WIP

In immature dendritic cells (DCs) podosomes form and turn over behind the leading edge of migrating cells. The Arp2/3 complex activator Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein (WASP) localises to the actin core of forming podosomes together with WASP-Interacting Protein (WIP). A second weaker Arp2/3 activator, cortactin, is also found at podosomes where it has been proposed to participate in matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) secretion. We have previously shown that WIP−/− DCs are unable to make podosomes. WIP binds to cortactin and in this report we address whether WIP regulates cortactin-mediated MMP activity. Using DCs derived from splenic murine precursors, we found that wild-type cells were able to localise MMPs at podosomes where matrix degradation takes place. In contrast, WIP−/− DCs remain able to synthesise MMPs but do not degrade the extracellular matrix. Infection of WIP KO DCs with lentivirus expressing WIP restored both podosome formation and their ability to degrade the extracellular matrix, implicating WIP-induced podosomes as foci of functional MMP location. When WIP KO DCs were infected with a mutant form of WIP lacking the cortactin-binding domain (WIPΔ110-170) DCs were only able to elaborate disorganised podosomes that were unable to support MMP-mediated matrix degradation. Taken together, these results suggest a role for WIP not only in WASP-mediated actin polymerisation and podosome formation, but also in cortactin-mediated extracellular matrix degradation by MMPs.

The welfare state has been challenged with new social risks in a postindustrial era. The extent of such pressures are evident in child and elderly care, women’s employment, unemployment, trends to an aging population, and migration, among other pressures of change. This literature review illustrates the spectrum of such risks as well as the academic and political discussions, the way in which strategies of welfare state adaptation have been analyzed, as well as possible future directions of reform. Im postindustriellen Zeitalter werden Wohlfahrtsstaaten durch neue soziale Risiken herausgefordert. Das Ausmas dieser neuen Entwicklung wird – neben anderen Formen des Anpassungsdrucks – deutlich im Bereich Kinderund Altenfursorge, Frauenerwerbstatigkeit und Arbeitslosigkeit, der Entwicklung zu einer alternden Bevolkerung und im Bereich Migration. Dieser Literaturreview verdeutlicht die Vielfalt dieser Risiken und die akademischen und politischen Diskurse zu den Anpassungsstrategien und m...

Solar cell technology based on carrier-selective contact layers has been envisaged as a prominent photovoltaic (PV) design for enhancing the efficiency of silicon heterostructure devices. Because of its higher work function, the carrier-selective layer such as Molybdenum oxide (MoOx) assists in pinning the Fermi level at the interface between crystalline silicon (c-Si) and MoOx. This enables easier extraction of charge carriers from the interface for electrical conduction, thus improving the device performance. In this paper, MoOx has been employed as a back surface field layer (BSF) of p-n junction solar cell for efficient separation of photogenerated charge carriers. The correlation of various parameters, such as MoOx work function, its thickness, and c-Si wafer doping concentration to the PV performance of the device has been demonstrated by employing Silvaco TCAD simulation. Comparative analysis has also been drawn to the reference structure based on p-a-Si:H BSF film. The simulated results exhibited an efficiency of 14.7% for MoOx-based device as compared to 13.6% for the reference solar cell. The obtained efficiency of MoOx-based devices can be boosted to ~19% by the inclusion of surface passivation layers.

Si bifacial cells have been used extensively in space [1]. The ability to generate additional energy due to the earth's albedo illuminating the back of the cell made the bifacial cells promising for low earth orbit. Bifacial n-p-p cells were produced by technology based on the combination of thermal P diffusion for n emitter doping and B ion implantation with subsequent annealing for p layer doping [2]. This design and basic elements of the fabrication technology can also have increasing terrestrial applications due to the development of high throughput ion implant tools [3]. p layer doping using ion implantation procedure is a key component of cell fabrication technology. Parameters of this process such as ion dose and annealing conditions (time/temperature, gas atmosphere, cap layers etc.) are of significant interest for optimization of fabrication processing and improvement of solar cell performance. In addition to introducing electrically active doping atoms as well as defec...

A supervisory controller is derived for scheduling (single/multiple-part-type, reentrant) production networks. The supervisory controller is used to tune a set of lower level distributed fuzzy control modules that reduce work-in-process (WIP) and synchronize the production system’s operation. The overall production-control system is viewed as a two-level surplus-based system with the overall control objective to keep the WIP and cycle time as low as possible, while maintaining quality of service by keeping backlog to acceptable levels. The production rate in each production stage is controlled to satisfy demand, avoid overloading, and eliminate machine starvation or blocking. The system’s improvement is demonstrated using a set of performance measures. Extensive simulation results show that the supervisory controller, when compared with the single-level distributed fuzzy controllers reduces WIP and cycle time while keeping backlog to acceptable levels.

The Si-PV industry has to systematically reduce its manufacturing cost in order to reach grid parity for the main markets in the coming decade. Industrial production at a cost of 1 Euro/Wp is becoming reality. Increasing cell efficiencies is a prominent pathway in view of the strong leverage on costs of materials in the module fabrication sequence. In order to further reduce Euro/Wp costs, eventually down to the 0.5 Euro/Wp level, it seems inevitable to reduce the amount of Si used per Wp, and substitute expensive and non-sustainable materials such as Ag. It is clear that the dominant position of crystalline Si solar cells on the market was partially achieved thanks to the existing knowledge and equipment base within the context of micro(nano)-electronics, although the cost drivers in both cases are principally different: cost/functionality reduction for microelectronics versus cost/Wp for photovoltaics. In order to achieve the ambitious goals stated higher, it makes sense to have a closer look how the process and analysis toolbox available in the microelectronics area can be used at the benefit of the further development of crystalline Sibased photovoltaic devices.

In immature dendritic cells (DCs) podosomes form and turn over behind the leading edge of migrating cells. The Arp2/3 complex activator Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein (WASP) localises to the actin core of forming podosomes together with WASP-Interacting Protein (WIP). A second weaker Arp2/3 activator, cortactin, is also found at podosomes where it has been proposed to participate in matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) secretion. We have previously shown that WIP(-/-) DCs are unable to make podosomes. WIP binds to cortactin and in this report we address whether WIP regulates cortactin-mediated MMP activity. Using DCs derived from splenic murine precursors, we found that wild-type cells were able to localise MMPs at podosomes where matrix degradation takes place. In contrast, WIP(-/-) DCs remain able to synthesise MMPs but do not degrade the extracellular matrix. Infection of WIP KO DCs with lentivirus expressing WIP restored both podosome formation and their ability to degrade the extracellular matrix, implicating WIP-induced podosomes as foci of functional MMP location. When WIP KO DCs were infected with a mutant form of WIP lacking the cortactin-binding domain (WIPΔ110-170) DCs were only able to elaborate disorganised podosomes that were unable to support MMP-mediated matrix degradation. Taken together, these results suggest a role for WIP not only in WASP-mediated actin polymerisation and podosome formation, but also in cortactin-mediated extracellular matrix degradation by MMPs.

Abstract:

The School of Communication at Universidad de Los Hemisferios, along with the Center for Research on Communication and Public Opinion (CICOP), decided to join the international longitudinal study on the impact of Internet and wireless technologies: World Internet Project. The study presented below is focused on users and nonusers of Internet in Ecuador, the reasons for not using the Internet, weekly minutes using the Internet from home, workplace, place of study or from any other place that has a wired computer, use the Internet through wireless handheld devices and the number of months using the Internet. For this study we used a representative sample of 1.628 users and non-Internet users in the 24 provinces of the country. As a relevant fact it was found that more than half of Ecuador’s population still does not use the Internet, despite the abrupt development it has had in the past years worldwide.


Resumen:

La Facultad de Comunicación de la Universidad de Los Hemisferios, junto con el Centro de Investigaciones en Comunicación y Opinión Pública (CICOP), forman parte del estudio longitudinal internacional sobre el impacto de Internet y las tecnologías inalámbricas: World Internet Project. El estudio presentado a continuación está centrado en los usuarios y no usuarios de Internet en el Ecuador, razones para no usar Internet, minutos que los usuarios de este medio lo utilizan semanalmente desde el hogar, lugar de trabajo, lugar de estudio o desde cualquier otro lugar que tenga una computadora con cable, uso de Internet a través de dispositivos de mano inalámbricos y número de meses utilizándolo. Para este estudio se utilizó una muestra representativa de 1.628 usuarios y no usuarios de Internet en las 24 provincias del país. Como dato relevante se encontró que más de la mitad de la población ecuatoriana todavía no hace uso de Internet, a pesar de la evolución abrupta que éste a tenido en los últimos años a nivel mundial.

In order to test whether the lab facilities of Hanwha Solar America in Santa Clara are compatible with high-efficiency processing, we commissioned ISFH to fabricate small-area crystalline-silicon high-efficiency solar cells based on the RISE process. We reach efficiencies exceeding 23%, observed no statistically significant difference between the cells processed completely at ISFH and the cells partly processed at Hanwha, and conclude that the facilities are compatible with high-efficiency processing. Meanwhile, we analyze the performance reached by the cells in the different splits of the experiment. We find that a passivation of the n-type surface based on SiO2 improves the open-circuit voltage, but suffers from a lower (pseudo-) fill-factor compared to an Al2O3 passivation layer. We also observe that increasing the emitter width increases the open-circuit voltage thanks to a lower saturation current but reduces also the fill-factor because of increased majority-carrier resistivity.

Podosomes are specialized adhesion sites found in rapidly migrating and invasive cells, most notably in cells from the myeloid lineage that participate in immune surveillance and phagocyte defence mechanisms. In this review, we describe the nature of leukocyte podosomes and the regulation of their turnover during migration by the key regulatory molecules Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein and WASP-interacting protein.