Key Success Factors and Future Perspective of Silicon-Based Solar Cells

Today, after more than 70 years of continued progress on silicon technology, about 85% of cumulative installed photovolatic (PV) modules are based on crystalline silicon (c-Si). PV devices based on silicon are the most common solar cells currently being produced, and it is mainly due to silicon technology that the PV has grown by 40% per year over the last decade. An additional step in the silicon solar cell development is ongoing, and it is related to a further efficiency improvement through defect control, device optimization, surface modification, and nanotechnology approaches. This paper attempts to briefly review the most important advances and current technologies used to produce crystalline silicon solar devices and in the meantime the most challenging and promising strategies acting to increase the efficiency to cost/ratio of silicon solar cells. Eventually, the impact and the potentiality of using a nanotechnology approach in a silicon-based solar cell are also described

Mineral content, phenolic compounds and bioactive amines of cheese bread enriched with cowpea.

Cheese bread presents great acceptance and market expansion. Due to the lack of standardization in its manufacturing, various ingredients can be added. It was aimed to determine the content of minerals, bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity in cheese bread enriched with biofortified cowpea. Two formulations were prepared, standard cheese bread (without cowpea) and enriched cheese bread. The minerals were analyzed using the plasma emission spectrometry technique with inductive coupling, phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity were determined by spectrophotometry and the amines by High Performance Liquid Chromatography. All analyzes were performed in triplicate and for the comparison of the means between two variables, Student?s t-test was applied and for multiple comparisons, the Tukey test. It was observed that the enriched cheese bread is source of copper, zinc and sodium and presents high content of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium, considering the recommendations for the children?s audience. The concentrations of total phenolics, flavonoids and condensed tannins increased significantly with the introduction of cowpea. It was also observed an significant increase of spermidine, cadaverine and agmatine. The antioxidant activity was statistically higher in enriched cheese bread. It is concluded, therefore, that cheese bread with cowpea contributes to the supply of minerals and bioactive compounds

PGC-1α induced browning promotes involution and inhibits lactation in mammary glands

The PPARγ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) is a transcriptional regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative metabolism. Recent studies have highlighted a fundamental role of PGC-1α in promoting breast cancer progression and metastasis, but the physiological role of this coactivator in the development of mammary glands is still unknown. First, we show that PGC-1α is highly expressed during puberty and involution, but nearly disappeared in pregnancy and lactation. Then, taking advantage of a newly generated transgenic mouse model with a stable and specific overexpression of PGC-1α in mammary glands, we demonstrate that the re-expression of this coactivator during the lactation stage leads to a precocious regression of the mammary glands. Thus, we propose that PGC-1α action is non-essential during pregnancy and lactation, whereas it is indispensable during involution. The rapid preadipocyte–adipocyte transition, together with an increased rate of apoptosis promotes a premature mammary glands involution that cause lactation defects and pup growth retardation. Overall, we provide new insights in the comprehension of female reproductive cycles and lactation deficiency, thus opening new roads for mothers that cannot breastfeed

Características físico-químicas de farinhas de duas cultivares de feijão-caupi (Vigna unguiculata l. Walp): BRS Tumucumaque e BRS Aracê.

O feijão-caupi (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) é uma leguminosa amplamente cultivada no Brasil com valor nutritivo elevado quanto a proteínas, minerais e componentes bioativos e cultivares biofortificadas com melhoria do teor de nutrientes tem sido desenvolvidas pela Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, Embrapa. Há uma crescente utilização das farinhas mistas na composição de alimentos enriquecidos, sendo importante estudos de viabilidade de utilização de matérias-primas de elevado valor nutritivo, como o feijão-caupi, para elaboração destas farinhas. Tendo em vista essa necessidade, desenvolveu-se o presente trabalho com o objetivo de concretizar física e quimicamente farinhas de duas cultivares de feijão caupí biofortificados. As análises físicas e químicas das farinhas de ambas as cultivares foram realizadas em triplicata. As farinhas apresentaram de Índice de Solubilidade em Água superiores aos das referências consultadas, bom indicativo para produção de alimentos como sopa e mingaus. Quanto a composição centesimal, destacam-se os teores de proteínas e cinzas, como esperado devido a biofortificação e baixo teor de umidade que prediz estabilidade das farinhas. Ao analisar a concentração de minerais, as farinhas de feijão-caupi mostraram alto conteúdo de Fe, Zn, P, K e Mg. A cultivar BRS Tumucumaque apresentou teores de alguns minerais estatisticamente (p<0.05) superior em relação a cultivar BRS Aracê. Assim, as farinha de cultivares biofortificadas de feijão-caupi demonstraram possuir propriedades físicas, químicas e valor nutritivo favoráveis para o desenvolvimento de produtos alimentícios, devido a boa estabilidade, elevado teor de proteínas, alto conteúdo de minerais e ISA elevado.CONAC 2012. Disponível em: http://www.conac2012.org/resumos/pdf/038b.pdf. Acesso em: 03 jul. 2013

Hybrid sputtering/evaporation deposition of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin film solar cells

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Composição centesimal e teor de minerais em pão de queijo enriquecido com farinha de feijão-caupi.

O feijão-caupi (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) apresenta um importante papel na nutrição humana por constituir uma fonte de proteínas, carboidratos, fibras alimentares, vitaminas e minerais. A escolha do pão de queijo para o enriquecimento foi devido à importância dos produtos de panificação na lista de compra dos brasileiros, ocupando a terceira colocação e representando, em média, 12% do orçamento familiar para alimentação. Logo, objetivou-se o enriquecimento de pão de queijo, um produto que faz parte do consumo alimentar, com ascensão de mercado e utilizando-se matéria-prima regional. Determinou-se umidade, cinzas, proteínas, lipídios e carboidratos conforme AOAC (1995) e valor calórico pelos fatores de conversão de Atwater. A técnica de espectrometria de emissão atômica com fonte de plasma indutivamente acoplado (ICP OES) foi utilizada para a quantificação dos minerais. Utilizou-se o Programa EPI ? INFO, versão 6.04b para análise dos dados. Os resultados da composição centesimal e conteúdo de minerais foram analisados por ANOVA. Para verificar diferença entre as médias foi aplicado o teste de Tukey. O nível de significância foi de 5%. Como resultado, observou-se que o pão de queijo formulado com feijão-caupi apresentou valor superior de cinzas, proteínas, carboidratos e minerais (cobre, ferro, fósforo, magnésio, manganês e zinco) além de redução da umidade, do teor de lipídios, valor energético total e sódio comparando-se com a formulação padrão. Assim, o produto elaborado apresentou-se enriquecido, com o acréscimo de minerais e macronutrientes, tornando a substituição parcial de polvilho doce por farinha de feijão-caupi (FFC) na elaboração de pães de queijo possível e relevante.CONAC 2012. Disponível em: http://www.conac2012.org/resumos/pdf/377a.pdf. Acesso em: 09 ago. 2013

Cheese bread enriched with biofortified cowpea and theirsensory, and nutritional characteristics.

Biofortified agricultural products complement existing nutritional interventions. These foods reach populations with limited access to formal health and market systems

Defining decision thresholds for judgments on health benefits and harms using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) Evidence to Decision (EtD) frameworks : A protocol for a randomised methodological study (GRADE-THRESHOLD)

Introduction The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) and similar Evidence to Decision (EtD) frameworks require its users to judge how substantial the effects of interventions are on desirable and undesirable people-important health outcomes. However, decision thresholds (DTs) that could help understand the magnitude of intervention effects and serve as reference for interpretation of findings are not yet available. The objective of this study is an approach to derive and use DTs for EtD judgments about the magnitude of health benefits and harms. We hypothesise that approximate DTs could have the ability to discriminate between the existing four categories of EtD judgments (Trivial, Small, Moderate, Large), support panels of decision-makers in their work, and promote consistency and transparency in judgments. Methods and analysis We will conduct a methodological randomised controlled trial to collect the data that allow deriving the DTs. We will invite clinicians, epidemiologists, decision scientists, health research methodologists, experts in Health Technology Assessment (HTA), members of guideline development groups and the public to participate in the trial. Then, we will investigate the validity of our DTs by measuring the agreement between judgments that were made in the past by guideline panels and the judgments that our DTs approach would suggest if applied on the same guideline data. Ethics and dissemination The Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board reviewed this study as a quality improvement study and determined that it requires no further consent. Survey participants will be required to read a consent statement in order to participate in this study at the beginning of the trial. This statement reads: You are being invited to participate in a research project which aims to identify indicative DTs that could assist users of the GRADE EtD frameworks in making judgments. Your input will be used in determining these indicative thresholds. By completing this survey, you provide consent that the anonymised data collected will be used for the research study and to be summarised in aggregate in publication and electronic tools. PROTOCOL registration number NCT05237635