High albedo daytime radiative cooling for enhanced bifacial PV performance.

We present a radiative cooling material capable of enhancing albedo while reducing ground surface temperatures beneath fielded bifacial solar panels. Electrospinning a layer of polyacrylonitrile nanofibers, or nanoPAN, onto a polymer-coated silver mirror yields a total solar reflectance of 99 %, an albedo of 0.96, and a thermal emittance of 0.

Nanophotonic control of thermal emission under extreme temperatures in air.

Nanophotonic materials offer spectral and directional control over thermal emission, but in high-temperature oxidizing environments, their stability remains low. This limits their applications in technologies such as solid-state energy conversion and thermal barrier coatings. Here we show an epitaxial heterostructure of perovskite BaZrHfO (BZHO) and rocksalt MgO that is stable up to 1,100 °C in air.

Near-perfect photon utilization in an air-bridge thermophotovoltaic cell.

Thermophotovoltaic cells are similar to solar cells, but instead of converting solar radiation to electricity, they are designed to utilize locally radiated heat. Development of high-efficiency thermophotovoltaic cells has the potential to enable widespread applications in grid-scale thermal energy storage, direct solar energy conversion, distributed co-generation and waste heat scavenging. To reach high efficiencies, thermophotovoltaic cells must utilize the broad spectrum of a radiative thermal source.

Selectively Enhancing Solar Scattering for Direct Radiative Cooling through Control of Polymer Nanofiber Morphology.

Radiative cooling can alleviate urban heat island effects and passively improve personal thermal comfort. Among many emerging approaches, infrared (IR) transparent films and fabrics are promising because they can allow objects to directly radiate heat through bands of atmospheric transparency while blocking solar heating. However, achieving high solar reflectance while maintaining IR transmittance using scalable nanostructured materials requires control over the shape and size distribution of the nanoscale building blocks.

Collagen cross-link metabolites in urine as markers of bone metastases in prostatic carcinoma.

The efficacy of radionuclide bone scans in monitoring metastatic bone activity remains controversial. Objective measurement of bone tumor burden would be useful for the evaluation of new therapies for metastatic carcinoma of the prostate. The recent discovery of the urinary excretion of pyridinoline (cross-link of mature collagen found in cartilage and bone) and deoxypyridinoline (collagen cross-link specific to bone) measured by high pressure liquid chromatography has provided sensitive specific indexes of cartilage and bone breakdown in rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and metabolic bone diseases.

Effects of alpha-adrenergic agonist on neobladder water and electrolyte transport.

Objective: Nocturnal urinary incontinence and nocturia are problematic for patients with continent neobladders. Clonidine, an alpha 2-adrenergic agonist, increases water absorption across rabbit ileum; human intestine contains a substantial density of alpha 2-adrenergic receptors. We studied the effect of neobladder clonidine instillation and catheterization (to reduce urine-bowel contact time) on nocturnal water and electrolyte reabsorption.

Immunohistochemistry of the androgen receptor in human benign and malignant prostate tissue.

The role of the androgen receptor in the development and progression of prostatic carcinoma has not been defined. The development of androgen receptor antibodies has provided new opportunities for direct immunohistochemical analysis. We compared the androgen receptor staining characteristics of fresh human prostatic carcinoma with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) using an avidin-biotin complex method.

Preoperative prediction of pathological tumor volume and stage in clinically localized prostate cancer: comparison of digital rectal examination, transrectal ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging.

Accurate preoperative staging is important for proper selection of patients for radical retropubic prostatectomy. Preoperative staging by digital rectal examination, transrectal ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Gleason grade and prostate specific antigen was compared to pathological stage for 25 patients who underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy. The predictive value for tumor confinement was 36% by rectal examination, 37% by ultrasound and 30% by MRI.

Comparison of the digital rectal examination, endorectal ultrasound, and body coil magnetic resonance imaging in the staging of adenocarcinoma of the prostate.

A series of 25 patients with biopsy proven adenocarcinoma of the prostate underwent preoperative staging evaluation with a digital rectal examination, endorectal ultrasound, and body coil magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before their radical retropubic prostatectomy. The sensitivity and specificity of the digital rectal examination for the detection of extracapsular disease were 17 and 100%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of endorectal ultrasound for the detection of extracapsular disease were 35 and 89%, respectively.