pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Photovoltaic energy competitiveness and risk assessment for the South African residential sector

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: BETZ, S. ... et al., 2016. Photovoltaic energy competitiveness and risk assessment for the South African residential sector. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, DOI: 10.1002/pip.2757, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pip.2757. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.The establishment of new photovoltaic (PV) markets in emerging economies represents a business development opportunity for expansion outside traditional energy markets. Appropriate assessment of PV market competitiveness is thus necessary in order to inform policy and regulatory development, and in order to manage risks related to investment. This paper presents an evaluation of PV energy competitiveness using a case study of the emerging residential PV market in South Africa. Competitiveness is defined in light of the risks associated with the financial performance of domestic grid-connected rooftop PV considering the current market status together with three proposed business models, namely net-metering, net-billing, and an energy savings performance contract framework. Financial performance is evaluated in terms of a socket parity evaluation together with a discounted net cash flow analysis. Investment risk assessment was facilitated using a Monte Carlo simulation. The results indicate the highest potential profitability for the energy savings performance contract model, which includes PV system ownership by an energy services company. It is also shown that appropriate application of risk modelling has the potential to inform decisions by investors and policy makers alike that result in improved policy and business solutions that are able to support increased residential PV energy market competitiveness without the need for explicit subsidy frameworks
Suppression of phonon-mediated hot carrier relaxation in type-II
  InAs/AlAs$_{x}$Sb$_{1-x}$ quantum wells: a practical route to hot carrier
  solar cells

InAs/AlAs$_{x}$Sb$_{1-x}$ quantum wells are investigated for their potential
as hot carrier solar cells. Continuous wave power and temperature dependent
photoluminescence indicate a transition in the dominant hot carrier relaxation
process from conventional phonon-mediated carrier relaxation below 90 K to a
regime where inhibited radiative recombination dominates the hot carrier
relaxation at elevated temperatures. At temperatures below 90 K
photoluminescence measurements are consistent with type-I quantum wells that
exhibit hole localization associated with alloy/interface fluctuations. At
elevated temperatures hole delocalization reveals the true type-II band
alignment; where it is observed that inhibited radiative recombination due to
the spatial separation of the charge carriers dominates hot carrier relaxation.
This decoupling of phonon-mediated relaxation results in robust hot carriers at
higher temperatures even at lower excitation powers. These results indicate
type-II quantum wells offer potential as practical hot carrier systems.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to "Progress in Photovoltaics: Research
  and Applications
Quantum wire-on-well (WoW) cell with long carrier lifetime for efficient carrier transport

A quantum wire-on-well (WoW) structure, taking advantage of the layer undulation of an InGaAs/GaAs/GaAsP superlattice grown on a vicinal substrate, was demonstrated to enhance the carrier collection from the confinement levels and extend the carrier lifetime (220 ns) by approximately four times more than a planar reference superlattice. Strained InGaAs/GaAs/GaAsP superlattices were grown on GaAs substrates under exactly the same conditions except for the substrate misorientation (0 and 6 ° off). The growth on a 6 ° off substrate induced significant layer undulation as a result of step bunching and non-uniform precursor incorporation between steps and terraces, whereas the growth on a substrate without miscut resulted in planar layers. The undulation was the most significant for InGaAs layers, forming periodically aligned InGaAs nanowires on planar wells, a WoW structure. As for the photocurrent corresponding to the sub-bandgap range of GaAs, the light absorption by the WoW was extended to longer wavelengths and weakened as compared with the planar superlattice. Almost the same photocurrent was obtained for both the WoW and the planar superlattice. Open-circuit voltage for the WoW was not affected by the longer-wavelength absorption edge, and the same value was obtained for the two structures. Furthermore, the superior carrier collection in the WoW, especially under forward biases, improved fill factor compared with the planer superlattice
Assessing Material Qualities and Efficiency Limits of III-V on Silicon
  Solar Cells Using External Radiative Efficiency

The paper presents a quantitative approach to the investigation and
comparison of the material qualities of III-V on silicon (III-V/Si) solar cells
by using external radiative efficiencies. We use this analysis to predict the
limiting efficiencies and evaluate the criteria of material quality in order to
achieve high efficiency III-V/Si solar cells. This result yields several
implications for the design of high efficiency III-V/Si solar cells.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, submitted for journal review. Progress
  in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, early view, 201
Testing of fluorescent DC lamps for Solar Home Systems

With the advent of the Universal Technical Standard for Solar Home Systems, procedures to test the compliance of SHS fluorescent lamps with the standard have been developed. Definition of the laboratory testing procedures is a necessary step in any lamp quality assurance procedure. Particular attention has been paid to test simplicity and to affordability, in order to facilitate local application of the testing procedures, for example by the organisations which carry out electrification programmes. The set of test procedures has been applied to a representative collection of 42 lamps from many different countries, directly acquired in the current photovoltaic rural electrification market. Tests apply to: lamp resistance under normal operating conditions; lamp reliability under extreme conditions; under abnormal conditions; and lamp luminosity. Results are discussed and some recommendations for updating the relevant standard are given. The selected technical standard, together with the proposed testing procedures, form the basis of a complete quality assurance tool that can be applied locally in normal electrical laboratories. Full testing of a lamp requires less than one month, which is very reasonable on the context of quality assurance programme
Emotion Knowledge, Loneliness, Negative Social Experiences, and Internalizing Symptoms Among Low‐income Preschoolers

Children with poor emotion knowledge (EK) skills are at risk for externalizing problems; less is known about early internalizing behavior. We examined multiple facets of EK and social‐emotional experiences relevant for internalizing difficulties, including loneliness, victimization, and peer rejection, in Head Start preschoolers (N = 134; M = 60 months). Results based on multiple informants suggest that facets of EK are differentially related to negative social‐emotional experiences and internalizing behavior and that sex plays a moderating role. Behavioral EK was associated with self‐reported loneliness, victimization/rejection, and parent‐reported internalizing symptoms. Emotion recognition and expressive EK were related to self‐reported loneliness, and emotion situation knowledge was related to parent‐reported internalizing symptoms and negative peer nominations. Sex moderated many of these associations, suggesting that EK may operate differently for girls vs. boys in the preschool social context. Results are discussed with regard to the role of EK for social development and intervention implications
Resiliency profiles of children with intellectual disability and their typically developing peers

Intellectual disability (ID) is associated with a range of risk factors that make children more vulnerable to adverse developmental outcomes including mental health problems. Nevertheless, some children with ID do much better than others, presumably because of the presence of protective factors that increase their resilience. The current study compared resiliency profiles of children with ID (n = 115, mean age 11.9 years) and their typically developing peers (n = 106, mean age 11.8 years) using the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents (Prince-Embury, 2007) and the Healthy Kids Resilience Assessment (Constantine, Bernard & Diaz, 1999). In many respects children with ID and their typically developing peers reported similar levels of the protective factors that are associated with resilience. However, the children with ID reported higher levels of emotional sensitivity and lower tolerance, as well as fewer future goals. Compared with typically developing children, those with ID reported more support at school and less support within their communities. These findings have important implications for interventions that aim to promote positive developmental outcomes and to prevent the adverse sequelae that have been associated with low intelligence
A prospective study investigating the links among classroom environment, school connectedness, and depressive symptoms in adolescents

School connectedness and classroom environment have both been strongly linked to depressive symptoms, but their interrelation is unclear. We tested whether school connectedness mediated the link between classroom environment and depressive symptoms. A sample of 504 Australian seventh- and eighth-grade students completed the Classroom Environment Scale, Psychological Sense of School Membership scale, and Children's Depression Inventory, at three time points. Together, the classroom environment and school connectedness accounted for 41% to 45% of variance in concurrent depressive symptoms, and 14% of subsequent depressive symptoms with prior symptoms accounted for. Only a partial mediation was found, with both classroom environment and school connectedness continuing to contribute uniquely to the prediction of concurrent and subsequent depressive symptoms. These findings provide additional support for the idea that school-based pathways to depressive symptoms are a complex interplay between environment and individual difference variables, necessitating individual and environmental school-based interventions
Dynamic testing of gifted and average-ability children's analogy problem solving: Does executive functioning play a role?

Contains fulltext :
                  175784.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)In this study, dynamic testing principles were applied to examine progression of analogy problem solving, the roles that cognitive flexibility and metacognition play in children's progression as well as training benefits, and instructional needs of 7- to 8-year-old gifted and average-ability children. Utilizing a pretest training posttest control group design, participants were split in four subgroups: gifted dynamic testing (n = 22), gifted unguided practice (n = 23), average-ability dynamic testing (n = 31), and average-ability unguided practice (n = 37). Results revealed that dynamic testing led to more advanced progression than unguided practice, and that gifted and average-ability children showed equivalent progression lines and instructional needs. For children in both ability categories, cognitive flexibility was not found to be related to progression in analogy problem solving or training benefits. In addition, metacognition was revealed to be associated with training benefits. Implications for educational practice were provided in the discussion.15 p
Long-term patterns in interpersonal behaviour amongst psychopathic patients in secure inpatient treatment: A follow-up study.

Psychopathy is a disorder that is partly defined by with maladaptive interpersonal behaviour and has significant effects on treatment outcomes. A previous study (Draycott et al., ) found that higher levels of psychopathy led to a specific interpersonal 'trajectory' amongst patients in a secure psychiatric treatment programme during the first 9 months of their admission. In that programme, more psychopathic patients became increasingly dominant over time, and less psychopathic patients became increasingly hostile. This study is a longer-term follow-up and extension of that study, extending the window of observation to 33 months of treatment. It was found that the more psychopathic patients' increased dominance returned to baseline levels by 33 months, as did the less psychopathic patients' increased hostility. This suggests that treatment for this group is not idiopathic but leaves unanswered the question as to what these divergent trajectories represent
Identification of tumor-associated proteins in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma by proteomics

Oral tongue carcinoma is an aggressive tumor that particularly affects chronic smokers, drinkers and betel squid chewers. Patients often present symptoms at a late stage, and there is a high recurrence rate after treatment. In this article, we report the first proteomic analysis of oral tongue carcinoma to globally search for tumor related proteins. Apart from helping us to understand the molecular pathogenesis of the carcinoma, these proteins may also have potential clinical applications as biomarkers, enabling the tumor to be identified at an early stage in high risk individuals, treatment response to be predicted, and residual or recurrent carcinoma to be detected sooner after treatment. The protein expression profiles of ten oral tongue squamous cell carcinomas and their matched normal mucosal resection margins were examined by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectroscopy. A number of tumor-associated proteins including heat shock protein (HSP)60, HSP27, alpha B-crystalline, ATP synthase beta, calgranulin B, myosin, tropomyosin and galectin 1 were consistently found to be significantly altered in their expression levels in tongue carcinoma tissues, compared with their paired normal mucosae. The expression profile portrays a global protein alteration that appears specific to oral tongue cancer. The potential of utilizing these tumor related proteins for screening cancer and monitoring recurrence warrants further investigation.postprin
About thiol derivatization and resolution of basic proteins in two-dimensional electrophoresis.

web publisher www.interscience.wiley.comInternational audienceThe influence of thiol blocking on the resolution of basic proteins by two-dimensional electrophoresis was investigated. Cysteine blocking greatly increased resolution and decreased streaking, especially in the basic region of the gels. Two strategies for cysteine blocking were found to be efficient: classical alkylation with maleimide derivatives and mixed disulfide exchange with an excess of a low molecular weight disulfide. The effect on resolution was significant enough to allow correct resolution of basic proteins with in-gel rehydration on wide gradients (e.g. 3-10 and 4-12), but anodic cup-loading was still required for basic gradients (e.g. 6-12 or 8-12). These results demonstrate that thiol-related problems are not solely responsible for streaking of basic proteins on two-dimensional gels
About the mechanism of interference of silver staining with peptide mass spectrometry.

International audienceThe mechanism by which silver staining of proteins in polyacrylamide gels interferes with mass spectrometry of peptides produced by proteolysis has been investigated. It was demonstrated that this interference increases with time between silver staining and gel processing, although the silver image is constant. This suggested an important role of the formaldehyde used in silver staining development in this interference process. Consequently, a formaldehyde-free staining protocol has been devised, using carbohydrazide as the developing agent. This protocol showed much increased peptide coverage and retained the sensitivity of silver staining. These results were however obtained at the expense of an increased background in the stained gels and of a reduced staining homogeneity
Improved resolution of the human adipose tissue proteome at alkaline and wide range pH by the addition of hydroxyethyl disulfide

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a very common disease affecting 6.5% of women. It is frequently associated with obesity with the link between the two disorders being insulin resistance. From morbidly obese women submitted to surgical treatment of obesity, we obtain intra-abdominal adipose tissue samples in order to compare protein patterns between women with and without polycystic ovary syndrome by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) analysis. Adipose tissue is a complex material extremely rich in lipids. To improve protein solubilization a lysis buffer containing 8.4 m urea, 2.4 m thiourea, 5% 3-((3-cholamidoproyl)dimethyl-amino)-1-propanesulfonate and 50 mm dithiothreitol was used and samples were centrifuged to remove fat. Hydroxyethyl disulfide was added to increase resolution in the alkaline region (Olsson, I., Larsson, K., Palmgren, R., Bjellqvist, B., Proteomics 2002, 2, 1630-1632) and it also improved resolution in a wide pH range (3-10). Our work shows for the first time 2-DE maps of human adipose tissue and identifies some of the proteins by mass spectrometry. This information will aid studies on metabolic diseases such as polycystic ovary syndrome, obesity, hypertension and type 2 diabetes
Proteomics of buccal squamous cell carcinoma: The involvement of multiple pathways in tumorigenesis

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the buccal mucosa is an aggressive oral cancer. It mainly occurs in Central and Southeast Asia, and is closely related to the practice of tobacco smoking and betel squid chewing. The high recurrence and low survival rates of buccal SCC require our continued efforts to understand the pathogenesis of the disease for designing better therapeutic strategies. We used proteomic technology to analyze buccal SCC tissues aiming at identifying tumor-associated proteins for the utilization as biomarkers or molecular targets. With the exception of alpha B-crystallin being substantially reduced, a number of proteins were found to be significantly over-expressed in cancer tissues. These increased proteins included glycolytic enzymes, heat-shock proteins, tumor antigens, cytoskeleton proteins, enzymes involved in detoxification and anti-oxidation systems, and proteins involved in mitochondrial and intracellular signaling pathways. These extensive protein variations indicate that multiple cellular pathways were involved in the process of tumorigenesis, and suggest that multiple protein molecules should be simultaneously targeted as an effective strategy to counter the disease. At least, SCC antigen, G protein, glutathione S-transferase, manganese superoxide dismutase, annexins, voltage-dependent anion channel, cyclophilin A, stratifin and galectin 7 are candidates for targeted proteins. The present findings also demonstrated that rich protein information can be produced by means of proteomic analysis for a better understanding of the oncogenesis and pathogenesis in a global way, which in turn is a basis for the rational designs of diagnostic and therapeutic methods.postprin
Diverse proteomic alterations in gastric adenocarcinoma

Gastric adenocarcinoma is one of the most common cancers in Asian countries including China. Although its incidence rates in the West are lower than that in Asia, gastric cancer is still a major health problem worldwide, being second only to lung cancers in the number of deaths it causes. Helicobacter pylori infection has been identified as the major pathogen, but the detailed pathogenesis of gastric carcinoma remains elusive. Due to the lack of suitable and specific biomarkers for early detection, most cases of the disease are diagnosed at late stages and the survival rate is low. In this study, we used a proteomic approach to globally analyze the protein profiles of paired surgical specimens of primary gastric adenocarcinoma and nontumor mucosa aiming at identifying specific disease-associated proteins as potential clinical biomarkers and for carcinogenetic study. Compared to nontumor tissues, multiple protein alterations were found in tumor tissues. Some of these alterations involve variations in the expression of cytoskeleton proteins, including an increase in cytokeratin 8 and tropomyosin isoform and a decrease in cytokeratin 20. Co-up-regulations of heat-shock proteins and glycolytic enzymes were observed in tumor tissues, indicating self-protective efforts of cells and the growing energy requirement during malignant transformation. Diverse regulations also occurred with proteins involved in cell proliferation and differentiation, such as GMP reductase 2 and creatine kinase B, and proteins bearing potential tumor suppressor activities, including prohibitin and selenium binding protein 1. More interestingly, a human stomach-specific protein, 18 kDa antrum mucosa protein, was found to be dramatically under-expressed in cancer tissues, implicating a possible special pathological role for this protein in gastric carcinogenesis. Further comprehensive evaluation by globally considering the altered factors may result in the discovery of a biomarker index for effective assessment of the disease and may provide in-depth information for better understanding the pathogenesis of gastric cancer.postprin
Progress in the definition of a reference human mitochondrial proteome.

website publisher www.interscience.wiley.comInternational audienceOwing to the complexity of higher eukaryotic cells, a complete proteome is likely to be very difficult to achieve. However, advantage can be taken of the cell compartmentalization to build organelle proteomes, which can moreover be viewed as specialized tools to study specifically the biology and "physiology" of the target organelle. Within this frame, we report here the construction of the human mitochondrial proteome, using placenta as the source tissue. Protein identification was carried out mainly by peptide mass fingerprinting. The optimization steps in two-dimensional electrophoresis needed for proteome research are discussed. However, the relative paucity of data concerning mitochondrial proteins is still the major limiting factor in building the corresponding proteome, which should be a useful tool for researchers working on human mitochondria and their deficiencies
Evaluation of nonionic and zwitterionic detergents as membrane protein solubilizers in two-dimensional electrophoresis.

website publisher www.interscience.wiley.comInternational audienceThe solubilizing power of various nonionic and zwitterionic detergents as membrane protein solubilizers for two-dimensional electrophoresis was investigated. Human red blood cell ghosts and Arabidopsis thaliana leaf membrane proteins were used as model systems. Efficient detergents could be found in each class, i.e. with oligooxyethylene, sugar or sulfobetaine polar heads. Among the commercially available nonionic detergents, dodecyl maltoside and decaethylene glycol mono hexadecyl ether proved most efficient. They complement the more classical sulfobetaine detergents to widen the scope of useful detergents for the solubilization of membrane proteins in proteomics