ZnO Doped with Bismuth in Case of In-Phase Behavior for Solar Cell Application

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanostructure thin films doped with bismuth atoms were initially achieved by spin coating preparation from zinc acetate gel on the fused quartz substrate. The optical and structural properties have been preliminary studied in order to obtain more understanding the optimized factors for transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) of thin film solar cell. The optical transmittance was higher than 90% in the visible range for all films. In addition, the optical band gap of the prepared films calculated by Tauc plot showed the change of lightly blue shift with a decrease in annealing temperature. The glancing incident X-ray diffraction result showed that the Bi doped in ZnO nanostructure thin films after annealing have polycrystalline hexagonal wurtzite structure and good preferential orientation along c-axis. This chemical characterization indicated that in-phase behavior occurred in low Bi dopant content between 0.2 - 1.0 atomic percentage Bi content, hence 1 atomic percentage of Bi content was uppermost to obtain preferential orientation in this study. However, the quality of the films surface was better due to the larger number of layers but the optical transmittance will be poorer. The tentative study in term of electrical behavior was investigated for application in TCO film of solar cell. The electrical property showed that more multi ZnO layers affected on an increase in the electrical conductivity of the films

Exploring indoor and outdoor dust as a potential tool for detection and monitoring of COVID-19 transmission

This study investigated the potential of using SARS-CoV-2 viral concentrations in dust as an additional surveillance tool for early detection and monitoring of COVID-19 transmission. Dust samples were collected from 8 public locations in 16 districts of Bangkok, Thailand, from June to August 2021. SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in dust were quantified, and their correlation with community case incidence was assessed. Our findings revealed a positive correlation between viral concentrations detected in dust and the relative risk of COVID-19. The highest risk was observed with no delay (0-day lag), and this risk gradually decreased as the lag time increased. We observed an overall decline in viral concentrations in public places during lockdown, closely associated with reduced human mobility. The effective reproduction number for COVID-19 transmission remained above one throughout the study period, suggesting that transmission may persist in locations beyond public areas even after the lockdown measures were in place

ZnO Doped with Bismuth in Case of In-Phase Behavior for Solar Cell Application

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanostructure thin films doped with bismuth atoms were initially achieved by spin coating preparation from zinc acetate gel on the fused quartz substrate. The optical and structural properties have been preliminary studied in order to obtain more understanding the optimized factors for transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) of thin film solar cell. The optical transmittance was higher than 90% in the visible range for all films. In addition, the optical band gap of the prepared films calculated by Tauc plot showed the change of lightly blue shift with a decrease in annealing temperature. The glancing incident X-ray diffraction result showed that the Bi doped in ZnO nanostructure thin films after annealing have polycrystalline hexagonal wurtzite structure and good preferential orientation along c-axis. This chemical characterization indicated that in-phase behavior occurred in low Bi dopant content between 0.2 - 1.0 atomic percentage Bi content, hence 1 atomic percentage of Bi content was uppermost to obtain preferential orientation in this study. However, the quality of the films surface was better due to the larger number of layers but the optical transmittance will be poorer. The tentative study in term of electrical behavior was investigated for application in TCO film of solar cell. The electrical property showed that more multi ZnO layers affected on an increase in the electrical conductivity of the films

Validation of the English version of the UNESP-Botucatu multidimensional composite pain scale for assessing postoperative pain in cats

Background: A scale validated in one language is not automatically valid in another language or culture. The purpose of this study was to validate the English version of the UNESP-Botucatu multidimensional composite pain scale (MCPS) to assess postoperative pain in cats. The English version was developed using translation, back-translation, and review by individuals with expertise in feline pain management. In sequence, validity and reliability tests were performed.Results: Of the three domains identified by factor analysis, the internal consistency was excellent for 'pain expression' and 'psychomotor change' (0.86 and 0.87) but not for 'physiological variables' (0.28). Relevant changes in pain scores at clinically distinct time points (e.g., post-surgery, post-analgesic therapy), confirmed the construct validity and responsiveness (Wilcoxon test, p 7 (range 0-30 points) with 96.5% sensitivity and 99.5% specificity.Conclusions: The English version of the UNESP-Botucatu-MCPS is a valid, reliable and responsive instrument for assessing acute pain in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy, when used by anesthesiologists or anesthesia technicians. The cut-off point for rescue analgesia provides an additional tool for guiding analgesic therapy. © 2013 Brondani et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Chitosan-Mediated siRNA Delivery In Vitro: Effect of Polymer Molecular Weight, Concentration and Salt Forms

The aim of this study was to investigate chitosan/siRNA complexes formulated with various chitosan salts (CS) including chitosan aspartate (CS-Asp), chitosan glutamate (CS-Glu), chitosan acetate (CS-Ac), and chitosan hydrochloride (CS-HCl) for in vitro siRNA delivery into stable and constitutive enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-expressing HeLa cells. The CS/siRNA complexes were characterized by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis and investigated for their transfection efficiency in stable and constitutive EGFP-expressing HeLa cells. The cytotoxicity of the complexes was determined by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The formation of complexes CS/siRNA is mainly dependent on the weight ratio, whereas salt form and molecular weight has less effect. The particle sizes of the complete complexes were in the range of 270–373 nm except the complete complex of CS-Ac, with a slightly positive charge of less than 2 mV. The ability of CS to transfer functionally active siRNA into cell culture is mainly dependent on the weight ratio and molecular weight of CS whereas salt form of CS has less effect. The high gene-silencing efficiency was observed with low MW of CS (20 kDa) and high weight ratio of 32. Over 80% average cell viabilities were observed for CS/siRNA complexes in all weight ratios comparison to untreated cells. This study suggests CS salts have the potential to be used as safe siRNA delivery vectors