Spatially resolved photoluminescence analysis of the role of Se in CdSeTe thin films.

Evidence from cross-sectional electron microscopy has previously shown that Se passivates defects in CdSeTe solar cells, and that this is the reason for better lifetimes and voltages in these devices. Here, we utilise spatially resolved photoluminescence measurements of CdSeTe thin films on glass to directly study the effects of Se on carrier recombination in the material, isolated from the impact of conductive interfaces and without the need to prepare cross-sections through the samples. We find further evidence to support Se passivation of grain boundaries, but also identify an increase in below-bandgap photoluminescence that indicates the presence of Se-enhanced defects in grain interiors.

Sorry you asked? , and the battles over patent-eligibility.

Genetic testing for inherited cancer risk changed dramatically when the US Supreme Court handed down unanimous rulings in (2012) and (2013). Those decisions struck down claims to methods based on 'laws of nature' () and DNA molecules corresponding to sequences found in nature (). Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Christopher Coons (D-DE) introduced legislation that would abrogate those decisions and specify narrow statutory exclusions to patent-eligibility in §101 of the US Patent Act.

Breast Density Knowledge and Awareness Among Latinas in a Low-Resource Setting.

Purpose: Latinas in low-resource settings face additional barriers to understanding mammographic breast density (MBD) implications. The authors compared MBD awareness and knowledge in Latinas from a safety-net clinic in Arizona with a national sample.

Methods: Latinas 40 to 74 years of age were recruited within a safety-net clinic during screening mammography appointments from 2016 to 2019 (AZ cohort) and from a nationally representative online panel in 2017 (NS cohort).

Comparison of the international Burn Injury Database nurse dependency tool with the Safer Nursing Care Tool: Observational study.

Background: Safe and effective nurse staffing is widely recognised as an important issue to ensure quality patient care and reduce mortality. There are many nurse dependency tools described in the literature but no gold standard tool that can be used in all specialities. In burn care there are even fewer burn specific tools and none reported for use in the UK to date.

Impact of metformin on cardiovascular disease: a meta-analysis of randomised trials among people with type 2 diabetes.

Aims/hypothesis: Metformin is the most-prescribed oral medication to lower blood glucose worldwide. Yet previous systematic reviews have raised doubts about its effectiveness in reducing risk of cardiovascular disease, the most costly complication of type 2 diabetes. We aimed to systematically identify and pool randomised trials reporting cardiovascular outcomes in which the effect of metformin was 'isolated' through comparison to diet, lifestyle or placebo.

Tissue expansion in burn reconstruction: what can the child and family expect?

A child with a burn injury often has to go through reconstructive surgery after it has healed to improve function and cosmetic appearance. Tissue expansion is one of the procedures commonly used in the reconstructive process. It requires commitment from the child and the family, because it involves several hospital visits, including at least two surgical episodes, in addition to a change in lifestyle during the process, and there are time and costs involved in travelling, including time off work and school.

Improving self-efficacy in spinal cord injury patients through "design thinking" rehabilitation workshops.

Advances in surgical and medical management have significantly reduced the length of time that patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) have to stay in hospital, but has left patients with potentially less time to psychologically adjust. Following a pilot in 2012, this project was designed to test the effect of "design thinking" workshops on the self-efficacy of people undergoing rehabilitation following spinal injuries. Design thinking is about understanding the approaches and methods that designers use and then applying these to think creatively about problems and suggest ways to solve them.

Does the academic performance of psychiatrists influence success in the NHS Clinical Excellence Award Scheme?

Objectives: Given the uncertainty about factors that influence receipt of Clinical Excellence Awards (CEA) and recent availability of advanced research metrics, we examined the factors that predict CEA success using a convenience sample of English psychiatrists.

Design: Observational study examining region, subspecialty, H-index, M-index, number of publications, years since registration and years in specialty.

Setting: ACCEA Nominal Roll, cross-referenced with data from the GMC's list of registered medical practitioners and Thompson's Web of Science database.

Illness as a predisposing factor to scalds in children: an exploratory study.

Aim: To explore whether the presence of illness is a predisposing factor to scalds in children aged five years and under.

Method: A mixed methodology approach was used in this exploratory study. The results from the questionnaire phase are reported in this article.

Compliance to recommended liver function monitoring in patients on statin therapy.

Product information and national guidelines consistently recommend the estimation of serum alanine aminotranferase (ALT) before and after approximately 3 months as part of risk management following initiation of statin therapy. The aim of this study was to determine compliance to the recommendations for monitoring ALT in patients initiated on statin therapy. The prevalence of abnormal serum ALT levels was also evaluated and compared with current data.

Inferred influence of human lateral profile on limb load asymmetry during a quiet standing balance test.

Although the identification and characterisation of a participant's lateral profile during quiet standing have not received much research attention, they have the potential to greatly extend our understanding of upright stance stability control. This study further examines limb load asymmetries during quiet bipedal stance. During voluntary frontal-plane weight shifting for 2 min, 300 centre-of-pressure displacements on 14 blindfolded right-handed young adults were recorded.

Enterobacter cloacae SLD1a-1 gains a selective advantage from selenate reduction when growing in nitrate-depleted anaerobic environments.

Enterobacter cloacae SLD1a-1 is capable of the complete reduction of selenate to selenium and the initial reaction is catalysed by a membrane-bound selenate reductase. In the present study, continuous culture experiments were employed to investigate the possibility that selenate reduction, via the selenate reductase, might provide sufficient energy to maintain cell viability when deprived of the preferred anaerobic terminal electron acceptor nitrate. The evidence presented indicates that the selenate reductase supports slow growth that retards the wash-out of the culture when switching to nitrate-depleted selenate-rich medium, and provides a proton motive force for sustained cell maintenance.

Preliminary images from an adaptive imaging system.

I-ImaS (Intelligent Imaging Sensors) is a European project aiming to produce real-time adaptive X-ray imaging systems using Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) to create images with maximum diagnostic information within given dose constraints. Initial systems concentrate on mammography and cephalography. In our system, the exposure in each image region is optimised and the beam intensity is a function of tissue thickness and attenuation, and also of local physical and statistical parameters in the image.

[Asymmetry of the viscoelastic properties of the skin and muscle compartments of the left and right hands].

The aim of this research was to discriminate and categorize isolateral stress-strain characteristics contained within the musculocutaneous compartment (MCC) using the model of the first dorsal interosseous muscle (FDI) in vivo. In our approach, the musculocutaneous compartment of the dorsal interosseous muscle was progressively isokinetically compressed by a solid vertical bar with a 0.25 mm incremental step.

Influence of genetic merit and environment on somatic cell counts of Holstein-Friesian cows.

Financially, mastitis is one of the most important diseases affecting dairy cattle in the United Kingdom. Seven commercial farms were monitored over a 2.5 year period and data from 1040 cows were included in a study that examined both straw yard and cubicle housing systems.

Microbial reduction of selenate and nitrate: common themes and variations.

A number of biochemically distinct systems have been characterized for the microbial reduction of the oxyanions, selenate (SeO(4)(2-)) and nitrate (NO(3)(-)). Two classes of molybdenum-dependent nitrate reductase catalyse the respiratory-linked reduction of nitrate (NO(3)(-)) to nitrite (NO(2)(-)). The main respiratory nitrate reductase (NAR) is membrane-anchored, with its active site facing the cytoplasmic compartment.

Selenate reduction by Enterobacter cloacae SLD1a-1 is catalysed by a molybdenum-dependent membrane-bound enzyme that is distinct from the membrane-bound nitrate reductase.

Enterobacter cloacae SLD1a-1 is capable of reducing selenium oxyanions to elemental selenium under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. In this study the enzyme that catalyses the initial reduction of selenate (SeO4(2-)) to selenite (SeO3(2-)) has been localised to isolated cytoplasmic membrane fractions. Experiments with intact cells have shown that the putative selenate reductase can accept electrons more readily from membrane-impermeable methyl viologen than membrane-permeable benzyl viologen, suggesting that the location of the catalytic site is towards the periplasmic side of the cytoplasmic membrane.

Mass mapping analysis as a tool for the identification of genetic variants of bovine beta-casein.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometric analysis of the tryptic digest of beta-casein A2 and beta-casein B was performed before and after the separation of the peptides by LC. The overlapping of the chromatograms showed that all peaks were present in both samples, except for one only found in the tryptic digest of the A2 variant and two in the B variant. Experimental masses could be assigned to those peptides produced by tryptic digest of beta-casein variant.

Effect of pH on the thermal denaturation of whey proteins in milk.

The effect of pH on thermal denaturation of four main whey protein fractions in skim milk was examined by gel permeation FPLC. On heating skim milk at 80 degrees C for 0.5-20.

Insertion of a casein kinase recognition sequence induces phosphorylation of ovine beta-lactoglobulin in transgenic mice.

We have shown that the cellular mechanisms of the mammary gland can be used to produce a phosphorylated form of a normally unphosphorylated milk protein. This was achieved by the insertion of a beta-casein DNA sequence coding for a group of mammary gland casein kinase recognition sites into ovine beta-lactoglobulin. Transgenic mice carrying this modified gene were generated and lactating females were shown to produce a novel beta-lactoglobulin in their milk.

Covalent Modification of Emulsified beta-Casein Resulting from Lipid Peroxidation.

Competitive displacement of adsorbed protein from emulsion droplets by the surfactant Tween 20 has been used to determine the influence of the oil phase and aging on the behavior of beta-casein, the displaced protein being analyzed by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography HPLC. Unlike soluble beta-casein or the protein displaced from tetradecane droplets where aging had no effect on the appearance of the HPLC profile, the protein displaced from a soya oil emulsion interface was observed to change. As the soya oil emulsion aged, the retention time of the protein decreased.

A core-shell model of calcium phosphate nanoclusters stabilized by beta-casein phosphopeptides, derived from sedimentation equilibrium and small-angle X-ray and neutron-scattering measurements.

Calcium phosphate nanoclusters were prepared under standardised conditions using 10 mg ml(-1) of the 25-amino-acid N-terminal tryptic phosphopeptide of bovine beta-casein as a stabilising agent. The Mr determined by sedimentation equilibrium was 197,600+/-13,700 and the apparent radius of gyration determined by X-ray scattering was 2.80+/-0.

Possible roles for prolactin, thyroxine and insulin in the growth of heifers before and during early pregnancy.

Two groups of British Friesian heifers with cyclic ovarian function and the potential for further growth were individually fed a restricted diet at two levels over a 12-week period. Eight heifers receiving the higher level of feed (SP group) and five receiving the lower level (LP group) became pregnant by artificial insemination at week 6. Mean (and SEM) body weight changes in the SP and LP groups were respectively 0.