Soft X-ray characterization of Zn1−xSnxOy electronic structure for thin film photovoltaics

[[abstract]]Zinc tin oxide (Zn1−xSnxOy) has been proposed as an alternative buffer layer material to the toxic, and light narrow-bandgap CdS layer in CuIn1−x,GaxSe2 thin film solar cell modules. In this present study, synchrotron-based soft X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopies have been employed to probe the densities of states of intrinsic ZnO, Zn1−xSnxOy and SnOx thin films grown by atomic layer deposition. A distinct variation in the bandgap is observed with increasing Sn concentration, which has been confirmed independently by combined ellipsometry-reflectometry measurements. These data correlate directly to the open circuit potentials of corresponding solar cells, indicating that the buffer layer composition is associated with a modification of the band discontinuity at the CIGS interface. Resonantly excited emission spectra, which express the admixture of unoccupied O 2p with Zn 3d, 4s, and 4p states, reveal a strong suppression in the hybridization between the O 2p conduction band and the Zn 3d valence band with increasing Sn concentration.[[notice]]補正完畢[[journaltype]]國外[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]電子版[[countrycodes]]GB

Mental health and COVID-19: is the virus racist?

COVID-19 has changed our lives and it appears to be especially harmful for some groups more than others. Black and Asian ethnic minorities are at particular risk and have reported greater mortality and intensive care needs. Mental illnesses are more common among Black and ethnic minorities, as are crisis care pathways including compulsory admission. This editorial sets out what might underlie these two phenomena, explaining how societal structures and disadvantage generate and can escalate inequalities in crises

Barriers to uptake of reproductive information and contraceptives in rural Tanzania: An intersectionality informed qualitative enquiry

Objectives: Access to reproductive information and contraception continues to be a critical unmet need in Tanzania and impedes the realization of reproductive health rights. This study examined key sources of reproductive information and contraception (RIC) and the factors influencing their uptake by women in Mbeya region of Tanzania. Setting: This qualitative study was undertaken in a rural ward in a district in the south of the Mbeya Region Participants: In-depth interviews were undertaken with 48 women users and two nurses working in public health facility, and focus group discussions with 16 home-based care workers in the district. Participants were recruited through a local NGO in the region, and via snowball sampling. All interactions were recorded, translated and transcribed and sought to identify the available resources and barriers in utilising them. Results: Participants reported six main sources of reproductive information and contraceptives: public health facilities, non-governmental organization (NGO) mobile clinics, other women, Mganga wa Asili (witchdoctors/traditional doctors), and Duka la Dawa (Pharmacy). Women users and healthcare workers identified a range of individual (age, marital status, geography) and health system-wide factors shaping women’s reproductive choices and preventing uptake of contraceptives. The study also revealed structural factors such as gender, ethnicity, indigeneity as key determinants of access and health seeking, placing women from Sukuma and Maasai communities is most disadvantageous position. Historical social disadvantage, patriarchal social controls and the pressure to preserve socio-cultural traditions that women experience in the Maasai and Sukuma tribes underpin their disconnect from mainstream services. Conclusion: Women’s reproductive choices and their uptake of contraceptives are shaped by the interaction of a range of individual, household, institutional and structural factors. An intersectional lens enables examination of the ways in which these factors interact and mutually constitute disadvantage and privilege

Sick Scotland: SNP plans to deal with health inequality are lukewarm at best

First paragraph: Scotland has long beenthe “sick man of Europe”. Scots' physical and mental health compares poorly to that other western countries and neighbours within the UK. Glasgow, the largest city, is notably unhealthier than most other parts, and the most affluent 10% live far longer than the most deprived.  Access this article on The Conversation website: https://theconversation.com/sick-scotland-snp-plans-to-deal-with-health-inequality-are-lukewarm-at-best-5929

Situating Biomedical and Professional Monopoly at the Intersections of Structural, Ideational and Agentic Power Comment on "Power Dynamics Among Health Professionals in Nigeria: A Case Study of the Global Fund Policy Process".

Lassa and colleagues' study is a strong commentary on the biomedical hegemony and professional monopoly of medical doctors in the policy landscape of the Global Fund in Nigeria. Situating this critical dimension of professional power within wider scholarship of power and governance of global health initiatives (such as the Global Fund), in this comment, I put forth two core arguments. I call for a relational perspective of power in a dynamic policy space that the Fund characterises. I argue that a systems-view analysis of power requires a thorough examination of subsystems, how they interact, and the diverse forms of power-individual agentic, ideational, and structural-and the mechanisms through which power is wielded. The lens of governmentality allows linking individual (expertise and practices) with institutional regimes and social practices these enable; and in examining the interface of local/ sub-national, national, and global within which policy formulation and implementation occurs

Understanding public private partnerships: the discourse, the practice, and the system wide effects of the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

This thesis aims to deconstruct the monotheism of public private partnerships (PPP) for health and demonstrate the polytheism of practices enabled by it. It contributes to the body of knowledge on PPP in two respects: theoretical and substantive. At a theoretical level, using a critical enquiry lens, I deconstruct the partnership phenomenon and the notion of shared power within these interactions. This diverges from the traditional problem solving approach intrinsic to ‘good’ governance literature on PPP, which focuses on how partnerships can be made more effective. The thesis gives a plural account of the rationale and emerging paradoxes and examines the role of structural (institutions and mechanisms) and ideational (ideas and discourse) factors in constituting and constructing the practice of PPPs. The substantive aim of the thesis is to advance the study on PPP by understanding the contingencies and plurality of practices as a departure from the rhetoric on global health PPPs. Drawing on the case of Global Fund to fight AIDS TB and Malaria (GFATM), one of the three largest global health partnerships, and its country wide operations with respect to HIV and AIDS in India, I also discuss the implications of the discursive practices for the management of HIV and equity in health care. Through a critical examination of the governance mechanisms and arrangements of GFATM it is argued that these have instilled an environment characterised by a proliferation of multiple unaccountable entities which emerge as sites where principles of partnership are subsumed by competition for resources, power and individual and organisational gains. This raises an important question that the thesis attempts to answer: How despite the tensions and ruptures is it possible for the global health PPPs to rise to prominence as a key mechanism in global and national health governance? In response to this, I focus on the role of the development brokers and street level bureaucrats who act at the interface of the global discourse and the local perspectives and create “order” by negotiating dissent, building coherent representations and translating common meanings into individual and collective objectives.sub_iihdunpub369_ethesesunpu

The Right to Health in Times of Pandemic: What Can We Learn from the UK’s Response to the COVID-19 Outbreak?

The UK’s response to COVID-19 has been widely criticized by scientists and the public. According to EuroMOMO, a European mortality monitoring initiative, the excess mortality that may be attributable to COVID-19 in England is one of the highest in Europe, second only to Spain. While critiqued from a public health perspective, much less attention is given to the implications of the pandemic outbreak for the right to health as defined under international human rights law and ratified by member states. Using the UK as a case study, we examine critically the extent to which the government’s response to COVID-19 complied with the legal framework of the right to health. We review further key state obligations on the right to health and assess its suitability in times of pandemic. Finally, we offer some recommendations for an update of the right to health. This paper adds to the body of literature on the right to health and human rights based-approaches to health, which, to our knowledge, has not yet focused on pandemics

Pandemic preparedness with 20/20 vision: Applying an intersectional equity lens to health workforce planning.

Human resource for health (HRH) is considered critical for achieving Universal Health Coverage, and the crisis surrounding HRH is now established as a global emergency. Their vital role has been central in the pandemic response. Yet, the discussions and deliberations on the recent pandemic treaty circumscribe HRH discussions to their capacities and protection, and address discrimination mainly in relation to gender. While this paper endorses the case for prioritisation of HRH in global pandemic preparedness planning, it re-frames the HRH crisis in relation to the institutional and structural factors driving HRH shortage, maldistribution and skills-needs misalignment. We critique the supply-and-demand framing of HRH crisis as one that obliviates the systematic inequalities within health systems that underpin health workforce motivations, distribution, satisfaction and performance. We propose an intersectional equity lens to redefine the HRH challenges, understand their underlying drivers and accordingly integrate in the global pandemic preparedness plans