Existence of positive solutions of a superlinear boundary value problem with indefinite weight

We deal with the existence of positive solutions for a two-point boundary value problem associated with the nonlinear second order equation $u''+a(x)g(u)=0$. The weight $a(x)$ is allowed to change its sign. We assume that the function $g\colon\mathopen{[}0,+\infty\mathclose{[}\to\mathbb{R}$ is continuous, $g(0)=0$ and satisfies suitable growth conditions, so as the case $g(s)=s^{p}$, with $p>1$, is covered. In particular we suppose that $g(s)/s$ is large near infinity, but we do not require that $g(s)$ is non-negative in a neighborhood of zero. Using a topological approach based on the Leray-Schauder degree we obtain a result of existence of at least a positive solution that improves previous existence theorems.Comment: 12 pages, 4 PNG figure

High-efficiency micromorph silicon solar cells with in-situ intermediate reflector deposited on various rough LPCVD ZnO

Light management using intermediate reflector layers (IRL) and advanced front transparent conductive oxide (TCO) morphologies is needed to rise the short-circuit current density (Jsc) of micromorph tandem solar cells above 14 mA/cm2. For micromorph cells deposited on surface-textured ZnO layers grown by low-pressure chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD), we study the interplay between the front TCO layer and the IRL and its impact on fill factor and current matching conditions. The key role of the angular distribution of the light scattered by the front LPCVD ZnO layer is highlighted. A micromorph cell with 11.1% stabilized conversion efficiency is demonstrated. By increasing the bottom cell thickness and adding an antireflection coating, a Jsc value of 13.8 mA/cm2 is achieved. This remarkably high Jsc yields 13.3% initial conversion efficiency

Gestational age acceleration is associated with epigenetic biomarkers of prenatal physiologic stress exposure

BACKGROUND: Physiological maternal stress response, such as imbalance in the glucocorticoid pathway and immune system seems to be mediated by DNA methylation (DNAm) and might translate intrauterine stress exposures into phenotypic changes in a sex-specific manner. DNAm in specific sites can also predict newborn gestational age and gestational age acceleration (GAA). GAA occurs when the predicted biological age is higher than the chronological age. In adults, poor health outcomes related to this deviance are well documented and raise questions for the interpretation and prediction in early stages of life. Boys seem to be more vulnerable to intrauterine stress exposure than girls; however, the mechanisms of adaptive sex-specific responses are still unclear. We hypothesize that intrauterine stress exposure is associated with GAA and could be different in boys and girls if inflammatory or glucocorticoid pathways exposure is considered. RESULTS: Using the Western Region Birth Cohort (ROC-Sao Paulo, Brazil) (n = 83), we calculated DNAm age and GAA from cord blood samples. Two epigenetic risk scores were calculated as an indirect proxy for low-grade inflammation (i-ePGS) and for glucocorticoid exposure (GES). Multivariate linear regression models were applied to investigate associations of GAA with prenatal exposures. The i-ePGS and GES were included in different models with the same co-variates considering sex interactions. The first multivariate model investigating inflammatory exposure (adj. R(2) = 0.31, p = < 0.001) showed that GAA was positively associated with i-ePGS (CI, 0.26-113.87, p = 0.049) and negative pregnancy-related feelings (CI, 0.04-0.48 p = 0.019). No sex interaction was observed. The second model investigating glucocorticoid exposure (adj. R(2) = 0.32, p = < 0.001) showed that the higher was the GAA was associated with a lower the lower was the GES in girls (CI, 0.04-2.55, p = 0.044). In both models, maternal self-reported mental disorder was negatively associated with GAA. CONCLUSION: Prenatal epigenetic score of exposure to low-grade inflammatory was a predictor of GAA for both sexes. Glucocorticoid epigenetic score seems to be more important to GAA in girls. This study supports the evidence of sex-specificity in stress response, suggesting the glucocorticoid as a possible pathway adopted by girls to accelerate the maturation in an adverse condition

Impacto de inseticidas utilizados na cultura da mandioca sobre adultos de Trichogramma pretiosum.

bitstream/item/136349/1/23-Julio-impacto.pd

Micromorph tandem solar cells grown at high rate with in-situ intermediate reflector in industrial KAI PECVD reactors

We report on the latest results of tandem micromorph (a-Si:H/μc-Si:H) silicon solar cells fabricated in commercial Oerlikon Solar KAI-S and KAI-M PECVD reactors. First developments of in-situ silicon oxide based intermediate reflector (SOIR) in KAI reactors are as well presented. Under low depletion conditions (silane concentration 1cm2, with a deposition rate of 0.55 nm/s for microcrystalline silicon and an ex-situ silicon oxide-based intermediate reflector (SOIR). Under high depletion conditions, the growth rate could be raised up to 1.2 nm/s, in a modified KAI-M reactor, and the highest initial efficiency reached so far is 9.7% with in-situ SOIR and top cell thickness of ∼ 230 nm. Promising micromorph solar cells are thus produced under conditions that are highly favorable to low-cost fabrication of tandem modules at an industrial level

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS ON MICROMORPH TANDEM CELLS AT IMT

The latest developments on micromorph tandem cells in small area laboratory and large area industrial PE-CVD systems are reviewed. We report on a 13.3% initial efficiency micromorph tandem cell deposited in our small area system. The development of an in-situ silicon oxide based intermediate reflector layer (SOIR) was essential in order to achieve such high efficiencies. We describe its detailed material structure and discuss optical management aspects for different cell configurations. In our large area industrial R&D reactor the highest efficiency so far obtained is a 11.0% initial efficiency micromorph tandem cell. We discuss in detail the role of pressure and silane depletion on the cell parameters of single junction microcrystalline cells and present efficiency trends decreasing from 8.2% to 7.0% with deposition rates increasing from 0.3 nm/s to 1.2 nm/s

Muscle Research and Gene Ontology: New standards for improved data integration.

BACKGROUND: The Gene Ontology Project provides structured controlled vocabularies for molecular biology that can be used for the functional annotation of genes and gene products. In a collaboration between the Gene Ontology (GO) Consortium and the muscle biology community, we have made large-scale additions to the GO biological process and cellular component ontologies. The main focus of this ontology development work concerns skeletal muscle, with specific consideration given to the processes of muscle contraction, plasticity, development, and regeneration, and to the sarcomere and membrane-delimited compartments. Our aims were to update the existing structure to reflect current knowledge, and to resolve, in an accommodating manner, the ambiguity in the language used by the community. RESULTS: The updated muscle terminologies have been incorporated into the GO. There are now 159 new terms covering critical research areas, and 57 existing terms have been improved and reorganized to follow their usage in muscle literature. CONCLUSION: The revised GO structure should improve the interpretation of data from high-throughput (e.g. microarray and proteomic) experiments in the area of muscle science and muscle disease. We actively encourage community feedback on, and gene product annotation with these new terms. Please visit the Muscle Community Annotation Wiki http://wiki.geneontology.org/index.php/Muscle_Biology