The AM 1.5 absorption factor of thin-film solar cells

Both for photovoltaic and photovoltaic/thermal applications insight is required in the mechanisms that determine the effective absorption factor Aeff. Aeff is the part of the incident irradiation that is converted into heat, taking into account that part of the energy is withdrawn as electricity. Aeff was studied for five different solar cell technologies using an optical simulation model and ranges from 74% for single junction amorphous silicon solar cells to 82% for CIGS solar cells. The simulations also show that the longer wavelength part of the spectrum is hardly absorbed by the active semiconductors, but mostly by free carrier absorption in the transparent conductive oxide film present in these devices

AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN CHOROIDAL VASCULAR DENSITY OF HEALTHY SUBJECTS BASED ON IMAGE BINARIZATION OF SWEPT-SOURCE OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY.

To analyze the vascular density of the choroid in a healthy population using swept-source optical coherence tomography. A cross-sectional, noninterventional study. best-corrected visual acuity between 20/20 and 20/25, spherical equivalent between ±3 diopters, no systemic or ocular diseases, and ages ranging between 3 and 85 years. One hundred and thirty-six eyes from 136 subjects were analyzed, 86 eyes (63.2%) were from male and 50 eyes (36.8%) from female subjects. The eyes were divided into different age groups to analyze the possible age-related changes. Twelve-millimeter horizontal, fovea-centered B-scans were used. Choroidal stroma and vessel area analysis involved automated segmentation and binarization using validated algorithms. Mean age was 33.1 ± 24.5 years. Mean choroidal area was 0.5554 ± 0.1377 mm. Mean stromal area was 0.2524 ± 0.0762 mm, and mean vascular region area was 0.3029 ± 0.0893 mm. The percentage of choroidal vascularity (vascular area/total area) was 54.40 ± 8.35%. Choroid area, vascular region, and percentage of choroidal vascular density were statistically higher in the <18-year-old group versus the >18-year-old group (P < 0.001). The stromal region was not different (P = 0.46). In the same way, choroid area, vascular region, and percentage of choroidal vascular density between the 5 age groups were statistically different (P < 0.001), showing larger figures in the 0 to 10-year-old group, but not stromal region (P = 0.71). There were no gender-related differences. The luminal area and the percentage of vascular/total area decrease with increasing age, while the stromal area remains stable

Alternative Splicing of the Human Rab6A Gene Generates Two Close but Functionally Different Isoforms

Analysis of the human Rab6A gene structure reveals the presence of a duplicated exon, and incorporation of either of the two exons by alternative splicing is shown to generate two Rab6 isoforms named Rab6A and Rab6A′, which differ in only three amino acid residues located in regions flanking the PM3 GTP-binding domain of the proteins. These isoforms are ubiquitously expressed at similar levels, exhibit the same GTP-binding properties, and are localized to the Golgi apparatus. Overexpression of the GTP-bound mutants of Rab6A (Rab6A Q72L) or Rab6A′ (Rab6A′ Q72L) inhibits secretion in HeLa cells, but overexpression of Rab6A′ Q72L does not induce the redistribution of Golgi proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum. This suggests that Rab6A′ is not able to stimulate Golgi-to-endoplasmic reticulum retrograde transport, as described previously for Rab6A. In addition, Rab6A′ interacts with two Rab6A partners, GAPCenA and “clone 1,” but not with the kinesin-like protein Rabkinesin-6, a Golgi-associated Rab6A effector. Interestingly, we found that the functional differences between Rab6A and Rab6A′ are contingent on one amino acid (T or A at position 87). Therefore, limited amino acid substitutions within a Rab protein introduced by alternative splicing could represent a mechanism to generate functionally different isoforms that interact with distinct sets of effectors

An efficient and rapid protocol for plant nuclear DNA preparation suitable for next generation sequencing methods

Premise of the study : In this study, we developed a nuclear DNA extraction protocol for Next Generation Sequencers (NGS). Methods and Results : We applied this extraction method to grapevines and coffee trees, which are known to contain many secondary metabolites. The nuclear DNA obtained was sequenced by the 454/GS-FLX method. We obtained excellent results, with less than 4% cytoplasmic DNA, in a similar way to a BAC (Bacterial Artificial Chromosome)-building protocol. We also compared our protocol with a classic DNA extraction using specific cytoplasmic DNA amplification. Results showed a lower cytoplasmic DNA contamination with the new protocol. Conclusions : The method presented here is fast and economical. The DNA obtained is of high quality, with a low level of cytoplasmic DNA contamination, and very efficient for the construction of sequencing libraries