Elektrochemische Legierungsabscheidung zur Herstellung von Cu2ZnSnS4 Dünnschichtsolarzellen

Die als Absorbermaterial für Dünnschichtsolarzellen geeigneten Verbindungshalbleiter Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) und Cu2ZnSnS(4-x)Sex (x<3, CZTSSe) konnten erfolgreich durch Kombination der elektrochemischen Legierungsabscheidung und der anschließenden Sulfurisierung in H2S-haltiger Atmosphäre hergestellt werden. In früheren Arbeiten wurden die viel versprechenden Eigenschaften von CZTS und Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe), als In und Ga freie und damit kostengünstige Alternativen, bereits ausführlich vorgestellt. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit konnte anhand von kristallographischen Ergebnissen sowie durch Untersuchungen der Bandlückenenergien bestätigt werden, dass die Kesterite CZTS (1,46eV) und CZTSSe (1,32eV) erfolgreich mittels einer nasschemischen Vorstufe herstellbar sind. Weiterhin wurde erstmalig der Zusammenhang unterschiedlicher Stöchiometrien anhand ermittelter Halbleitereigenschaften (Na, Eg, EFB) gezeigt. Auf diesen Ergebnissen basierend wurde eine optimale Zusammensetzung zur Herstellung funktionaler Absorberschichten bestimmt. Dennoch zeigt sich, dass die Prozessparameter der Gasphasen-Sulfurisierung entscheidend die Bildung homogener Schichten beeinflusst. Die beobachtete große Kristallverteilung und die dabei auftretenden lokalen Löcher setzten die Funktionalität der hergestellten Solar Zellen (Al/ZnO:Al/CdS/CZTS/Mo/Glas) deutlich herab. Trotz der geringen Wirkungsgrade konnte aus einer Reihe unterschiedlicher Absorbermaterialien eine optimale Stöchiometrie (~Cu2Zn1.1Sn0.9S4) ermittelt werden. Die elektrochemische Coabscheidung von Se (~Cu2Zn1.2Sn0.9Se0.3) und die dadurch erfolgte partielle Substitution von S durch Se bewirkte, verglichen zur CZTS Morphologie, eine kompaktere und geschlossene Schichtstruktur. Der Einfluss des Selenanteils wurde dabei anhand detaillierter kristallographischer Untersuchungen und einer reduzierten Bandlückenenergie (1,32eV) bestätigt. Obwohl deutlich reproduzierbare Diodeneigenschaften über große Flächen beobachtet wurden, konnten keine Verbesserung des Wirkungsgrads erzielt werden. Cu2ZnSn (CZT) und Cu2ZnSnSe0.3 (CZTSe) Precursorschichten wurden mittels eines neu entwickelten alkalischen sowie zyanidfreien Elektrolyten auf Mo beschichteten Glassubstraten abgeschieden. Dieser alkalische Elektrolyt zeigte eine hohe Langzeitstabilität und die bisher unbekannte Möglichkeit der Abscheidung hoher Zinnanteile bei niedrigen Temperaturen. Aufgrund detaillierter elektrochemischer Untersuchungen konnte ein fundamentales Verständnis hinsichtlich der Einflüsse unterschiedlicher Additive, Konzentrationen und Temperaturen erzielt werden. Diese Ergebnisse konnten zur Interpretation der beobachteten potentialabhängigen Legierungsbildung herangezogen werden. Im Rahmen eines wesentlich fundamentalen Ansatzes erfolgte weiterhin die Charakterisierung der Legierungsbildung, ausgehend von unterschiedlicher Metallgehalte im Elektrolyten, anhand eines kürzlich publizierten kinetischen Modells zur elektrochemischen Legierungsabscheidung. Basierend auf diesen Untersuchungen konnte das vorgestellte Badsystem aufgrund einer genauen Einstellbarkeit und Nachdosierung erfolgreich zur ternären Abscheidung von Precursorschichten verwendet werden.Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) and Cu2ZnSnS(4-x)Sex (x<0.3, CZTSSe) thin film solar cell absorber materials were successfully formed by combining a one step electrochemical precursor deposition followed by a vapour phase sulfurization process. CZTS and Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) are known as promising candidates for thin film solar cell applications without using rare and thus expensive materials like In and Ga. This thesis confirmed by XRD and band gap energy data the potential to produce the kesterite type semiconductor materials CZTS (1,46eV) and CZTSSe (1,32eV) via a wet chemical precursor step. This paper presents for the first time the impact of different absorber compositions on semiconductor properties (NA, Eg, EFB) of the bulk material. Based on this data an optimum stoichiometry was identified to produce a functional absorber layer. However, sulfurization remained as the most critical process to achieve homogeneous thin films. In the most cases local pin holes and a large crystal size distribution diminished the conversion efficiency of produced solar cell samples (Al/ZnO:Al/CdS/CZTS/Mo/glass). Nevertheless an optimum performance was found for a slight excess of Zn (~Cu2Zn1.1Sn0.9S4). The electrochemical codeposition of Se (~Cu2Zn1.2Sn0.9Se0.3) at the precursor step enabled to do a partial substitution of S by Se which was identified to improve CZTS morphology into a homogeneous and dense layer. The expected impact of Se was also confirmed by detailed crystallographic and band gap energy (1.32eV) measurements. Although solar cell function was found for enlarged areas the low overall conversion efficiency could be not pushed to higher levels. Cu2ZnSn (CZT) and Cu2ZnSnSe0.3 (CZTSe) precursor layers were directly electrodeposited on Mo coated soda line glass substrates from a new developed alkaline cyanide free alloy bath system. The presented electrolyte showed high long term stability and an up to now unknown high rate of Sn codeposition at low electrolyte temperatures. Results of a detailed electrolyte characterization gave a fundamental understanding of additive, concentration and temperature effects. This knowledge was successfully linked to explain the potential depended alloy composition effects. As a more fundamental approach a new kinetic model of the electrochemical alloy deposition was used to characterize the impact of changed electrolyte metal contents on the resulting alloy composition. Based on this data the presented alloy bath system was successfully applied for precise adjustment and replenishment during the ternary precursor deposition

Opposite and redundant roles of the two Drosophila perilipins in lipid mobilization.

Lipid droplets are the main lipid storage sites in cells. Lipid droplet homeostasis is regulated by the surface accessibility of lipases. Mammalian adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) are two key lipases for basal and stimulated lipolysis, respectively. Perilipins, the best known lipid droplet surface proteins, can either recruit lipases or prevent the access of lipases to lipid droplets. Mammals have five perilipin proteins, which often exhibit redundant functions, precluding the analysis of the exact role of individual perilipins in vivo. Drosophila have only two perilipins, PLIN1/LSD-1 and PLIN2/LSD-2. Previous studies revealed that PLIN2 is important for protecting lipid droplets from lipolysis mediated by Brummer (BMM), the Drosophila homolog of ATGL. In this study, we report the functional analysis of PLIN1 and Drosophila HSL. Loss-of-function and overexpression studies reveal that unlike PLIN2, PLIN1 probably facilitates lipid mobilization. HSL is recruited from the cytosol to the surface of lipid droplets under starved conditions and PLIN1 is necessary for the starved induced lipid droplet localization of HSL. Moreover, phenotypic analysis of plin1;plin2 double mutants revealed that PLIN1 and PLIN2 might have redundant functions in protecting lipid droplets from lipolysis. Therefore, the two Drosophila perilipins have both opposite and redundant roles. Domain swapping and deletion analyses indicate that the C-terminal region of PLIN1 confers functional specificity to PLIN1. Our study highlights the complex roles of Drosophila perilipin proteins and the evolutionarily conserved regulation of HSL translocation by perilipins

An exploration into the client at the heart of therapy : a qualitative perspective

Over 50 years ago Eysenck challenged the existing base of research into psychotherapy. Since that time, a large number of investigations have been conducted to verify the efficacy of therapy. Recently however, an increasing number of studies have cast new doubts on this research base. Instead of therapy being a function of the therapist, it is now becoming ever more apparent that the client plays a prime role in the therapeutic process. The qualitative studies presented in this paper provide some examples of research that demonstrates that clients are actively involved in their therapy, even making counselling work despite their counsellor. These studies suggest that clients may not experience therapy as beneficially as traditional outcome studies indicate. This raises a new challenge to researchers to more fully explore the client's experience of therapy, a challenge to which qualitative methods of inquiry would appear well suited

SALL4 Expression in Gonocytes and Spermatogonial Clones of Postnatal Mouse Testes

The spermatogenic lineage is established after birth when gonocytes migrate to the basement membrane of seminiferous tubules and give rise to spermatogonial stem cells (SSC). In adults, SSCs reside within the population of undifferentiated spermatogonia (Aundiff) that expands clonally from single cells (Asingle) to form pairs (Apaired) and chains of 4, 8 and 16 Aaligned spermatogonia. Although stem cell activity is thought to reside in the population of Asingle spermatogonia, new research suggests that clone size alone does not define the stem cell pool. The mechanisms that regulate self-renewal and differentiation fate decisions are poorly understood due to limited availability of experimental tools that distinguish the products of those fate decisions. The pluripotency factor SALL4 (sal-like protein 4) is implicated in stem cell maintenance and patterning in many organs during embryonic development, but expression becomes restricted to the gonads after birth. We analyzed the expression of SALL4 in the mouse testis during the first weeks after birth and in adult seminiferous tubules. In newborn mice, the isoform SALL4B is expressed in quiescent gonocytes at postnatal day 0 (PND0) and SALL4A is upregulated at PND7 when gonocytes have colonized the basement membrane and given rise to spermatogonia. During steady-state spermatogenesis in adult testes, SALL4 expression overlapped substantially with PLZF and LIN28 in Asingle, Apaired and Aaligned spermatogonia and therefore appears to be a marker of undifferentiated spermatogonia in mice. In contrast, co-expression of SALL4 with GFRα1 and cKIT identified distinct subpopulations of Aundiff in all clone sizes that might provide clues about SSC regulation. Collectively, these results indicate that 1) SALL4 isoforms are differentially expressed at the initiation of spermatogenesis, 2) SALL4 is expressed in undifferentiated spermatogonia in adult testes and 3) SALL4 co-staining with GFRα1 and cKIT reveals distinct subpopulations of Aundiff spermatogonia that merit further investigation. © 2013 Gassei, Orwig

The ESCAPE project : Energy-efficient Scalable Algorithms for Weather Prediction at Exascale

In the simulation of complex multi-scale flows arising in weather and climate modelling, one of the biggest challenges is to satisfy strict service requirements in terms of time to solution and to satisfy budgetary constraints in terms of energy to solution, without compromising the accuracy and stability of the application. These simulations require algorithms that minimise the energy footprint along with the time required to produce a solution, maintain the physically required level of accuracy, are numerically stable, and are resilient in case of hardware failure. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) led the ESCAPE (Energy-efficient Scalable Algorithms for Weather Prediction at Exascale) project, funded by Horizon 2020 (H2020) under the FET-HPC (Future and Emerging Technologies in High Performance Computing) initiative. The goal of ESCAPE was to develop a sustainable strategy to evolve weather and climate prediction models to next-generation computing technologies. The project partners incorporate the expertise of leading European regional forecasting consortia, university research, experienced high-performance computing centres, and hardware vendors. This paper presents an overview of the ESCAPE strategy: (i) identify domain-specific key algorithmic motifs in weather prediction and climate models (which we term Weather & Climate Dwarfs), (ii) categorise them in terms of computational and communication patterns while (iii) adapting them to different hardware architectures with alternative programming models, (iv) analyse the challenges in optimising, and (v) find alternative algorithms for the same scheme. The participating weather prediction models are the following: IFS (Integrated Forecasting System); ALARO, a combination of AROME (Application de la Recherche a l'Operationnel a Meso-Echelle) and ALADIN (Aire Limitee Adaptation Dynamique Developpement International); and COSMO-EULAG, a combination of COSMO (Consortium for Small-scale Modeling) and EULAG (Eulerian and semi-Lagrangian fluid solver). For many of the weather and climate dwarfs ESCAPE provides prototype implementations on different hardware architectures (mainly Intel Skylake CPUs, NVIDIA GPUs, Intel Xeon Phi, Optalysys optical processor) with different programming models. The spectral transform dwarf represents a detailed example of the co-design cycle of an ESCAPE dwarf. The dwarf concept has proven to be extremely useful for the rapid prototyping of alternative algorithms and their interaction with hardware; e.g. the use of a domain-specific language (DSL). Manual adaptations have led to substantial accelerations of key algorithms in numerical weather prediction (NWP) but are not a general recipe for the performance portability of complex NWP models. Existing DSLs are found to require further evolution but are promising tools for achieving the latter. Measurements of energy and time to solution suggest that a future focus needs to be on exploiting the simultaneous use of all available resources in hybrid CPU-GPU arrangements

Dual Lipolytic Control of Body Fat Storage and Mobilization in Drosophila

Energy homeostasis is a fundamental property of animal life, providing a genetically fixed balance between fat storage and mobilization. The importance of body fat regulation is emphasized by dysfunctions resulting in obesity and lipodystrophy in humans. Packaging of storage fat in intracellular lipid droplets, and the various molecules and mechanisms guiding storage-fat mobilization, are conserved between mammals and insects. We generated a Drosophila mutant lacking the receptor (AKHR) of the adipokinetic hormone signaling pathway, an insect lipolytic pathway related to ß-adrenergic signaling in mammals. Combined genetic, physiological, and biochemical analyses provide in vivo evidence that AKHR is as important for chronic accumulation and acute mobilization of storage fat as is the Brummer lipase, the homolog of mammalian adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL). Simultaneous loss of Brummer and AKHR causes extreme obesity and blocks acute storage-fat mobilization in flies. Our data demonstrate that storage-fat mobilization in the fly is coordinated by two lipocatabolic systems, which are essential to adjust normal body fat content and ensure lifelong fat-storage homeostasis

Association between novel TARDBP mutations and Chinese patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>TARDBP </it>mutations have been reported in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in different populations except Chinese. The present aim is to investigate the association between <it>TARDBP </it>mutations and Chinese patients with ALS.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>71 SALS patients and 5 FALS families with non-<it>SOD1 </it>mutations were screened for <it>TARDBP </it>mutations via direct sequencing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A novel heterozygous variation, Ser292Asn (875G>A), was identified in the proband and 4 asymptomatic relatives including the children of the dead patient from a FALS family. Thus the dead patient, the proband's brother, was speculated to carry Ser292Asn though his sample was unavailable to the detection. This variation was not found in 200 unrelated control subjects. A homology search of the TDP-43 protein in different species demonstrated that it was highly conserved. Also, it was predicted to be deleterious to protein function with SIFT-calculated probabilities of 0.00. Therefore, Ser292Asn is predicted to be a pathogenic mutation. In addition, we have found two silent mutations (Gly40Gly and Ala366Ala) and one novel polymorphism (239-18t>c).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present data have extended the spectrum of <it>TARDBP </it>mutations and polymorphisms, and supported the pathological role of TDP-43 in Chinese ALS patients.</p

Transcriptional responses of ecologically diverse drosophila species to larval diets differing in relative sugar and protein ratios

We utilized three ecologically diverse Drosophila species to explore the influence of ecological adaptation on transcriptomic responses to isocaloric diets differing in their relative proportions of protein to sugar. Drosophila melanogaster, a cosmopolitan species that breeds in decaying fruit, exemplifies individuals long exposed to a Western diet higher in sugar, while the natural diet of the cactophilic D. mojavensis, is much lower in carbohydrates. Drosophila arizonae, the sister species of D. mojavensis, is largely cactophilic, but also utilizes rotting fruits that are higher in sugars than cacti. We exposed third instar larvae for 24 hours to diets either (1) high in protein relative to sugar, (2) diets with equal amounts of protein and sugar, and (3) diets low in protein but high in sugar. As we predicted, based upon earlier interspecific studies of development and metabolism, the most extreme differences in gene expression under different dietary conditions were found in D. mojavensis followed by D. arizonae. No differential expression among diets was observed for D. melanogaster, a species that survives well under all three conditions, with little impact on its metabolism. We suggest that these three species together provide a model to examine individual and population differences in vulnerability to lifestyle-associated health problems such as metabolic syndrome and diabetes

Exposure to mobile telecommunication networks assessed using personal dosimetry and well-being in children and adolescents: the German MobilEe-study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite the increase of mobile phone use in the last decade and the growing concern whether mobile telecommunication networks adversely affect health and well-being, only few studies have been published that focussed on children and adolescents. Especially children and adolescents are important in the discussion of adverse health effects because of their possibly higher vulnerability to radio frequency electromagnetic fields.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We investigated a possible association between exposure to mobile telecommunication networks and well-being in children and adolescents using personal dosimetry. A population-based sample of 1.498 children and 1.524 adolescents was assembled for the study (response 52%). Participants were randomly selected from the population registries of four Bavarian (South of Germany) cities and towns with different population sizes. During a Computer Assisted Personal Interview data on participants' well-being, socio-demographic characteristics and potential confounder were collected. Acute symptoms were assessed three times during the study day (morning, noon, evening).</p> <p>Using a dosimeter (ESM-140 Maschek Electronics), we obtained an exposure profile over 24 hours for three mobile phone frequency ranges (measurement interval 1 second, limit of determination 0.05 V/m) for each of the participants. Exposure levels over waking hours were summed up and expressed as mean percentage of the ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) reference level.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In comparison to non-participants, parents and adolescents with a higher level of education who possessed a mobile phone and were interested in the topic of possible adverse health effects caused by mobile telecommunication network frequencies were more willing to participate in the study. The median exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields of children and adolescents was 0.18% and 0.19% of the ICNIRP reference level respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In comparison to previous studies this is one of the first to assess the individual level of exposure to mobile telecommunication networks using personal dosimetry, enabling objective assessment of exposure from all sources and longer measurement periods. In total, personal dosimetry was proofed to be a well accepted tool to study exposure to mobile phone frequencies in epidemiologic studies including health effects on children and adolescents.</p