Intensity Analysis Research Articles

O 24 - Comprehensive robustness analysis of SIB intensity modulated proton therapy SIB-IMPT to dominant intra-prostatic lesions DILs

O 24 - Comprehensive robustness analysis of SIB intensity modulated proton therapy SIB-IMPT to dominant intra-prostatic lesions DILs

From database to practice: the MBSAQIP in the surgical literature

BackgroundThe Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) has been a game changer for metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS), with continuous improvements in safety and outcomes throughout the years of its usage. It allows in-depth evaluations of MBS procedures, presenting practitioners and researchers with unparalleled opportunities for quality assessment, research and clinical advancement. ObjectivesTo offer an updated overview of MBSAQIP-related publications. SettingUnited States. MethodsPubMed was queried using keywords “MBSAQIP” and “Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program.” Letters to editors, duplicates, commentaries, and retracted articles were excluded. Studies that mentioned MBSAQIP but did not use the data within were also excluded. ResultsA total of 400 search items were returned as of August 2023. After exclusions, 289 studies were reviewed. Articles were published in a total of 28 unique journals, the majority of which were featured in Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases (SOARD), with 114 articles (39.4%). Sixty-one articles were focused on creating predictive models or risk calculators, 58 on investigating the safety of procedures, and 52 on exploring complications. Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) were the 2 most commonly discussed procedures, at 80.3% and 80% respectively. Forty-three studies included patients who underwent robotic-assisted MBS. ConclusionsThe MBSAQIP is a valuable resource that has generated a wealth of studies in the literature. It has allowed for intense analysis of clinical issues and fostered a culture of safety and quality improvement. Participating surgeons must pledge commitment to extended follow-up periods to maximize its effectiveness.

Multi-sensor acoustic intensity analysis of the NG-19 Antares 230 launch

In August 2023, the Antares 230 successfully launched for the NG-19 resupply mission to the International Space Station. Acoustical data were collected from various locations surrounding the launch pad from 60-200 m away from the vehicle. Each measurement location was configured such that acoustic intensity could be determined for a wide range of frequencies. Intensity calculations are made using the phase and amplitude gradient estimate (PAGE) method for information past the spatial Nyquist frequency of the station configuration. For the analyses presented here, the PAGE method utilized the generic MATLAB phase unwrapping function. This paper will show intensity vectors as a function of frequency and time to estimate the approximate location of the sound source. A least-squares optimization routine is used for the intersection point of each stations’ intensity vector.

Structural decomposition analysis of agricultural Non-CO2 greenhouse gas emission intensity in China

Agriculture is China's primary emitter of non-CO2 greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, and it is crucial to understand the drivers and contributions of agricultural non-CO2 GHGs emission intensity (ANCGI) for formulating effective emission reduction policies. Based on a decomposition analysis approach, this study explains the factors that driving the change of ANCGI from the perspectives of environment, economy, and scale. And by calculating the contribution of these three factors in 31 Chinese provinces between 2000 and 2019 using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) technology. The findings show that the ANCGI in China has declined by about 3.6% per year on average over the past 20 years, and the main factor affecting its decline is the economic level, contributing more than one third. The ANCGI is negatively impacted by the environment, with a contribution value of −1.60%; and the scale effect contributes 1.21% to the decrease in the ANCGI. Therefore, improving the level of agriculture environment in each province and transitioning to a high-quality development model are important ways to reduce the ANCGI in China.

Characterizing clinical progression in patients with musculoskeletal pain by pain severity and central sensitization-related symptoms

Central sensitization-related symptoms (CSS) are associated with the severity and progression of pain. The relationship between the severity of pain/CSS and clinical progresses remains unclear. This multicenter, collaborative, longitudinal study aimed to characterize the clinical outcomes of patients with musculoskeletal pain by classifying subgroups based on the severity of pain/CSS and examining changes in subgroups over time. We measured the pain intensity, CSS, catastrophic thinking, and body perception disturbance in 435 patients with musculoskeletal pain. Reevaluation of patients after one month included 166 patients for pain intensity outcome and 110 for both pain intensity and CSS outcome analysis. We classified the patients into four groups (mild pain/CSS, severe pain/mild CSS, severe pain/CSS, and mild pain/severe CSS groups) and performed multiple comparison analyses to reveal the differences between the CSS severity groups. Additionally, we performed the adjusted residual chi-square to identify the number of patients with pain improvement, group transition, changing pain, and CSS pattern groups at baseline. The most characteristic result was that the mild and severe CSS groups showed worsening pain. Moreover, many of the group transitions were to the same group, with a few transitioning to a group with mild pain/CSS. Our findings suggest that the severity and improvement of CSS influence pain prognosis.

The impact of different stirrer designs and mill orientations on the grinding efficiency

The primary objective of this research is to examine the impact of various stirrer designs in different mill orientations on the efficiency of calcite grinding in a dry stirred mill. In the context of the research, a series of batch grinding experiments were performed using a laboratory-scale stirred mill that could be oriented vertically or horizontally. Four distinct stirrer designs, namely 3-pin, 5-pin, 3-disc, and 5-disc, all with the same diameters, were employed in these studies. Stress intensity analysis was used to evaluate the experimental outcomes. The findings indicated that the number of stirrers present on the shaft, whether in the form of pins or discs, significantly influenced the effectiveness of the grinding process. Furthermore, the horizontal orientation performance of the 5-disc design provided the best particle fineness compared to other combinations. Additionally, the batch grinding experiments provided indications that the disc design yielded favorable results when employed in the horizontal mill configuration, while the pin design proved to be successful when utilized in the vertical mill configuration. Aside from these, design variations had an impact on the particle size distribution width characteristics of the products. The design parameters were also evaluated in terms of the stress intensity-particle size distribution width relationship.

Minicells as an Escherichia coli mechanism for the accumulation and disposal of fluorescent cadmium sulphide nanoparticles

BackgroundBacterial biosynthesis of fluorescent nanoparticles or quantum dots (QDs) has emerged as a unique mechanism for heavy metal tolerance. However, the physiological pathways governing the removal of QDs from bacterial cells remains elusive. This study investigates the role of minicells, previously identified as a means of eliminating damaged proteins and enhancing bacterial resistance to stress. Building on our prior work, which unveiled the formation of minicells during cadmium QDs biosynthesis in Escherichia coli, we hypothesize that minicells serve as a mechanism for the accumulation and detoxification of QDs in bacterial cells.ResultsIntracellular biosynthesis of CdS QDs was performed in E. coli mutants ΔminC and ΔminCDE, known for their minicell-producing capabilities. Fluorescence microscopy analysis demonstrated that the generated minicells exhibited fluorescence emission, indicative of QD loading. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the presence of nanoparticles in minicells, while energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) revealed the coexistence of cadmium and sulfur. Cadmium quantification through flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) demonstrated that minicells accumulated a higher cadmium content compared to rod cells. Moreover, fluorescence intensity analysis suggested that minicells accumulated a greater quantity of fluorescent nanoparticles, underscoring their efficacy in QD removal. Biosynthesis dynamics in minicell-producing strains indicated that biosynthesized QDs maintained high fluorescence intensity even during prolonged biosynthesis times, suggesting continuous QD clearance in minicells.ConclusionsThese findings support a model wherein E. coli utilizes minicells for the accumulation and removal of nanoparticles, highlighting their physiological role in eliminating harmful elements and maintaining cellular fitness. Additionally, this biosynthesis system presents an opportunity for generating minicell-coated nanoparticles with enhanced biocompatibility for diverse applications.Graphical

Ultra-dense Motion Capture: An exploratory full-automatic approach for dense tracking of breast motion in 4D.

Understanding the dynamic deformation pattern and biomechanical properties of breasts is crucial in various fields, including designing ergonomic bras and customized prostheses, as well as in clinical practice. Previous studies have recorded and analyzed the dynamic behaviors of the breast surface using 4D scanning, which provides a sequence of 3D meshes during movement with high spatial and temporal resolutions. However, these studies are limited by the lack of robust and automated data processing methods which result in limited data coverage or error-prone analysis results. To address this issue, we identify revealing inter-frame dense correspondence as the core challenge towards conducting reliable and consistent analysis of the 4D scanning data. We proposed a fully-automatic approach named Ulta-dense Motion Capture (UdMC) using Thin-plate Spline (TPS) to augment the sparse landmarks recorded via motion capture (MoCap) as initial dense correspondence and then rectified it with a sophisticated post-alignment scheme. Two downstream tasks are demonstrated to validate its applicability: virtual landmark tracking and deformation intensity analysis. For evaluation, a dynamic 4D human breast anthropometric dataset DynaBreastLite was constructed. The results show that our approach can robustly capture the dynamic deformation characteristics of the breast surfaces, significantly outperforms baselines adapted from previous works in terms of accuracy, consistency, and efficiency. For 10 fps dataset, average error of 0.25 cm on control-landmarks and 0.33 cm on non-control (arbitrary) landmarks were achieved, with 17-70 times faster computation time. Evaluation was also carried out on 60 fps and 120 fps datasets, with consistent and large performance gaining being observed. The proposed method may contribute to advancing research in breast anthropometry, biomechanics, and ergonomics by enabling more accurate tracking of the breast surface deformation patterns and dynamic characteristics.

Evaluation of peripheral nerve injury according to the severity of damage using 18F-FDG PET/MRI in a rat Model of sciatic nerve injury

ABSTRACT Objectives We ascertained that the PET scan may be a valuable imaging modality for the noninvasive, objective diagnosis of neuropathic pain caused by peripheral nerve injury through the previous study. This study aimed to assess peripheral nerve damage according to severity using18F-FDG PET/MRI of the rat sciatic nerve. Methods Eighteen rats were divided into three groups: 30-second (G1), 2-minute (G2), and 5-minute (G3) crushing injuries. The severity of nerve damage was measured in the third week after the crushing injury using three methods: the paw withdrawal threshold test (RevWT), standardized uptake values on PET (SUVR), and intensity analysis on immunohistochemistry (IntR). Results There were significant differences between G1 and G3 in both SUVR and IntR (p = 0.012 and 0.029, respectively), and no significant differences in RevWT among the three groups (p = 0.438). There was a significant difference in SUVR (p = 0.012), but no significant difference in IntR between G1 and G2 (p = 0.202). There was no significant difference between G2 and G3 in SUVR and IntR (p = 0.810 and 0.544, respectively). Discussion Although PET did not show results consistent with those of immunohistochemistry in all respects, this study demonstrated that PET uptake tended to increase with severe nerve damage. If this research is supplemented by further experiments, PET/MRI can be used as an effective diagnostic modality.

Uncovering emotional and network dynamics in the speech of patients with chronic low back pain

BackgroundComputational linguistics allows an understanding of language structure and different forms of expression of patients’ perceptions. AimsThe aims of this study were (i) to carry out a descriptive analysis of the discourse of people with chronic low back pain using sentiment analysis (SA) and network analysis; (ii) to verify the correlation between patients’ profiles, pain intensity and disability levels with SA and network analysis; and (iii) to identify clusters in our sample according to language and SA using an unsupervised machine learning technique. MethodsWe performed a secondary analysis of a qualitative study including participants with chronic non-specific low back pain. We used the data related to participants’ feelings when they received the diagnosis. The SA and network analysis were performed using the Valence Aware Dictionary and sEntiment Reasoner, and the Speech Graph, respectively. Clustering was performed using the K-means algorithm. ResultsIn the SA, the mean composite score was −0.31 (Sd. = 0.58). Most participants presented a negative discourse (n = 41; 72%). Word Count (WC) and Largest Strongly connected Component (LSC) positively correlated with education. No statistically significant correlations were observed between pain intensity, disability levels, SA, and network analysis. Two clusters were identified in our sample. ConclusionThe SA showed that participants reported their feeling when describing the moment of the diagnosis using sentences with negative discourse. We did not find a statistically significant correlation between pain intensity, disability levels, SA, and network analysis. Education level presented positive correlation with WC and LSC.

Three-dimensional distribution of individual atoms in the channels of beryl

AbstractSingle atom detection in nanoporous materials is a significant challenge, particularly due to their sensitivity to electron irradiation. Here, natural beryl (Be3Al2Si6O18) is used as a model system to quantitatively analyse the occupancy of its atomic channels. High-angle annular dark-field imaging in a scanning transmission electron microscope is employed, revealing the presence of Cs atoms within the channels. Through statistical analysis of atomic column intensities and comparison with a series of multislice simulations, we successfully pinpoint the three-dimensional positions of individual Cs atoms. Our findings indicate a non-uniform distribution of Cs atoms in the crystal. Importantly, by extracting both the crystal thickness and atomic positions from a single high-resolution micrograph, we effectively minimize the adverse effects of beam damage. This approach offers a promising pathway for accurately determining the three-dimensional distribution of dopant atoms in various porous materials, opening new possibilities for the study and application of these technologically important materials.

Atazanavir/Ritonavir Increased Tizoxanide Exposure from Oral Nitazoxanide through Pharmacokinetic Interaction in Healthy Volunteers

Nitazoxanide use is limited by gastrointestinal side effects associated with increasing dose. In this drug repurposing study, we investigated the possibility of enhancing the exposure of its active metabolite, tizoxanide, through pharmacokinetic interaction with atazanavir/ritonavir. In this crossover drug–drug interaction study, 18 healthy participants received a single dose of 1000 mg of nitazoxanide alone and in combination with 300/100 mg atazanavir/ritonavir in period 1 and 2 respectively. On both days, blood samples for intensive pharmacokinetic analyses were collected at 0–12 h post-dose. To explore the utility of dried blood spots (DBS) as an alternative to plasma for tizoxanide quantification, 50 µL of blood from some participants was spotted on DBS cards and correlated with plasma concentrations. Pharmacokinetic parameters were derived by non-compartmental analysis and compared between both periods. Co-administration of nitazoxanide with atazanavir/ritonavir resulted in a significant increase in tizoxanide plasma exposure [GMR (90% CI) of AUC0–12h, Cmax and C12h being 1.872 (1.870–1.875), 2.029 (1.99–2.07) and 3.14 (2.268–4.352), respectively]. DBS concentration (%CV) was 46.3% (5.6%) lower than plasma concentrations, and there was strong correlation (R = 0.95, p < 0.001) between DBS-derived plasma concentration and plasma concentrations. Co-administration with atazanavir/ritonavir enhanced tizoxanide exposure with no report of adverse events in healthy volunteers.

Land use land cover change intensity analysis for sustainable natural resources management: The case of northwestern highlands of Ethiopia

Various studies conducted in the northwestern highlands of Ethiopia from 2001 to 2020 indicated two contrasting directions of change in land use land cover. One direction is the expansion of farmlands at the expense of the natural vegetation, and the other direction is expansion of plantation forest on farm and grazing lands. But, the net effect of land use land cover change is not as such clear. A clear understudying of such dynamics in land use land cover and the net effect of the change helps design effective land use planning policy, which enhances sustainable natural resources management. Accordingly, the study analyzed intensity of land use land cover change for three-time periods (1990–2000; 2000–2010 and 2010–2020). The findings of this study can be applicable to different parts of the globe where two contrasting directions of change in land use land cover exist. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods, which were specifically applied through carrying out step-by-step: satellite image acquisition, preprocessing, classification, accuracy assessment, and intensity analysis. Result of the analysis indicated that land use land cover change over the three intervals showed considerable variation where intensity was consistently increasing from the first (1990–2000) interval to the subsequent (2000–2010) interval, and it was fast (8.24%) during the third interval (2010–2020). The analysis also indicated considerably high transition from bare land to grazing land and bush land during the third interval, especially on areas where the community practiced controlled management of grazing lands (zero grazing) and protection of bush lands. From the total bare land cover in 2010, 21% converted to grazing land and 17% converted to bush land. LULC transition from bush land to cultivated land was rising due to encroachment of bush lands by farming. Transition from bush land to cultivated land increased by 4%, 16% and 50% in the period 1990–2000, 2000–2010, and 2010–2020, respectively. On the other hand, transition from cultivated land to forest land was considerably high during the third interval. From the total cultivated land cover in 2010, 25% converted to forest land, where the change is mainly associated to the introduction of woodlot plantation on individual farmland holdings. In general, the finding suggests that controlled management of grazing lands; comparing environmental and economic benefits of quarry/stone extraction sites; and plantation of economically viable and environmentally sound tree species are key policy issues which needs due attention in land use planning and management practices.

Agroecology-based land use/land cover change detection, prediction and its implications for land degradation: A case study in the Upper Blue Nile Basin

This study examined land use/land cover (LULC) changes in Chemoga watershed of the Upper Blue Nile Basin, comprising four distinct agroecological regions: Wet Wurch, Moist Dega, Moist Weyna Dega, and Moist Kolla. We used multi-temporal Landsat images from 1985 to 2020, a hybrid classification method and the Cellular Automata-Markov model to analyze historical and predict future (2020–2060) LULC changes under business-as-usual (BAU) and land conservation (LC) scenarios. Magnitudes and patterns of spaciotemporal LULC changes were analyzed using intensity analysis. Cropland expanded across all agroecologies from 1985 to 2020, with Moist Kolla experiencing the highest increase at the expense of woodland, due the introduction of commercial farming to this hotter, less populated and inaccessible area. Moist Dega exhibited the highest allocation changes within cropland and forest, attributable to farmers’ adoption of rotational land use to rehabilitate extensively degraded cultivated lands. Under the BAU scenario, projections suggest further cropland expansion at expense of woodland in Moist Kolla and built-up areas at the expense of cropland and grassland in Moist Dega. Under the LC scenario, forest cover is expected to increase at the expense of cropland across all agroecologies. The historical and projected BAU LULC change scenario substantially increased soil erosion and reduced ecosystem services. These effects can be minimized if LC scenario is properly implemented. The agroecology-based LULC intensity analysis reveals local drivers of change and associated impacts, providing vital insights for targeted land use planning in this study watershed and other watersheds facing similar challenges.

Assessing the efficacy of target adaptive sampling long-read sequencing through hereditary cancer patient genomes

Innovations in sequencing technology have led to the discovery of novel mutations that cause inherited diseases. However, many patients with suspected genetic diseases remain undiagnosed. Long-read sequencing technologies are expected to significantly improve the diagnostic rate by overcoming the limitations of short-read sequencing. In addition, Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) offers adaptive sampling and computationally driven target enrichment technology. This enables more affordable intensive analysis of target gene regions compared to standard non-selective long-read sequencing. In this study, we developed an efficient computational workflow for target adaptive sampling long-read sequencing (TAS-LRS) and evaluated it through application to 33 genomes collected from suspected hereditary cancer patients. Our workflow can identify single nucleotide variants with nearly the same accuracy as the short-read platform and elucidate complex forms of structural variations. We also newly identified several SINE-R/VNTR/Alu (SVA) elements affecting the APC gene in two patients with familial adenomatous polyposis, as well as their sites of origin. In addition, we demonstrated that off-target reads from adaptive sampling, which is typically discarded, can be effectively used to accurately genotype common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the entire genome, enabling the calculation of a polygenic risk score. Furthermore, we identified allele-specific MLH1 promoter hypermethylation in a Lynch syndrome patient. In summary, our workflow with TAS-LRS can simultaneously capture monogenic risk variants including complex structural variations, polygenic background as well as epigenetic alterations, and will be an efficient platform for genetic disease research and diagnosis.

Quantitative Assessment of Sourness Intensity in purpleback squid (Symlectoteuthis oualaniensis) from Indian Ocean based on PCA and MVDA models

The occurrence of sour taste with off-flavor in Symlectoteuthis oualaniensis during storage and transportation is a common issue. This current study aimed to quantitatively identify the intensity of sour taste in freeze-stored S. oualaniensis by employing partial least squares regression (PLSR) and Bayesian discriminant model for the relationship between chemically analyzed sourness-related substances and sour taste perception. Principal component analysis was used to classify all tested S. oualaniensis into three groups, accounting for over 90% of the overall variance. It was found that opines, specifically β-alanopine, tauropine, and meso-alanopine, were the main contributors to the sour taste of S. oualaniensis. Discriminant models were successfully developed for the quantification of sour taste with the explanation of 85.0%−103% to the sour taste in squid. The recognition accuracies of self and cross validation results were 100% and 81.0%, respectively. The overall recognition accuracy of the training sample set was 83.3%. These findings suggest that the discriminant approach, combining principal component analysis and multivariate discriminant analysis, can serve as a valuable tool for both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the sour taste intensity in S. oualaniensis from Indian Ocean.

SEISMICITY AND CRUSTAL SEISMOTECTONIC DEFORMATIONS OF THE ANATOLIAN PLATE (TURKEY)

The paper deals with the study of seismicity and the crustal stress-strain state of Turkey whose tectonics is caused by relative movements of the African, Aegean, Arabian, Anatolian, Black Sea and Eurasian plates. Seismotectonic deformations (STD) were calculated using the approaches proposed by Yu.V. Riznichenko and S.L. Yunga. The distribution of seismicity, average annual STD rate (STD intensity), seismogenic rupture concentration parameter and the Tsallis parameter was plotted from the earthquake catalog data analysis (more than 300000 events for 1900–2022). The representative part includes the events with М≥2.5. The distribution of the above-mentioned parameters was calculated for a 0–40 km layer wherein most of the earthquakes are located. Deep-focus earthquakes occur at a depth to 170 km. The maximum annual number of earthquakes (more than 90) was recorded in Balikesir Province. Seismicity and STD intensity analysis was made on the periods of 1997–2009 and 2010–2022 for the western and eastern parts of Turkey and for the destructive February 6, 2023 earthquake area. The number of earthquakes recorded in the western part of Turkey (75 %) largely exceeds that recorded in the eastern part (25 %). In the period 2010–2022, there was an increase in the number of earthquakes in the eastern part of Turkey relative to the period 1997–2009, which made up 38 % of the total number of earthquakes. The studies of STD direction are based on the earthquake focal mechanism data (807 events for 1976–2023). STD intensity in the February 6, 2023 earthquake area, with regard to the February 6, 2023 earthquakes, is 1.34⋅10–6 year–1, and the background intensity for the entire period of observation (1900–2022) is –10–10 year–1. The STD maps show the diversity of deformation settings in the study area. Turkey is largely dominated by the horizontal shear mode (eastern and central parts). The extension mode manifests itself in the southwestern part. The western part of Turkey and the southern part of the East Anatolian fault zone are characterized by transtension mode. The Lake Van area is characterized by transpression mode. The shortening axis direction changes from sublatitudinal in the west of Turkey to submeridional in the east. STD tensors served as a base for plotting the distributions of the Lode – Nadai coefficient με and the vertical component. Based on the seismic and GNSS data, a comparison was made between the shortening and elongation axes directions.

Early bronchoscopy in severe pneumonia patients in intensive care unit: insights from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-IV database analysis.

Pneumonia frequently leads to intensive care unit (ICU) admission and is associated with a high mortality risk. This study aimed to assess the impact of early bronchoscopy administered within 3 days of ICU admission on mortality in patients with pneumonia using the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-IV (MIMIC-IV) database. A single-center retrospective analysis was conducted using the MIMIC-IV data from 2008 to 2019. Adult ICU-admitted patients diagnosed with pneumonia were included in this study. The patients were stratified into two cohorts based on whether they underwent early bronchoscopy. The primary outcome was the 28-day mortality rate. Propensity score matching was used to balance confounding variables. In total, 8,916 patients with pneumonia were included in the analysis. Among them, 783 patients underwent early bronchoscopy within 3 days of ICU admission, whereas 8,133 patients did not undergo early bronchoscopy. The primary outcome of the 28-day mortality between two groups had no significant difference even after propensity matched cohorts (22.7% vs. 24.0%, P=0.589). Patients undergoing early bronchoscopy had prolonged ICU (P<0.001) and hospital stays (P<0.001) and were less likely to be discharged to home (P<0.001). Early bronchoscopy in severe pneumonia patients in the ICU did not reduce mortality but was associated with longer hospital stays, suggesting it was used in more severe cases. Therefore, when considering bronchoscopy for these patients, it's important to tailor the decision to each individual case, thoughtfully balancing the possible advantages with the related risks.

The charm of entwining two major competitors CZTS & CH3NH3SnI3 to feasibly explore photovoltaic world beyond Shockley–Queisser limit

Many studies have reported CH3NH3SnI3-based solar cell having CZTS as hole transporter. In this paper, we have presented for the first time, an intensive analysis on CZTS-based solar cell device performance which has CH3NH3SnI3 as hole transporter. The proposed solar cell configuration is CH3NH3SnI3/CZTS/CdS/ZnO/AZO. The device optimization is performed in terms of layer thickness, carrier concentration, defect density, electron affinity, series resistance and shunt resistance. During optimization process, analysis of evolution in band structure, electric field, recombination rate and generation rate is utilized to provide proper explanation of device behavior. Finally, device is shown to perform very efficiently and reach highest efficiency value of 37.12 %. This sets up a new record in the history of theoretical development of CZTS-based solar cells. Moreover, it can be noted that the proposed experimentally-achievable solar cell has the potential to exceed the Shockley–Queisser limit for single-junction CZTS solar cells (32.1 %). The choice of CH3NH3SnI3 as an HTL in CZTS-based solar cell significantly enhances the electric field generation and substantially suppresses the recombination rate. Furthermore, the grace of series resistance optimization is discovered to lead to a very highly efficient device that performs beyond Shockley–Queisser limit.

A comparison of next-generation turbulence profiling instruments at Paranal

ABSTRACT A six-night optical turbulence monitoring campaign has been carried at Cerro Paranal observatory in 2023 February and March to facilitate the development and characterization of two novel atmospheric site monitoring instruments – the ring-image next-generation scintillation sensor (RINGSS) and 24-h Shack Hartmann image motion monitor (24hSHIMM) in the context of providing optical turbulence monitoring support for upcoming 20–40 m telescopes. Alongside these two instruments, the well-characterized Stereo-SCIDAR and 2016-MASS-DIMM were operated throughout the campaign to provide data for comparison. All instruments obtain estimates of optical turbulence profiles through statistical analysis of intensity and wavefront angle-of-arrival fluctuations from observations of stars. Contemporaneous measurements of the integrated turbulence parameters are compared and the ratios, bias, unbiased root mean square error, and correlation of results from each instrument assessed. Strong agreement was observed in measurements of seeing, free atmosphere seeing, and coherence time. Less correlation is seen for isoplanatic angle, although the median values agree well. Median turbulence parameters are further compared against long-term monitoring data from Paranal instruments. Profiles from the three small-telescope instruments are compared with the 100-layer profile from the stereo-SCIDAR. It is found that the RINGSS and SHIMM offer improved accuracy in characterization of the vertical optical turbulence profile over the MASS-DIMM. Finally, the first results of continuous optical turbulence monitoring at Paranal are presented which show a strong diurnal variation and predictable trend in the seeing. A value of 2.65 arcsec is found for the median daytime seeing.