Closed-Surface Multifunctional Antireflective Coating Made from SiO2 with TiO2 Nanocomposites.

An SiO2-TiO2 closed-surface antireflective coating was fabricated by the one-dipping method. TiO2 nanoparticles were mixed with a nanocomposited silica sol, which was composed of acid-catalyzed nanosilica networks and silica hollow nanospheres (HNs). The microstructure of the sol-gel was characterized by transmission electron microscopy. The silica HNs were approximately 40-50 nm in diameter with a shell thickness of approximately 8-10 nm. The branched-chain structure resulting from acidic hydrolysis grew on these silica HNs, and TiO2 was distributed inside this network. The surface morphology of the coating was measured by field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. After optimization, transmittance of up to 94.03% was obtained on photovoltaic (PV) glass with a single side coated by this antireflective coating, whose refractive index was around 1.30. The short-circuit current gain of PV module was around 2.14-2.32%, as shown by the current-voltage (IV) curve measurements and external quantum efficiency (EQE) tests. This thin film also exhibited high photocatalytic activity. Due to the lack of voids on its surface, the antireflective coating in this study possessed excellent long-term reliability and robustness in both high-moisture and high-temperature environments. Combined with its self-cleaning function, this antireflective coating has great potential to be implemented in windows and photovoltaic modules.

HIV Screening and Awareness Survey for Pregnant Women in a Remote Area in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.

OBJECTIVE: The number of people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in China has increased in recent years. HIV screening for pregnant women was performed in a remote area in Xinjiang, as an effort to promote universal HIV screening in pregnant women and to help prevention of mother-to-child transmission. METHODS: Pregnant women in Burqin and Jeminay Counties in Xinjiang were offered free voluntary HIV screening. Local mid-level medical workers were trained to use Determine® HIV-1/2 kit for HIV screening. All the tested pregnant women signed a consent form, received HIV education material, and participated in an HIV knowledge survey. RESULTS: All the 890 pregnant women receiving HIV test had negative result. Among these women, 67.6% were Kazakh and 40.9% were farmers. Survey of HIV knowledge showed that these women's awareness about mother-to-child transmission was limited. The levels of HIV knowledge were related with ethnic background, age, education and profession of the pregnant women. CONCLUSION: The results suggested that HIV infection had not become a significant problem among the pregnant women in this remote area of Xinjiang, but continued efforts to improve the awareness of HIV, especially the knowledge about mother-to-child transmission of HIV, in pregnant women were needed.