Cu
2
ZnSnS
4
(CZTS) thin films were prepared on soda lime glass by dip coating with sulfurized Cu, Zn, Sn precursors, N
2
gas jet flattening, and annealing under an Ar+H
2
S atmosphere, which is a ...simple and inexpensive process for large-area thin-film preparation, and the influence of the Cu/(Zn+Sn) ratio on the properties of the film were investigated. Copper (II) acetate monohydrate, zinc (II) acetate dihydrate, tin (II) chloride dihydrate and thiourea dissolved in an ethanol solution were used for the preparation of the sulfurized Cu, Zn and Sn precursors as a low-cost raw materials for chemical bath deposition, and dip coating of the precursors and annealing under an Ar+H
2
S atmosphere were applied to prepare kesterite CZTS films on substrates. Sulfurization under an Ar+H
2
S atmosphere enhanced CZTS formation with no zinc oxide and adhesion on the soda lime glass. As the Cu/(Zn+Sn) ratio was increased in the film,the grain size and the film density increased whereas the band gap energy and the resistivity decreased. All films exhibited a p-type semi-conductivity with a high carrier concentration.
Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films, a potential candidate for the absorber layers of solar cells, were successfully deposited on soda lime glass substrates by sulfurizing dip-coated precursors. This is a ...simple and low-cost process. In this method, the precursor films were obtained by several cycles of dipping and air-jet cutting to rinse the film and make it flat, followed by drying at 200οC for 15 minutes. The solutions that were used in the dipping process contained copper (II) acetate monohydrate, zinc (II) acetate dehydrate, tin (II) chloride dehydrate and thiourea, dissolved in a solution of water and ethanol (30% vol).
By sulfurizing the precursors in Ar + H2S (5%) gas to prevent oxidation, a CZTS single phase can be obtained with a ratio of Cu/Zn + Sn = 0.89, Zn/Sn = 1.03 and S/metal = 1.01. The films had a band gap of about 1.5 eV and the absorption coefficient was higher than 104 cm-1. The electrical properties of the films were shown to be p-type semiconductors with a carrier concentration of 1018 cm-3. The films can be applied as the absorber layers in solar cells. KCI Citation Count: 6
This research argues that the inconclusive evidence on the board gender diversity–firm performance relationship across nations may be due to the moderating effect of national governance quality. ...Applying a multi-hierarchical modeling technique on a dataset containing 15,051 firm-year observations from 2931 companies in 46 countries, the results generally confirm this Hypothesis. Specifically, board gender diversity only seems to positively affect the performance of companies operating in countries with above-average levels of national governance quality. The effect of gender diversity on firm performance decreases and turns negative as national governance quality drops. The results are robust to different measures of national governance quality and firm performance, changes in methods of estimation, changes in sample structure, and tokenism.
•A multi-hierarchical approach is employed to investigate the effect of board gender diversity on firm performance using a multi-country dataset.•The board gender diversity and firm performance relationship is positively moderated by national governance quality.•Board gender diversity affects firm performance positively only in countries with high national governance quality and is irrelevant otherwise.•Board gender diversity takes effect when the number of female directors on a corporate board reaches the threshold of three.•The results are robust to endogeneity, changes in sample structure, and tokenism.
•Early diagnosis and treatment of neonatal dengue should be sought.•Petechiae, hepatomegaly, and low platelet counts are key elements.•History of maternal illness, NS1 rapid test is essential in the ...diagnosis.•Misdiagnosing dengue for sepsis is common.
Objectives Neonatal dengue has been reported in the literature with contradictory findings of clinical characteristics and diagnosis; thereby, misdiagnosis of neonatal dengue has been frequently reported. We aim to delve into the epidemiology, clinical features, and outcomes of neonatal dengue, thus avoid misdiagnosis and obtain early intervention. Study design A retrospective study was conducted at Children’s Hospital 1, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam with laboratory-confirmed dengue in neonates by positive viral antigen nonstructural protein one rapid test (NS1) and positive IgM antibody for dengue by MAC-ELISA. Results We have included 32 neonates in this study with 25% cases were misdiagnosed with neonatal sepsis, and 12.5% cases were misdiagnosed with neonatal immune thrombocytopenia at the beginning. The median time between the first day of the mother’s onset of fever and childbirth was -1 days (IQR: -2, 2). The patient’s clinical manifestation included: petechiae 87.5% (28/32), pharyngeal mucosal hemorrhage 6.3% (2/32), and hepatomegaly occurred 75% (24/32). In the febrile phase (day of illness 1–3), the mean white blood cell (WBC) counts were 7800 ± 800/mm3 and platelets were 97,111 ± 37,826/mm3. In the critical phase (day of illness 4–6), the mean WBC counts were 13,400 ± 2800/mm3, and platelets were 30,100 ± 5749/mm3. All mothers (100%) had laboratory-confirmed dengue by NS1 positive in the perinatal period. Conclusions The findings emphasize that early diagnosis of neonatal dengue should be based on a history of maternal illness, NS1 rapid test, and clinical presentation such as petechiae, hepatomegaly, and low platelet counts in the febrile phase.
Chemical modification of silicon nitride (SiN) surfaces by silanization has been widely studied especially with 3-(aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) and 3-(glycidyloxypropyl) dimethylethoxysilane ...(GOPES). However few reports performed the experimental and computational studies together. In this study, surface modification of SiN surfaces with GOPES and APTES covalently bound with glutaraldehyde (GTA) was investigated for antibody immobilization. The monoclonal anti-cytokeratin-FITC (MACF) antibody was immobilized on the modified SiN surfaces. The modified surfaces were characterized by water contact angle measurements, atomic force microscopy and fluorescence microscopy. The FITC-fluorescent label indicated the existence of MACF antibody on the SiN surfaces and the efficiency of the silanization reaction. Absorption of APTES and GOPES on the oxidized SiN surfaces was computationally modeled and calculated by Materials Studio software. The computational and experimental results showed that modification of the SiN surfaces with APTES and GTA was more effective than the modification with GOPES.
The retrieval of 3D objects has gained significant importance in recent years due to its broad range of applications in computer vision, computer graphics, virtual reality, and augmented reality. ...However, the retrieval of 3D objects presents significant challenges due to the intricate nature of 3D models, which can vary in shape, size, and texture, and have numerous polygons and vertices. To this end, we introduce a novel SHREC challenge track that focuses on retrieving relevant 3D animal models from a dataset using sketch queries and expedites accessing 3D models through available sketches. Furthermore, a new dataset named ANIMAR was constructed in this study, comprising a collection of 711 unique 3D animal models and 140 corresponding sketch queries. Our contest requires participants to retrieve 3D models based on complex and detailed sketches. We receive satisfactory results from eight teams and 204 runs. Although further improvement is necessary, the proposed task has the potential to incentivize additional research in the domain of 3D object retrieval, potentially yielding benefits for a wide range of applications. We also provide insights into potential areas of future research, such as improving techniques for feature extraction and matching and creating more diverse datasets to evaluate retrieval performance. https://aichallenge.hcmus.edu.vn/sketchanimar
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