Response of Polycrystalline Solar Cell Outputs to Visible Spectrum and other Light Sources-a Case Study

In this case study, two polycrystalline solar modules were installed outdoors (irradiated by sunlight) and indoors (irradiated by artificial lights). The solar cells in both cases were installed using different color filters that allowed the passage of certain light frequencies. The amount of energy produced by each module were measured and compared to a reference module with no filter. The results indicated the variable response of polycrystalline solar cells to natural and artificial light sources, being more responsive in both cases to red band color as could be deduced from their % current outputs (72.5% sunlight radiation; 84.38% artificial light sources). Other colors, including yellow, green, orange and violet afforded acceptable outputs. The results indicated that electrical outputs of indoor solar cells decreased when colored filters were used, but red filter in general afforded the maximum outputs, for both the artificially radiated indoor and naturally radiated outdoor solar cells. The case study suggests the possible complementary advantage of using indoor mounted solar cells for the production of electricity during artificial illumination period of the day

Graded Proteasome Dysfunction in Caenorhabditis elegans Activates an Adaptive Response Involving the Conserved SKN-1 and ELT-2 Transcription Factors and the Autophagy-Lysosome Pathway

The maintenance of cellular proteins in a biologically active and structurally stable state is a vital endeavor involving multiple cellular pathways. One such pathway is the ubiquitin-proteasome system that represents a major route for protein degradation, and reductions in this pathway usually have adverse effects on the health of cells and tissues. Here, we demonstrate that loss-of-function mutants of the Caenorhabditis elegans proteasome subunit, RPN-10, exhibit moderate proteasome dysfunction and unexpectedly develop both increased longevity and enhanced resistance to multiple threats to the proteome, including heat, oxidative stress, and the presence of aggregation prone proteins. The rpn-10 mutant animals survive through the activation of compensatory mechanisms regulated by the conserved SKN-1/Nrf2 and ELT-2/GATA transcription factors that mediate the increased expression of genes encoding proteasome subunits as well as those mediating oxidative- and heat-stress responses. Additionally, we find that the rpn-10 mutant also shows enhanced activity of the autophagy-lysosome pathway as evidenced by increased expression of the multiple autophagy genes including atg-16.2, lgg-1, and bec-1, and also by an increase in GFP::LGG-1 puncta. Consistent with a critical role for this pathway, the enhanced resistance of the rpn-10 mutant to aggregation prone proteins depends on autophagy genes atg-13, atg-16.2, and prmt-1. Furthermore, the rpn-10 mutant is particularly sensitive to the inhibition of lysosome activity via either RNAi or chemical means. We also find that the rpn-10 mutant shows a reduction in the numbers of intestinal lysosomes, and that the elt-2 gene also plays a novel and vital role in controlling the production of functional lysosomes by the intestine. Overall, these experiments suggest that moderate proteasome dysfunction could be leveraged to improve protein homeostasis and organismal health and longevity, and that the rpn-10 mutant provides a unique platform to explore these possibilities

Investigation of enhanced double weight code in point to point access networks

© 2020 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. In this paper, an investigation and evaluation to enhanced double weight (EDW) code is performed, a new technique for code structuring and building using modified arithmetical model has been given for the code in place of employing previous technique based on Trial Inspections. Innovative design has been employed for the code into P2P networks using diverse weighted EDW code to be fitting into optical CDMA relevance applications. A new developed relation for EDW code is presented, the relation is based on studying and experimenting the effect of input transmission power with code weight, and the relation developed using numerical analysis method. This relation makes the estimation for the system input power needed more efficient. The results of the code has been explained by eye diagram and parametric illustrations from the simulated results. The result shows a magnificent performance of the code during high number of users and weight. On the other hand, the relation developed for power measurement helps to prevent power loss and consumption

Investigation the nonlinear optical properties of silver nanoparticles using femtosecond laser

© 2020 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. In this research, the fabrication of silver nanoparticles and experimental nonlinear response (NLO). The fabrication of the silver nanoparticles has been done using E-Beam evaporation on a glass substrate (Ag-NPs) and investigation of their nonlinear optical response (NLO). The silver nanoparticles was evaluated by optical spectrum (UV-Vis) that shows localized surface Plasmon band at 375 nm. The experiment shows the nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction effect of silver nanoparticles, the silver nanoparticles is analysed by Z-Scan technique using a femtoseconds laser with 800 nm wavelength. The result shows the nonlinear absorption (NLA) is at 4.8710-4cmW-1, while (NLR) is at 7.9410-9cmW-1

Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs

Consanguineous marriages have been practiced since the early existence of modern humans. Until now consanguinity is widely practiced in several global communities with variable rates depending on religion, culture, and geography. Arab populations have a long tradition of consanguinity due to socio-cultural factors. Many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and specifically first cousin marriages which may reach 25-30% of all marriages. In some countries like Qatar, Yemen, and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation. Research among Arabs and worldwide has indicated that consanguinity could have an effect on some reproductive health parameters such as postnatal mortality and rates of congenital malformations. The association of consanguinity with other reproductive health parameters, such as fertility and fetal wastage, is controversial. The main impact of consanguinity, however, is an increase in the rate of homozygotes for autosomal recessive genetic disorders. Worldwide, known dominant disorders are more numerous than known recessive disorders. However, data on genetic disorders in Arab populations as extracted from the Catalogue of Transmission Genetics in Arabs (CTGA) database indicate a relative abundance of recessive disorders in the region that is clearly associated with the practice of consanguinity

Generation, Annotation and Analysis of First Large-Scale Expressed Sequence Tags from Developing Fiber of Gossypium barbadense L

BACKGROUND: Cotton fiber is the world's leading natural fiber used in the manufacture of textiles. Gossypium is also the model plant in the study of polyploidization, evolution, cell elongation, cell wall development, and cellulose biosynthesis. G. barbadense L. is an ideal candidate for providing new genetic variations useful to improve fiber quality for its superior properties. However, little is known about fiber development mechanisms of G. barbadense and only a few molecular resources are available in GenBank. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In total, 10,979 high-quality expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were generated from a normalized fiber cDNA library of G. barbadense. The ESTs were clustered and assembled into 5852 unigenes, consisting of 1492 contigs and 4360 singletons. The blastx result showed 2165 unigenes with significant similarity to known genes and 2687 unigenes with significant similarity to genes of predicted proteins. Functional classification revealed that unigenes were abundant in the functions of binding, catalytic activity, and metabolic pathways of carbohydrate, amino acid, energy, and lipids. The function motif/domain-related cytoskeleton and redox homeostasis were enriched. Among the 5852 unigenes, 282 and 736 unigenes were identified as potential cell wall biosynthesis and transcription factors, respectively. Furthermore, the relationships among cotton species or between cotton and other model plant systems were analyzed. Some putative species-specific unigenes of G. barbadense were highlighted. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The ESTs generated in this study are from the first large-scale EST project for G. barbadense and significantly enhance the number of G. barbadense ESTs in public databases. This knowledge will contribute to cotton improvements by studying fiber development mechanisms of G. barbadense, establishing a breeding program using marker-assisted selection, and discovering candidate genes related to important agronomic traits of cotton through oligonucleotide array. Our work will also provide important resources for comparative genomics, polyploidization, and genome evolution among Gossypium species

Molecular Mechanisms of Fiber Differential Development between G. barbadense and G. hirsutum Revealed by Genetical Genomics

Cotton fiber qualities including length, strength and fineness are known to be controlled by genes affecting cell elongation and secondary cell wall (SCW) biosynthesis, but the molecular mechanisms that govern development of fiber traits are largely unknown. Here, we evaluated an interspecific backcrossed population from G. barbadense cv. Hai7124 and G. hirsutum acc. TM-1 for fiber characteristics in four-year environments under field conditions, and detected 12 quantitative trait loci (QTL) and QTL-by-environment interactions by multi-QTL joint analysis. Further analysis of fiber growth and gene expression between TM-1 and Hai7124 showed greater differences at 10 and 25 days post-anthesis (DPA). In this two period important for fiber performances, we integrated genome-wide expression profiling with linkage analysis using the same genetic materials and identified in total 916 expression QTL (eQTL) significantly (P<0.05) affecting the expression of 394 differential genes. Many positional cis-/trans-acting eQTL and eQTL hotspots were detected across the genome. By comparative mapping of eQTL and fiber QTL, a dataset of candidate genes affecting fiber qualities was generated. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis confirmed the major differential genes regulating fiber cell elongation or SCW synthesis. These data collectively support molecular mechanism for G. hirsutum and G. barbadense through differential gene regulation causing difference of fiber qualities. The down-regulated expression of abscisic acid (ABA) and ethylene signaling pathway genes and high-level and long-term expression of positive regulators including auxin and cell wall enzyme genes for fiber cell elongation at the fiber developmental transition stage may account for superior fiber qualities

Elevated Proteasome Capacity Extends Replicative Lifespan in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Aging is characterized by the accumulation of damaged cellular macromolecules caused by declining repair and elimination pathways. An integral component employed by cells to counter toxic protein aggregates is the conserved ubiquitin/proteasome system (UPS). Previous studies have described an age-dependent decline of proteasomal function and increased longevity correlates with sustained proteasome capacity in centenarians and in naked mole rats, a long-lived rodent. Proof for a direct impact of enhanced proteasome function on longevity, however, is still lacking. To determine the importance of proteasome function in yeast aging, we established a method to modulate UPS capacity by manipulating levels of the UPS–related transcription factor Rpn4. While cells lacking RPN4 exhibit a decreased non-adaptable proteasome pool, loss of UBR2, an ubiquitin ligase that regulates Rpn4 turnover, results in elevated Rpn4 levels, which upregulates UPS components. Increased UPS capacity significantly enhances replicative lifespan (RLS) and resistance to proteotoxic stress, while reduced UPS capacity has opposing consequences. Despite tight transcriptional co-regulation of the UPS and oxidative detoxification systems, the impact of proteasome capacity on lifespan is independent of the latter, since elimination of Yap1, a key regulator of the oxidative stress response, does not affect lifespan extension of cells with higher proteasome capacity. Moreover, since elevated proteasome capacity results in improved clearance of toxic huntingtin fragments in a yeast model for neurodegenerative diseases, we speculate that the observed lifespan extension originates from prolonged elimination of damaged proteins in old mother cells. Epistasis analyses indicate that proteasome-mediated modulation of lifespan is at least partially distinct from dietary restriction, Tor1, and Sir2. These findings demonstrate that UPS capacity determines yeast RLS by a mechanism that is distinct from known longevity pathways and raise the possibility that interventions to promote enhanced proteasome function will have beneficial effects on longevity and age-related disease in humans

A Transcription Elongation Factor That Links Signals from the Reproductive System to Lifespan Extension in Caenorhabditis elegans

In Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster, the aging of the soma is influenced by the germline. When germline-stem cells are removed, aging slows and lifespan is increased. The mechanism by which somatic tissues respond to loss of the germline is not well-understood. Surprisingly, we have found that a predicted transcription elongation factor, TCER-1, plays a key role in this process. TCER-1 is required for loss of the germ cells to increase C. elegans' lifespan, and it acts as a regulatory switch in the pathway. When the germ cells are removed, the levels of TCER-1 rise in somatic tissues. This increase is sufficient to trigger key downstream events, as overexpression of tcer-1 extends the lifespan of normal animals that have an intact reproductive system. Our findings suggest that TCER-1 extends lifespan by promoting the expression of a set of genes regulated by the conserved, life-extending transcription factor DAF-16/FOXO. Interestingly, TCER-1 is not required for DAF-16/FOXO to extend lifespan in animals with reduced insulin/IGF-1 signaling. Thus, TCER-1 specifically links the activity of a broadly deployed transcription factor, DAF-16/FOXO, to longevity signals from reproductive tissues