We present a study on the electronic properties of grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 (CIGSe) thin films by means of Kelvin probe force microscopy. As grown as well as KCN-treated films were investigated comparatively. No influence of the chemical treatment on the electronic properties of GBs was found. GBs generally exhibited large variations in their electronic properties. B

We investigated a 3.75-m-long lacustrine sediment record from Lake Äntu Sinijärv, northern Estonia, which has a modeled basal age >12,800 cal yr BP. Our multi-proxy approach focused on the stable oxygen isotope composition (δ18O) of freshwater tufa. Our new palaeoclimate information for the Eastern Baltic region, based on high-resolution δ18O data (219 samples), is supported by pollen and plant ma

Objectives. To explore whether aspects of housing and health among very old people with self-reported Parkinson's disease (PD) differ from matched controls. Methods. Data from the ENABLE-AGE Survey Study were used to identify people with self-reported PD (n = 20) and three matched controls/individual (n = 60). The matching criteria were age (mean = 82 years), sex, country, and type of housing. The

Selection is assumed to eliminate life-histories showing high variability in vital rates that have the greatest influence on population performance. Therefore, an inverse variability-importance relationship of vital rates is believed to be a universal pattern for diverse life-histories. We tested for such a relationship using multi-year demographic data on a large number of populations of two pere

The present review examines the evidence regarding the effect of β-glucan on variables linked to the metabolic syndrome (MetS), including appetite control, glucose control, hypertension, and gut microbiota composition. Appetite control can indirectly influence MetS by inducing a decreased energy intake, and promising results for a β-glucan intake to decrease appetite have been found using gut horm

Background: Propionibacterium acnes is a Gram positive rod inhabiting the human skin that also infects orthopaedic implants and is associated with acne vulgaris. Previously, one lytic bacteriophage, PA6, from P. acnes has been sequenced and partially characterized. We recently isolated several inducible phages from P. acnes classified as Siphoviruses based on morphology and partial genome sequenci

Abstract in UndeterminedUzbekistan, after gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, had publicly declared that it would adhere to democratic governance principles in designing and implementing its public administration policies. As a newly-independent state with democracy claims, Uzbekistan had tried to establish new democratic institutions with an effort to capture international communi

The formation and microstructure of a novel microemulsion based on a salt-free catanionic surfactant have been examined by considering the hexadecyltrimethylammonium octylsulfonate (TASo)-decane-D(2)O system and using small-angle neutron scattering and self-diffusion NMR. With focus on the emulsification failure boundary, o/w discrete droplets have been observed and characterized for all of the st

A simulation scheme based on nonequilibrium Green's functions for biased periodic semiconductor heterostructure devices is presented in detail. The implementation can determine current and optical gain both for small and large optical fields. Specific results for superlattices, quantum cascade lasers, and quantum cascade detectors are shown which demonstrate the capabilities of the approach.

The silver flat field spectrometer (SFFS) is a high-resolution grazing-incidence diagnostic for magnetically confined plasmas. It covers the wavelength range of 25-450 A with a resolution of Delta lambda=0.3 A full width at half maximum. The SFFS employs a spherical 1200 lines/mm grating for flat-field focusing. The imaging is done using a backilluminated Photometrics charge-coupled device camera

GaMnAs layers on (0 0 1)-oriented GaAs substrates were grown by the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method. Structural properties of samples processed at up to 920 K under hydrostatic Ar pressure up to 1.1 GPa were investigated by X-ray, secondary ion mass spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy methods. The sign of strain (compressive or tensile) of the GaMnAs layers, related to a creation of MnAs

Evangelical revivalism attracted large numbers of young adherents in early 20th-century Sweden. In this article we discuss what happened when Christian youth societies for men and women merged into mixed societies. The decline of the ideal of the single-sex youth society meant that a decidedly female form of religious organization disappeared. We argue, however, that the change also entailed cauti

The function of cultured mast cells may depend on genetic or environmental influence on the stem cell donor. This study investigates whether asthma or atopy in the donor influenced the growth and sensitivity of mast cells cultured from patients with asthma and healthy controls under identical conditions. Mast cells were cultured from peripheral blood from twelve patients with an objectively confir

We examined small mammals as hosts for Anaplasmataceae in southern Sweden. Of 771 rodents, 68 (8.8%) were infected by Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis, but no other Anaplasmataceae were found. Candidatus N. mikurensis has recently been found in human patients in Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden, which suggests that this could be an emerging pathogen in Europe.

Background: Evidence has accumulated which suggests that sex steroids influence colorectal cancer development and progression. We therefore assessed the association of repeat polymorphisms in the estrogen receptor beta gene (ESR2) and the androgen receptor gene (AR) with colorectal cancer risk and prognosis. Methods: The ESR2 CA and AR CAG repeat polymorphisms were genotyped in 1798 cases (746 fem

Adelsliv i Finland under sent 1700-tal och tidigt 1800-tal, i kretsen kring Sophie Creutz.

The role of not-for-profit organizations (NPOs) and their relationships with various partners within humanitarian aid networks have hitherto been researched only to a limited extent. Formation of interdependencies between actors in humanitarian networks and the implications on societal outcomes require more research. In the nonprofit – for profit domain the former organizations are usually seen as