Third-generation Technologies Research Articles

Comparison of next generation technologies and bioinformatics pipelines for capsular typing of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Whole genome sequencing (WGS)-based approaches for pneumococcal capsular typing have become an alternative to serological methods. In silico serotyping from WGS has not yet been applied to long-read sequences produced by third-generation technologies. The objective of the study was to determine the capsular types of pneumococci causing invasive disease in Catalonia (Spain) using serological typing and WGS and to compare the performance of different bioinformatics pipelines using short- and long-read data from WGS. All invasive pneumococcal pediatric isolates collected in Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (Barcelona) from 2013 to 2019 were included. Isolates were assigned a capsular type by serological testing based on anticapsular antisera and by different WGS-based pipelines: Illumina sequencing followed by serotyping with PneumoCaT, SeroBA, and Pathogenwatch vs MinION-ONT sequencing coupled with serotyping by Pathogenwatch from pneumococcal assembled genomes. A total of 119 out of 121 pneumococcal isolates were available for sequencing. Twenty-nine different serotypes were identified by serological typing, with 24F (n = 17; 14.3%), 14 (n = 10; 8.4%), and 15B/C (n = 8; 6.7%) being the most common serotypes. WGS-based pipelines showed initial concordance with serological typing (>91% of accuracy). The main discrepant results were found at the serotype level within a serogroup: 6A/B, 6C/D, 9A/V, 11A/D, and 18B/C. Only one discrepancy at the serogroup level was observed: serotype 29 by serological testing and serotype 35B/D by all WGS-based pipelines. Thus, bioinformatics WGS-based pipelines, including those using third-generation sequencing, are useful for pneumococcal capsular assignment. Possible discrepancies between serological typing and WGS-based approaches should be considered in pneumococcal capsular-type surveillance studies.

PV Technologies: A Comparative Study of Dye-Sensitized, Organic, and Perovskite Solar Cells

The imminent depletion of conventional energy sources has motivated the advancement of renewable energy technologies. Third-generation photovoltaic technologies, such as dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), organic solar cells (OSCs), and perovskite solar cells (PSCs), are being developed as alternatives to silicon solar cells. These technologies have not yet reached the maturity required for large-scale commercialization. More research is required in order to improve the efficiency of these solar cells, while keeping their production costs to a minimum. In this study, a comparative assessment of Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), Organic solar cells (OSCs), and Perovskite solar cells (PSCs), is conducted. The comparative advantages and limitations of each of these photovoltaic technologies are assessed in terms of device efficiency, durability, fabrication, and performance and find the which solar cell is best among these three.

A Comprehensive Review on Third-Generation Photovoltaic Technologies

The renewable energy industry has revolutionized due to photovoltaic (PV) technologies, which offer a clean and sustainable alternative to conventional energy sources. Third-generation photovoltaic technologies refer to a group of emerging PV technologies aiming to surpass the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of traditional silicon-based solar cells. Different ceramic materials have also been investigated for use in these advanced PV technologies. This review examines the science, current state, and advancements of third-generation PV systems for wide-scale implementation. The first section of this study provides an overview of the development of PV technologies from the first to the third generation, highlighting the most significant novel developments made at each step. Organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), and perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are discussed here as a few new technologies that constitute the third generation, also known as the next generation of advanced PV. This review presents how these devices can be used in specialized settings, including indoor and low-light environments, thereby expanding the range of energy harvesting potential. The brief history of these emerging technologies, their current status, future developments, and key challenges are discussed in this review paper.

A Review of Third Generation Solar Cells

Third-generation solar cells are designed to achieve high power-conversion efficiency while being low-cost to produce. These solar cells have the ability to surpass the Shockley–Queisser limit. This review focuses on different types of third-generation solar cells such as dye-sensitized solar cells, Perovskite-based cells, organic photovoltaics, quantum dot solar cells, and tandem solar cells, a stacked form of different materials utilizing a maximum solar spectrum to achieve high power conversion efficiency. Apart from these solar cells, other third-generation technologies are also discussed, including up-conversion, down-conversion, hot-carrier, and multiple exciton. This review provides an overview of the previous work in the field, alongside an introduction to the technologies, including their working principles and components. Advancements made in the different components and improvements in performance parameters such as the fill factor, open circuit voltage, conversion efficiency, and short-circuit current density are discussed. We also highlight the hurdles preventing these technologies from reaching commercialization.

Top sensitizers for highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) still survive as one of the promising low-cost photovoltaic third-generation technologies, addressing ‘secure, clean and efficient solar energy conversion’. Here we present and compare some recent state-of-the-art progress on the exploitation of the best artificial dyes for application in DSSCs. Furthermore, we provide an extensive discussion on the main limitations in the use of these dyes, outlining future developments for their use in bifacial employment exploring their frontal and back irradiation. We report also how to take advantage of the Albedo effect to boost power conversion efficiency. Finally, we present our view on the future prospective in the development of advanced materials for better DSSCs.

A Novel Cooperative Relaying-Based Vertical Handover Technique for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The real-time monitoring and autonomous decision making through unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are the potential applications of future networks. Vertical handover in future networks is a mechanism to switch communication between different network access technologies like Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Worldwide Interoperability for Wireless Microwave Access (WiMAX), Third-Generation (3G), Fourth-Generation (4G), and Fifth-Generation (5G) mobile technologies. These technologies have significant importance in providing fast, reliable, and timely communication. However, during a vertical handover, an inadequate delay and packet loss can cause considerable disruption in maintaining communication sessions and results in intolerable end-to-end delay, disconnectivity, and poor packet delivery ratio. The proposed work addresses the vertical handover method in UAVs communication by designing a relay-based vertical handover technique. The relay UAVs is an assistant node, requiring an organized and intelligent deployment that assists in vertical handover and communication by minimizing the average packet loss and average delay from source to destination. Moreover, a multicriteria handover parameter triggering is used for seamless and more extended network coverage. Extensive simulations using S-shaped and U-shaped trajectories are designed and simulated for relay-based vertical handover performance evaluation. The results obtained show that our proposed relay-based handover method offers seamless connectivity and high-performance experienced during the vertical handover process. The extensive comparison with state-of-the-art techniques proves that the proposed method is better in terms of 18% handover success rate, 21% end-to-end delay, and 29% packet loss.

MinimapR: A parallel alignment tool for the analysis of large-scale third-generation sequencing data

The development of third-generation sequencing technology has brought significant changes and influences on genomics. Compared to the second-generation sequencing methods, the third-generation technologies produce around 100 times longer reads to reveal new genomic variations that complete long-term gaps in the human reference genome. However, these reads' excessive length and high error rate severely increase the amount of data and alignment cost. The traditional data analysis platform and serial sequence alignment method can not effectively deal with large-scale long read alignment. There is a critical need for a novel data analysis platform that can deliver fast alignment of large-scale sequences to solve the problem of long read alignment. High-performance computing platforms and efficient, scalable algorithms based on these platforms have significant potential to impact sequence analysis approaches. This paper presented minimapR, a multi-level parallel long-read alignment tool based on minimap2, a popular third-generation read aligner. MinimapR is developed based on the new high-performance distributed framework Ray. Ray fully integrates with the Python environment and can be easily installed with pip. MinimapR can utilize the power of multiple computing nodes, significantly accelerating alignment speeds without sacrificing sensitivity. The minimapR tool was tested on 64 nodes and demonstrated a 50 fold increase in speed with 78 % parallel efficiency. The source code and user manual of minimapR are freely available at https://github.com/Geehome/minimapR.

Manipulating Insect Sex Determination Pathways for Genetic Pest Management: Opportunities and Challenges.

Sex determination pathways in insects are generally characterised by an upstream primary signal, which is highly variable across species, and that regulates the splicing of a suite of downstream but highly-conserved genes (transformer, doublesex and fruitless). In turn, these downstream genes then regulate the expression of sex-specific characteristics in males and females. Identification of sex determination pathways has and continues to be, a critical component of insect population suppression technologies. For example, “first-generation” transgenic technologies such as fsRIDL (Female-Specific Release of Insects carrying Dominant Lethals) enabled efficient selective removal of females from a target population as a significant improvement on the sterile insect technique (SIT). Second-generation technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9 homing gene drives and precision-guided SIT (pgSIT) have used gene editing technologies to manipulate sex determination genes in vivo. The development of future, third-generation control technologies, such as Y-linked drives, (female to male) sex-reversal, or X-shredding, will require additional knowledge of aspects of sexual development, including a deeper understanding of the nature of primary signals and dosage compensation. This review shows how knowledge of sex determination in target pest species is fundamental to all phases of the development of control technologies.

Perspectives of New Alternative Materials to Silicon for the Production of Photovoltaic Solar Cells

Much has been studied about solar energy as a renewable energy, as it can be transformed in electricity by means of solar panels. Innovation is very important when it comes to photovoltaic technologies, because the advantages of these technologies are low installation and maintenance costs and no environmental impact during operation. The market of photovoltaic products is dominated by the silicon technology, but new second- and third-generation cell technologies have been developed. This research shows that the Perovskite solar and the Multijunction solar cells have the potential to achieve maximum power conversion efficiency and minimum production costs in the near future. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC), Organic photovoltaics (OPV), Quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSC), Single-junction solar cells, and the Heterojunction solar cells will achieve such potential in a more distant future, because limitations imposed by efficiency and costs must be overcome. Having these parameters in mind, the overall objective of this research is to analyze the materials of strategic potential to compete with silicon in the composition of the photovoltaic solar cells. A Systematic Literature Review helped retrieve 112 papers that report the most researched materials from 2014 to 2018. It is concluded that despite good results have been obtained from many of such studies, some alternative materials to silicon are still not technologically acceptable in terms of efficiency. It is expected that the use of a better distributed and cheaper solar energy technology will be possible in the near future.

A Novel “回” Pane Structure Multiband Microstrip Antenna for 2G/3G/4G/5G/WLAN/Navigation Applications

This work proposes a novel multiband slotted planar antenna with a “回” structure, which is similar to an ancient Chinese window grille structure. The antenna is suitable for wireless applications, including the second-generation (2G), third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), and fifth-generation (5G) technologies, as well as WLAN and navigation applications. The proposed antenna is based on the structural characteristics of a conventional monopole antenna, which combines the advantages of a slit structure and microstrip line structure for feeding. It adopts a circular patch with a slit structure placed in it, which is similar to the Chinese classical pane structure. This structure enables an effective reduction of the size of the antenna. The four-sided “回” gaps change the path of current flow and are coupled to each other, improving the impedance matching and radiation characteristics of the entire target frequency band. The antenna covers the frequency ranges of 1.58–1.77 GHz (12%), 2.1–2.50 GHz (17%), 3.61–4.09 GHz (12%), and 4.75–6.5 GHz (36%), permitting more than 10 wireless applications in these 4 frequency bands. This antenna uses an FR-4 dielectric material; the relative dielectric constant of the dielectric plate is 4.4, and the actual dimensions of the antenna are 85 × 70 × 1.6 mm³. The test and simulation results are in good agreement with each other, thus confirming that the proposed design method meets the requirements of various wireless applications.

Current Status of Emerging PV Technologies: A Comparative Study of Dye-Sensitized, Organic, and Perovskite Solar Cells

The imminent depletion of conventional energy sources has motivated the advancement of renewable energy technologies. Third-generation photovoltaic technologies, such as dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), organic solar cells (OSCs), and perovskite solar cells (PSCs), are being developed as alternatives to silicon solar cells. In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the market development of these emerging photovoltaic technologies, especially for sustainable solar energy applications. However, these technologies have not yet reached the maturity required for large-scale commercialization. Further research is required in order to improve the efficiency and stability of these devices, while keeping their production costs to a minimum. In this study, a comparative assessment of DSSCs, OSCs, and PSCs is conducted and the current state of the art of these promising technologies is investigated. Advanced techniques and research trends are examined from the perspective of novel materials, device modelling, and innovative device structures. The comparative advantages and limitations of each of these photovoltaic technologies are assessed in terms of device efficiency, durability, ease of fabrication, and performance-price ratio. Emphasis is placed on assessing the potential of these solar cell technologies for sustainable solar energy applications. Finally, the future outlook of these technologies is featured, and avenues for progress beyond the state of the art are explored.

Next-generation sequencing technologies: An overview

Since the days of Sanger sequencing, next-generation sequencing technologies have significantly evolved to provide increased data output, efficiencies, and applications. These next generations of technologies can be categorized based on read length. This review provides an overview of these technologies as two paradigms: short-read, or “second-generation,” technologies, and long-read, or “third-generation,” technologies. Herein, short-read sequencing approaches are represented by the most prevalent technologies, Illumina and Ion Torrent, and long-read sequencing approaches are represented by Pacific Biosciences and Oxford Nanopore technologies. All technologies are reviewed along with reported advantages and disadvantages. Until recently, short-read sequencing was thought to provide high accuracy limited by read-length, while long-read technologies afforded much longer read-lengths at the expense of accuracy. Emerging developments for third-generation technologies hold promise for the next wave of sequencing evolution, with the co-existence of longer read lengths and high accuracy.

Research Progress on the Application of Lanthanide-Ion-Doped Phosphor Materials in Perovskite Solar Cells

Perovskite solar cells (PVSCs) are the most promising candidates in third-generation photovoltaic technologies with a certified efficiency of 25.2% within the past decades. They attract increasing ...

Indoor/outdoor light-harvesting by coupling low-cost organic solar cell with a luminescent solar concentrator

The use of luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) is considered a promising solution for harvesting indoor and outdoor light energy. Despite a multitude of investigations of LSC based photovoltaic (PV) systems, few reports are available on LSCs for emerging PVs, such as third-generation PV technologies. To fill this gap, we develop a novel LSC based PV device by coupling an LSC with a low-cost organic solar cell. The LSC is fabricated by employing different concentrations of organic luminophores, while a polymer/fullerene-based photoactive layer is prepared for the organic PV (OPV) device. With proper spectral matching, our champion LSC-OPV device exhibits optical efficiency (ηopt) and power conversion efficiency (ηPCE) of 6.10% and 0.51% under light-emitting diode (LED) illumination, respectively. Further, performance evaluation under 1sun illumination implies the ηopt and ηPCE of 8.5% and 0.17%. We also perform the color analysis of LSC-OPV devices which shows that such devices are aesthetically feasible for use in indoor and outdoor conditions. Thus, this study highlights the substantial opportunity for the rational design of hybrid LSC-PV systems where third-generation PVs are viable prospects.

Oxford Nanopore sequencing: new opportunities for plant genomics?

DNA sequencing was dominated by Sanger's chain termination method until the mid-2000s, when it was progressively supplanted by new sequencing technologies that can generate much larger quantities of data in a shorter time. At the forefront of these developments, long-read sequencing technologies (third-generation sequencing) can produce reads that are several kilobases in length. This greatly improves the accuracy of genome assemblies by spanning the highly repetitive segments that cause difficulty for second-generation short-read technologies. Third-generation sequencing is especially appealing for plant genomes, which can be extremely large with long stretches of highly repetitive DNA. Until recently, the low basecalling accuracy of third-generation technologies meant that accurate genome assembly required expensive, high-coverage sequencing followed by computational analysis to correct for errors. However, today's long-read technologies are more accurate and less expensive, making them the method of choice for the assembly of complex genomes. Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT), a third-generation platform for the sequencing of native DNA strands, is particularly suitable for the generation of high-quality assemblies of highly repetitive plant genomes. Here we discuss the benefits of ONT, especially for the plant science community, and describe the issues that remain to be addressed when using ONT for plant genome sequencing.

Reference Grade Characterization of Polymorphisms in Full-Length HLA Class I and II Genes With Short-Read Sequencing on the ION PGM System and Long-Reads Generated by Single Molecule, Real-Time Sequencing on the PacBio Platform.

Although NGS technologies fuel advances in high-throughput HLA genotyping methods for identification and classification of HLA genes to assist with precision medicine efforts in disease and transplantation, the efficiency of these methods are impeded by the absence of adequately-characterized high-frequency HLA allele reference sequence databases for the highly polymorphic HLA gene system. Here, we report on producing a comprehensive collection of full-length HLA allele sequences for eight classical HLA loci found in the Japanese population. We augmented the second-generation short read data generated by the Ion Torrent technology with long amplicon spanning consensus reads delivered by the third-generation SMRT sequencing method to create reference grade high-quality sequences of HLA class I and II gene alleles resolved at the genomic coding and non-coding level. Forty-six DNAs were obtained from a reference set used previously to establish the HLA allele frequency data in Japanese subjects. The samples included alleles with a collective allele frequency in the Japanese population of more than 99.2%. The HLA loci were independently amplified by long-range PCR using previously designed HLA-locus specific primers and subsequently sequenced using SMRT and Ion PGM sequencers. The mapped long and short-reads were used to produce a reference library of consensus HLA allelic sequences with the help of the reference-aware software tool LAA for SMRT Sequencing. A total of 253 distinct alleles were determined for 46 healthy subjects. Of them, 137 were novel alleles: 101 SNVs and/or indels and 36 extended alleles at a partial or full-length level. Comparing the HLA sequences from the perspective of nucleotide diversity revealed that HLA-DRB1 was the most divergent among the eight HLA genes, and that the HLA-DPB1 gene sequences diverged into two distinct groups, DP2 and DP5, with evidence of independent polymorphisms generated in exon 2. We also identified two specific intronic variations in HLA-DRB1 that might be involved in rheumatoid arthritis. In conclusion, full-length HLA allele sequencing by third-generation and second-generation technologies has provided polymorphic gene reference sequences at a genomic allelic resolution including allelic variations assigned up to the field-4 level for a stronger foundation in precision medicine and HLA-related disease and transplantation studies.

Zr-doped TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized via a sol–gel route and their application in dye-sensitized solar cells for thermo-stabilization

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are regarded as one of the most promising solar cells amongst third-generation photovoltaic technologies, particularly due to their low cost, easy preparation, and minor environmental impact compared to earlier-generation devices. However, they have been challenged by thermal energy losses and low cell efficiencies. This work examined the incorporation of zirconium (Zr) into the crystal lattice of titania nanoparticles (nTiO2) for subsequent fabrication into the photo anode of the DSSCs. The results showed that Zr doping of nTiO2 inhibited the anatase-rutile phase transition. Higher calcination temperatures gave increased titania crystallinity, and stabilized the nTiO2 aggregate pore structure and specific surface area, consequently improving the DSSC device performance. A doping concentration of 5 mol % Zr into the nTiO2 demonstrated the best resistance against thermal degradation, achieving an optimized retention of specific surface area. Solar simulation confirmed the results, indicating better heat stability, although lowering the DSSC efficiencies.

Applications of Fluorogens with Rotor Structures in Solar Cells.

Solar cells are devices that convert light energy into electricity. To drive greater adoption of solar cell technologies, higher cell efficiencies and reductions in manufacturing cost are necessary. Fluorogens containing rotor structures may be helpful in addressing some of these challenges due to their unique twisted structures and photophysics. In this review, we discuss the applications of rotor-containing molecules as dyes for luminescent down-shifting layers and luminescent solar concentrators, where their aggregation-induced emission properties and large Stokes shifts are highly desirable. We also discuss the applications of molecules containing rotors in third-generation solar cell technologies, namely dye-sensitized solar cells and organic photovoltaics, where the twisted 3-dimensional rotor structures are used primarily for aggregation control. Finally, we discuss perspectives on the future role of molecules containing rotor structures in solar cell technologies.

Contemporary transcatheter aortic valve replacement with third-generation balloon-expandable versus self-expanding devices.

To evaluate balloon-expandable and self-expanding third-generation transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) devices according to patient selection criteria and outcomes. Two competing third-generation TAVR technologies are currently commercially available in the US. There are no published head-to-head comparisons of the relative performance of these two devices. 257 consecutive patients undergoing TAVR with a third-generation balloon-expandable (Edwards Sapien 3) or self-expanding device (Medtronic CoreValve Evolut R) at a single US medical center were included. Choice of TAVR device was at the discretion of the multidisciplinary Heart Team. Baseline clinical characteristics, echocardiographic and CT imaging, procedural and 30-day outcomes were prospectively collected. 74 patients received a self-expanding valve (SEV) and 183 received a balloon-expandable valve (BEV). Patients selected for SEV were more frequently women, with lower body surface area and smaller calcified iliofemoral arteries. Three SEV patients required implantation of a second valve to successfully treat paravalvular leak. Only one BEV patient had moderate paravalvular regurgitation. There was no difference in the rate of stroke, major vascular complication or bleeding. Permanent pacemaker implantation rate was significantly higher with SEV (12.7% vs 4.7%, P = 0.49) and hospital length of stay was longer (8.3% vs 6.5%, P = 0.043), but 30-day mortality was comparable (1.4% vs 1.6%, P = 1.00). Short-term outcomes were equivalent between the two technologies. Clinically significant paravalvular regurgitation was rare. SEV were more frequently selected in women and patients with challenging transfemoral access, but were associated with higher permanent pacemaker implantation rate and longer hospital length of stay.

Analysis of gut microbiota – An ever changing landscape

ABSTRACTIn the last two decades, the field of metagenomics has greatly expanded due to improvement in sequencing technologies allowing for a more comprehensive characterization of microbial communities. The use of these technologies has led to an unprecedented understanding of human, animal, and environmental microbiomes and have shown that the gut microbiota are comparable to an organ that is intrinsically linked with a variety of diseases. Characterization of microbial communities using next-generation sequencing-by-synthesis approaches have revealed important shifts in microbiota associated with debilitating diseases such as Clostridium difficile infection. But due to limitations in sequence read length, primer biases, and the quality of databases, genus- and species-level classification have been difficult. Third-generation technologies, such as Pacific Biosciences' single molecule, real-time (SMRT) approach, allow for unbiased, more specific identification of species that are likely clinically relevant. Comparison of Illumina next-generation characterization and SMRT sequencing of samples from patients treated for C. difficile infection revealed similarities in community composition at the phylum and family levels, but SMRT sequencing further allowed for species-level characterization - permitting a better understanding of the microbial ecology of this disease. Thus, as sequencing technologies continue to advance, new species-level insights can be gained in the study of complex and clinically-relevant microbial communities.