The First Records in Illinois of \u3ci\u3eHeliconius Charitonius\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Heliconiidae) and \u3ci\u3ePhoebis Agarithe\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

(excerpt) Our key to Illinois butterflies, exclusive of the skippers (Hesperiidae), was published in 1980. It includes those butterflies listed by Irwin and Downey in their 1973 Illinois checklist plus two species,Anaea aidea (Guerin-Meneville) (Nymphalidae) and Celastrina ebenina Clench (Lycaenidae), added to the state list after 1973

Annotated Records of Species of Pentatomoidea (Hemiptera) Collected at Lights

Records of specimens of Pentatomoidea collected at various light sources in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, and Texas are presented. Of the 51 species and subspecies reported, about 75% belong to the Pentatomidae

A List of the Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of the La Rue-Pine Hills Ecological Area

A survey of the adult butterfly fauna of the La Rue-Pine Hills Ecological Area, Union County, Illinois, was conducted from March through July in 1979, and March through November in 1980. Forty nine species and subspecies were collected including all six papilionids known to occur in Illinois. Notes were taken on seasonal flight periods and butterfly-plant associations

Device physics of thin-film polycrystalline cells and modules: Phase 1 annual report: February 1998--January 1999

This report describes work done by Colorado State University (CSU) during Phase 1 of this subcontract. CSU researchers continued to make basic measurements on CI(G)S and CdTe solar cells fabricated at different labs, to quantitatively deduce the loss mechanisms in these cells, and to make appropriate comparisons that illuminate where progress is being made. Cells evaluated included the new record CIGS cell, CIS cells made with and without CdS, and those made by electrodeposition and electroless growth from solution. Work on the role of impurities focused on sodium in CIS. Cells with varying amounts of sodium added during CIS deposition were fabricated at NREL using four types of substrates. The best performance was achieved with 10{sup {minus}2}--10{sup {minus}1} at% sodium, and the relative merits of proposed mechanisms for the sodium effect were compared. Researchers also worked on the construction and testing of a fine-focused laser-beam apparatus to measure local variations in polycrystalline cell performance. A 1{micro}m spot was achieved, spatial reproducibility in one and two dimensions is less than 1 {micro}m, and photocurrent is reliably measured when the 1{micro}m spot is reduced as low as 1-sun in intensity. In elevated-temperature stress tests, typical CdTe cells held at 100 C under illumination and normal resistive loads for extended periods of time were generally very stable; but those held under reverse or large forward bias and those contacted using larger amounts of copper were somewhat less stable. CdTe cell modeling produced reasonable fits to experimental data, including variations in back-contact barriers. A major challenge being addressed is the photovoltaic response of a single simple-geometry crystallite with realistic grain boundaries

Characterization and Analysis of CIGS and CdTE Solar Cells: December 2004 - July 2008

The work reported here embodies a device-physics approach based on careful measurement and interpretation of data from CIGS and CdTe solar cells

Integrative genomic analyses of neurofibromatosis tumours identify SOX9 as a biomarker and survival gene

Understanding the biological pathways critical for common neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) peripheral nerve tumours is essential, as there is a lack of tumour biomarkers, prognostic factors and therapeutics. We used gene expression profiling to define transcriptional changes between primary normal Schwann cells (n = 10), NF1-derived primary benign neurofibroma Schwann cells (NFSCs) (n = 22), malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour (MPNST) cell lines (n = 13), benign neurofibromas (NF) (n = 26) and MPNST (n = 6). Dermal and plexiform NFs were indistinguishable. A prominent theme in the analysis was aberrant differentiation. NFs repressed gene programs normally active in Schwann cell precursors and immature Schwann cells. MPNST signatures strongly differed; genes up-regulated in sarcomas were significantly enriched for genes activated in neural crest cells. We validated the differential expression of 82 genes including the neural crest transcription factor SOX9 and SOX9 predicted targets. SOX9 immunoreactivity was robust in NF and MPSNT tissue sections and targeting SOX9 – strongly expressed in NF1-related tumours – caused MPNST cell death. SOX9 is a biomarker of NF and MPNST, and possibly a therapeutic target in NF1

On species delimitation: Yet another lemur species or just genetic variation?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although most taxonomists agree that species are independently evolving metapopulation lineages that should be delimited with several kinds of data, the taxonomic practice in Malagasy primates (Lemuriformes) looks quite different. Several recently described lemur species are based solely on evidence of genetic distance and diagnostic characters of mitochondrial DNA sequences sampled from a few individuals per location. Here we explore the validity of this procedure for species delimitation in lemurs using published sequence data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We show that genetic distance estimates and <it>Population Aggregation Analysis </it>(PAA) are inappropriate for species delimitation in this group of primates. Intra- and interspecific genetic distances overlapped in 14 of 17 cases independent of the genetic marker used. A simulation of a fictive taxonomic study indicated that for the mitochondrial D-loop the minimum required number of individuals sampled per location is 10 in order to avoid false positives via PAA.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Genetic distances estimates and PAA alone should not be used for species delimitation in lemurs. Instead, several nuclear and sex-specific loci should be considered and combined with other data sets from morphology, ecology or behavior. Independent of the data source, sampling should be done in a way to ensure a quantitative comparison of intra- and interspecific variation of the taxa in question. The results of our study also indicate that several of the recently described lemur species should be reevaluated with additional data and that the number of good species among the currently known taxa is probably lower than currently assumed.</p

Integrative genomic analyses of neurofibromatosis tumours identify SOX9 as A biomarker and survival gene

Understanding the biological pathways critical for common neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) peripheral nerve tumours is essential, as there is a lack of tumour biomarkers, prognostic factors and therapeutics. We used gene expression profiling to define transcriptional changes between primary normal Schwann cells (n - 10), NF1-derived primary benign neurofibroma Schwann cells (NFSCs) (n = 22), malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour (MPNST) cell lines (n = 13), benign neurofibromas (NF) (n = 26) and MPNST (n = 6). Dermal and plexiform NFs were indistinguishable. A prominent theme in the analysis was aberrant differentiation. NFs repressed gene programs normally active in Schwann cell precursors and immature Schwann cells. MPNST signatures strongly differed; genes up-regulated in sarcomas were significantly enriched for genes activated in neural crest cells. We validated the differential expression of 82 genes including the neural crest transcription factor SOX9 and SOX9 predicted targets. SOX9 immunoreactivity was robust in NF and MPSNT tissue sections and targeting SOX9 - strongly expressed in NF1-related tumours - caused MPNST cell death. SOX9 is a biomarker of NF and MPNST, and possibly a therapeutic target in NF1

Antimony-Doped Tin(II) Sulfide Thin Films

Thin-film solar cells made from earth-abundant, inexpensive, and nontoxic materials are needed to replace the current technologies whose widespread use is limited by their use of scarce, costly, and toxic elements. Tin monosulfide (SnS) is a promising candidate for making absorber layers in scalable, inexpensive, and nontoxic solar cells. SnS has always been observed to be a p-type semiconductor. Doping SnS to form an n-type semiconductor would permit the construction of solar cells with p-n homojunctions. This paper reports doping SnS films with antimony, a potential n-type dopant. Small amounts of antimony (1%) were found to greatly increase the electrical resistance of the SnS. The resulting intrinsic SnS(Sb) films could be used for the insulating layer in a p-i-n design for solar cells. Higher concentrations (5%) of antimony did not convert the SnS(Sb) to low-resistivity n-type conductivity, but instead the films retain such a high resistance that the conductivity type could not be determined. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis reveals that the highly doped films contain precipitates of a secondary phase that has chemical bonds characteristic of metallic antimony, rather than the antimony–sulfur bonds found in films with lower concentrations of antimony.United States. Dept. of Energy. Sunshot Initiative (Contract DE-EE0005329)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CBET-1032955