Dual functionality anti-reflection and biocidal coatings

A thin film combination of anti-reflection (AR) and biocidal properties would be of particular interest to reduce the transfer of infection and improve readability of public high use touch screens. In this paper we describe the development of a dual functionality film of silica (AR) and copper oxide (biocidal). Deposition was via flame assisted chemical vapour deposition (FACVD) which has the advantages of being a cost efficient atmospheric pressure technique enabling use of non-volatile precursors and that no closed reaction cell is required so making it ideal for integration into industrial production lines. The resulting films were characterized by a range of techniques including optical spectroscopy, electron microscope and X-ray fluorescence. Biocidal behavior was tested by determining the kill rate of Escherichia coli. A 3 layer stack on glass of silica/copper oxide/silica had better adhesion and lower reflection than a comparable 2 layer stack. This multilayer film led to a > 2% drop in reflection from that of uncoated glass, similar to that of silica only film. In addition, showed a > 6 log10 kill between 6 and 24 h for as deposited and annealed samples

Flame assisted chemical vapour deposition of NiO hole transport layers for planar perovskite cells

Thin films of polycrystalline NiO were deposited by Flame Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition, which is an ideal process for in-line, atmospheric pressure deposition of wide area coatings. This, along with the ability to use aqueous salts rather than organic precursors or solvents makes it well suited for industrial integration. To establish the capability of FACVD deposited NiO for use as a low cost, commercially viable option planar perovskite cells were fabricated under ambient conditions. The resulting cells showed the importance of both the flame composition and NiO thickness. A continuous NiO Hole Transport Layer (HTL) was achieved for ca. 36 nm thick film, which showed a maximum higher efficiency of 12.3% over that of the control (11.8%) which used a spin coated HTL. This was mainly driven by the large improvement in the current density from 16.6 mA/cm2 to 19.0 mA/cm2

Flame assisted chemical vapour deposition NiO hole transport layers for mesoporous carbon perovskite cells

Flame assisted chemical vapour deposition was utilised to directly deposit polycrystalline mesoporous NiO to enhance charge transport within carbon perovskite solar cells (C-PSC). This versatile technique is highly suited for deposition of large area thin films along with the ability to use simple, stable aqueous salts. The combination of low cost methods of screen printing and FACVD to produce the C-PSC make this an attractive route towards commercialisation. The effects of deposition parameters on the morphology, crystallinity and density of the deposited NiO are discussed, along with the importance of use of a low propane, ‘lean flame’ on both the NiO and underlying F-doped tin oxide electrode. The thickness of the NiO layer was found to be critical in optimising the C-PSC efficiency. Addition of the NiO layer resulted in an increased short circuit current density (17.30 mA cm−2 to 20.28 mA cm−2). At an estimated NiO thickness of 17 nm the average cell efficiency (10.73%) surpassed that of the control sample (9.08%) so confirming the promise of this technique

Roll to roll atmospheric pressure plasma enhanced CVD of titania as a step towards the realisation of large area perovskite solar cell technology

Atmospheric pressure plasma enhanced CVD (AP PECVD) systems have attracted considerable interestin recent years due to the significant benefits for large area, low cost substrates and low temperatureoperation. In this work we describe the use of a bespoke roll to roll AP PECVD process to produce largearea, functional TiO2-x films for use as hole blocking electron transport layers in perovskite solar cellarchitectures, a critical component typically produced by spin coating or vacuum based technologies.The AP PECVD produced films can be used to construct cells with overall efficiencies greater than fromthe sputtered reference material (13.57 vs. 13.15% maximum power point for 1 cm2 cells). Discussion ofthe cell properties suggests scope for further optimisation, maximising the potential of this approach

The use of NDVI and its Derivatives for Monitoring Lake Victoria’s Water Level and Drought Conditions

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which is a measure of vegetation vigour, and lake water levels respond variably to precipitation and its deficiency. For a given lake catchment, NDVI may have the ability to depict localized natural variability in water levels in response to weather patterns. This information may be used to decipher natural from unnatural variations of a given lake’s surface. This study evaluates the potential of using NDVI and its associated derivatives (VCI (vegetation condition index), SVI (standardised vegetation index), AINDVI (annually integrated NDVI), green vegetation function (F g ), and NDVIA (NDVI anomaly)) to depict Lake Victoria’s water levels. Thirty years of monthly mean water levels and a portion of the Global Inventory Modelling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) NDVI datasets were used. Their aggregate data structures and temporal co-variabilities were analysed using GIS/spatial analysis tools. Locally, NDVI was found to be more sensitive to drought (i.e., responded more strongly to reduced precipitation) than to water levels. It showed a good ability to depict water levels one-month in advance, especially in moderate to low precipitation years. SVI and SWL (standardized water levels) used in association with AINDVI and AMWLA (annual mean water levels anomaly) readily identified high precipitation years, which are also when NDVI has a low ability to depict water levels. NDVI also appears to be able to highlight unnatural variations in water levels. We propose an iterative approach for the better use of NDVI, which may be useful in developing an early warning mechanisms for the management of lake Victoria and other Lakes with similar characteristics

Alignment of Biological Sequences with Jalview

In this chapter, we introduce core functionality of the Jalview interactive platform for the creation, analysis, and publication of multiple sequence alignments. A workflow is described based on Jalview's core functions: from data import to figure generation, including import of alignment reliability scores from T-Coffee and use of Jalview from the command line. The accompanying notes provide background information on the underlying methods and discuss additional options for working with Jalview to perform multiple sequence alignment, functional site analysis, and publication of alignments on the web

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Responds to Chloride and pH as Synergistic Cues to the Immune Status of its Host Cell

PubMed ID: 23592993This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

What traits are carried on mobile genetic elements, and why?

Although similar to any other organism, prokaryotes can transfer genes vertically from mother cell to daughter cell, they can also exchange certain genes horizontally. Genes can move within and between genomes at fast rates because of mobile genetic elements (MGEs). Although mobile elements are fundamentally self-interested entities, and thus replicate for their own gain, they frequently carry genes beneficial for their hosts and/or the neighbours of their hosts. Many genes that are carried by mobile elements code for traits that are expressed outside of the cell. Such traits are involved in bacterial sociality, such as the production of public goods, which benefit a cell's neighbours, or the production of bacteriocins, which harm a cell's neighbours. In this study we review the patterns that are emerging in the types of genes carried by mobile elements, and discuss the evolutionary and ecological conditions under which mobile elements evolve to carry their peculiar mix of parasitic, beneficial and cooperative genes

19F labelled glycosaminoglycan probes for solution NMR and non-linear (CARS) microscopy

Studying polysaccharide-protein interactions under physiological conditions by conventional techniques is challenging. Ideally, macromolecules could be followed by both in vitro spectroscopy experiments as well as in tissues using microscopy, to enable a proper comparison of results over these different scales but, often, this is not feasible. The cell surface and extracellular matrix polysaccharides, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) lack groups that can be detected selectively in the biological milieu. The introduction of 19F labels into GAG polysaccharides is explored and the interaction of a labelled GAG with the heparin-binding protein, antithrombin, employing 19F NMR spectroscopy is followed. Furthermore, the ability of 19F labelled GAGs to be imaged using CARS microscopy is demonstrated. 19F labelled GAGs enable both 19F NMR protein-GAG binding studies in solution at the molecular level and non-linear microscopy at a microscopic scale to be conducted on the same material, essentially free of background signals