Improved FTO/NiOx interfaces for inverted planar triple cation perovskite solar cells

Front electrodes of fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) thin films and hole transporting layers of nickel oxide thin films have been combined to fabricate 1.063 cm2 inverted planar solar cells with cesium-containing triple cation perovskites as absorber layers. Using atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition FTO layers were obtained with low sheet resistance, decreased root mean squareroughness, increased transmission,and reduced optical haze values compared to a widely used commercial FTO substrate. Cell performance outperformed the equivalent cells fabricated using the commercial FTO. With full illumination under maximumpowerpoint tracking, a stabilized power conversion efficiency of 13.78 % was obtained for the champion device

Functional modes of proteins are among the most robust ones

It is shown that a small subset of modes which are likely to be involved in protein functional motions of large amplitude can be determined by retaining the most robust normal modes obtained using different protein models. This result should prove helpful in the context of several applications proposed recently, like for solving difficult molecular replacement problems or for fitting atomic structures into low-resolution electron density maps. Moreover, it may also pave the way for the development of methods allowing to predict such motions accurately.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Dual-isotope 111In/177Lu SPECT imaging as a tool in molecular imaging tracer design

The synthesis, design and subsequent pre-clinical testing of new molecular imaging tracers are topic of extensive research in healthcare. Quantitative dual-isotope SPECT imaging is proposed here as a tool in the design and validation of such tracers, as it can be used to quantify and compare the biodistribution of a specific ligand and its nonspecific control ligand, labeled with two different radionuclides, in the same animal. Since the biodistribution results are not blurred by experimental or physiological inter-animal variations, this approach allows determination of the ligand's net targeting effect. However, dual-isotope quantification is complicated by crosstalk between the two radionuclides used and the radionuclides should not influence the biodistribution of the tracer. Here, we developed a quantitative dual-isotope SPECT protocol using combined 111Indium and 177Lutetium and tested this tool for a well-known angiogenesis-specific ligand (cRGD peptide) in comparison to a potential nonspecific control (cRAD peptide). Dual-isotope SPECT imaging of the peptides showed a similar organ and tumor uptake to single-isotope studies (cRGDfK-DOTA, 1.5±0.8%ID cm -3; cRADfK-DOTA, 0.2±0.1%ID cm -3), but with higher statistical relevance (p-value 0.007, n=8). This demonstrated that, for the same relevance, seven animals were required in case of a single-isotope test design as compared with only three animals when a dual-isotope test was used. Interchanging radionuclides did not influence the biodistribution of the peptides. Dual-isotope SPECT after simultaneous injection of 111In and 177Lu-labeled cRGD and cRAD was shown to be a valuable method for paired testing of the in vivo target specificity of ligands in molecular imaging tracer design. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

1 cm2 CH3NH3PbI3 mesoporous solar cells with 17.8% steady-state efficiency by tailoring front FTO electrodes

In this article, we investigate the effects of atmospheric-pressure chemical vapour deposited fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) thin films as front electrodes for the fabrication of mesoporous perovskite solar cells with an active area of 1 cm2 and compare them with the use of a commonly used commercial transparent conducting oxide. The effects of sheet resistance (Rs) and surface roughness are both closely linked to the film thickness. In order to separate out these effects the characteristics of the deposited FTOs were carefully controlled by changing the fluorine doping levels and the number of passes under the coating head to give films of specific thicknesses or Rs. Under AM 1.5 Sun illumination and maximum power point tracking, the optimised FTOs yielded a steady-state power conversion efficiency of 17.8%, higher than that of the reference cell fabricated from the commercial FTO. We attribute the improved cell efficiency to increased fill factor and a lower series resistance resulting from the lower Rs and increased thickness of these FTO substrates. This low-cost and viable methodology is the first such type of study looking independently at the significance of FTO roughness and resistance for highly efficient mesoporous perovskite solar cells

Targeting cancer vasculature via endoglin/CD105: a novel antibody-based diagnostic and therapeutic strategy in solid tumours

Endoglin/CD105 is well acknowledged as being the most reliable marker of proliferation of endothelial cells, and it is overexpressed on tumour neovasculature. Our current knowledge of its structure, physiological role, and tissue distribution suggests that targeting of endoglin/CD105 is a novel and powerful diagnostic and therapeutic strategy in human malignancies, through the imaging of tumour-associated angiogenesis and the inhibition of endothelial cell functions related to tumour angiogenesis. Among biotherapeutic agents, monoclonal antibodies have shown a major impact on the clinical course of human malignancies of different histotypes. Along this line, the potential efficacy of anti-endoglin/CD105 antibodies and their derivatives for clinical purposes in cancer is supported by a large body of available pre-clinical in vitro and in vivo data. In this review, the main findings supporting the translation of antibody-based endoglin/CD105 targeting from pre-clinical studies to clinical applications in human cancer are summarized and discussed