Metal organic framework derived NiO x nanoparticles for application as a hole transport layer in perovskite solar cells.

NiO x as a hole transport layer (HTL) has gained a lot of research interest in perovskite solar cells (PSCs), owing to its high optical transmittance, high power conversion efficiency, wide band-gap and ease of fabrication. In this work, four different nickel based-metal organic frameworks (MOFs) using 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (BTC), terephthalic acid (TPA), 2-aminoterephthalic acid (ATPA), and 2,5-dihydroxyterephthalic acid (DHTPA) ligands respectively, have been employed as precursors to synthesize NiO x NPs. The employment of different ligands was found to result in NiO x NPs with different structural, optical and morphological properties. The impact of calcination temperatures of the MOFs was also studied and according to field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), all MOF-derived NiO x NPs exhibited lower particle size at lower calcination temperature. Upon optimization, Ni-TPA MOF derived NiO x NPs calcined at 600 °C were identified to be the best for hole transport layer application. To explore the photovoltaic performance, these NiO x NPs have been fabricated as a thin film and its structural, optical and electrical characteristics were analyzed. According to the findings, the band energy gap (E g) of the fabricated thin film has been found to be 3.25 eV and the carrier concentration, hole mobility and resistivity were also measured to be 6.8 × 1014 cm-3; 4.7 × 1014 Ω cm and 2.0 cm2 V-1 s-1, respectively. Finally, a numerical simulation was conducted using SCAPS-1D incorporating the optical and electrical parameters from the thin film analysis. FTO/TiO2/CsPbBr3/NiO x /C has been utilized as the device configuration which recorded an efficiency of 13.9% with V oc of 1.89 V, J sc of 11.07 mA cm-2, and FF of 66.6%.

A Study into Psychosocial Work Stressors and Health Care Productivity.

BACKGROUND: World Health Organization's Healthy Workplace Framework and Model has emphasized addressing psychosocial work stressors as one of the important avenues toward creating a conducive workplace. Management and interventions of these adverse stressors have been unremarkable; impairing work productivity. OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of psychosocial work stressors on health service productivity. METHODS: Using Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II and Healthcare Productivity Survey, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 225 health and allied health professionals in the largest referral hospital in Brunei. Multiple linear regression was used to explore the relationship of each domain of work productivity to indicators of psychosocial work stressors. RESULTS: Psychosocial work stressors explained more than 50% of the variance for health care productivity. Influence at work, role clarity, rewards and job satisfaction were among the factors with the highest contributions to this relationship. CONCLUSION: Crucial factors were identified and discussed, however, due to complexity of this relationship, international collaborations and efforts are required to ameliorate adverse effects of psychosocial stressors and improve health service productivity.

Characterization of coronary artery pathological formations from OCT imaging using deep learning.

Coronary artery disease is the number one health hazard leading to the pathological formations in coronary artery tissues. In severe cases, they can lead to myocardial infarction and sudden death. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is an interferometric imaging modality, which has been recently used in cardiology to characterize coronary artery tissues providing high resolution ranging from 10 to 20 µm. In this study, we investigate different deep learning models for robust tissue characterization to learn the various intracoronary pathological formations caused by Kawasaki disease (KD) from OCT imaging. The experiments are performed on 33 retrospective cases comprising of pullbacks of intracoronary cross-sectional images obtained from different pediatric patients with KD. Our approach evaluates deep features computed from three different pre-trained convolutional networks. Then, a majority voting approach is applied to provide the final classification result. The results demonstrate high values of accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity for each tissue (up to 0.99 ± 0.01). Hence, deep learning models and especially, majority voting method are robust for automatic interpretation of the OCT images.

Cost-benefit analysis of a rotavirus immunization program in the Arab Republic of Egypt.

BACKGROUND: The availability of rotavirus vaccines makes the implementation of a national immunization program an important decision requiring economic considerations. METHODS: A cost-benefit analysis of a national rotavirus immunization program in Egypt, from the perspective of the Ministry of Health and Population, and a cost-effectiveness analysis, from a societal perspective, were conducted. RESULTS: For a birth cohort of 1.9 million children, a vaccination program was estimated to prevent 1,140,496 episodes of diarrhea, 438,395 outpatient visits, and 47,508 hospitalizations and to save 2873 lives, resulting in direct Ministry of Health and Population medical savings of $2,481,792 (14,369,578 Egyptian pounds [LE]). On the basis of a $9.18 (53 LE) single-dose cost, rotavirus vaccine introduction would cost the Ministry of Health and Population $34,203,445.87 (198,037,951.56 LE) in health expenditures. This equates to an incremental cost of $30.22 (174.95 LE) per infection prevented. Vaccination would prevent the loss of 94,993 disability-adjusted life-years, resulting in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $363 per disability-adjusted life-year. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of rotavirus vaccine to the national immunization program was not found to be cost saving based strictly from the Ministry of Health and Population perspective; however, the potential benefits of long-term health and economic gains from reduced mortality and morbidity, decreased direct costs of care for families, and indirect societal costs should be considered in such decisions.

A review of cryptosporidiosis in Egypt.

Cryptosporidiosis, a parasitic zoonosis, while typically a short-term infection, has a global distribution and can cause severe illness in children and other vulnerable populations. In order to inform local and regional public health personnel and providers, the authors conducted a comprehensive review of Cryptosporidium parvum (Cp) epidemiology in Egypt to establish what is known, identify critical knowledge gaps, and develop a basis for future directions in mitigating the burden associated with this illness among Egyptians and similar countries. A total of 61 published studies between 1985 & 2006 were reviewed. Nineteen studies examined immunocompetent individuals with diarrhea presenting to inpatient or outpatient clinics with a Cp prevalence ranging from 0% - 47% (median 9%, IQR 3-15%). Identified risk factors, at risk populations, ecology, environmental findings, as well as a quality assessment of the published literature are discussed. The building blocks are in place to design studies aimed at defining the disease, societal burden and evaluating public health interventions aimed at disrupting water and zoonotic transmission modalities using the most current molecular techniques. Cp diarrhea is but one of the many causes of diarrhea among Egyptians, but efforts to control this disease should also serve well to mitigate a number of infectious causes of diarrhea and given the track record of previous work hopping to see advances in the near future.