Consequences of Cadmium exposure on growth and reproduction across three generations of earthworm

Heavy metal pollution disturbs the soil ecosystem by negatively affecting soil fauna and flora. In term of biomass and activity Annelids are a very important part of the soil invertebrate community. They are one of the first organisms affected by heavy metal contamination in soil and as such are good model organisms for assessing soil contamination. The aim of this research is to observe how Cd impacts on health and reproduction in three consecutive generations of E. fetida. [...]falseOnlin

Differential gene expression in earthworms exposed to different concentrations of Cadmium

Introduction. Cadmium (Cd) is a common contaminant found in many foods, accumulates throughout life and, in high doses, is a significant health hazard for humans. Cadmium is of interest because its concentration in agricultural soils has become elevated over time; with dietary intake in Western countries often close to tolerable limits. Analysis of change in gene expression in response to environmental stressors could potentially aid in risk assessment and biomarker development for human studies. Eisenia fetida are commonly used in ecotoxicological studies. Object. To look at the impact of cadmium concentration on gene expression through comparative analysis of transcriptome data from E. fetida exposed to zero, low, medium and high doses of cadmium. Methods. Artificial soil was spiked with three different Cd solutions [...]fals

Scientific complications and controversies noted in the field of CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells and the way forward for further development

Cadmium telluride-based solar cell is the most successfully commercialised thin film solar cell today. The laboratory-scale small devices have achieved ~ 22%, and commercial solar panels have reached ~ 18% conversion efficiencies. However, there are various technical complications and some notable scientific contradictions that appear in the scientific literature published since the early 1970s. This review paper discusses some of these major complications and controversies in order to focus future research on issues of material growth and characterisation, post-growth processing, device architectures and interpretation of the results. Although CdTe can be grown using more than 14 different growth techniques, successful commercialisation has been taken place using close-space sublimation and electrodeposition techniques only. The experimental results presented in this review are mainly based on electrodeposition. Historical trends of research and commercial successes have also been discussed compared to the timeline of novel breakthroughs in this field. Deeper understanding of these issues may lead to further increase in conversion efficiencies of this solar cell. Some novel ideas for further development of thin film solar cells are also discussed towards the end of this paper

Improvement of composition of CdTe thin films during heat treatment in the presence of CdCl2

CdCl2 treatment is a crucial step in development of CdS/CdTe solar cells. Although this rocessing step has been used over a period of three decades, full understanding is not yet achieved. This paper reports the experimental evidence for improvement of composition of CdTe layers during CdCl2 treatment. This investigation makes use of four selected analytical techniques; Photo-electro-chemical (PEC) cell, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). CdTe layers used were electroplated using three Cd precursors; CdSO4, Cd(NO3)2 and CdCl2. Results show the improvement of stoichiometry of CdTe layers during CdCl2 treatment through chemical reaction between Cd from CdCl2 and elemental Te that usually precipitate during CdTe growth, due to its natural behaviour. XRD and SEM results show that the low-temperature (~85ºC) electroplated CdTe layers consist of ~(20-60) nm size crystallites, but after CdCl2 treatment, the layers show drastic recrystallisation with grains becoming a few microns in size. These CdCl2 treated layers are then comparable to high temperature grown CdTe layers by the size of grains

Board Involvement on Earnings Per Share (EPS): Evidence from A Developing Economy

This research aims to investigate the effect of board involvement on earnings per share. The current study uses the correlation and regression models to analyze publicly available data for a sample of 69 firms quoted in the Nigerian Stock Exchange for the fiscal year 2011. This indicates that the research made use of cross sectional data. Several diagnostic tests have been applied to justify the validity of the results. The empirical investigations reveal that director’ shareholdings, board size and board skills have significant impact on performance. Good corporate governance standards are very essential to every organization and should be encouraged and practiced for the interest of the investors, shareholders and other stakeholders. Is worthy of note, that from a developing country like Nigeria, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, this paper is the first of its kind and offers evidence on the effect of board involvement on earnings per share. The paper provides useful information that is of great value to policy makers, academia, corporate firms and other stakeholders

The Moderating Effect of Leader-Member Relationship on Introverted and Extroverted Personality Traits of Leaders and Organizational Citizenship Behavior of Followers: An Empirical Study of IT Industry in Sri Lanka

This study focuses on investigating the relationship between personality and leadership supports the claim that individual differences may be the predictors of leadership effectiveness in contemporary organizations. Extended studies stress that ‘Big-Five ‘personality dimensions are related to leadership criteria and further identified introversion-extroversion as a key element of an individual personality. In general, the main differences between effective and less effective leaders are that, effective leaders make positive differences to themselves from their personality traits and the relationship building with followers. However, relatively few studies have tested how and why introvert and extrovert leaders’ personality traits relate to follower behaviors. In addition, if so; the mechanisms through which a leader’s personality traits relate to follower behaviors. Accordingly, the aims of the present study are to examine whether the introverted and extroverted personality traits of leaders affect the organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) of followers and to examine the role of leader-member relationship as a moderator, in social exchange process. To advance the understanding of these, simple regression analysis and regression analysis with moderator effects were performed to test hypotheses with a sample size of 46 introvert managers and 50 extrovert managers as leaders and 92 and 100 subordinates as their followers respectively from IT industry in Sri Lanka. The study found that there is a positive direct effect of introverted personality traits of leaders and no negative direct effect of extroverted personality traits of leaders on organizational citizenship behavior of followers. Yet, leader-member relationship moderates the positive and negative relationships between introverted, extroverted personality traits of leaders and organizational citizenship behavior of followers. Present study makes several theoretical contributions to path-goal theory of leadership with the support from theory of trait leadership and big five model. Further, managerial contributions of the present study make IT firms successful through better selection of leaders based on personality traits which facilitates organizational citizenship behavior.KeywordsIntroverted personality traits, extroverted personality traits, OCB, Leader-member relationship, IT industry in Sri Lank

Effect of iodine incorporation on characteristic properties of cadmium telluride deposited in aqueous solution

The electrodeposition of polycrystalline I-doped CdTe was successfully performed from aqueous solutions containing cadmium nitrate (Cd(NO3)2 and tellurium oxide (TeO2). The effects of different I-doping concentrations in the electrolytic bath on the deposited CdTe layers deposited were evaluated structurally, optically, morphologically and electronically using X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy, photoelectrochemical cell measurement and direct-current (DC) conductivity test respectively. The XRD show reduction in the (111) cubic CdTe peak intensity and the calculated crystallite size of the CdTe:I layers above 5 ppm I-doping. At I-doping of 1000 ppm of the CdTe-bath and above, the deposition of only crystalline Te due to the formation of Cd-I complexes debarring the deposition of Cd and co-deposition of CdTe in aqueous solution was observed. Morphologically, reductions in grain size were observed above 5 ppm I-doping with high pinhole density and the formation of cracks within the CdTe:I layers. For the as-deposited CdTe:I layers, conduction type remained n-type across all the explored I-doping concentration of 200 ppm. For the CdCl2 and Ga2(SO4)2+CdCl2 treated CdTe:I layers, the transition from n- to p-type conductivity was observed for the CdTe:I baths doped with 20 ppm and above due to the reduced cadmium deposition on the substrate. The highest conductivity was observed at 5 ppm I-doping of the CdTe-bath. Observations made on the CdTe:I in aqueous solution differs from the non-aqueous solvent documented in the literature. These results are reported systematically in this communication

The Effect of Fluorine Doping on the Characteristic Behaviour of CdTe

Fluorine which is an n-type dopant of cadmium telluride thin films was included during growth from a cadmium nitrate [Cd(NO3)2Æ4H2O] bath using an electrodeposition technique. The fluorine concentration in the Cd(NO3)2Æ4H2O baths were varied between 0.5 ppm and 50 ppm in order to determine its effect on the optical, structural, morphological and electrical properties of the as-deposited and the post-growth-treated layers. These characterisations were carried out using x-ray diffraction, ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-rays spectroscopy, photoelectrochemical cell measurement, direct current conductivity measurement and fully fabricated device characterisation. The results are systematically reported in this paper

Gender and Intra Household Allocation of Remittances: Evidence from Estate Sector of Sri Lanka

AbstractUsing a nationally representative data set, we examine whether the individuals’ bargaining power within households affect how remittances are allocated or spent in estate households in Sri Lanka. Using the gender of the household head as a proxy for household bargaining power, separate fractional logit models were estimated within the Engle’s Curve framework for male headed and female headed households to examine the intra household bargaining on decision making on resource allocation. The results suggest that international remittances contribute to reduce food expenditure in female headed households while male headed households invest more in housing. The results further reveal that internal remittances are a major determinant of expenditures for food, communication, entertainment, non-durables, transport and ad hoc purchases of male headed households. Remitters also have a significant contribution over the allocation of resources. The contribution by them for the food expenditure share decreases while their presence as a migrant to the household increases the expenditure for education, housing, health, consumer goods, durables and expenditure for ad hoc purchases, entertainment and transport. Overall, the study concludes that remitter has a greater say over the allocation of household resources while household head play a significant role in allocating remittances on food and housing.Keywords: Fractional Logit Model, Gender, Household Expenditure, Intra Household Bargaining, Remittance