| 1. |
- Sten, S., et al.
(author)
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Erik den heliges skelett
- 2016
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In: Fornvännen. - 0015-7813. ; 111:1, s. 27-40
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- No contemporary sources mention Erik Jedvardsson, Sweden's king saint. The only account of his life is the saint's legend, in its preserved form written in the late 13th century, and legends are notoriously untrustworthy. It says that in 1160, in the tenth year of Erik's reign, he was killed by a throne claimant. His remains have rested in a reliquary in Uppsala Cathedral since 1257 at the latest and survived the Reformation. A thorough investigation was made in 1946, and the development of new methods motivated a new investigation in 2014. 23 bones remain that apparently belong to the same individual. (They are accompanied in the reliquary by an unrelated shinbone.) Radiocarbon values are consistent with a death in 1160. The bones belong to a man, 35-40 years old, about 171 cm tall, without any discernible medical conditions. Bone density indicates a life of good nourishment and abundant exercise. The skull has one or two healed wounds that may have been due to weapons. Isotope analysis points to a diet rich in freshwater fish. Stable isotopes also imply that he did not spend his last decade in the expected Uppsala area but rather in Västergötland further south. Insufficient reference materials however make this a very preliminary conclusion. Samples for DNA analysis were collected, but the results are not expected for another year. The saint's legend says that in the king's final battle, the enemy swarmed him, and when he fell to the ground they gave him wound after wound until he lay half dead. They then taunted him and finally cut off his head. The remaining bones have at least nine cuts inflicted in connection with death, seven of them on the legs. No wounds have been found on the ribs or the remaining arm bone, which probably means that the king wore a hauberk but had less protected legs. Both shin bones have cuts inflicted from the direction of the feet, indicating that the victim lay on his front. A neck vertebra has been cut through, which could not have been done without removing the hau berk, i.e. not during battle. This confirms that there was an interlude, as described by the taunting in the legend, between battle and decapitation. At no point do the documented wounds gainsay the account of the fight given by the much later legend.
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| 2. |
- Brundin, Peik M., et al.
(author)
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Expression of Sex Hormone Receptor and Immune Response Genes in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells During the Menstrual Cycle
- 2021
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In: Frontiers in Endocrinology. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1664-2392. ; 12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sex hormones are known to interact with the immune system on multiple levels but information on the types of sex hormone receptors (SHR) and their expression levels in immune cells is scarce. Estrogen, testosterone and progesterone are all considered to interact with the immune system through their respective cell receptors (ERα and ERβ including the splice variant ERβ2, AR and PGR). In this study expression levels of SHR genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and cell subsets (CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells, CD56+ NK-cells, CD14+ monocytes and CD19+ B-cells) were analyzed using standard manual qPCR or a qPCR array (TLDA). Nine healthy individuals including men (n = 2), premenopausal (Pre-MP, n = 5) and postmenopausal (post-MP, n = 2) women were sampled for PBMCs which were separated to cell subsets using FACS. Ten Pre-MP women were longitudinally sampled for total PBMCs at different phases of the menstrual cycle. We found that ERα was most abundant and, unexpectedly, that ERβ2 was the dominant ERβ variant in several FACS sorted cell subsets. In total PBMCs, SHR (ERα, ERβ1, ERβ2, and AR) expression did not fluctuate according to the phase of the menstrual cycle and PGR was not expressed. However, several immune response genes (GATA3, IFNG, IL1B, LTA, NFKB1, PDCD1, STAT3, STAT5A, TBX21, TGFB1, TNFA) were more expressed during the ovulatory and mid-luteal phases. Sex hormone levels did not correlate significantly with gene expression of SHR or immune response genes, but sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), a steroid hormone transporting protein, was positively correlated to expression of ERβ1 gene. This study provides new insights in the distribution of ERs in immune cells. Furthermore, expression patterns of several immune response genes differ significantly between phases of the menstrual cycle, supporting a role for sex hormones in the immune response.
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| 3. |
- Brundin, Peik M.A., et al.
(author)
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Blood hormones and torque teno virus in peripheral blood mononuclear cells
- 2020
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In: Heliyon. - : Elsevier. - 2405-8440. ; 6:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Men and women respond differently to infectious diseases. Women show less morbidity and mortality, partially due to the differences in sex hormone levels which can influence the immune response. Torque teno virus (TTV) is non-pathogenic and ubiquitously present in serum from a large proportion (up to 90%) of adult humans with virus levels correlating with the status of the host immune response. The source of TTV replication is unknown, but T-lymphocytes have been proposed. In this study we investigated the presence and levels of TTV in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in premenopausal (pre-MP) women, post-menopausal (post-MP) women, and men, and determined their serum sex hormone levels. Of the examined subjects (n = 27), we found presence of TTV in PMBC from 17.6% pre-MP (n = 17), 25.0% post-MP (n = 4) and 50.0% men (n = 6). The levels of TTV/μg DNA were lower among TTV-positive men and post-MP women compared to pre-MP women. All the positive pre-MP women were either anovulatory, hypothyroid, or both. In addition, the TTV-positive pre-MP women had significantly lower progesterone levels compared to TTV-negative pre-MP women. Although our study was performed on a limited number of subjects, the data suggests that TTV in PBMC is associated with an anovulatory menstrual cycle with low progesterone levels, and possibly with male sex.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Fjällström, Viktor, et al.
(author)
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Potential-Induced Degradation of CuIn1-xGaxSe2 Thin Film Solar Cells
- 2013
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In: IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics. - 2156-3381. ; 3:3, s. 1090-1094
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The use of Na-free or low Na content glass substrates is observed to enhance the resiliency to potential-induced degradation, as compared with glass substrates with high Na content, such as soda lime glass (SLG). The results from stress tests in this study suggest that degradation caused by a combination of heat and bias across the SLG substrate is linked to increased Na concentration in the CdS and Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 (CIGS) layers in CIGS-based solar cells. The degradation during the bias stress is dramatic. The efficiency drops to close to 0% after 50 h of stressing. On the other hand, cells on Na-free and low Na content substrates exhibited virtually no efficiency degradation. The degraded cells showed partial recovery by resting at room temperature without bias; thus, the degradation is nonpermanent and may be due to Na migration and accumulation rather than chemical reaction.
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| 6. |
- Fjällström, Viktor, et al.
(author)
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Recovery After Potential-Induced Degradation of CuIn1-xGaxSe2 Solar Cells With CdS and Zn(O,S) Buffer Layers
- 2015
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In: IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics. - 2156-3381 .- 2156-3403. ; 5:2, s. 664-669
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study deals with potential-induced degradation (PID) of Cu(In,Ga)Se-2-based solar cells and different approaches to subsequent recovery of efficiency. Three different recovery methods were studied: 1) etch recovery, 2) accelerated recovery, and 3) unaccelerated recovery. After being completely degraded, the solar cells with CdS buffer layers recovered their efficiencies at different rates, depending on the method which was used. On the other hand, if Zn(O,S) was used as a buffer layer instead of CdS, the recovery rate was close to zero. The buffer layer type clearly influenced the sodium distribution during PID stressing and recovery, as well as the possibilities for recovery of the electrical performance.
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| 7. |
- Hultqvist, Adam, et al.
(author)
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Performance of Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 solar cells using nominally alkali free glass substrates with varying coefficient of thermal expansion
- 2013
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In: Journal of Applied Physics. - : AIP Publishing. - 0021-8979 .- 1089-7550. ; 114:9, s. 094501-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this report, Cu(In,Ga)Se-2, CIGS, solar cell devices have been fabricated on nominally alkali free glasses with varying coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) from 50 to 95* 10(-7)/degrees C. A layer of NaF deposited on top of the Mo was used to provide Na to the CIGS film. Increasing the glass CTE leads to a change of stress state of the solar cell stack as evidenced by measured changes of stress state of the Mo layer after CIGS deposition. The open circuit voltage, the short circuit current density, and the fill factors, for solar cells made on the various substrates, are all found to increase with CTE to a certain point. The median energy conversion efficiency values for 32 solar cells increases from 14.6% to the lowest CTE glass to 16.5% and 16.6%, respectively, for the two highest CTE glasses, which have CTE values closest to that of the soda lime glass. This is only slightly lower than the 17.0% median of soda lime glass reference devices. We propose a model where an increased defect density in the CIGS layer caused by thermal mismatch during cool-down is responsible for the lower efficiency for the low CTE glass substrates.
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| 8. |
- Kapilashrami, M., et al.
(author)
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Boron Doped diamond films as electron donors in photovoltaics : An X-ray absorption and hard X-ray photoemission study
- 2014
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In: Journal of Applied Physics. - : AIP Publishing. - 0021-8979 .- 1089-7550. ; 116:14, s. 143702-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Highly boron-doped diamond films are investigated for their potential as transparent electron donors in solar cells. Specifically, the valence band offset between a diamond film (as electron donor) and Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 (CIGS) as light absorber is determined by a combination of soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy and hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, which is more depth-penetrating than standard soft X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. In addition, a theoretical analysis of the valence band is performed, based on GW quasiparticle band calculations. The valence band offset is found to be small: VBO = VBMCIGS -VBMdiamond = 0.3 eV +/- 0.1 eV at the CIGS/Diamond interface and 0.0 eV +/- 0.1 eV from CIGS to bulk diamond. These results provide a promising starting point for optimizing the band offset by choosing absorber materials with a slightly lower valence band maximum.
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| 9. |
- Salome, Pedro M. P., et al.
(author)
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A comparison between thin film solar cells made from co-evaporated CuIn1-xGaxSe2 using a one-stage process versus a three-stage process
- 2015
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In: Progress in Photovoltaics. - : Wiley. - 1062-7995 .- 1099-159X. ; 23:4, s. 470-478
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Until this day, the most efficient Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 thin film solar cells have been prepared using a rather complex growth process often referred to as three-stage or multistage. This family of processes is mainly characterized by a first step deposited with only In, Ga and Se flux to form a first layer. Cu is added in a second step until the film becomes slightly Cu-rich, where-after the film is converted to its final Cu-poor composition by a third stage, again with no or very little addition of Cu. In this paper, a comparison between solar cells prepared with the three-stage process and a one-stage/in-line process with the same composition, thickness, and solar cell stack is made. The one-stage process is easier to be used in an industrial scale and do not have Cu-rich transitions. The samples were analyzed using glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, current-voltage-temperature, capacitance-voltage, external quantum efficiency, transmission/reflection, and photoluminescence. It was concluded that in spite of differences in the texturing, morphology and Ga gradient, the electrical performance of the two types of samples is quite similar as demonstrated by the similar J-V behavior, quantum spectral response, and the estimated recombination losses.
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| 10. |
- Salomé, Pedro M. P., et al.
(author)
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Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 Solar Cells With Varying Na Content Prepared on Nominally Alkali-Free Glass Substrates
- 2013
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In: IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics. - 2156-3381. ; 3:2, s. 852-858
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper, Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 (CIGS) thin-film solar cells are prepared on nominally alkali-free glass substrates using an in-line CIGS growth process. As compared with, for example, borosilicate glass or quartz, the glass is engineered to have similar thermal expansion coefficient as soda-lime glass (SLG) but with alkali content close to zero. Na is incorporated in the CIGS material using an ex-situ deposited NaF precursor layer evaporated onto the Mo back contact. Several thicknesses of the NaF layer were tested. The results show that there is a process window, between 15 and 22.5 nm NaF, where the solar cell conversion efficiency is comparable with or exceeding that of SLG references. The effect of an NaF layer that is too thin on the solar cell parameters was mainly lowering the open-circuit voltage, which points to a lower effective dopant concentration in the CIGS layer and is also consistent with presented C-V measurements and modeling results. For excessively thick NaF layers, delamination of the CIGS layer occurred. Additional measurements, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), secondary ion mass spectrometry, capacitance-voltage analysis (C-V), time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL), external quantum efficiency (EQE), current-voltage analysis (J-V), and modeling, are presented, and the results are discussed.
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| 11. |
- Salome, Pedro M. P., et al.
(author)
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Incorporation of Na in Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 Thin-Film Solar Cells : A Statistical Comparison Between Na From Soda-Lime Glass and From a Precursor Layer of NaF
- 2014
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In: IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics. - 2156-3381 .- 2156-3403. ; 4:6, s. 1659-1664
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The presence of Na in Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 layers increases the electrical performance of this type of thin- film solar cell. A detailed comparison of incorporating Na in the CIGS layer by two different methods is performed by evaluating several hundred devices fabricated under similar conditions. The firstmethod is based on the conventionally used Na diffusion from the soda-lime glass substrate, whereas the second method is based on a NaF precursor layer deposited on a Mo- coated alkali- free glass substrate. The sample where Na is introduced by using a NaF precursor layer shows an orientation weighted toward (2 0 4)/(2 2 0) and a net acceptor concentration of 3.4 x 10(16) cm(-3), while SLG shows a (1 1 2) orientation with a 2.9 x 10(16) cm(-3) acceptor concentration. Both sample types show close identical elemental depth profiles, morphology, and electrical performance.
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| 12. |
- Salome, Pedro M. P., et al.
(author)
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The effect of high growth temperature on Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 thin film solar cells
- 2014
-
In: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. - : Elsevier BV. - 0927-0248 .- 1879-3398. ; 123, s. 166-170
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The morphological, elemental distribution and electrical performance effects of increasing the Cu(In,Ga) Se-2 (CIGS) growth substrate temperature are studied. While the increased substrate growth temperature with no other modifications led to increased CIGS grain size, it also resulted in depth profile flattening of the [Ga]/([Ga]+[In]) ratio. Tuning the Ga profile in the high temperature process led to a more desirable [Ga]/([Ga]+[In]) depth profile and allowed a comparison between high and standard temperature. Devices prepared at higher temperature showed an improved grain size and the electrical performance is very similar to that of the reference sample prepared at a standard temperature.
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| 13. |
- Salomé, Pedro M. P., et al.
(author)
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The effect of Mo back contact ageing on Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 thin-film solar cells
- 2014
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In: Progress in Photovoltaics. - : Wiley. - 1062-7995 .- 1099-159X. ; 22:1, s. 83-89
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this work, we investigate the effect of ageing Mo-coated substrates in a dry and N-2 flooded cabinet. The influence was studied by preparing Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 solar cells and by comparing the electrical performance with devices where the Mo layer was not aged. The measurements used for this study were current-voltage (J-V), external quantum efficiency (EQE), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and capacitance-voltage (C-V). It was concluded that devices prepared with the aged Mo layer have, in average, an increase of 0.8% in efficiency compared with devices that had a fresh Mo layer. Devices with aged Mo exhibited a nominal increase of 12.5mV of open circuit voltage, a decrease of 1.1mA/cm(-2) of short circuit current and a fill factor increase of 2.4%. Heat treatment of fresh Mo layers in oxygen atmosphere was also studied as an alternative to ageing and was shown to provide a similar effect to the aged device's performance.
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