GaAs Solar Cells Grown Directly on V-Groove Si Substrates.

The direct epitaxial growth of high-quality III-V semiconductors on Si is a challenging materials science problem with a number of applications in optoelectronic devices, such as solar cells and on-chip lasers. We report the reduction of dislocation density in GaAs solar cells grown directly on nanopatterned V-groove Si substrates by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy. Starting from a template of GaP on V-groove Si, we achieved a low threading dislocation density (TDD) of 3 × 10 cm in the GaAs by performing thermal cycle annealing of the GaAs followed by growth of InGaAs dislocation filter layers.

Large Area Near-Field Thermophotovoltaics for Low Temperature Applications.

Thermophotovoltaics, devices that convert thermal infrared photons to electricity, offer a key pathway for a variety of critical renewable energy technologies including thermal energy storage, waste heat recovery, and direct solar-thermal power generation. However, conventional far-field devices struggle to generate reasonable powers at lower temperatures. Near-field thermophotovoltaics provide a pathway to substantially higher powers by leveraging photon tunneling effects.

Safety of empirical antibiotic therapy discontinuing for fever of unknown origin during high-risk neutropenia in children.

Background: ECIL-2021 recommends discontinuing empirical antibiotic therapy (EAT) in febrile-neutropenic children after 72 h of treatment and at least 24-48 h of apyrexia in the case of fever of unknown origin (FUO). These guidelines are rarely applied to high-risk children's neutropenia.

Material And Methods: We retrospectively included all consecutive FUO episodes occurring during profound neutropenia ≥ 10 days in children in our institution.

First report of canker caused by on Sweet Cherry () in Chile.

Chile leads cherry exports in the southern hemisphere with a total of 415.315 t exported in the 2022 to 2023 season (IQonsulting, 2023). canker, produced by spp.

Density variability of COVID-19 face mask litter: A cautionary tale for pandemic PPE waste monitoring.

Despite the requirement for data to be normally distributed with variance being independent of the mean, some studies of plastic litter, including COVID-19 face masks, have not tested for these assumptions before embarking on analyses using parametric statistics. Investigation of new data and secondary analyses of published literature data indicate that face masks are not normally distributed and that variances are not independent of mean densities. In consequence, it is necessary to either use nonparametric analyses or to transform data prior to undertaking parametric approaches.

Thermophotovoltaic efficiency of 40.

Thermophotovoltaics (TPVs) convert predominantly infrared wavelength light to electricity via the photovoltaic effect, and can enable approaches to energy storage and conversion that use higher temperature heat sources than the turbines that are ubiquitous in electricity production today. Since the first demonstration of 29% efficient TPVs (Fig. 1a) using an integrated back surface reflector and a tungsten emitter at 2,000 °C (ref.

Treatment Outcomes in Birdshot Chorioretinitis: Corticosteroid Sparing, Corticosteroid Discontinuation, Remission, and Relapse.

Purpose: To describe treatment-related outcomes among patients with birdshot chorioretinitis (BSCR).

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Participants: Patients diagnosed with BSCR at 2 tertiary care academic medical centers.

First landscape-scale survey of the background level of COVID-19 face mask litter: Exploring the potential for citizen science data collection during a 'pollution pilgrimage' of walking a 250-km roadside transect.

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a global problem through the cavalier or deliberate disposal of personal protective equipment (PPE) by the general public. This has raised concerns that the billions of discarded face masks pose a threat to wildlife through entanglement or, when broken down, through ingestion of derived microplastics. Previous quantitative surveys of the magnitude of such litter have focused on areas where people congregate, such as tourist beaches and large cities.

Intervendor Agreement for Right Ventricular Global Longitudinal Strain in Children.

Background: Right ventricular global longitudinal strain (RVGLS) has emerged as an important technique for clinical evaluation of (RV) function. The routine application of RVGLS in pediatrics remains limited by a lack of data on agreement between vendors. The aim of this study was to investigate intervendor agreement for RVGLS between the two commonly used analysis vendors in pediatrics, hypothesizing that RVGLS has good intervendor agreement, although it is likely lower than intravendor agreement (inter- and intraobserver reproducibility).

Triple-halide wide-band gap perovskites with suppressed phase segregation for efficient tandems.

Wide-band gap metal halide perovskites are promising semiconductors to pair with silicon in tandem solar cells to pursue the goal of achieving power conversion efficiency (PCE) greater than 30% at low cost. However, wide-band gap perovskite solar cells have been fundamentally limited by photoinduced phase segregation and low open-circuit voltage. We report efficient 1.

Reproducibility and Intervendor Agreement of Left Ventricular Global Systolic Strain in Children Using a Layer-Specific Analysis.

Background: Speckle-tracking strain analysis provides additive data to the assessment of pediatric and congenital heart disease; however, the variety of strain analysis software platforms by different vendors and the lack of data on intervendor strain agreement in children have limited its utility. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the intervendor agreement of strain on two commonly used analysis platforms in pediatrics by layer of myocardium and data compression.

Methods: This prospective study analyzed two-dimensional speckle-tracking strain on two software platforms in 53 children with normal cardiac segmental anatomy and varying function.

IgG4-Related Ophthalmic Disease Presenting as Meningitis and Panuveitis.

Purpose: We report an uncommon case of immunoglobulin gamma 4-related ophthalmic disease (IgG4-ROD) presenting as meningitis and panuveitis.

Observations: A 35-year-old male with no prior ophthalmic history presented with headaches, altered mental status, and fever of unknown origin. A lumbar puncture (LP) revealed an elevated white count with lymphocytic predominance, confirming a suspected meningitis.

Tandem Solar Cells from Solution-Processed CdTe and PbS Quantum Dots Using a ZnTe-ZnO Tunnel Junction.

We developed a monolithic CdTe-PbS tandem solar cell architecture in which both the CdTe and PbS absorber layers are solution-processed from nanocrystal inks. Due to their tunable nature, PbS quantum dots (QDs), with a controllable band gap between 0.4 and ∼1.

Expanding marine protected areas to include degraded coral reefs.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a commonly applied solution to coral reef degradation, yet coral reefs continue to decline worldwide. We argue that expanding the range of MPAs to include degraded reefs (DR-MPA) could help reverse this trend. This approach requires new ecological criteria for MPA design, siting, and management.

Upgrading Marine Ecosystem Restoration Using Ecological-Social Concepts.

Conservation and environmental management are principal countermeasures to the degradation of marine ecosystems and their services. However, in many cases, current practices are insufficient to reverse ecosystem declines. We suggest that , the science underlying the concepts and tools needed to restore ecosystems, must be recognized as an integral element for marine conservation and environmental management.

L-arginine promotes gut hormone release and reduces food intake in rodents.

Aims: To investigate the anorectic effect of L-arginine (L-Arg) in rodents.

Methods: We investigated the effects of L-Arg on food intake, and the role of the anorectic gut hormones glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and peptide YY (PYY), the G-protein-coupled receptor family C group 6 member A (GPRC6A) and the vagus nerve in mediating these effects in rodents.

Results: Oral gavage of L-Arg reduced food intake in rodents, and chronically reduced cumulative food intake in diet-induced obese mice.

L-cysteine suppresses ghrelin and reduces appetite in rodents and humans.

Background: High-protein diets promote weight loss and subsequent weight maintenance, but are difficult to adhere to. The mechanisms by which protein exerts these effects remain unclear. However, the amino acids produced by protein digestion may have a role in driving protein-induced satiety.

Does involving volunteers in the provision of palliative care make a difference to patient and family wellbeing? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative evidence.

Context: Despite the extent of volunteers' contribution to palliative care, and their role in direct patient care, there has been no systematic evaluation of the evidence-base on volunteers in relation to patient and family wellbeing.

Objective: To critically review research, on the impact of volunteers involved in the direct care of palliative patients and their families.

Methods: We searched for studies, reporting patient and family data on the impact of volunteer services in palliative care in thirteen citation databases up to May 2013.

Identification of a human neonatal immune-metabolic network associated with bacterial infection.

Understanding how human neonates respond to infection remains incomplete. Here, a system-level investigation of neonatal systemic responses to infection shows a surprisingly strong but unbalanced homeostatic immune response; developing an elevated set-point of myeloid regulatory signalling and sugar-lipid metabolism with concomitant inhibition of lymphoid responses. Innate immune-negative feedback opposes innate immune activation while suppression of T-cell co-stimulation is coincident with selective upregulation of CD85 co-inhibitory pathways.

SPRED1 germline mutations caused a neurofibromatosis type 1 overlapping phenotype.

Objective: Germline loss-of-function mutations in the SPRED1 gene have recently been identified in patients fulfilling the National Institutes of Health (NIH) diagnostic criteria for neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) but with no NF1 (neurofibromin 1) mutation found, suggesting a neurofibromatosis type 1-like syndrome.

Methods: 61 index cases with NF1 clinical diagnosis but no identifiable NF1 mutation were screened for SPRED1 mutation.

Results: We describe one known SPRED1 mutation (c.

The Intercostal NMJ Assay: a new alternative to the conventional LD50 assay for the determination of the therapeutic potency of botulinum toxin preparations.

Therapeutic botulinum neurotoxin type A preparations have found an increasing number of clinical uses for a large variety of neuromuscular disorders and dermatological conditions. The accurate determination of potency in the clinical application of botulinum toxins is critical to ensuring clinical efficacy and safety, and is currently achieved by using a lethal dose (LD50) assay in mice. Ethical concerns and operational constraints associated with this assay have prompted the development of alternative assay systems that could potentially lead to its replacement.

A church-based diabetes self-management education program for African Americans with type 2 diabetes.

Introduction: Diabetes self-management education interventions in community gathering places have been moderately effective, but very few studies of intervention effectiveness have been conducted among African Americans with type 2 diabetes. This paper describes a church-based diabetes self-management education intervention for African Americans, a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the intervention, and baseline characteristics of study participants.

Methods: A New DAWN: Diabetes Awareness & Wellness Network was conducted among 24 churches of varying size in North Carolina.