Influence of Al-doped ZnO Transparent Contacts Deposited by a Spray Pyrolysis Technique on Performance of HIT Solar Cells

AbstractTransparent and conductive Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films were deposited by spray pyrolysis and analysed in the aim to improve optical and electrical properties involved in the efficiency of Heterostructure with Intrinsic Thin Layer (HIT) solar cell. X-ray diffraction measurement shows that AZO film grown on glass has (002) preferred orientation. High optical transmittance value of ∼80% in the visible region was observed and the optical band gap was found to be 3.31eV at room temperature. The influence of AZO thin films as transparent conductive oxide TCO on heterojunction with intrinsic thin-layer (HIT) solar cell performance was investigated using software simulation. The beneficial effect of implementing AZO front contact for increasing electrical energy conversion properties of HIT solar cell compared to the reference cell without the AZO layer

Immersive virtual reality and antigravity treadmill training for gait rehabilitation in Parkinson’s disease: A pilot and feasibility study

Introduction. Treadmill training is considered an effective intervention to improve gait ability in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). In parallel, virtual reality shows promising intervention with several applications in the inpatient medical setting. Aim. To evaluate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of mechanical gait assistance combined with immersive virtual reality in patients with PD. Patients and methods. This pilot and feasibility study followed a pre-post study design. The intervention consisted of 12 sessions of 30 minutes, distributed regularly over four consecutive weeks. Participants walked on a treadmill with a body- weight support system set at approximately 20% of body weight and equipped with a virtual reality helmet controlled by a two-handed joystick. Feasibility and intervention outcomes were collected at baseline and after four weeks of intervention. Results. Twelve participants of 60 patients were finally enrolled. Nine of them (75%) completed the treatment intervention with an adherence rate of 97%. Two participants left the study, one of them due to sickness associated with virtual reality and another because of a lack of motivation. There were significant differences associated with small-medium effect sizes when comparing the pre and post values for walk distance, walk speed, balance, and quality of life. Conclusions. The present study provided preliminary evidence supporting the feasibility of the combination of antigravity treadmill and immersive virtual reality system for the rehabilitation of patients with PD

Correlated Photon-Pair Emission from a Charged Single Quantum Dot

The optical creation and recombination of charged biexciton and trion complexes in an (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum dot is investigated by micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy. Photon cross-correlation measurements demonstrate the temporally correlated decay of charged biexciton and trion states. Our calculations provide strong evidence for radiative decay from the excited trion state which allows for a deeper insight into the spin configurations and their dynamics in these systems.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted for publicatio

Narrow ridge waveguide high power single mode 1.3-μm InAs/InGaAs ten-layer quantum dot lasers

Ten-layer InAs/In0.15Ga0.85As quantum dot (QD) laser structures have been grown using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on GaAs (001) substrate. Using the pulsed anodic oxidation technique, narrow (2 μm) ridge waveguide (RWG) InAs QD lasers have been fabricated. Under continuous wave operation, the InAs QD laser (2 × 2,000 μm2) delivered total output power of up to 272.6 mW at 10 °C at 1.3 μm. Under pulsed operation, where the device heating is greatly minimized, the InAs QD laser (2 × 2,000 μm2) delivered extremely high output power (both facets) of up to 1.22 W at 20 °C, at high external differential quantum efficiency of 96%. Far field pattern measurement of the 2-μm RWG InAs QD lasers showed single lateral mode operation

Overview of biologically digested leachate treatment using adsorption

Biological process is effective in treating most biodegradable organic matter present in leachate; however, a significant amount of ammonia, metals and refractory organic compounds may still remain in this biologically digested leachate. This effluent cannot be released to receiving bodies until the discharge limit is met. Several physical/chemical processes have been practiced as post-treatment to remove the remaining pollutants including coagulation–flocculation, oxidation and adsorption. Adsorption is often applied in leachate treatment as it enhances removal of refractory organic compounds. This chapter will focus on works related to adsorption as one of the commonly used methods to treat biologically digested leachate further down to acceptable discharge limit

Overview of biologically digested leachate treatment using adsorption

Biological process is effective in treating most biodegradable organic matter present in leachate; however, a significant amount of ammonia, metals and refractory organic compounds may still remain in this biologically digested leachate. This effluent cannot be released to receiving bodies until the discharge limit is met. Several physical/chemical processes have been practiced as post-treatment to remove the remaining pollutants including coagulation–flocculation, oxidation and adsorption. Adsorption is often applied in leachate treatment as it enhances removal of refractory organic compounds. This chapter will focus on works related to adsorption as one of the commonly used methods to treat biologically digested leachate further down to acceptable discharge limit

Anastrozole versus tamoxifen for the prevention of locoregional and contralateral breast cancer in postmenopausal women with locally excised ductal carcinoma in situ (IBIS-II DCIS): a double-blind, randomised controlled trial

Background Third-generation aromatase inhibitors are more effective than tamoxifen for preventing recurrence in postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor-positive invasive breast cancer. However, it is not known whether anastrozole is more effective than tamoxifen for women with hormone-receptor-positive ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Here, we compare the efficacy of anastrozole with that of tamoxifen in postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor-positive DCIS. Methods In a double-blind, multicentre, randomised placebo-controlled trial, we recruited women who had been diagnosed with locally excised, hormone-receptor-positive DCIS. Eligible women were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio by central computer allocation to receive 1 mg oral anastrozole or 20 mg oral tamoxifen every day for 5 years. Randomisation was stratified by major centre or hub and was done in blocks (six, eight, or ten). All trial personnel, participants, and clinicians were masked to treatment allocation and only the trial statistician had access to treatment allocation. The primary endpoint was all recurrence, including recurrent DCIS and new contralateral tumours. All analyses were done on a modified intention-to-treat basis (in all women who were randomised and did not revoke consent for their data to be included) and proportional hazard models were used to compute hazard ratios and corresponding confidence intervals. This trial is registered at the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN37546358. Results Between March 3, 2003, and Feb 8, 2012, we enrolled 2980 postmenopausal women from 236 centres in 14 countries and randomly assigned them to receive anastrozole (1449 analysed) or tamoxifen (1489 analysed). Median follow-up was 7·2 years (IQR 5·6–8·9), and 144 breast cancer recurrences were recorded. We noted no statistically significant difference in overall recurrence (67 recurrences for anastrozole vs 77 for tamoxifen; HR 0·89 [95% CI 0·64–1·23]). The non-inferiority of anastrozole was established (upper 95% CI <1·25), but its superiority to tamoxifen was not (p=0·49). A total of 69 deaths were recorded (33 for anastrozole vs 36 for tamoxifen; HR 0·93 [95% CI 0·58–1·50], p=0·78), and no specific cause was more common in one group than the other. The number of women reporting any adverse event was similar between anastrozole (1323 women, 91%) and tamoxifen (1379 women, 93%); the side-effect profiles of the two drugs differed, with more fractures, musculoskeletal events, hypercholesterolaemia, and strokes with anastrozole and more muscle spasm, gynaecological cancers and symptoms, vasomotor symptoms, and deep vein thromboses with tamoxifen. Conclusions No clear efficacy differences were seen between the two treatments. Anastrozole offers another treatment option for postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor-positive DCIS, which may be be more appropriate for some women with contraindications for tamoxifen. Longer follow-up will be necessary to fully evaluate treatment differences