Nanoimprint lithography for high-efficiency thin-film silicon solar cells

We demonstrate high-efficiency thin-film silicon solar cells with transparent nanotextured front electrodes fabricated via ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography on glass substrates. By replicating the morphology of state-of-the-art nanotextured zinc oxide front electrodes known for their exceptional light trapping properties, conversion efficiencies of up to 12.0% are achieved for micromorph tandem junction cells. Excellent light incoupling results in a remarkable summed short-circuit current density of 25.9 mA/cm(2) for amorphous top cell and microcrystalline bottom cell thicknesses of only 250 and 1100 nm, respectively. As efforts to maximize light harvesting continue, our study validates nanoimprinting as a versatile tool to investigate nanophotonic effects of a large variety of nanostructures directly on device performance.     

Bacterial Production of Conjugated Linoleic and Linolenic Acid in Foods: A Technological Challenge

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and conjugated linolenic acid (CLNA) isomers are present in foods derived from ruminants as a result of the respective linoleic acid (LA) and α-linolenic acid (LNA) metabolism by ruminal microorganisms and in animals’ tissues. CLA and CLNA have isomer-specific, health-promoting properties, including anticarcinogenic, antiatherogenic, anti-inflammatory, and antidiabetic activity, as well as the ability to reduce body fat. Besides ruminal microorganisms, such as Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, many food-grade bacteria, such as bifidobacteria, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), and propionibacteria, are able to convert LA and LNA to CLA and CLNA, respectively. Linoleate isomerase activity, responsible for this conversion, is strain-dependent and probably related to the ability of the producer strain to tolerate the toxic effects of LA and LNA. Since natural concentrations of CLA and CLNA in ruminal food products are relatively low to exert their health benefits, food-grade bacteria with linoleate isomerase activity could be used as starter or adjunct cultures to develop functional fermented dairy and meat products with increased levels of CLA and CLNA or included in fermented products as probiotic cultures. However, results obtained so far are below expectations due to technological bottlenecks. More research is needed to assess if bacterial production kinetics can be increased and can match food processing requirements.     

Bio‐Hybrid Tumor Cell‐Templated Capsules: A Generic Formulation Strategy for Tumor Associated Antigens in View of Immune Therapy

For the development of effective anti‐cancer vaccines, tumor associated antigens need to be internalized by antigen presenting cells alongside specific co‐stimulatory signals. Interestingly, relative to soluble antigens, nano‐ and micro‐particulate antigens are much better presented to CD8 T cells, a crucial step in the induction of cytotoxic T cells that can eliminate malignant cells. In this regard, a generic strategy to encapsulate cancer cell derived proteins into a particulate delivery system would be of high interest. Here we present a versatile approach to incorporate cancer cell proteins into polymeric capsules using the cells themselves as templates for layer‐by‐layer assembly of complimentary interacting species. After coating, the cells are killed by hypo‐osmotic treatment leading to bio‐hybrid capsules loaded with cell lysate. Particular focus is devoted in this work on choosing the optimal coating components and conditions to maximize cell membrane integrity during the coating process, minimize pre‐mature protein release and achieve optimal encapsulation of cell lysate upon lysis of the cells. To further underline the generic nature of our approach, we demonstrate that heat shock proteins, important immune‐activators, can be induced and encapsulated into the bio‐hybrid capsules.     

A novel approach to calcium removal from calcium-rich industrial wastewater

Calcium-rich wastewater is a problem for industries due to calcification during downstream processing. The potential for Ca2+ removal from industrial wastewater through ureolytic microbiological carbonate precipitation was investigated for the first time. Batch experiments were used to determine feasible urea concentrations and hydraulic retention times. These results were applied in a semi-continuous reactor system, where the emphasis was placed on the development of a calcifying sludge. Calcium removal in excess of 90% was achieved throughout the experimental period, while the effluent pH remained at a reasonable level.     

Effect of muscle and post-mortem rate of pH and temperature fall on antioxidant enzyme activities in beef

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of muscle, inner and outer Musculus biceps femoris (IBF and OBF respectively) and Musculus longissimus dorsi (LD), on the post-mortem rate of pH and temperature fall, and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) during simulated retail display. At day 0 of display (2 days post-mortem), the CAT and GSH-Px activities were lower in IBF than in OBF and LD (P < 0.001), and the SOD activity was lower in OBF compared to IBF and LD (P < 0.001). At day 10 of display, SOD and CAT activities had decreased in all three muscles compared to day 0 (P < 0.001), whereas the GSH-Px activity did increase with time of display. Across muscles, there were significant relationships between temperature fall, colour, lipid and colour stability and antioxidant enzyme activities.     

Effect of rosemary extract dose on lipid oxidation, colour stability and antioxidant concentrations, in reduced nitrite liver pâtés

The oxidative stability of liver pâté was investigated in relation to different doses of rosemary extract (RE) and sodium nitrite. Colour stability, lipid oxidation (TBARS) and concentrations of ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol, carnosic acid and nitrite were measured on the batters before cooking and on the cooked liver pâté before and after exposure to light and air for 48 h at 4 °C. Results showed that the use of RE significantly reduced lipid oxidation, whereas it had no effect on colour stability. Ascorbic acid and nitrite concentrations were significantly higher and lower respectively when RE was added. RE dose-dependently increased the concentration of carnosic acid. Lower sodium nitrite doses resulted in significantly lower nitrite concentrations and slightly lower TBARS values. It was concluded that in liver pâté sodium nitrite levels may be lowered to 80 mg/kg without negatively affecting colour and lipid stability and that the use of RE may help in maintaining lipid stability.     

Egg yolk fatty acid profile in relation to dietary fatty acid concentrations

BACKGROUND: The health benefits of n‐3 fatty acids have led to much research on manipulating the fatty acid composition of animal‐derived foods. In this study, two experiments were conducted to investigate the interaction of dietary fatty acids on egg yolk fatty acid concentrations. In experiment I, 32 dietary treatments with three replicates of three birds each were fed for 35 days. Diets were prepared by mixing one type of fish oil with four vegetable oils in different proportions. In experiment II, three different types and two levels of fish oil in combination with two vegetable oils were tested under the same conditions as in experiment I. RESULTS: In experiment I the results showed that the egg yolk saturated (SFA) and monounsaturated (MUFA) fatty acid concentration was determined by the dietary SFA, MUFA and 18:2n‐6 content. The egg 18:2n‐6 concentration was mainly explained by the dietary inclusion of 18:2n‐6 and negatively by the dietary MUFA content. The egg C18:3n‐3, C20:5n‐3 and C22:6n‐3 concentration is almost exclusively determined by their direct supply from the diet. The egg 20:4n‐6 concentration was inversely proportional to the long‐chain n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acid content of the diet. The results of experiment II showed that the egg yolk C20:5n‐3 and C22:6n‐3 concentration was determined by both the level of dietary fish oil (1 or 2%) and the C20:5n‐3/C22:6n‐3 ratio in the fish oil. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that the direct dietary supply of fatty acids is the most important factor determining the egg yolk fatty acid composition, in particular for the n‐3 fatty acids. The interaction effect from other dietary fatty acids was in general small. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Conjugated linoleic and linolenic acid production kinetics by bifidobacteria differ among strains

There is great interest in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and conjugated linolenic acid (CLNA) isomers because of their supposed health-promoting properties. Therefore, the differences in production kinetics of CLA and CLNA isomers from linoleic acid (LA) and α-linolenic acid (α-LNA), respectively, by bifidobacteria were investigated. Laboratory fermentations, supplemented with LA or α-LNA in the fermentation medium, were performed with Bifidobacterium bifidum LMG 10645, Bifidobacterium breve LMG 11040, B. breve LMG 11084, B. breve LMG 11613, B. breve LMG 13194, and Bifidobacterium pseudolongum subsp. pseudolongum LMG 11595. Conversion of LA and α-LNA to CLA and CLNA isomers, respectively, started immediately upon addition of the substrate fatty acids. During the active growth phase, the c9, t11-CLA isomer and the putative c9, t11, c15-CLNA isomer were formed. Further fermentation resulted in a reduction in the concentration of c9, t11-CLA and c9, t11, c15-CLNA and the subsequent production of the t9, t11-CLA isomer and the putative t9, t11, c15-CLNA isomer, respectively. Modelling of the growth and metabolite data indicated differences in production kinetics among the strains. Some strains displayed a high specific conversion of LA and α-LNA despite poor growth, whereas other strains grew well but displayed lower conversion. Production of specific CLA and CLNA isomers by bifidobacteria holds potential for the production of functional foods and could contribute to their probiotic properties.     

Antioxidant enzyme activities and antioxidant capacity in longissimus muscle from bulls fed diets rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids

The effect of a treatment diet composed of grass silage and concentrate including rapeseed (with/without feeding restriction) was compared with a control diet of maize silage/grass silage (70:30) and concentrate including soybean, on the antioxidant enzyme activities of fresh longissimus muscle from German Simmental bulls. Additionally, the effect of diet on antioxidant capacity (AOC) of hydrophilic and lipophilic antioxidants was evaluated in fresh and stored beef muscle using the FRAP-ferric reducing ability and TEAC – Trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity assays at different reaction times. Catalase and superoxide dismutase activities were significantly higher in the treatment diet groups, and glutathione peroxidase activity was not different. AOC was not affected by the diet. However, storage affected the values of FRAP and TEAC assays, and the results were time-depending. 30 min were found like a minimum reaction time for both assays. Generally, AOC values of the hydrophilic antioxidants were significantly higher than lipophilic values.     

Flexible distribution of complexity by hybrid predictive-distributed video coding

There is currently limited flexibility for distributing complexity in a video coding system. While rate-distortion-complexity (RDC) optimization techniques have been proposed for conventional predictive video coding with encoder-side motion estimation, they fail to offer true flexible distribution of complexity between encoder and decoder since the encoder is assumed to have always more computational resources available than the decoder. On the other hand, distributed video coding solutions with decoder-side motion estimation have been proposed, but hardly any RDC optimized systems have been developed.To offer more flexibility for video applications involving multi-tasking or battery-constrained devices, in this paper, we propose a codec combining predictive video coding concepts and techniques from distributed video coding and show the flexibility of this method in distributing complexity. We propose several modes to code frames, and provide complexity analysis illustrating encoder and decoder computational complexity for each mode. Rate distortion results for each mode indicate that the coding efficiency is similar. We describe a method to choose which mode to use for coding each inter frame, taking into account encoder and decoder complexity constraints, and illustrate how complexity is distributed more flexibly.