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Antimony trisulfide (Sb2Se3), a non-toxic and accessible substance, has possibilities as a material for use in solar cells. The current study numerically analyses Sb2Se3 solar cells through the program Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS). A detailed simulation and analysis of the influence of the Sb2Se3 layer’s thickness, defect density, band gap, energy level, and carrier concentration on the devices’ performance are carried out. The results indicate that a good device performance is guaranteed with the following values in the Sb2Se3 layer: an 800 optimal thickness for the Sb2Se3 absorber; less than 1015 cm−3 for the absorber defect density; a 1.2 eV optimum band gap; a 0.1 eV energy level (above the valence band); and a 1014 cm−3 carrier concentration. The highest efficiency of 30% can be attained following optimization of diverse parameters. The simulation outcomes offer beneficial insights and directions for designing and engineering Sb2Se3 solar cells.

The use and promotion of reclaimed water have become global trends and have been widely adopted in countries such as Singapore, Israel, Japan, and the United States. In recent years, Taiwan has also been promoting demonstration plants for reclaimed water by enacting the Reclaimed Water Resources Development Act. Since the demonstration plants apply different reclamation processes, the costs and quality of the reclaimed water vary. This study aims to analyze the cost effectiveness of reclaimed water under three different scenarios, based on operational costs and water quality data from three demonstration plants: the Fongshan River Reclaimed Water Plant, the Shui Nan Water Resource Recovery Center, and the Futian Water Resource Recovery Center. The result shows that the most cost-effective scenario is either the high-cost-high-quality scenario or the low-cost-low-quality one. The moderate scenario is not preferred in terms of cost effectiveness. If the consideration is simply the total cost as a society, the high-cost-high-quality scenario might be preferred. But if “who pays for the cost” is taken into consideration, the low-cost-low-quality scenario is preferred since the cost would be mostly shouldered by the industrial users, rather than the government. The result can not only be used as a reference for the determination of the unified price and water quality standard for reclaimed water in Taiwan in the future but also shed light on the determination of water reclamation processes globally.

Antimony trisulfide (Sb[sub.2] Se[sub.3] ), a non-toxic and accessible substance, has possibilities as a material for use in solar cells. The current study numerically analyses Sb[sub.2] Se[sub.3] solar cells through the program Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS). A detailed simulation and analysis of the influence of the Sb[sub.2] Se[sub.3] layer’s thickness, defect density, band gap, energy level, and carrier concentration on the devices’ performance are carried out. The results indicate that a good device performance is guaranteed with the following values in the Sb[sub.2] Se[sub.3] layer: an 800 optimal thickness for the Sb[sub.2] Se[sub.3] absorber; less than 10[sup.15] cm[sup.−3] for the absorber defect density; a 1.2 eV optimum band gap; a 0.1 eV energy level (above the valence band); and a 10[sup.14] cm[sup.−3] carrier concentration. The highest efficiency of 30% can be attained following optimization of diverse parameters. The simulation outcomes offer beneficial insights and directions for designing and engineering Sb[sub.2] Se[sub.3] solar cells.

The idea behind the spillover effect of FDI on economic growth is based on the idea that multinational companies can bring technological innovation and rich knowledge to host countries. Therefore, FDI plays a vital role in technological innovations. This study aims to investigate the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the technological innovation of BRICS countries from 2000 to 2020. This study uses the latest econometric techniques, such as the cross-sectional dependence (CD) test, second-generation unit root tests, panel cointegration tests and the Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test. For long-run run estimation, this study uses the augmented mean group (AMG) panel estimator and the common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) estimator for empirical analysis. The findings of the study show that foreign direct investment (FDI), trade openness, economic growth, and research & development expenditure positively impact technological innovation in BRICS countries. Also, the model’s long-term causality and lagged error correction term (ECT) are significantly negative. Suggested policy measures will be helpful for BRICS economies in boosting technology innovation through FDI.

This paper introduces a truncated Weibull-exponential distribution and provides a thorough insight into its mathematical characteristics. These characteristics include moments, generating functions, inverse distribution function, and entropy. Various measures are also discussed about the distribution's reliability. A simulation study is carried out to assess the stability and consistency of the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters. Finally, two social sciences data sets are used to assess the distribution's relevance in modeling real-world situations.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an economic crisis and health emergency, threatening energy efficiency consumption, sustainable food diversity, and households’ nutrition security. The literature documented that environmental threats can divert attention from renewable energy and food security challenges that affect humans’ environmental behaviors. The COVID-19 crisis has consistently influenced environmental behaviors, as it primarily decreased income and disrupted food systems worldwide. This study investigated the COVID-19 consequences on household income, sustainable food diversity, sustainable energy consumption, and nutritional security challenges. The study used a self-structured online survey due to non-pharmaceutical restrictions and collected data from 728 households. The investigators applied t-test and logit regression to analyze the data for drawing results. Descriptive statistics show that COVID-19 has adversely affected the income of more than two-thirds (67%) of households. The pandemic has influenced households’ food consumption, energy, and dietary patterns to safeguard their income. The t-test analysis indicated that households’ food diversity and energy consumption significantly declined during the pandemic, and households consumed low-diversified food to meet their dietary needs more than twofold compared to pre-pandemic levels. The results showed that all nutrient consumption remained considerably lower in the COVID-19. Cereals are the primary source of daily dietary needs, accounting for over two-thirds of total energy and half of the nutrient consumption amid COVID-19. The share of vegetables and fruits in household energy consumption dropped by 40 and 30%. Results exhibited that increasing monthly income was inversely associated with worsening food diversity and intake with energy efficiency. Compared with farmers and salaried employment, wage earners were 0.15 and 0.28 times more likely to experience a decline in consuming food diversity. Medium and large households were 1.95 times and 2.64 times more likely than small, to experience decreased food diversity consumption. Launching a nutrition-sensitive program will help minimize the COVID-19 impacts on energy consumption, food diversity, and nutritional security for low-income individuals. This survey relied on the recall ability of the households for the consumed quantities of food commodities, which may lack accuracy. Longitudinal studies employing probability sampling with larger samples can verify this study’s insightful results.

Nonepithelial ovarian cancers (NEOC) are a group of rare malignancies, including germ cell tumours (GCT) and sex cord-stromal tumours (SCST), along with small-cell carcinomas and sarcomas. GCTs represent 2–5% of ovarian cancers, with a yearly incidence of 4:100,000, and they usually affect young women and adolescents. Precursory germ cells of the ovary form the basis of GCT. They are histologically classified into primitive GCT, teratomas, and monodermal and somatic-type tumours associated with dermoid cysts. A primitive GCT can be either a yolk sac tumour (YST), dysgerminoma, or mixed germ cell neoplasm. Teratomas are either mature (benign) or immature (malignant). Given that malignant GCTs occur rarely compared to epithelial ovarian tumours (EOC), greater focus is required in their diagnosis and treatment. In this article, we review the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and molecular biology, along with the management and therapeutic challenges.

In the provision of massive open online courses (MOOCs), cloud computing services enable students to synchronize their study materials anywhere, anytime, and using any device, which can improve learning performance and strengthen the teacher–student relationship via knowledge sharing. This study builds on the technological–organizational–environmental (TOE) framework and aims to identify the influencing factors of cloud computing adoption in educational settings for the provision of MOOCs. Another aim is to determine how intrinsic motivation moderates individual intention. Therefore, our study conceptualized a model that is supported by an empirical analysis of 232 respondents and takes into account the technological, organizational, and environmental impacts on individual attitudes toward adopting cloud computing in education. We evaluate the study hypotheses using structural equation modeling. The results demonstrate significant relationships between the technological and organizational constructs and attitudes toward the use of cloud computing. Meanwhile, competitive pressure from the environment has not been identified in any relationship with individual attitudes in government universities. The results provide new directions for policymakers to consider in the implementation of CC systems for the provision of MOOCs in developing countries. We also discuss potential implications, contributions, and suggestions for future research.

Malnutrition a health disorders arising due to over or low use of minerals, vitamins and nutritional substances required for proper functioning of body tissues and organs. Zinc (Zn) is the most important mineral required for the normal metabolism of plants and humans. Zinc-deficiency is one of the major cause of malnutrition globally. Maize is highly susceptible to Zn-deficiency and inflicts Zn-deficiency to humans and other animals being nourished on it. This study evaluated the effect of zinc-lysine chelate alone (0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5%) as seed priming and in combination with Zn-solubilizing bacteria (PMEL-1, PMEL-48, PMEL-57and PMEL-71)) on grain biofortification of autumn maize. The Zn accumulation in different parts (roots, stem, leaves, grains and cob pith) was quantified. Results indicated that Zn contents were 18.5% higher in the seeds primed with 1.5% solution of Zn-lysine chelate and inoculation of ZSB strains compared to control treatments. Seed priming with 1.5% Zn-lysine chelate in combination with ZSB inoculation significantly improved cob diameter and cob length by 16.75% and 42% during 2016 and by 11.36% and 34.35% during 2017. The increase in 100 grains weight over control was 18.4% and 15.27% for 2016 and 2017, respectively. The Zn contents were increased by 15.3%, 15.6%, 49.1%, and 33.0% in grain, cob-pith, stemand roots, respectively compared from control. Thus, the combined application of 1.5% Zn-lysine chelates along with ZSB inoculation could be used for combating malnutrition.