High efficiency multi-junction solar cell design

Energy from the sun is the best option for electricity generation as it is abundantly available everywhere and sustainable source. Advance of Photovoltaic (PV) technology in recent years has made solar energy one of the practical alternative energy sources available in the energy market. In order to make the PV energy more affordable and cost effective, major focus of the research community and industry is improvement on power efficiency of PV systems. Early stage of solar panel manufacturing known as process technology plays a crucial role in achieving above limits. This paper presents a novel process technology for solar panel with 6 junctions

Atomic structure, binding energy, and magnetic properties of iron atoms supported on a polyaromatic hydrocarbon

The atomic structure, energetics, and properties of gas-phase cluster complexes containing coronene (C24H12) molecule and up to two iron atoms are studied for the first time using density functional theory and generalized gradient approximation for exchange and correlation. The geometries of the neutral and cationic iron–coronene complexes are optimized without symmetry constraint and by examining the possibility that iron atoms could occupy various sites via individual π or bridging interactions. In both neutral and cationic complexes a single Fe atom is found to preferentially occupy the on-top site above the outer ring, while two Fe atoms dimerize and reside on the top of center of the outer rings. The binding energy of neutral Fe2–coronene defined with respect to dissociation into coronene and Fe2 is larger than that of Fe–coronene while reverse is true for the corresponding cations. Although the ionization potentials of these complexes are not very sensitive to the number of adsorbed Fe atoms, they are significantly reduced from those of the Fe atom or the coronene molecule. The photodecomposition of cationic (Fen–coronene)+ complexes proceeds through the ejection of either coronene+ or (Fe–coronene)+ cations while in the case of neutral Fe2–coronene, the ejection of Fe2 is energetically preferred. The coupling between the Fe atoms remains ferromagnetic although the magnetic moment/atom is reduced from the free-atom value. The results compare well with recent mass ion intensity and photofragmentation experiments

Formulation and in vitro Evaluation of Eudragit® Microspheres of Stavudine

Purpose: The aim of this study was to formulate and evaluate microencapsulated controlled release preparations of a highly water-soluble drug, stavudine, using Copolymers synthesized from acrylic and methacrylic acid esters (Eudragit RS 100 and RL 100) as the retardant material. . Methods: Microspheres were prepared by solvent evaporation method using an acetone / liquid paraffin system. Magnesium stearate was used as the droplet stabilizer and n-hexane was added to harden the microspheres. The prepared microspheres were characterized for their micromeritic properties and drug loading, as well by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry, x-ray powder diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy. The in vitro release studies were performed in pH 6.8, phosphate buffer. Results: The prepared microspheres were white, free flowing and spherical in shape. The drug-loaded microspheres showed 67-91% of entrapment and release was extended upto 6 to 8 h. The infrared spectra and differential scanning calorimetry thermographs showed stable character of stavudine in the drug-loaded microspheres and revealed the absence of drug-polymer interactions. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that there was decrease in crystallinity of the drug. Scanning electron microscopy study revealed that the microspheres were spherical and porous in nature. Conclusion: The best-fit release kinetics was achieved with Higuchi plot followed by zero order and First order. The release of stavudine was influenced by the drug to polymer ratio and particle size & was found to be diffusion controlled. Keywords: Stavudine, Eudragit, microspheres, controlled release, polymethacrylate > Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research Vol. 4 (1) 2005: pp. 369-37

First-principles investigation of spin polarized conductance in atomic carbon wire

We analyze spin-dependent energetics and conductance for one dimensional (1D) atomic carbon wires consisting of terminal magnetic (Co) and interior nonmagnetic (C) atoms sandwiched between gold electrodes, obtained employing first-principles gradient corrected density functional theory and Landauer's formalism for conductance. Wires containing an even number of interior carbon atoms are found to be acetylenic with sigma-pi bonding patterns, while cumulene structures are seen in wires containing odd number of interior carbon atoms, as a result of strong pi-conjugation. Ground states of carbon wires containing up to 13 C atoms are found to have anti-parallel spin configurations of the two terminal Co atoms, while the 14 C wire has a parallel Co spin configuration in the ground state. The stability of the anti-ferromagnetic state in the wires is ascribed to a super-exchange effect. For the cumulenic wires this effect is constant for all wire lengths. For the acetylenic wires, the super-exchange effect diminishes as the wire length increases, going to zero for the atomic wire containing 14 carbon atoms. Conductance calculations at the zero bias limit show spin-valve behavior, with the parallel Co spin configuration state giving higher conductance than the corresponding anti-parallel state, and a non-monotonic variation of conductance with the length of the wires for both spin configurations.Comment: revtex, 6 pages, 5 figure

Melanosis and quality attributes of chill stored farm raised whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

Loss of market value of shrimp is mainly due to the formation of black spot called melanosis. A study was conducted for 14 days to determine the extent of melanosis and quality changes during that period of freshly har-vested whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) under chilled storage (2?). Among quality parameters, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBAR-S), were varied from 13.17 mg % to 44.50 mg % and 0.04to 2.57 mg malondehaldehyde/kg of fat respectively whereas melanosis score and metric chroma (C) exhibited significant increases during chilled storage (P<0.05). There was a slight increase in moisture, crude fat and pH from 73.96 % to 74.57 %, 1.05 % to 1.14 % and 6.52 to 7.60 respectively at 14th day of storage. Loss of protein from 22.51 % to 21.28 % may be due to decrease in available amino acids during chilled storage and total plate count (TPC) showed gradual increase of bacterial load up to 1.73*107 log CFU/g at the end of chilled storage. The sensory analysis by panellists indicated, the acceptability of white leg shrimp was up to 6 days in chilled condition and formation of black spot is one of the major parameter for rejection by the panellists

Shared and unique common genetic determinants between pediatric and adult celiac disease

Table S1. Functional profiles of the top non-HLA association signals identified in Paediatric CD and Adult CD among north Indians. Table S2. Test of heterogeneity (Breslow-Day test) for associated SNPs in PaediatricCD and AdultCD groups. Table S3. cis-eQTL evaluation of associated SNPs. Table S4. GRAIL analysis revealed seven genes with significant (p <0.05) interaction with 39 known non-HLA coeliac disease loci. These seven genes are from four loci identified in this study. (DOCX 26 kb

Superconducting and normal-state interlayer-exchange-coupling in La0.67_{0.67}Sr0.33_{0.33}MnO3{3}-YBa2_{2}Cu3_{3}O7−La_{7}-La_{0.67}SrSr_{0.33}MnO MnO{3}$ epitaxial trilayers

The issue of interlayer exchange coupling in magnetic multilayers with superconducting (SC) spacer is addressed in La$_{0.67}$Sr$_{0.33}$MnO$_{3}$ (LSMO) - YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{7}$ (YBCO) - La$_{0.67}$Sr$_{0.33}$MnO$_{3}$ (LSMO) epitaxial trilayers through resistivity, ac-susceptibility and magnetization measurements. The ferromagnetic (FM) LSMO layers possessing in-plane magnetization suppress the critical temperature (T$_{c})$ of the c-axis oriented YBCO thin film spacer. The superconducting order, however, survives even in very thin layers (thickness d$_{Y} \sim$ 50 {\AA}, $\sim$ 4 unit cells) at T $<$ 25 K. A predominantly antiferromagnetic (AF) exchange coupling between the moments of the LSMO layers at fields $<$ 200 Oe is seen in the normal as well as the superconducting states of the YBCO spacer. The exchange energy J$_{1}$ ($\sim$ 0.08 erg/cm$^{2}$ at 150 K for d$_{Y}$ = 75 {\AA}) grows on cooling down to T$_{c}$, followed by truncation of this growth on entering the superconducting state. The coupling energy J$_{1}$ at a fixed temperature drops exponentially with the thickness of the YBCO layer. The temperature and d$_{Y}$ dependencies of this primarily non-oscillatory J$_{1}$ are consistent with the coupling theories for systems in which transport is controlled by tunneling. The truncation of the monotonic T dependence of J$_{1}$ below T$_{c}$ suggests inhibition of single electron tunneling across the CuO$_{2}$ planes as the in-plane gap parameter acquires a non-zero value.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Character Association and Path Analysis for Yield, Iron Content and Component Traits in Indigenous Rice Germplasm

Not AvailableRice is one of the major staple foods which contribute the energy source of nutrition. As variation in micronutrients is a major problem affecting the health of people, so selection for indigenous rice germplasm with higher micronutrient for iron and zinc is need of the hour. For selection of characters, character association and direct and indirect contribution of characters play an important role. The present investigation was conducted taking 94 germplasms using augmented design. Observations were recorded on 12 quantitative and 3 quality characters from five randomly selected plants in each genotype. The characters like days to 50 % flowering, days to maturity, plant height (cm), number of tiller per plant, panicle length (cm), number of grains per panicle, 1000-grain weight (g) yield per plant (g), harvest index (%), grain length (mm) grain width (mm), grain L/B ratio, amylose content, gelatinization temperature and iron content in brown rice (ppm) were taken and analyzed for character association and path analysis studies. The characters like 1000-grain weight, harvest index, grain length and grain breadth shown significant association with yield while there was negative association of harvest index with iron content of brown rice. Direct and indirect contributions also supported the character association in same manner. So, selection of 1000-grain weight, grain length and grain breadth are important characters to select plants for improvement of iron content in brown rice as well as yield.Not Availabl

Plant-Derived SAC domain of PAR-4 (Prostate Apoptosis Response 4) Exhibits Growth Inhibitory Effects in Prostate Cancer Cells

The gene Par-4 (Prostate Apoptosis Response 4) was originally identified in prostate cancer cells undergoing apoptosis and its product Par-4 showed cancer specific pro-apoptotic activity. Particularly, the SAC domain of Par-4 (SAC-Par-4) selectively kills cancer cells leaving normal cells unaffected. The therapeutic significance of bioactive SAC-Par-4 is enormous in cancer biology; however, its large scale production is still a matter of concern. Here we report the production of SAC-Par-4-GFP fusion protein coupled to translational enhancer sequence (5′ AMV) and apoplast signal peptide (aTP) in transgenic Nicotiana tabacum cv. Samsun NN plants under the control of a unique recombinant promoter M24. Transgene integration was confirmed by genomic DNA PCR, Southern and Northern blotting, Real-time PCR, and Nuclear run-on assays. Results of Western blot analysis and ELISA confirmed expression of recombinant SAC-Par-4-GFP protein and it was as high as 0.15% of total soluble protein. In addition, we found that targeting of plant recombinant SAC-Par-4-GFP to the apoplast and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) was essential for the stability of plant recombinant protein in comparison to the bacterial derived SAC-Par-4. Deglycosylation analysis demonstrated that ER-targeted SAC-Par-4-GFP-SEKDEL undergoes O-linked glycosylation unlike apoplast-targeted SAC-Par-4-GFP. Furthermore, various in vitro studies like mammalian cells proliferation assay (MTT), apoptosis induction assays, and NF-κB suppression suggested the cytotoxic and apoptotic properties of plant-derived SAC-Par-4-GFP against multiple prostate cancer cell lines. Additionally, pre-treatment of MAT-LyLu prostate cancer cells with purified SAC-Par-4-GFP significantly delayed the onset of tumor in a syngeneic rat prostate cancer model. Taken altogether, we proclaim that plant made SAC-Par-4 may become a useful alternate therapy for effectively alleviating cancer in the new era