关键词： CdTe solar cells   CdS   Band discontinuities   Interface defect states   SCAPS-1D   Tungsten disulfide (WS2) buffer  

摘要： The cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells are the most widely used high efficiency thin film solar cells that have shown stable performance over a long time. Although being a frontier in thin film technology, the performance of CdTe solar cells is setback by pinhole effects when thin CdS buffer layers are used in devices for compensating the spectral loss. To overcome this, generally, a highly resistive ZnO is used as window layer between the transparent conducting oxide (TCO) and the CdS layer. In this work, a single tungsten disulfide (WS2) is proposed to replace the bilayer window in conventional CdTe solar cells. The band discontinuities at two interfaces of the WS2 in the proposed structure (p-CdTe/n-WS2/n-ITO) are studied with varying defect state density. The performance parameters such as open circuit voltage, short circuit current, fill factor, and efficiency are observed respectively for different defect state densities of interfaces and the bulk layer of WS2. Comparison between the conventional CdTe structure and proposed structure shows that the CdTe solar cells with a single WS2 buffer layer can perform as efficiently as the one with CdS/ZnO bilayer.

关键词： Anisotropic turbulence   Eddy-viscosity models   Grey zone   Large-eddy simulation   Weather Research and Forecasting model  

摘要： The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is used to simulate multiple convective-boundary-layer cases on grids with horizontal resolutions of 100 m and 1.2 km to evaluate the Smagorinsky-Lilly turbulence closure on highly anisotropic grids for numerical weather prediction (NWP). The Smagorinsky-Lilly closure is used with its standard isotropic and anisotropic formulations as distributed with the WRF model, as well as an anisotropic form where the resolved strain-rate tensor is partitioned into horizontal and vertical components, and an isotropic form which scales with height near the surface, following implementations used in other NWP models. Finally, a novel anisotropic length scale is proposed based on using normal-direction grid spacing so that the vertical (horizontal) length scale is a function of the horizontal (vertical) resolution. The formulations are evaluated by comparing their development of resolved turbulence kinetic energy, potential temperature and velocity profiles, and planar velocity fields. The different forms behave very similarly on the 100-m grid, but significant differences are seen on the 1.2-km grid. When compared to the high-resolution results, notable improvements are seen on the 1.2-km grid using the modifications to the Smagorinsky-Lilly closure introduced here in the WRF model, particularly for the normal-direction anisotropic form which agrees very well with the high-resolution results with a much lower sensitivity to the tuning coefficient than the other formulations.

关键词： apalutamide   quality of life   prostatic neoplasms   neoplasm metastasis  

摘要： Purpose: We performed an exploratory analysis of prostate cancer-related pain and fatigue on health-related quality of life in patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer receiving apalutamide (240 mg/day) or placebo, with continuous androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), in the phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled TITAN trial (NCT02489318). Materials and Methods: Patient-reported outcomes for pain and fatigue were evaluated using the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form and Brief Fatigue Inventory. Time to deterioration (TTD) was estimated by Kaplan-Meier method;hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using Cox proportional hazards model. General estimating equations for logistic regression estimated treatment-related differences in the likelihood of worsening pain or fatigue. Results: Compliance for completing the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form and Brief Fatigue Inventory was high (96% to 97%) in the first year. Median followup times were similar between treatments (19 to 22 months). Median pain TTD was longer with apalutamide than placebo for "pain at its least in the last 24 hours" (28.7 vs 21.8 months, respectively;p=0.0146), "pain interfered with mood" (not estimable vs 22.4 months;p=0.0017), "pain interfered with walking ability" (28.7 vs 20.2 months;p=0.0027), "pain interfered with relations" (not estimable vs 23.0 months;p=0.0139) and "pain interfered with sleep" (28.7 vs 20.9 months;p=0.0167). Likelihood for fatigue and worsening fatigue were similar between groups. Conclusions: Patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer receiving apalutamide plus ADT vs placebo plus ADT reported consistently favorable TTD of pain. No difference for change in fatigue was observed with apalutamide vs placebo.

关键词： Cardiac involvement   Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children   Outcomes   Symptoms   Treatment  

摘要： Background Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a new clinical condition characterized by signs of inflammation and multiorgan dysfunction due to cytokine storm associated with SARS-CoV-2. The clinical spectrum of MIS-C ranges from mild to severe, and even to mortal multisystem involvement. To guide clinicians, we evaluated detailed demographic characteristics, clinical features, laboratory findings, and outcomes of MIS-C cases. Methods We performed a retrospective study of patients with MIS-C who were managed in the Department of Pediatric Infectious Disease in the Selcuk University Faculty of Medicine, Konya, Turkey. MIS-C patients were divided into three clinical severity groups (mild, moderate, and severe) and separated into three age groups (< 5 years, 5-10 years, > 10 years). We compared the characteristics of MIS-C cases according to the severity of the disease and by age groups. Result Thirty-six children with MIS-C were evaluated (52.8% male, median age of 7.8 years). A clinical spectrum overlapping with Kawasaki disease (KD) was the most common presentation (69.4%) in all age groups. The most common clinical symptoms were fever (100%), mucocutaneous rash (69.4%), and gastrointestinal symptoms (66.6%). There was no statistically significant difference in echocardiographic abnormality between KD-like and the other clinical spectra (p > 0.05). All life-threatening rhythm disturbances were observed in severe cases. No patients died. Conclusion It is important to increase the awareness of physicians about the MIS-C disease, which can present with different combinations of different systemic findings, so that patients can be diagnosed and treated in a timely manner.

摘要： The transfemoral (TF) approach in transcatheter aortic valve replacement is the first choice because of its superiority in terms of procedural outcomes with lower procedural mortality and higher success rate. Among the other access sites, the transcarotid (TC) approach has proven to be a promising alternative with comparable results and low complications. Future randomized controlled trials are needed to establish the safety and efficacy of TC access versus TF access.

关键词： Alternative fuel   Marine engine   Emissions   Waste plastic   Tyre pyrolysis   Waste lubricant oil  

摘要： The increasingly stringent shipping emissions regulations and global decarbonisation movement have prompted the adoption of alternative fuels in the shipping industry. This review presents the performance results and evaluation of alternative fuel engines under low-medium speed operation that has not been considered by existing reviews. This operating regime is typically used in marine propulsion. Relevant articles published by reputable journals were retrieved from scholarly databases and analysed. The evaluated alternative fuels were waste plastic oil (WPO), tyre pyrolysis oil (TPO), biodiesel, ammonia, vegetable oil (VO), and waste lubricant oil (WLO). Neat WPO and TPO demonstrated poorer emissions performances than diesel;alternatively, retarding the fuel injection timing of the WPO engine and blending the TPO with biodiesel had elevated engine performances substantially. As compared to VO degum and blending VO with diesel, VO preheating was a more promising approach to augment engine performance. Ammonia is an attractive candidate owing to its carbon-free chemical composition, but novel technologies are needed to address its terribly high NOx emission. Diesel-like fuel (DLF) derived from WLO produced notably better engine performance than fossil diesel. This review provides insight into liquid alternative fuels performances for low-medium speed engine operation, whose combustion physics is considerably different from high-speed operation. Such understandings are vital to address the current issues regarding marine engine systems, promoting the development of combustion technologies and alternative fuels uptake in marine propulsion.

关键词： Endodontic disinfection   Atmosphere pressure nonequilibrium plasma   2% chlorhexidine irrigation   Infected dentine tubules   Apical periodontitis  

摘要： Objective To investigate an intracanal disinfection methodology of APNPs (atmosphere pressure nonequilibrium plasmas) or modified APNPs in root canal treatment and evaluate the antimicrobial efficiency against in vitro infected dentinal tubules and in vivo experimental apical periodontitis. Materials and methods Dentine specimens were centrifugated with Enterococcus faecalis to generate 1-day-old and 3-week-old biofilms, and were treated with 2% chlorhexidine (Chx), APNP or modified APNP for 3 and 10 min (n=4). LIVE/DEAD staining was employed to analyze the ratio of deactivated bacteria. Experimental apical periodontitis in beagles was induced. Root canal therapy with APNPs or modified APNPs was performed and the antimicrobial effect was evaluated by histological and radiographical analyses. Results APNP deactivated 1-day-old and 3-week-old E. feacalis in dentinal tubules as much as 2% Chx irrigating. Modified APNP significantly deactivated more E. faecalis biofilms in dentinal tubules for 3-min and 10-min treatments, without thermal damage or dentinal destruction being observed. In beagles' apical periodontitis, significantly increased BV/TV and decreased lesion volume of apical bone were found in modified APNP group than 2% Chx irrigation group according to mu CT. Fewer inflammatory cells and bacterial residual in dentine were observed in modified APNP-treated apical tissue by histology staining compared with those in the 2% Chx irrigation group. Conclusion The antimicrobial effect of APNP jet irradiation was comparable to that of 2% Chx irrigation. No structural damage in dentine or tissue necrosis at the periapical region was induced upon treatment. The modified APNP demonstrated an increased antimicrobial efficacy compared with 2% Chx irrigation both in vitro and in vivo.

关键词： splicing   alternative splicing   introns   fungi   protein localization   drug resistance   virulence  

摘要： Spliceosomal introns are noncoding sequences that are spliced from pre-mRNA. They are ubiquitous in eukaryotic genomes, although the average number of introns per gene varies considerably between different eukaryotic species. Fungi are diverse in terms of intron numbers ranging from 4% to 99% genes with introns. Alternative splicing is one of the most common modes of posttranscriptional regulation in eukaryotes, giving rise to multiple transcripts from a single pre-mRNA and is widespread in metazoans and drives extensive proteome diversity. Earlier, alternative splicing was considered to be rare in fungi, but recently, increasing numbers of studies have revealed that alternative splicing is also widespread in fungi and has been implicated in the regulation of fungal growth and development, protein localization and the improvement of survivability, likely underlying their unique capacity to adapt to changing environmental conditions. However, the role of alternative splicing in pathogenicity and development of drug resistance is only recently gaining attention. In this review, we describe the intronic landscape in fungi. We also present in detail the newly discovered functions of alternative splicing in various cellular processes and outline areas particularly in pathogenesis and clinical drug resistance for future studies that could lead to the development of much needed new therapeutics.