The Investigation of the Influence of a CuO Buffer Layer on Hole Transport Layers in MAPbI-Based Perovskite Solar Cells.

The passivation engineering of the hole transport layer in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has significantly decreased carrier accumulation and open circuit voltage () loss, as well as energy band mismatching, thus achieving the goal of high-power conversion efficiency. However, most devices incorporating organic/inorganic buffer layers suffer from poor stability and low efficiency. In this article, we have proposed an inorganic buffer layer of CuO, which has achieved high efficiency on lower work function metals and various frequently used hole transport layers (HTLs).

Risk factors associated with in-hospital mortality for patients with ECLS due to postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock after isolated coronary surgery.

Objectives: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or extracorporeal life support (ECLS) in patients after cardiac surgery and postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock (PCS) is known to be associated with high mortality. Especially in patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and PCS, ECLS is frequently established. The aim of this analysis was to evaluate factors associated with in-hospital mortality in patients treated with ECLS due to PCS after CABG.

Optical contrast and refractive index of natural van der Waals heterostructure nanosheets of franckeite.

We study mechanically exfoliated nanosheets of franckeite by quantitative optical microscopy. The analysis of transmission-mode and epi-illumination-mode optical microscopy images provides a rapid method to estimate the thickness of the exfoliated flakes at first glance. A quantitative analysis of the optical contrast spectra by means of micro-reflectance allows one to determine the refractive index of franckeite over a broad range of the visible spectrum through a fit of the acquired spectra to a model based on the Fresnel law.

Characterization of highly crystalline lead iodide nanosheets prepared by room-temperature solution processing.

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting materials are particularly appealing for many applications. Although theory predicts a large number of 2D materials, experimentally only a few of these materials have been identified and characterized comprehensively in the ultrathin limit. Lead iodide, which belongs to the transition metal halides family and has a direct bandgap in the visible spectrum, has been known for a long time and has been well characterized in its bulk form.

Rapid field assessment of RO desalination of brackish agricultural drainage water.

Rapid field evaluation of RO feed filtration requirements, selection of effective antiscalant type and dose, and estimation of suitable scale-free RO recovery level were demonstrated using a novel approach based on direct observation of mineral scaling and flux decline measurements, utilizing an automated Membrane Monitor (MeMo). The MeMo, operated in a stand-alone single-pass desalting mode, enabled rapid assessment of the adequacy of feed filtration by enabling direct observation of particulate deposition on the membrane surface. The diagnostic field study with RO feed water of high mineral scaling propensity revealed (via direct MeMo observation) that suspended particulates (even for feed water of turbidity <1 NTU) could serve as seeds for promoting surface crystal nucleation.

Spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion in focusing, scattering, and imaging systems.

We present a general theory of spin-to-orbital angular momentum (AM) conversion of light in focusing, scattering, and imaging optical systems. Our theory employs universal geometric transformations of non-paraxial optical fields in such systems and allows for direct calculation and comparison of the AM conversion efficiency in different physical settings. Observations of the AM conversions using local intensity distributions and far-field polarimetric measurements are discussed.

A molecular switch on an arrestin-like protein relays glucose signaling to transporter endocytosis.

Endocytosis regulates the plasma membrane protein landscape in response to environmental cues. In yeast, the endocytosis of transporters depends on their ubiquitylation by the Nedd4-like ubiquitin ligase Rsp5, but how extracellular signals trigger this ubiquitylation is unknown. Various carbon source transporters are known to be ubiquitylated and endocytosed when glucose-starved cells are exposed to glucose.

Localisation and significance of in vivo near-infrared autofluorescent signal in retinal imaging.

Aim: To evaluate near-infrared (NIR) autofluorescence (AF) in patients with geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration and to investigate the origin of the signal by in vivo and histological analysis in rats and in a human donor eye.

Methods: Confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy in vivo imaging, including blue (excitation: 488 nm, emission 500-700 nm) and NIR (excitation: 790 nm, emission >810 nm) AF was performed in 21 eyes of 18 GA patients. Pigmented and albino rats underwent with the same device both in vivo and post-mortem imaging.

Optical nanoprobing via spin-orbit interaction of light.

We show, both theoretically and experimentally, that high-numerical-aperture (NA) optical microscopy is accompanied by strong spin-orbit interaction of light, which translates fine information about the specimen to the polarization degrees of freedom of light. An 80 nm gold nanoparticle scattering the light in the focus of a high-NA objective generates angular momentum conversion, which is seen as a nonuniform polarization distribution at the exit pupil. We demonstrate remarkable sensitivity of the effect to the position of the nanoparticle: Its subwavelength displacement produces the giant spin-Hall effect, i.

Tracking longitudinal retinal changes in experimental ocular hypertension using the cSLO and spectral domain-OCT.

Purpose: Involvement of the outer retina is controversial in glaucoma. The aim of this study was to test, first, whether the outer retina is affected in experimental ocular hypertension (OHT) and, second, whether whole retinal thickness can be used as a surrogate marker of glaucomatous change.

Methods: OHT was surgically induced in 20 Dark Agouti rats.

Far-field polarization-based sensitivity to sub-resolution displacements of a sub-resolution scatterer in tightly focused fields.

We present a system built to perform measurements of scattering-angle-resolved polarization state distributions across the exit pupil of a high numerical aperture collector lens. These distributions contain information about the three-dimensional electromagnetic field that results from the interaction of a tightly focused field and a sub-resolution scatterer. Experimental evidence proving that the system allows for high polarization-dependent sensitivity to sub-resolution displacements of a sub-resolution scatterer is provided together with the corresponding numerical results.

Recruitment of the ESCRT machinery to a putative seven-transmembrane-domain receptor is mediated by an arrestin-related protein.

Mammalian arrestins have a major role in the intracellular trafficking of seven-transmembrane (7TM) receptors. The fungal ambient pH signaling pathway involves an arrestin-related protein, PalF/Rim8, and the ESCRT (endosomal sorting complex required for transport) machinery. We found that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Rim8 binds to both the putative 7TM pH sensor Rim21 and the ESCRT-I subunit Vps23.

Stokes polarimeter optimization in the presence of shot and Gaussian noise.

An error minimization method is presented for Stokes polarimeters applicable when the detected signals are affected by a combination of shot and Gaussian noise. The expectation of the Stokes vector variance is used as a performance measure. This measure is compared with the condition number of a polarization state analyzer matrix that is commonly used as a figure of merit.

Maximum-likelihood methods in wavefront sensing: stochastic models and likelihood functions.

Maximum-likelihood (ML) estimation in wavefront sensing requires careful attention to all noise sources and all factors that influence the sensor data. We present detailed probability density functions for the output of the image detector in a wavefront sensor, conditional not only on wavefront parameters but also on various nuisance parameters. Practical ways of dealing with nuisance parameters are described, and final expressions for likelihoods and Fisher information matrices are derived.

Axially resolved complete mueller matrix confocal microscopy.

We introduce a technique that is capable of obtaining complete polarization-sensitive three-dimensional images that could reveal unknown anatomical conditions of living tissue that possess polarization-dependent signatures. Previously, the 16 Mueller coefficients were measured independently only by use of two-dimensional imaging techniques. We also present the experimental combination of a depth-resolved confocal imaging system with a complete Mueller matrix polarimeter.

Double-pass axially resolved confocal Mueller matrix imaging polarimetry.

We present experimental depth-resolved complete polarization-sensitive measurements of a stack of linear retarders and glass plates by using what is to the best of our knowledge the first combination of a confocal imaging system with a complete Mueller matrix polarimeter. The axially resolved Mueller matrices were compared with a forward simulation, with good agreement.