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In this paper, a new stochastic epidemic model is established and the dynamical behavior of its solutions is studied for this model. A deterministic epidemic model (ordinary differential equation) is first proposed by considering the isolation mechanism, and the transmission probability function is determined by a Wells–Riley model method to analyze the transmission in the quarantine. For this deterministic model, the basic reproduction number R 0 is computed and it is used to determine the existence of disease-free and positive equilibria. The linearized stability of the equilibria is also discussed by analyzing the distribution of eigenvalues of the linear system. Following that, a corresponding stochastic epidemic model is further established by introducing stochastic disturbance. Then, the extinction result of the model is derived also with the help of the basic reproduction number R 0 s. Furthermore, by applying the theory of Markov semigroups, it is proved that the densities of the distributions of the solutions can converge to an invariant density or sweeping under certain conditions. At last, some numerical simulations are provided and discussed to illustrate the practicability of the model and the obtained theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Quantitative characterization of the time-lag effect between canopy temperature and atmospheric temperature and its controlling factors in the agricultural ecosystem may contribute to a higher inversion accuracy of soil water content using canopy-air temperature information. Methods: Tc of winter wheat were continuously monitored, and the data of such environmental factors as solar radiation (Rs), atmospheric temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH) and soil water content (SWC) were simultaneously collected. Results: Hysteresis existed between Tc and Ta over the diel cycles, and different weather and irrigation levels did not change the direction of the time lag loop. the key driver regulating the diel hysteresis pattern between Tc and Ta varied under different weather: on rainy days, key driver was Rs while on cloudy and sunny days, the key driver was RH. the multiple regression model indicated that together Rs, Ta, RH, and SWC explained 58 ± 10% of the variation of time-lag effect. Path analysis showed on rainy days the key driver (Rs and RH) could enhance the time-lag effect through other indirect factors (Ta and SWC); on cloud days the key driver (RH and SWC) could inhibit the time-lag effect through other indirect factors (Ta); On sunny days this mutual inhibition was further significant. Conclusions: These findings indicated a dynamic process of time-lag effect between Tc and Ta with different weather and different irrigation levels. This study contributes to the understanding of the time-lag effect and its driving factors and this analysis provides the basis for further improvement in monitoring crop water deficit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boron is an essential trace element with roles in growth, development, and physiological functions; however, its mechanism of action is still unclear. In this study, the regulatory roles of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway on boron-induced changes in barrier function, proliferation, and apoptosis in rat intestinal epithelial cells were evaluated. Occludin levels, the proportion of cells in the G2/M phase, cell proliferation rate, and mRNA and protein expression levels of PCNA were higher, while the proportions of cells in the G0/G1 and S phases, apoptosis rate, and caspase-3 mRNA and protein expression levels were lower in cells treated with 0.8 mmol/L boron than in control IEC-6 cells (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). However, 40 mmol/L boron decreased ZO-1 and Occludin levels, the proportion of cells in the G2/M phase, cell proliferation rate, and mRNA and protein levels of PCNA and increased the apoptosis rate and caspase-3 mRNA expression (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). After specifically blocking PI3K and Akt signals (using LY294002 and MK-2206 2HCL), 0.8 mmol/L boron had no effects on Occludin, PCNA level, apoptosis rates, and caspase-3 levels (P < 0.05); however, the proliferation rate and PCNA levels decreased significantly (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). The addition of 40 mmol/L boron did not affect ZO-1 and Occludin levels and did not affect the apoptosis rate or PCNA and caspase-3 levels. These results suggested that the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway mediates the effects of low-dose boron on IEC-6 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boron is an essential trace element with roles in growth, development, and physiological functions; however, its mechanism of action is still unclear. In this study, the regulatory roles of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway on boron-induced changes in barrier function, proliferation, and apoptosis in rat intestinal epithelial cells were evaluated. Occludin levels, the proportion of cells in the G2/M phase, cell proliferation rate, and mRNA and protein expression levels of PCNA were higher, while the proportions of cells in the G0/G1 and S phases, apoptosis rate, and caspase-3 mRNA and protein expression levels were lower in cells treated with 0.8 mmol/L boron than in control IEC-6 cells (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). However, 40 mmol/L boron decreased ZO-1 and Occludin levels, the proportion of cells in the G2/M phase, cell proliferation rate, and mRNA and protein levels of PCNA and increased the apoptosis rate and caspase-3 mRNA expression (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). After specifically blocking PI3K and Akt signals (using LY294002 and MK-2206 2HCL), 0.8 mmol/L boron had no effects on Occludin, PCNA level, apoptosis rates, and caspase-3 levels (P < 0.05); however, the proliferation rate and PCNA levels decreased significantly (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). The addition of 40 mmol/L boron did not affect ZO-1 and Occludin levels and did not affect the apoptosis rate or PCNA and caspase-3 levels. These results suggested that the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway mediates the effects of low-dose boron on IEC-6 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uniaxial trackers are widely employed as the frame for solar photovoltaic (PV) panel installation. However, when used in sloping terrain scenarios such as mountain and hill regions, it is essential to apply a solar-tracking strategy with the sloping factors considered, to eliminate the shading effects between arrays and reduce the electricity production loss due to terrain changes. Based on a uniaxial tracker on the sloping terrain of a PV farm located in Ningxia, this study established a uniaxial solar-tracking strategy for sloping terrain by integrating a spatial projection model with a dynamic shadow assessment method. In the proposed strategy, the optimal tilt angle of the PV array and related desirable adjustment are identified taking into consideration major parameters such as the shadow area ratio S and the average solar irradiance intensity G. A tool underpinned by Matlab Simulink has also been developed to realize the proposed solar-tracking strategy. With the input of a simulated ramp signal β and the dynamically changed time parameters, the tracking angle of PV arrays over the simulated duration is accurately predicted, followed by a series of experimental validations conducted on the winter solstice and a typical sunny day (15 September). Moreover, the study also explored the terrain impacts on solar tracking by comparing the sloping terrain and flat terrain applications. The analytic and experimental results indicate that (a) the maximum value of the G(β) function could serve as the input to identify the optimal tracking angle; (b) the application of the flat terrain tracking (FTT) strategy in sloping terrain would result in a reduction of average solar irradiance intensity harvested by the PV arrays with varying degrees; (c) in the context of an east–west −7° sloping terrain, compared with the FTT strategy, the sloping terrain tracking (STT) strategy enabled anti-shading tracking, and then increased the daily PV electricity yield by 0.094 kWh/kWp, which is around 1.48% of the daily energy production; (d) given a measurement with annual scale, the STT strategy could cause a 1.26% increase in the energy harvesting with a flat uniaxial PV array on a −7° slope terrain, achieving an annual increase of 25.16 kWh/kWp. The experimental comparative analysis validated the precision of the proposed solar-tracking model, which has far-reaching significance for achieving automatic solar-tracking of PV modules, as well as improving the capacity and efficiency of PV systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulfide kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) solar cells, containing earth‐abundant and environmentally benign constituents, are regarded as promising candidates for thin‐film photovoltaic technologies. CZTS device performance, however, is currently limited by severe nonradiative recombination caused by abundant deep‐level defects. Herein, an effective defect engineering approach for high bandgap CZTS solar cells using a newly introduced moisture‐assisted post‐deposition annealing treatment is reported. This treatment modifies the local chemical composition within the heterojunction and CZTS grain boundaries and enhances the incorporation of Cd within the CZTS layer during CdS deposition. Cd not only accumulates at the grain boundaries, but it also presents in grain interiors where it occupies Cu lattice sites. The overall modification of the local chemical environment suppresses deep level defects and activates relatively shallow acceptor CuZn antisites and Cu vacancies, giving rise to remarkably improved device performance. This work opens a new direction for defect engineering of kesterite materials, which may also be applicable to other thin film semiconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the elemental composition and point defect properties is crucial for improving device performance in Chalcogenide thin film solar cells. The correlation between composition and defect characteristics of CuSbS 2 thin film sulfurized from metallic precursors was systematically investigated. Interestingly, it was found that CuSbS 2 polycrystalline thin film maintains an overall Cu-rich composition with a Cu/Sb ratio greater than 1, regardless of the initial precursor compositions. Besides, no obvious difference in the performance of integrated devices is observed, due to the similar Cu/Sb atomic ratios and electronic properties (carrier concentration and mobility) in these CuSbS 2 thin films. By conducting admittance spectroscopy analysis on CuSbS 2 devices, identical defect energy was obtained at 280 meV above the valence band maximum, which can be ascribed to Cu Sb. This could be mainly explained by the Cu-rich composition induced low formation energy of Cu Sb. Therefore, further defects engineering focusing on Cu Sb is required to boost the device efficiency of CuSbS 2 solar cells. • The correlation between composition and defect characteristics has been systematically studied in CuSbS 2 solar cells. • Polycrystalline CuSbS 2 thin-films exhibit a Cu-rich composition across a wide range of initial precursor compositions. • Polycrystalline CuSbS 2 shows consistent Cu/Sb ratios and electronic properties, regardless of precursor compositions. • Cu Sb is revealed to be the dominant defect in Cu-rich CuSbS 2 thin-film prepared by the co-sputtering method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing interest in using canopy temperature (Tc), including crop water Stress index (CWSI), for irrigation management. However, Tc varies greatly in one day, while soil water content (SWC) varies little, which may lead to different conclusions on whether irrigation is needed based on CWSI at different times. For this end, Tc of winter wheat was continuously monitored, and the data of such environmental factors as atmospheric temperature and soil water content (SWC) were simultaneously collected. CWSI was calculated based on empirical formulation and Tc and CWSI were generalized based on the normalization formulation. The correlation SWC between Tc and CWSI before and after generalization was compared and error analysis was based on SWC theoretical formula. The results showed: (1) the accuracy of SWC retrieval by Tc and CWSI increased firstly and then decreased with time during the day. The optimal time for Tc monitoring SWC was between 10:00 ~ 16:00 (R2 > 0.72) and the optimal time for CWSI monitoring SWC was between 9:00 ~ 18:00 (R2 > 0.69). (2) CWSI and Tc were mapped based on the relationship between crop water stress and soil water deficit and normalized canopy temperature expressions characterized the relationship between crop water stress and soil water deficit. (3) The accuracy of inversion of SWC by mapping Tc from 18:00 ~ 8:00 is increased from 0.5 ~ 0.6 to 0.7 ~ 0.8; the accuracy of soil water content inversion by mapping CWSI from 18:00 ~ 8:00 was improved from 0.2 ~ 0.4 to 0.4 ~ 0.6. (4) The theoretical expression of SWC deduced based on CWSI also proves that considering the relationship between crop water stress and soil water deficit change can effectively reduce the relative error from 30 to 5% in the morning and evening. This study contributes to the understanding of the reason why the correlation between Tc and SWC varies greatly during the day and solves the time-limited problem of thermal infrared remote sensing monitoring of crop water stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) solar cell is known to be severely limited by the nonradiative recombination near the heterojunction interface and within the bulk of the CZTSSe absorber resulting from abundant recombination centers and limited carrier collection efficiency. Herein, nonradiative recombination is simultaneously reduced by incorporating small amounts of Ge and Cd into the CZTSSe absorber. Incorporation of Ge effectively increases the p‐type doping, thus successfully improving the bulk conductance and reducing the recombination in the CZTSSe bulk via enhanced quasi‐Fermi level splitting, while the incorporation of Cd greatly reduces defects near the junction region, enabling larger depletion region width and better carrier collection efficiency. The combined effects of Cd and Ge incorporation give rise to systematic improvement in open‐circuit voltage (VOC), short‐circuit current density (JSC), and fill factor (FF), enabling a high conversion efficiency of 11.6%. This study highlights the multiple cation incorporation strategy for systematically manipulating the opto‐electronic properties of kesterite materials, which may also be applicable to other semiconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When colorectal subepithelial lesions occur in ovarian carcinoma patients, EUS‐FNA may help to diagnose colorectal metastasis, thereby guiding clinicians to select appropriate treatment and improve the overall outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon nanomaterials are effective conductive fillers for permanent antistatic composites due to their long-term stability in electrical conductivity under ambient temperature and humidity. Where graphene or graphene-like materials have been demonstrated to be the most promising conductive fillers. However, the preparation of graphene and further dispersion into polymer matrices to obtain interconnected conductive networks is still a big challenge for conductive composites. A facile green path (all solid states), microsphere rolling transfer method, has been adopted to introduce nano-graphite conductive fillers for polyethylene. The nano-graphites were well dispersed into polyethylene matrices to give interconnected networks with low loading. The conductivity reinforcements of nano-graphite fillers even overtake those of complicated graphene fillers. The percolation threshold of the conductive composites with nano-graphite fillers for polyethylene has been demonstrated to be as low as 0.85 wt%. The electrical conductivity of the conductive composites was measured to increase by 13 orders of magnitude with 2.05 wt% nano-graphite fillers (0.02 S/m), much higher than traditional solid mixing methods and approaching to the best effects from complicated solution mixing of graphene fillers. The nano-graphite conductive networks are easily adjusted and the method is feasible to almost all conventional solid resins and industrial production. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Recently, both practitioners and researchers are beginning to recognize the great potential of social gamification in green information technology (IT) services. This study focuses on the roles of three social gamification affordances (interactivity, cooperation and competition) in gamified green IT services use, from the perspectives of recognition and social overload. Design/methodology/approach: An online survey is conducted to examine the research model using structural equation modeling with users of Ant Forest, which is an example of green IT services in China. Findings: Results indicate that interactivity, cooperation and competition can positively affect recognition, which further positively affects green IT services use; however, interactivity and cooperation can increase social overload, which negatively affects green IT services use. Originality/value: This study provides new insights into the effects of social gamification affordances in green IT services by investigating the effects of interactivity, cooperation and competition on recognition and social overload. In addition, this study highlights the positive effect of recognition and negative effect of social overload on gamified green IT services use, extending the literature reviews surrounding gamified services use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A large-area water-metal electrode dielectric barrier discharge device capable of processing a 30 x 40 cm2 area was designed. • Aperture, spacing, gas channel diameter, and mesh position's impact on electric and flow field distribution was studied. • Long-term uniform discharge was achieved at low flow rates, and the effects of hydrophobic modification were improved. • To understand the reaction mechanism, physicochemical property testing and reaction pathway analysis were performed. Wind power plays a vital role in the field of renewable energy. However, a significant challenge arises when operating wind turbines with epoxy resin blades in temperatures below 0 ℃, as they tend to ice up, causing unexpected shutdowns. Low-temperature plasma technology emerges as a promising solution that can produce hydrophobic thin films with excellent mechanical properties in an eco-friendly way, but its application is currently limited to small objects. This paper presents a novel design for a large-scale DBD (Dielectric Barrier Discharge) water-perforated metal electrode plasma treatment device that was optimized through simulations to achieve uniform gas discharge at low flow rates. The device successfully deposited a hydrophobic thin film uniformly on the surface of an epoxy resin plate with an average water contact angle of 139.5 ± 2.5°, which is an 87% improvement compared to the untreated surface. In addition, the device reduced the required working gas flow rate by 40–60% compared to existing large-area processing devices, and improved the effectiveness by 16%. Physical and chemical property tests demonstrated that the device's design increased surface roughness and generated a dense film containing hydrophobic silicon groups (such as Si-O-Si and Si-(CH 3) x), contributing to the improvement in hydrophobicity. Overall, the presented device offers an efficient, eco-friendly, and effective method for depositing hydrophobic thin films on large-scale materials, which can enhance wind turbine performance by preventing ice formation on epoxy resin blades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few‐layer porous graphene is a promising material for a variety of fields. However, the synthesis of few‐layer porous graphene is a great challenge. Here we report a feasible green path to produce few‐layer porous graphene, which was exfoliated from high‐pressure graphite balls onto microspheres with rough surfaces by a mild rolling transfer process. Ordinary ball milling equipment was adopted for the low‐speed (100 rpm) ball–microsphere rolling transfer process. The rolling time (<10 min) was controlled to obtain porous graphene instead of graphene. The porous graphene on the exfoliating microspheres was then easily dispersed in solution by bath sonication. The product contains very few impure functional groups. The hole size and layer distribution of the few‐layer porous graphene have been demonstrated to be 2.37±1.17 nm and 2.4±0.7 layers, respectively, and can be adjusted by redesigning the surface of the microspheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We propose an architecture called MDRS for person re-identification problem which is robust and general. • We design a multi-task end-to-end training strategy for this architecture to boost its performance. • MDRS achieves excellent accuracies and robustness on mainstream person re- identification datasets. Most existing person re-identification methods are mainly based on human part partition with horizontal stripes or human body semantic segmentation. In this paper, we propose a method called MDRS (Multi-scale Discriminative network with Region Segmentation) to integrate multi-scale discriminative feature learning, horizontal stripe partition and semantic segmentation in a single framework, in which multi-scale horizontal stripe partition and usage of both global and local features make the framework be robust to human pose variation, occlusion and background clutter, and semantic segmentation boosts the performance of person identification via shared multi-scale feature extraction. MDRS is trained end-to-end with a multi-task learning strategy that considers three tasks simultaneously: person identification, triplet prediction and pixel-wise semantic segmentation. Comprehensive experiments confirm that our approach exceeds many methods and robustly achieves excellent performances on mainstream evaluation datasets including Market-1501, DukeMTMC-reid and CUHK03. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene is one of the most fantastic nanomaterials and has attracted much attention in various fields. The industrial applications are hindered since there is no effective path to produce scalable few layered graphene without functional groups. Here we report a simple effective green path, a soft ball-microsphere rolling transfer process, to produce bulk quantity of few layered graphene without functionalization. The as-produced graphene nanosheets have been demonstrated by height statistics to have 1–10 layers with average layers of 3.8 ± 1.9 and further confirmed by spectroscopic metrics. No functional groups or contamination have been introduced in the processes. No extra time-consuming purification processes are needed. About 70 mg graphene sheets were obtained from one 500 ml agate tank after process carried out at a speed of 100 rpm for 2 h. The exfoliation can be easily extended to industrial scale by using larger and more agate tanks without the sacrifice of yields. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Many online merchants today have adopted web personalization in the form of personalized product recommendations (PPRs) to improve consumer's decision quality. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the roles of PPRs on consumer decision quality in online shopping from the theoretical perspective of information load. Design/methodology/approach: To explore the dual roles of PPRs on consumer decision quality, this paper develops a research model for it. A 2 (information load: high vs low) × 2 (web personalization: PPRs vs non-PPRs) between-subjects design is conducted to empirically test the model. Findings: The results indicate that: first, information load can increase perceived information overload and decrease perceived information underload; second, PPRs can weaken (enhance) the positive (negative) effect of information load on perceived information overload (perceived information underload); third, both perceived information overload and perceived information underload are negatively associated with consumer's decision quality. Originality/value: This paper originally develops a research model that explains the roles of PPRs on consumer decision quality from the theoretical perspective of information load in the online shopping context, which could add new insights to the field of web personalization, especially the impact of web personalization on consumer decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The semiconductor antimony sulfide (Sb 2 S 3) is a potential absorber materials for the top sub-cell of Si-based tandem solar cells because of its appropriate band-gap, simple binary composition, nontoxic elements, and long-term stability. In this study, polycrystalline Sb 2 S 3 films were fabricated by post-annealing of radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtered precursors using an Sb2S3 target. The effects of the post-annealing temperature and atmosphere on Sb 2 S 3 film properties and device performances were investigated. A high-performance device having a 2.41% power conversion efficiency was obtained by making use of a uniform Sb2S3 absorber layer. This preliminary experimental study shows that Sb2S3 thin films could be used as top sub-cell absorber materials for third-generation high efficiency, stable, and environmentally friendly Sb 2 S 3 /Si tandem solar cells. Graphical abstract fx1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene‐coated silicon nanoparticles with polydopamine buffers have been designed and successfully fabricated as anodes for lithium ion batteries, where the polydopamine was grown on the silicon nanoparticles and then coated with graphene layers. The expansion cavities for silicon nanoparticles during charging and discharging process are provided by the polydopamine buffer layers. The outermost graphene coating layers not only keep the pulverized silicon particles together without disintegration, but also improve the electric conductivity of silicon nanoparticles. Silicon nanoparticles of an industrial product level with different size distributions and oxidation layers were used in this work. High electrochemical performances with specific capacities of 1100 mAh g−1 were achieved by the designed silicon composites with polydopamine and graphene after 550 cycles at a current rate of 200 mA g−1. Graphene‐coated silicon nanoparticles with polydopamine buffers have been designed and successfully fabricated as anodes for lithium ion batteries. A specific capacity around 1100 mAh g−1 has been achieved by the Si@PDA@Gra anodes at a current rate of 200 mA g−1 after 600 cycles. Silicon nanoparticles of an industrial product level could be used without further treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web personalization has been widely adopted in the mobile shopping context to improve shopping experience and consumer loyalty. Timing is a crucial issue of the implementation of web personalization, a topic not yet adequately investigated in the extant literature. Web personalization could classify into two forms, namely Before-search Web Personalization (BSWP) and After-search Web Personalization (ASWP), in the mobile shopping context. Besides, motivations are the critical factors in mobile shopping, and seldom research has studied the effects of motivation on consumer's use of web personalization in the mobile shopping context. To advance understanding of the timing issue of web personalization, this paper employs the Uses and Gratifications method to investigate how mobile shopping motivations influence consumers' use of BSWP and ASWP, respectively. Furthermore, this paper also investigates the role of an important personal disposition (i.e. need for cognition). Empirical results indicate that shopping motivations could have significant effects on web personalization use; furthermore, BSWP use and ASWP use are predicted by different shopping motivations. Besides, need for cognition is found to positively moderate some effects of mobile shopping motivations on web personalization use. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this research, a new route of surface passivation is reported by introducing hydrogen from the atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al2O3 layer into pure sulfide Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) solar cells. Different amounts of hydrogen are incorporated into the Cu2ZnSnS4/CdS interface through controlling the thickness of the ALD‐Al2O3 layer. The device with three cycles of ALD‐Al2O3 yields the highest efficiency of 8.08% (without antireflection coating) with improved open‐circuit voltage of up to 70 mV. With closer examination on the passivation route of ALD‐Al2O3, it is revealed by the surface chemisty study that the Al2O3 can be etched away by ammonium hydroxide in the CdS buffer deposition process. Instead, the hydrogen is detected within a shallow depth from the CZTS surface, and makes a significant difference in the measured distribution of contact potential difference and device performance. This may be interpreted by the effect of hydrogen passivation of the CZTS surface by curing dangling bonds at the surface of CZTS grains. This work may provide a new direction of further improving the performance of kesterite solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents optimisation of rear Si texturing by KOH-based solution for enhanced light-trapping in liquid-phase crystallised Si thin-film solar cells on glass. Texturing with 3 µm Si removal exhibits the largest absorption enhancement (compared with 1 and 2 µm Si removal) due to the enhanced light scattering by the rear pyramidal features. In the solar cells with SiO x /SiN x /SiO x buffer layer (with anti-reflection effect), the J sc is found to increase from 20.4 (planar reference) to 22.6 mA/cm 2 (10.8% enhancement) with the optimised rear Si texturing. The V oc and pFF are not degraded. After incorporating white paint back surface reflector and front anti-reflection foil to the rear-textured solar cells, J sc up to 25.4 mA/cm 2 (24.5% relative enhancement) is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, we present thermal evaporated MoO 3 layer as a primary back contact for pure sulphide Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 solar cells. The effects of incorporating MoO 3 in primary back contact and its thickness on the Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 device performance are investigated. The MoO 3 layer acts as enhancing sodium diffusion site where sodium is more effectively diffused into CZTS absorber, facilitating the formation of larger CZTS grains during sulfurization process compared to the reference absorber. The power conversion efficiency is improved from 5.2% to 6.2% on average, yielding the highest efficiency of 6.52% by the insertion of 10 nm MoO 3 layer between Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 absorber and molybdenum contact. The major efficiency enhancement arises from open circuit voltage which is improved from 530 to 615 mV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a novel diode laser annealing was performed as a post-sulfurization heat treatment on pure-sulfide Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 thin film solar cells fabricated by sputtering deposition. The effect on both film quality and device performance after annealing at various laser doses was investigated. After receiving an ultra-fast laser scan treatment, the crystallinity of the CZTS film can be improved and the Cu/Zn disordering is reduced. The power conversion efficiency of the laser annealed device was boosted to 7.33%, compared with the reference cell efficiency of 6.72%. The major increase in the short circuit current is driving force of such improvement, from 18 mA/cm 2 to 19.31 mA/cm 2 after laser treatment. These results indicate that the quality of CZTS thin films and the device performance can be effectively improved by the diode laser annealing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents enhanced light-trapping (LT) in liquid-phase crystallised silicon (LPC Si) thin-film solar cells on glass superstrate by optimised back surface reflectors (BSRs). In the LPC Si film on SiO x buffer layer (without anti-reflection effect), the white paint BSR is found to increase the long wavelengths light absorption, with potential short-circuit current density (J sc ) of 23.6 mA/cm 2 (15.7% enhancement, compared to the planar reference film). Ag plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) reflector with surface coverage of 47.9% and average diameter of 196.3 nm shows almost similar absorption enhancement as the white paint but with slightly lower potential J sc (23.3 mA/cm 2 , or 14.2% enhancement). In the LPC Si solar cells, the average open-circuit voltage (V oc ) and pseudo fill factor (pFF) are not deteriorated by the presence of the Ag NPs on the Si surface. When combining the Ag NPs, white paint and anti-reflection foil, J sc up to 23.3 mA/cm 2 (18.9% enhancement compared to the planar reference cell) is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, epitaxial Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) films grown by magnetron sputtering were annealed by continuous wavelength diode laser as an alternative post-deposition heat treatment replacing conventional post-annealing within sulfur atmosphere to improve the film quality. Upon ultrafast millisecond diode laser annealing, improvement of crystallinity and reduction of Cu/Zn disordering were observed in the CZTS thin films. The results indicate that the diode laser treatment can enable fast, effective, and efficient annealing of CZTS thin films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on informal employment in China has mainly adopted an urban perspective, ignoring its rural social and economic dimensions. This article, adopting a rural perspective, not only takes into considerations a greater number of informal forms of employment, such as part-time businesses and self-employment, but also explores the mechanisms that differentiate the various types of informal employment by comparing the level of development of township and village enterprises and changes in the mode of agricultural management. The article discusses the forms and evolution of informal employment in two villages in Dingxian (Ting Hsien) 定县, a county that has been studied in depth since the 1920s. Our study finds that the distance between township enterprises and the village is an important factor influencing peasants' informal employment since it largely determines the choice of peasants to "leave both the land and the village" or to "leave the land but not the village," which in turn further affects the level of peasants' incomes. Compared with employees in the formal sector, these informal employees are obviously in a weak position in terms of wage levels, working conditions, welfare, security, and so on. As for the internal environment, changes of the mode of rural production also affect the forms of informal employment. The large-scale operation of the land will liberate the agricultural labor force, so as to expand the potential scale of farmers' employment, and the shift from growing food crops to growing cash crops will lead to more diversified forms of farmers' concurrent businesses. Finally, the article tries to establish a framework composed of the internal and external environment of the village to explain the mechanism of peasants' informal employment. 国内关于非正规就业的研究，大多是以城市为观察视角，忽视了非正规就业人员身后的农村社会经济状况。把农村作为研究的起点，不仅可以纳入更多的非正规就业形式，如农民兼业和个体经营等,更为重要的是，它还能够通过对比"传统部门"内不同程度的乡镇企业发展与农业经营方式变化，从而发现非正规就业的差异化形成机制。作为上世纪20年代就已备受学界关注的农村社会，河北定县有着深厚的学术研究传统。本研究选取了当地两个具有不同特征的村庄，发现附近是否存在乡镇企业很大程度上决定了农民打工的距离远近，即离乡还是不离乡，这也进一步影响农民收入水平的高低。无论是以建筑业为主的离乡务工，还是以作坊式乡镇企业为主的在乡务工，其员工的工资水平、工作条件和福利保障等方面均处于不利位置。与此同时，农村内部经营方式变化也会影响、甚至促成新的非正规就业。土地规模经营更大程度上解放了农业劳动力，客观上扩大了农民外出的潜在规模；从种植粮食作物到经济作物的转变，使得农民兼业形式变得更加多样化。最后，我们尝试建立一个由村庄内外部环境共同作用形成的经验框架来解释农村非正规就业的变化机制。 (This article is in English.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Enhancers are the primary determinants of cell identity, but the regulatory components controlling enhancer turnover during lineage commitment remain largely unknown. Here we compare the enhancer landscape, transcriptional factor occupancy, and transcriptomic changes in human fetal and adult hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells and committed erythroid progenitors. We find that enhancers are modulated pervasively and direct lineage- and stage-specific transcription. GATA2-to-GATA1 switch is prevalent at dynamic enhancers and drives erythroid enhancer commissioning. Examination of lineage-specific enhancers identifies transcription factors and their combinatorial patterns in enhancer turnover. Importantly, by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genomic editing, we uncover functional hierarchy of constituent enhancers within the SLC25A37 super-enhancer. Despite indistinguishable chromatin features, we reveal through genomic editing the functional diversity of several GATA switch enhancers in which enhancers with opposing functions cooperate to coordinate transcription. Thus, genome-wide enhancer profiling coupled with in situ enhancer editing provide critical insights into the functional complexity of enhancers during development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microstructural properties of polycrystalline silicon films obtained by either solid-phase crystallisation (SPC) or laser-induced liquid-phase crystallisation (LPC) were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In SPC films, the most common intra-grain defects are dislocations with the density as high as 1E10 cm −2 determined from cross-sectional weak-beam dark-field images. The highest dislocation density in LPC film is at least two orders of magnitude lower than the SPC film, 1E8 cm −2 and typically it is below 1E6 cm −2 . The most common defect type in LPC films is twin boundaries and other junctions of different coincidence site lattice (CSL) boundaries. Such differences in the material structural properties result in far superior electrical performance of solar cells made of LPC films, such as mobility up to 400 cm 2 V −1 s −1 , similar to c-Si wafers, and the higher open-circuit voltage up to 585 mV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A silicon nanostructure is fabricated in polycrystalline silicon thin films by metal-assisted wet chemical etching using thermally annealed silver nanoparticles as a catalyst. The Si nanostructure has an ant-nest feature. Solar cells based on the silicon nanostructure gives 90% short-circuit current enhancement compared to the cells based on the planar film. We also report that Al 2 O 3 passivation of the silicon nanostructure provides a new approach to improving the polycrystalline silicon thin film’s electrical property. The open-circuit voltage of the Al 2 O 3 passivated cells is improved by 70 mV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The orthogonal principal component-optimization method for performance enhancement of the diesel engine is proposed. • An improved chemical kinetics mechanism of 134 species and 475 reactions is developed. • Numerical model of diesel engine is simulated and are compared with the experimental results. • Improvement suggestions for performance enhancement of the diesel engine are proposed. In this work, the biodiesel-diesel blending fuels (B20, B30 and B40) and pure diesel fuel (B0) were employed to investigate the effects of intake pressure and EGR ratio on the performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine. The 3D model is developed by the AVL-Fire coupled Chemkin code. In addition, an improved chemical kinetics mechanism of 134 species and 475 reactions is employed to simulate the fuel combustion process. The results show that the improved model improves the calculation accuracy and the high intake pressure and oxygen content in biodiesel are beneficial for the improvements of performance and emission characteristics. However, the NO emission increases. On the contrary, the EGR effectively reduces NO x emission. Finally, the performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine are optimized by the orthogonal principal component-optimization method. Moreover, the NO x mass fraction is reduced by 78.6 % and the engine power is decreased by 5.60%. Therefore, the reasonable parameter is beneficial for alleviating the conflict between performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carbon trading policy seeks to control carbon emissions by putting a price on carbon emissions and establishing a corresponding carbon market for trading. It is a significant move by China to address climate issues and achieve its Carbon Neutrality target. Therefore, assessing the policy effects of carbon trading is fundamental to its implementation nationwide. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces and cities in China from 2008 to 2018, this paper uses the Synthetic Control Method and Differences-in-Differences method to assess the effects of carbon trading policy on achieving Carbon Neutrality. By measuring the net carbon emissions, this research explores the level of Carbon Neutrality in each region. Based on the Five-sphere Integrated Plan (which covers the economy, politics, culture, social and ecological civilization), this research further verifies the impact paths of carbon trading policy on Carbon Neutrality. The results show that: First, carbon trading policy has a significant and sustainable effect on Carbon Neutrality. Second, from the perspective of the Five-sphere Integrated Plan, the carbon trading policy can help to reduce carbon sources and increase carbon sinks by adjusting the industrial structure, coordinating low-carbon policies, promoting cultural dissemination, increasing green space construction, and reducing energy intensity to achieve Carbon Neutrality. Third, cultural construction plays the most significant role in mediating carbon trading and Carbon Neutrality, followed by political construction. • This paper examines the effectiveness of carbon trading policy for Carbon Neutrality. • We use the Synthetic Control Method and Difference-in-Differences method. • The impact paths of carbon trading policy are examined from the Five-sphere Integrated Plan perspective. • Carbon Neutrality should be incorporated into the Five-sphere Integrated Plan. • A cross-perspective study of the Five-sphere Integrated Plan, carbon trading with Chinese characteristics has been formed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Properties of heavily boron-doped hydrogenated polycrystalline germanium (Ge) films sputter-deposited on glass are investigated for developing p+ emitters of the bottom cells of low cost monolithic tandem solar cells. The films were deposited and in-situ doped by co-sputtering Ge with boron at various power levels (P B) in a mixture of argon and hydrogen at 500°C, and then followed by a rapid thermal anneal process at 550°C for 120s or 600°C for 60s, respectively. The dependence of the structural properties of the films on the various boron incorporations as well as annealing conditions was explored by Raman and X-ray diffraction measurements. We find that the films as deposited at 500°C are polycrystalline with strong (220) preferential orientation, which are normally of columnar structure, confirmed by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. Revealed by Hall measurements, a boron activation level of 6.24×1019 atoms/cm3, well above reported maximum solid solubility in crystalline Ge, was obtained in the as deposited film at P B=55W. Annealing at 600°C enhanced the concentration to 1.21×1020 atoms/cm3. A fact that boron hardly diffuses in Ge at temperatures below 800°C makes the resultant material an excellent candidate for thin p+ emitters of the bottom cells of monolithic tandem solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a sociological analysis on the practice of law based on a judicial case in China. There have been reportedly two opposing views concerning the status and role of the law in the country in which law has been regarded as an instrument from an extrinsic perspective. As a conclusion, it is stated that a law has been deeply embedded in a challenging system of social relationships while it is the embedding which defines the peculiar features of law in Chinese society. The author stresses that its practice is more of a struggle between a variety of powers, interests and local factors.

• Amount of BpA in its analogues can be determined by THz spectral processing method. • SVR is used to extract obscure properties from THz spectra of complex mixtures. • SVR in combination with THz-TDS can predict sample concentrations with R2 = 0.98. • Machine learning method is a forecast strategy for THz spectroscopic analysis. Quantitative analysis of complex mixtures is a great challenge for spectral analysis. Bisphenol A (BpA) is a chemical predominantly used in manufacturing and is being replaced by other analogs due to its potential toxicity. Reliability methods is hence crucial for identification and quantification of bisphenol mixtures. In this study we present an attractive strategy for composition determination of BpA incorporated in its analogue mixtures. Terahertz spectra of four bisphenol components are analyzed using machine learning method (SVR) to learn the underlying model of the frequency against the target concentration of BpA in mixtures. The learned mode predicts the concentrations of the unknown samples with decision coefficient R2 = 0.98. Absorption spectra for bisphenols mixtures were successfully reconstructed by a hold-out validation scheme. The results indicate the terahertz spectroscopy in combination with SVR is robust and accurate in mixture quantitative analysis and should play a significant role for industrial applications in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the impact of a manufacturer's or retailer's undertaking corporate social responsibility (CSR) and different power structures on their joint green marketing decisions and profits in the green supply chain, this paper establishes green supply chain optimization models under six different decision-making scenarios according to two different CSR bearers and three different power structures. Based on the main assumptions of a linear product demand function and CSR measured by consumer surplus, this paper solves the equilibrium solutions of the manufacturer and the retailer through game theory. The results show that: First, the difference in the degree of CSR undertaken by manufacturers and retailers leads to a difference in the ranking of optimal strategies of both parties under the three power structures. Second, under the same power structure, compared with undertaking CSR by oneself, when the other party undertakes CSR, the level of the product's green degree, the level of green promotion, the party's own profit, and the profit of the other party are all higher. Third, regardless of the power structure, manufacturers and retailers undertaking CSR is conducive to improving the level of product greenness, increasing green promotion, lowering the retail price, increasing consumers' willingness to buy green products, and ultimately helping to increase the profits of manufacturers and retailers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earth‐abundant and air‐stable Cu2BaSnS4−xSex (CBTSSe) and related thin‐film absorbers are regarded as prospective options to meet the increasing demand for low‐cost solar cell deployment. Devices based on vacuum‐deposited CBTSSe absorbers have achieved record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.2% based on a conventional device structure using CdS buffer and i‐ZnO/indium tin oxide (ITO) window layers, with open‐circuit voltage (VOC) posing the major bottleneck for improving solar cell performance. The current study demonstrates a >20% improvement in VOC (from 0.62 to 0.75 V) and corresponding enhancement in PCE (from 5.1% to 6.2% without antireflection coating; to 6.5% with MgF2 antireflection coating) for solution‐deposited CBTSSe solar cells. This performance improvement is realized by introducing an alternative successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction‐deposited Zn1−xCdxS buffer combined with sputtered Zn1−xMgxO/Al‐doped ZnO window/top contact layer, which offers lower electron affinities relative to the conventional CdS/i‐ZnO/ITO stack and better matching with the low electron affinity of CBTSSe. A combined experimental (temperature‐ and light intensity‐dependent VOC measurements) and device simulation (SCAPS‐1D) evaluation points to the importance of addressing relative band offsets for both the buffer and window layers relative to the absorber in mitigating interfacial recombination and optimizing CBTSSe solar cell performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous time-series spectral data are important for inversion of crop or soil information. UAV remote sensing is usually selected under clear and windless weather conditions, but it is not possible to have such weather every day, which results in the UAV not collecting continuous daily spectral information. To explore this issue, we focused on summer maize with four irrigation levels as the research subject. A UAV platform with a multispectral sensor was used to acquire measured spectra of the maize canopy. The solar zenith angle was calculated and substituted into the Ambrals kernel-driven model to obtain simulated spectral data for the maize canopy, and the time-series UAV spectral data were complemented. Then, four vegetation indices (VIs) were established using simulated and measured spectral data, respectively, and the accuracy of the simulated VIs was evaluated. Finally, the simulated and measured VIs were used to monitor and evaluate variations in soil surface moisture content, respectively, and provide irrigation warning. The results demonstrated that Ambrals kernel-driven model can be used to simulate the reflectance of maize canopy collected by UAV. The simulated reflectance can complement time-series UAV spectral data and be used to establish VIs, among which Structure Intensive Pigment Index (SIPI) was established with the highest accuracy (R = 0.729). The VIs established by simulated reflectance can be used to monitor soil surface moisture content, and the monitoring effect is similar to the measured data (R2 = 0.642, RMSE = 0.42). It can evaluate the soil moisture a few days after irrigation and ensure the continuity and timeliness of soil moisture data, so as to improve the crop irrigation system and carry out irrigation warning. These results have certain reference for the supplementation of time-series spectral data and farmland irrigation using UAV multispectral remote sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) are used to inform the mechanisms of transcriptional regulation in eukaryotic cells. However, the specificity of genome-wide eQTL identification is limited by stringent control for false discoveries. Here, we described a method based on the non-homogeneous Poisson process to identify 125 489 regions with highly frequent, multiple eQTL associations, or 'eQTL-hotspots', from the public database of 59 human tissues or cell types. We stratified the eQTL-hotspots into two classes with their distinct sequence and epigenomic characteristics. Based on these classifications, we developed a machine-learning model, E-SpotFinder, for augmented discovery of tissue- or cell-type-specific eQTL-hotspots. We applied this model to 36 tissues or cell types. Using augmented eQTL-hotspots, we recovered 655 402 eSNPs and reconstructed a comprehensive regulatory network of 2 725 380 cis -interactions among eQTL-hotspots. We further identified 52 012 modules representing transcriptional programs with unique functional backgrounds. In summary, our study provided a framework of epigenome-augmented eQTL analysis and thereby constructed comprehensive genome-wide networks of cis -regulations across diverse human tissues or cell types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The GHGs contributions (tally by carbon emissions) during treatment of domestic food waste and residual waste from pilot communities (contained 2365 families) in Shanghai, China, under different Modes induced by garbage classification were investigated. It was found that under the present condition of garbage classification in Shanghai, 51.8% of the food waste could be separated finally. With garbage classification, the load of landfill was saved by 17.3% (Mode 2) and 16.5% (Mode 3), the moisture of garbage for incineration was reduced by 13.6%, and the lower heating value (LHV) of garbage was increased by 16.2%. Applying the life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology and Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) with material flows, net carbon emissions during the treatment of garbage were found to be in the following order: Mode 3 (1.60 × 10−3 kg CE/kg waste) < Mode 2 (4.85 × 10−3 kg CE/kg waste) < Mode 1 (4.94 × 10−3 kg CE/kg waste) < landfill (1.49 × 10−2 kg CE/kg waste). Mode 2 and Mode 3 were replaceable patterns of Mode 1, and anaerobic digestion was the recommendable strategy to recover energy from food waste. Especially, there was no obvious benefit of increasing the separation proportion of food waste to 60% (or above) for reducing net carbon emissions in the following treatment processes. Unlabelled Image • 51.8% of food waste could be separated after garbage classification in Shanghai. • Landfill load was saved by about 17% in disposal modes with garbage classification. • Net carbon emission: Mode 3 < Mode 2 < Mode 1 < landfill • Modes 2 and 3 were replaceable patterns of Mode 1. • Anaerobic digestion was a recommendable strategy to recovery energy from food waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kesterite is an earth‐abundant energy material with high predicted power conversion efficiency, making it a sustainable and promising option for photovoltaics. However, a large open circuit voltage Voc deficit due to non‐radiative recombination at intrinsic defects remains a major hurdle, limiting device performance. Incorporating Ge into the kesterite structure emerges as an effective approach for enhancing performance by manipulating defects and morphology. Herein, how different amounts of Ge affect the kesterite growth pathways through the combination of advanced microscopy characterization techniques are systematically investigated. The results demonstrate the significance of incorporating Ge during the selenization process of the CZTSSe thin film. At high temperature, the Ge incorporation effectively delays the selenization process due to the formation of a ZnSe layer on top of the metal alloys through decomposition of the Cu‐Zn alloy and formation of Cu‐Sn alloy, subsequently forming of Cu‐Sn‐Se phase. Such an effect is compounded by more Ge incorporation that further postpones kesterite formation. Furthermore, introducing Ge mitigates detrimental "horizontal" grain boundaries by increasing the grain size on upper layer. The Ge incorporation strategy discussed in this study holds great promise for improving device performance and grain quality in CZTSSe and other polycrystalline chalcogenide solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium incorporation in kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) materials has been experimentally proven effective in improving electronic quality for application in photovoltaic devices. Herein, a feasible and effective solution‐based lithium post‐deposition treatment (PDT), enabling further efficiency improvement on the high‐performance baseline is reported and the dominant mechanism for this improvement is proposed. In this way, lithium is uniformly incorporated into grain interiors (GIs) without segregation at grain boundaries (GBs), which can occupy the Zn sites with a high solubility in the CZTSSe matrix, producing high density of LiZn antisites with shallower acceptor levels than the intrinsic dominant defect (CuZn antisites). As a result, CZTSSe absorber with better p‐type doping is obtained, leading to a pronounced enhancement in fill factor and a corresponding gain in open‐circuit voltage and short‐circuit current and consequently a significant efficiency boost from 9.3% to 10.7%. This work provides a feasible alternative alkali‐PDT treatment for chalcogenide semiconductors and promotes a better understanding of the mechanism of Li incorporation in kesterite materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is still ongoing, with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continuing to evolve and accumulate mutations. While various bioinformatics tools have been developed for SARS-CoV-2, a well-curated mutation-tracking database integrated with in silico evaluation for molecular diagnostic assays is currently unavailable. To address this, we introduce CovidShiny, a web tool that integrates mutation profiling, in silico evaluation, and data download capabilities for genomic sequence-based SARS-CoV-2 assays and data download. It offers a feasible framework for surveilling the mutation of SARS-CoV-2 and evaluating the coverage of the molecular diagnostic assay for SARS-CoV-2. With CovidShiny, we examined the dynamic mutation pattern of SARS-CoV-2 and evaluated the coverage of commonly used assays on a large scale. Based on our in silico analysis, we stress the importance of using multiple target molecular diagnostic assays for SARS-CoV-2 to avoid potential false-negative results caused by viral mutations. Overall, CovidShiny is a valuable tool for SARS-CoV-2 mutation surveillance and in silico assay design and evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 thin films are fabricated on Si substrates by one-step sputtering. • Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 solar cells on Si with photovoltaic response are fabricated. • The interactions between Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 and Si are studied. Abstract Integrating commercialized Si solar cells with eco-friendly and earth-abundant Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) film is a promising method to increase power conversion efficiency and hence reduce the levelized cost of electricity. However, synthesis of CZTS thin film on Si as well as the study of the interaction between the two materials, which are crucial for good performance of CZTS/Si two-terminal devices, are areas that have been less investigated. Here, we grow polycrystalline CZTS thin films on Si (1 0 0) substrate by sputtering and study the properties of the CZTS thin film and interface between the CZTS and Si. The CZTS shows uniform microstructure and optimal optical properties. A CZTS solar cell which is fabricated on Si shows a photovoltaic response although subjected to high serious resistance, and Cu diffusion was found from CZTS into Si, which caused needle-like dislocations in Si. Therefore, an effective conductive barrier layer between CZTS and Si is desirable to inhibit Cu from diffusing into Si for tandem solar cell purposes. The study offers valuable input for understanding the properties of CZTS thin film sputtered from single target sputtering and the impact on the interfaces and underlying Si, suggesting concerns that manufacturers need to be aware of for its application in tandem solar cells based on Si. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work we report the Na incorporation from Na-doped Mo (Mo-Na) back contact for kesterite Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 solar cells on flexible stainless steel substrates. It is demonstrated that Na can be effectively incorporated into CZTS by inserting Mo-Na layer at back contact. Direct contact of CZTS and Mo-Na layer leads to poor homogeneity and adhesion. The thickness of MoS 2 formed at the back contact depends on the presence of Na and whether Mo contacts with CZTS directly. Back contact configuration with a Mo capping layer on Mo-Na layer is found to be helpful to maintain the advantages of Mo back contact and control the thickness of MoS 2 interface. As a result, CZTS device fabricated on this configuration yields higher conversion efficiency of 6.2%. However, this efficiency is still far lower than that on traditional soda lime glass substrate which shows efficiency over 8%. The loss mechanism of device fabricated on stainless steel is investigated and analyzed according to the device performance and electrical parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: Although genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have found many common genetic variants associated with human diseases, it remains a challenge to elucidate the functional links between associated variants and complex traits.Results: We developed a package called eResponseNet by implementing and extending the existing ResponseNet algorithm for prioritizing candidate disease genes through cellular pathways. Using type II diabetes (T2D) as a study case, we demonstrate that eResponseNet outperforms currently available approaches in prioritizing candidate disease genes. More importantly, the package is instrumental in revealing cellular pathways underlying disease-associated genetic variations.Availability: The eResponseNet package is freely downloadable at http://hanlab.genetics.ac.cn/eResponseNet.Contact: jdhan@picb.ac.cnSupplementary Information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Herein, we design a novel " crossbreeding " dye (BC-OH) within the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window based on BODIPY and chromene chromophores. BC-OH can serve as a platform to construct activatable NIR-II probes with small spectral crosstalk, thereby making a breakthrough in imaging in vivo H2O2 fluctuation in an APAP-induced liver injury model with high signal-to-background ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common gastrointestinal malignancies. There are few recurrence risk signatures for CRC patients. Single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) provides a high-resolution platform for prognostic signature detection. However, scRNA-seq is not practical in large cohorts due to its high cost and most single-cell experiments lack clinical phenotype information. Few studies have been reported to use external bulk transcriptome with survival time to guide the detection of key cell subtypes in scRNA-seq data. We proposed scRankXMBD, a computational framework to prioritize prognostic-associated cell subpopulations based on within-cell relative expression orderings of gene pairs from single-cell transcriptomes. scRankXMBD achieves higher precision and concordance compared with five existing methods. Moreover, we developed single-cell gene pair signatures to predict recurrence risk for patients individually. Our work facilitates the application of the rank-based method in scRNA-seq data for prognostic biomarker discovery and precision oncology. scRankXMBD is available at https://github.com/xmuyulab/scRank-XMBD. (XMBD:Xiamen Big Data, a biomedical open software initiative in the National Institute for Data Science in Health and Medicine, Xiamen University, China.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]