United States Department of Energy

About: United States Department of Energy is a government organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Catalysis & Coal. The organization has 13656 authors who have published 14177 publications receiving 556962 citations. The organization is also known as: DOE & Department of Energy.

ATLAS data quality operations and performance for 2015-2018 data-taking

Abstract: The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider reads out particle collision data from over 100 million electronic channels at a rate of approximately 100 kHz, with a recording rate for physics events of approximately 1 kHz. Before being certified for physics analysis at computer centres worldwide, the data must be scrutinised to ensure they are clean from any hardware or software related issues that may compromise their integrity. Prompt identification of these issues permits fast action to investigate, correct and potentially prevent future such problems that could render the data unusable. This is achieved through the monitoring of detector-level quantities and reconstructed collision event characteristics at key stages of the data processing chain. This paper presents the monitoring and assessment procedures in place at ATLAS during 2015–2018 data-taking. Through the continuous improvement of operational procedures, ATLAS achieved a high data quality efficiency, with 95.6% of the recorded proton-proton collision data collected at √s=13 TeV certified for physics analysis.

Solution-Processed BiI3 Thin Films for Photovoltaic Applications: Improved Carrier Collection via Solvent Annealing

Abstract: We report all-inorganic solar cells based on solution-processed BiI3. Two-electron donor solvents such as tetrahydrofuran and dimethylformamide were found to form adducts with BiI3, which make them highly soluble in these solvents. BiI3 thin films were deposited by spin-coating. Solvent annealing BiI3 thin films at relatively low temperatures (≤100 °C) resulted in increased grain size and crystallographic reorientation of grains within the films. The BiI3 films were stable against oxidation for several months and could withstand several hours of annealing in air at temperatures below 150 °C without degradation. Surface oxidation was found to improve photovoltaic device performance due to the formation of a BiOI layer at the BiI3 surface which facilitated hole extraction. Nonoptimized BiI3 solar cells achieved the highest power conversion efficiencies of 1.0%, demonstrating the potential of BiI3 as a nontoxic, air-stable metal-halide absorber material for photovoltaic applications.

Identification and distribution of the NBS-LRR gene family in the Cassava genome

Abstract: Plant resistance genes (R genes) exist in large families and usually contain both a nucleotide-binding site domain and a leucine-rich repeat domain, denoted NBS-LRR. The genome sequence of cassava (Manihot esculenta) is a valuable resource for analysing the genomic organization of resistance genes in this crop. With searches for Pfam domains and manual curation of the cassava gene annotations, we identified 228 NBS-LRR type genes and 99 partial NBS genes. These represent almost 1% of the total predicted genes and show high sequence similarity to proteins from other plant species. Furthermore, 34 contained an N-terminal toll/interleukin (TIR)-like domain, and 128 contained an N-terminal coiled-coil (CC) domain. 63% of the 327 R genes occurred in 39 clusters on the chromosomes. These clusters are mostly homogeneous, containing NBS-LRRs derived from a recent common ancestor. This study provides insight into the evolution of NBS-LRR genes in the cassava genome; the phylogenetic and mapping information may aid efforts to further characterize the function of these predicted R genes.

Gold Functionalized Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle Mediated Protein and DNA Codelivery to Plant Cells Via the Biolistic Method

Abstract: The synthesis and characterization of a gold nanoparticle functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticle (Au-MSN) platform for codelivery of proteins and plasmid DNA to plant tissues using a biolistic particle delivery system is reported. The in vitro uptake and release profiles of fluorescently labeled bovine serum albumin (BSA) and enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) are investigated. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, Au-MSN with large average pore diameters (10 nm) are shown to deliver and subsequently release proteins and plasmid DNA to the same cell after passing through the plant cell wall upon bombardment. Release of fluorescent eGFP indicates the delivery of active, non-denatured proteins to plant cells. This advance represents the first example of biolistic-mediated codelivery of proteins and plasmid DNA to plant cells via gold-functionalized MSN and provides a powerful tool for both fundamental and applied research of plant sciences.