly bound isomer of CF2 Br2, which is characterized here for the first time. The observed infrared and UV/Visible absorptions of iso- CF2 Br2 are in excellent agreement with computational predictions at the B3LYP/aug-cc-pVTZ level. Single point energy calculations at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVDZ level on the B3LYP optimized geometries suggest that the isoform is a minimum on the CF2 Br2 potential energy surface, lying some 55 kcal/mol above the CF2 Br2 ground state. The energies of various stationary points on the CF2 Br 2 potential energy surface were characterized computationally; taken with our experimental results, these show that iso- CF2 Br 2 is an intermediate in the Br+ CF2 Br→ CF 2 + Br2 reaction. The photochemistry of the isoform was also investigated; excitation into the intense 359 nm absorption band resulted in isomerization to CF2 Br2. Our results are discussed in view of the rich literature on the gas-phase photochemistry of CF2 Br2, particularly with respect to the existence of a roaming atom pathway leading to molecular products. © 2010 American Institute of Physics

Distributed key man-agement in dynamic outsourced databases: A trie-based approach

Abstract The decision to outsource databases is strategic in many organizations due to the increasing costs of internally managing large volumes of information. The sensitive nature of this information raises the need for powerful mechanisms to protect it against unauthorized disclosure. Centralized encryption to access control at the data owner level has been proposed as one way of handling this issue. However, its prohibitive costs renders it impractical and inflexible. A distributed cryptographic approach has been suggested as a promising alternative, where keys are distributed to users on the basis of their assigned privileges. But in this case, key management becomes problematic in the face of frequent database updates and remains an open issue. In this paper, we present a novel approach based on Binary Tries 1 . By exploiting the intrinsic properties of these data structures, key management complexity, and thus its cost, is significantly reduced. Changes to the Binary Trie structure remain limited in the face of frequent updates. Preliminary experimental analysis demonstrates the validity and the effectiveness of our approach

Expression of the alternative oxidase mitigates beta-amyloid production and toxicity in model systems

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been widely associated with the pathology of Alzheimer's disease, but there is no consensus on whether it is a cause or consequence of disease, nor on the precise mechanism(s). We addressed these issues by testing the effects of expressing the alternative oxidase AOX from Ciona intestinalis, in different models of AD pathology. AOX can restore respiratory electron flow when the cytochrome segment of the mitochondrial respiratory chain is inhibited, supporting ATP synthesis, maintaining cellular redox homeostasis and mitigating excess superoxide production at respiratory complexes I and III. In human HEK293-derived cells, AOX expression decreased the production of beta-amyloid peptide resulting from antimycin inhibition of respiratory complex III. Because hydrogen peroxide was neither a direct product nor substrate of AOX, the ability of AOX to mimic antioxidants in this assay must be indirect. In addition, AOX expression was able to partially alleviate the short lifespan of Drosophila models neuronally expressing human beta-amyloid peptides, whilst abrogating the induction of markers of oxidative stress. Our findings support the idea of respiratory chain dysfunction and excess ROS production as both an early step and as a pathologically meaningful target in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis, supporting the concept of a mitochondrial vicious cycle underlying the disease. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.Peer reviewe