SCAPS simulation of novel inorganic ZrS/CuO heterojunction solar cells.

ZrS is transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) which is believed one of the most talented applicants to fabricate photovoltaics. Therefore, we present here for the first-time numerical simulation of novel inorganic ZrS/CuO heterojunction solar cells employing SCAPS-1D. The influence of the thickness, carrier concentration, and bandgap for both the window and absorber layers on the solar cell fundamental parameters was explored intensely.

Comparable Bioavailability and Disposition of Pefloxacin in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis and Healthy Volunteers Assessed via Population Pharmacokinetics.

Quinolone antibiotics present an attractive oral treatment option in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Prior studies have reported comparable clearances and volumes of distribution in patients with CF and healthy volunteers for primarily renally cleared quinolones. We aimed to provide the first pharmacokinetic comparison for pefloxacin as a predominantly nonrenally cleared quinolone and its two metabolites between both subject groups.

Novel Population Pharmacokinetic Approach to Explain the Differences between Cystic Fibrosis Patients and Healthy Volunteers via Protein Binding.

The pharmacokinetics in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) has long been thought to differ considerably from that in healthy volunteers. For highly protein bound β-lactams, profound pharmacokinetic differences were observed between comparatively morbid patients with CF and healthy volunteers. These differences could be explained by body weight and body composition for β-lactams with low protein binding.

The role of rigidity in controlling material failure.

We investigate how material rigidity acts as a key control parameter for the failure of solids under stress. In both experiments and simulations, we demonstrate that material failure can be continuously tuned by varying the underlying rigidity of the material while holding the amount of disorder constant. As the rigidity transition is approached, failure due to the application of uniaxial stress evolves from brittle cracking to system-spanning diffuse breaking.

Shear shocks in fragile networks.

A minimal model for studying the mechanical properties of amorphous solids is a disordered network of point masses connected by unbreakable springs. At a critical value of its mean connectivity, such a network becomes fragile: it undergoes a rigidity transition signaled by a vanishing shear modulus and transverse sound speed. We investigate analytically and numerically the linear and nonlinear visco-elastic response of these fragile solids by probing how shear fronts propagate through them.

Jammed frictional tetrahedra are hyperstatic.

We prepare packings of frictional tetrahedra with volume fractions ϕ ranging from 0.469 to 0.622 using three different experimental protocols under isobaric conditions.

Stability of freely falling granular streams.

A freely falling stream of weakly cohesive granular particles is modeled and analyzed with the help of event driven simulations and continuum hydrodynamics. The former show a breakup of the stream into droplets, whose size is measured as a function of cohesive energy. Extensional flow is an exact solution of the one-dimensional Navier-Stokes equation, corresponding to a strain rate, decaying like t(-1) from its initial value, γ[over ˙](0).

Population pharmacokinetics of piperacillin at two dose levels: influence of nonlinear pharmacokinetics on the pharmacodynamic profile.

Piperacillin in combination with tazobactam is one of the most commonly used intravenous antibiotics. There is evidence for a possible saturable elimination of piperacillin. Therefore, the saturable elimination and its impact on the choice of optimal dosage regimens were quantified.

Random networks of cross-linked directed polymers.

We explore the effect of random permanent cross-links on a system of directed polymers confined between two planes with their end points free to slide on them. We treat the cross-links as quenched disorder and we use a semimicroscopic replica field theory to study the structure and elasticity of this system. Upon increasing the cross-link density, we get a continuous gelation transition signaled by the emergence of a finite in-plane localization length.

Dilute wet granular particles: nonequilibrium dynamics and structure formation.

We investigate a gas of wet granular particles covered by a thin liquid film. The dynamic evolution is governed by two-particle interactions, which are mainly due to interfacial forces in contrast to dry granular gases. When two wet grains collide, a capillary bridge is formed and stays intact up to a certain distance of withdrawal when the bridge ruptures, dissipating a fixed amount of energy.

Comparison of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic profile of carumonam in cystic fibrosis patients and healthy volunteers.

Our objectives were to compare the pharmacokinetics (PK) of carumonam, a monobactam, between cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and healthy volunteers and assess its pharmacodynamic profile. We studied 10 adult CF patients and 18 healthy volunteers of similar body size (dose: 2.166 g of carumonam as 15-min intravenous infusion).

Cooling and aggregation in wet granulates.

Wet granular materials are characterized by a defined bond energy in their particle interaction such that breaking a bond implies an irreversible loss of a fixed amount of energy. Associated with the bond energy is a nonequilibrium transition, setting in as the granular temperature falls below the bond energy. The subsequent aggregation of particles into clusters is shown to be a self-similar growth process with a cluster size distribution that obeys scaling.

Influence of friction on granular segregation.

Vertical shaking of a mixture of small and large beads can lead to segregation where the large beads either accumulate at the top of the sample, the so-called Brazil nut effect (BNE), or at the bottom, the reverse Brazil nut effect (RBNE). Here we demonstrate experimentally a sharp transition from the RBNE to the BNE when the particle coefficient of friction increases due to aging of the particles. This result can be explained by the two competing mechanisms of buoyancy and sidewall-driven convection, where the latter is assumed to grow in strength with increasing friction.

Mechanisms in the size segregation of a binary granular mixture.

A granular mixture of particles of two sizes that is shaken vertically will in most cases segregate. If the larger particles accumulate at the top of the sample, this is called the Brazil-nut effect (BNE); if they accumulate at the bottom, it is called the reverse Brazil-nut effect (RBNE). While this process is of great industrial importance in the handling of bulk solids, it is not well understood.