•A photovoltaic system based on DSCs associated with a solar concentrator is proposed.•The performances of the system were studied in indoor and outdoor condition.•Absence of cell damaging was ...observed up to 6 suns illumination.•Obtained results show that it is possible to use DSCs in solar concentrator systems.
The performances of a photovoltaic system based on dye-sensitized solar cells associated with a solar concentrator are investigated. An extensive indoor characterization is performed using both different wavelength bandwidths and concentration ratio. Starting from the acquired data, the system coupled with a solar tracking is also tested in outdoor condition. The obtained results show that it is possible to use this class of solar cells in solar concentrator systems, leading to a new class of devices with a high efficiency and a low cost.
We report a new fabrication strategy to obtain large area continuous NPGs-on-substrate combining graphene-on-substrate industrial techniques and swift-ion beam irradiation (SHI). Graphene membranes ...were synthesized on the Cu substrate and afterwards a 600nm layer of PMMA was spin-coated on the surface to complete the PMMA-Graphene-Cu stack. The PMMA-graphene-Cu trilayer was exposed to a flow of Au heavy ions that penetrate through the entire thickness of both polymer layer and the graphene sheet creating ion-tracks and damages. A consecutive track-etching technique is used with an adequate revealing agent for PMMA, IsoPropyl Alcohol (IPA), to selectively dissolve the latent tracks and damages created during SHI irradiation in the insulating material and the graphene sheet. Resulting from SHI irradiation and track-etching, the graphene nanopores are thus perfectly aligned to the PMMA nanopores, providing, after cupper dissolution, a composite that features both well-defined and truly 2-dimensional nanopores in the graphene layer but that can be handled as a normal polymer film.
•It is reported a new fabrication strategy to obtain NPGs-on-substrate.•The Au heavy ions that penetrate created ion-tracks and damages.•Well-defined and truly 2-dimensional nanopores in the graphene layer are achieved.
The experiment was carried out aiming to analyze the dry mass production and distribution and the content and accumulation of macronutrients in sourgrass (Digitaria insularis) plants cultivated under ...mineral nutrition standard conditions. Plants grew in 7-liter pots filled with sand substrate and daily irrigated with nutrient solution, being maintained under greenhouse conditions. Treatments consisted of times of evaluation (21, 35, 49, 63, 77, 91, 105, 119, and 133 days after emergence - DAE) and were arranged in a completely randomized design with four replicates. Sourgrass showed small accumulation of dry mass (0.3 g per plant) and macronutrients (3.7 mg of N per plant, 0.4 mg of P per plant, 5.6 mg of K per plant, 0.9 mg of Ca per plant, 0.7 mg of Mg per plant, and 0.3 mg of S per plant) at vegetative growth stage (< 49 DAE). Those accumulations increased mainly after 77 DAE, reaching the maximum theoretical value at 143, 135, 141, 129, 125, 120, and 128 DAE, for dry mass (12.4 g per plant), N (163.2 mg per plant), P (27.1 mg per plant), K (260.5 mg per plant), Ca (47.6 mg per plant), Mg (30.9 mg per plant), and S (13.7 mg per plant), respectively. K and N were found with higher rates and, as a consequence, they were required and accumulated in greater amounts in plant tissues of sourgrass.
O experimento foi conduzido com o objetivo de analisar a produção e a distribuição de massa seca e os teores e os acúmulos dos macronutrientes em plantas de capim-amargoso (Digitaria insularis) cultivadas em condições padronizadas de nutrição mineral. As plantas foram cultivadas em vasos de sete litros, com substrato de areia, irrigadas diariamente com solução nutritiva e mantidas em casa de vegetação. Os tratamentos corresponderam às épocas de avaliação (21, 35, 49, 63, 77, 91, 105, 119 e 133 dias após a emergência - DAE) e foram arranjados em delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado com quatro repetições. Capim-amargoso apresentou pequeno acúmulo de massa seca (0,3 g por planta) e de macronutrientes (3,7 mg de N por planta; 0,4 mg de P por planta; 5,6 mg de K por planta; 0,9 mg de Ca por planta; 0,7 mg de Mg por planta; e 0,3 mg de S por planta) na fase vegetativa (< 49 DAE). Esses acúmulos se intensificaram, principalmente, após 77 DAE, atingindo o máximo valor teórico aos 143, 135, 141, 129, 125, 120 e 128 DAE, para massa seca (12,4 g por planta), N (163,2 mg por planta), P (27,1 mg por planta), K (260,5 mg por planta), Ca (47,6 mg por planta), Mg (30,9 mg por planta) e S (13,7 mg por planta), respectivamente. K e N foram os macronutrientes com maiores teores encontrados e, consequentemente, mais requeridos e acumulados em maiores quantidades nos tecidos vegetais das plantas de capim-amargoso.
ABSTRACT Eggplants are vegetables of great importance in the South and Southeast regions of Brazil, which are subject to interference from weeds. In order to collaborate with weed management in this ...vegetable, this study was carried out to determine the periods of weed interference in growing eggplants. The study was conducted in the Brazilian municipality of Jaboticabal, SP, at the Faculty of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, UNESP Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (São Paulo State University), in the period from February to July 2013. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design with 22 treatments, three replications divided in 11 periods of coexistence and weed control with eggplants: 14, 28, 42, 56, 70, 84, 98, 112, 126, 140 and 154 days after transplanting (DAT). In each treatment, a phytosociological study was carried out to identify the important species of weeds in eggplant crops. The main weeds were Eleusine indica, Nicandra physaloides, Portulaca oleracea and Cyperus rotundus due to their high relative importance. The interference of these weeds caused losses of up to 96% to the standard commercial fruit yield. The period before interference was 6 DAT and the total period of interference was 102 DAT. Therefore, it is concluded that after the initial six days after transplanting eggplants, the crop should be free of weeds within the next 96 days.
RESUMO A berinjela é uma hortaliça de grande importância nas regiões Sul e Sudeste e, que está sujeita a interferências das plantas daninhas. Com o intuito de colaborar com o manejo das plantas daninhas nessa hortaliça, objetivou-se determinar os períodos de interferência das plantas daninhas no cultivo de berinjela Nápoli. O estudo foi realizado no município de Jaboticabal, SP, na Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias da UNESP, no período de fevereiro a julho de 2013, no delineamento em blocos ao acaso com 22 tratamentos e três repetições, divididos em 11 períodos de convivência e de controle das plantas daninhas com a berinjela Nápoli: 14, 28, 42, 56, 70, 84, 98, 112, 126, 140 e 154 dias após transplantio (DAT). Em cada tratamento, foi realizado estudo fitossociológico para identificar as espécies importantes da comunidade infestante na cultura da berinjela. As principais plantas daninhas foram Eleusine indica, Nicandra physaloides, Portulaca oleracea e Cyperus rotundus, por apresentarem maior importância relativa. A interferência dessas plantas daninhas provocou perdas de até 96% na produtividade de frutos. O período anterior à interferência foi de 6 DAT, e o período total de prevenção à interferência de 102 DAT. Portanto, conclui-se que decorrido seis dias do transplantio da berinjela Nápoli, a cultura deve permanecer livre das plantas daninhas nos próximos 96 dias, para que não haja perdas na produtividade dos frutos de padrão comercial.
Abstract
Background
Several studies have investigated the role of diet as a risk and/or protective factor on the development of the thyroid cancer but the results are unclear. The aim of this study ...was to investigate the role of eating habits on the risk of thyroid cancer.
Methods
We carried out a hospital-based case-control study. The eating habits of the participants were investigated through a validated Lifestyles Questionnaire. The frequency of consumption of the different types of food was reported on a 4-level scale (never, 1 time per week, 2-3 times a week, 6 times a week). Logistic regression models were used to estimate the ORs and their 95% confidence intervals adjusted for age, gender and BMI. Statistical data analysis was conducted using the IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0 program.
Results
One hundred and six cases (91.2% CA papillary type) and 217 controls were recruited. A positive association was observed for BMI (OR: 1.085; IC95% = 1.022-1.152), consumption of complex carbohydrates (OR: 2,324; IC95%: 1,364-3,960) and a low consumption of legumes, cereals, potatoes, fruit and vegetables (OR: 2.285, 95% CI: 1.330-3.926). The consumption of sweets decreased with age (Rho: -0.445, N = 318, p = 0.000), but at the same age the cases had a higher consumption than controls. In particular, the consumption of sweets was higher in the age group between 39 and 52 years old.
Conclusions
Our study adds new and relevant information to support the hypothesis that a sugar rich diet may increase the risk of developing thyroid cancer.
Funding
This research was funded by Intradepartmental Research Plan 2016/2018 of Department of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies, University of Catania, grant number: 5C722012104.
Key messages
Future studies need to clarify the mechanisms that associate the diet with the risk of thyroid cancer. More research is also needed to explain the differences in thyroid cancer among women and men.
The performances of an optical readout of Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) with multiple Gas Electron Multipliers (GEMs) amplification stages are presented. The detector is characterized by using 55Fe ...photons converting inside a 7 litre sensitive volume detector in different electric field configurations. This prototype is developed as part of the R&D for the CYGNO project for an application to direct Dark Matter search by detection of tracks of nuclear recoils in the gas within the keV energy range.
Loss-of-function mutations of the kisspeptin-1 receptor gene, KISS1R, have been identified in patients with normosmic isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (nIHH).
To investigate KISS1R defects in ...patients with absent or delayed puberty.
We investigated KISS1R gene defects in a cohort of 99 Brazilian patients with nIHH or constitutional delay of puberty (CDP).
The entire coding region of KISS1R was amplified by PCR followed by automatic sequencing. In addition, screening for KISS1R exonic deletions was performed by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification.
One novel homozygous KISS1R mutation was identified in two siblings with nIHH. This variant was an insertion/deletion (indel) mutation characterized by the deletion of three nucleotides (GCA) at position -2 to -4, and by the insertion of seven nucleotides (ACCGGCT) at the same position, within the 3' splice acceptor site of intron 2 of KISS1R. The brothers who carried this KISS1R mutation had no clinical evidence of pubertal development at the ages of 14 and 20 years. Computational analysis of this indel mutation predicted the generation of an abnormal protein. In addition, a new heterozygous KISS1R variant (p.E252Q) was identified in a male patient with sporadic nIHH. However, in vitro studies of this variant did not demonstrate functional impairment. Only known polymorphisms were identified in patients with CDP.
Loss-of-function mutations of KISS1R represents a rare cause of nIHH, and was absent in patients with CDP. We have described a novel KISS1R homozygous splice acceptor site mutation in the familial form of nIHH.
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