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Bacteria exist, in most environments, as complex, organised communities of sessile cells embedded within a matrix of self-produced, hydrated extracellular polymeric substances known as biofilms. Bacterial biofilms represent a ubiquitous and predominant cause of both chronic infections and infections associated with the use of indwelling medical devices such as catheters and prostheses. Such infections typically exhibit significantly enhanced tolerance to antimicrobial, biocidal and immunological challenge. This renders them difficult, sometimes impossible, to treat using conventional chemotherapeutic agents. Effective alternative approaches for prevention and eradication of biofilm associated chronic and device-associated infections are therefore urgently required. Atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasmas are gaining increasing attention as a potential approach for the eradication and control of bacterial infection and contamination. To date, however, the majority of studies have been conducted with reference to planktonic bacteria and rather less attention has been directed towards bacteria in the biofilm mode of growth. In this study, the activity of a kilohertz-driven atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma jet, operated in a helium oxygen mixture, against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in vitro biofilms was evaluated. Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms exhibit marked susceptibility to exposure of the plasma jet effluent, following even relatively short (≈ 10's s) exposure times. Manipulation of plasma operating conditions, for example, plasma operating frequency, had a significant effect on the bacterial inactivation rate. Survival curves exhibit a rapid decline in the number of surviving cells in the first 60 seconds followed by slower rate of cell number reduction. Excellent anti-biofilm activity of the plasma jet was also demonstrated by both confocal scanning laser microscopy and metabolism of the tetrazolium salt, XTT, a measure of bactericidal activity.

Objective: The efficiency of corona discharge (CD) for detoxification of aflatoxin B1 (AB1), ochra¬toxin A (OA), and fumonisin B1 (FMB1) from poultry feeds with its influences on feed components was investigated. Materials and Methods: Feed samples were exposed to CD for six durations (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 min) at three distances (1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 cm). Mycotoxin levels were estimated by compet¬itive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and findings were substantiated by high-performance liquid chromatography. Results: AB1, OA, and FMB1 degradation percentages increased significantly (p < 0.05) with pro¬cessing times increment and distances reduction to reach values of 83.22%, 84.21%, and 84.76% at the first distance; 80.28%, 84.00%, and 84.12% at the second distance; and 68.30%, 71.74%, and 76.18% at the third distance, respectively, after 60 min of treatment. FMB1 reported the highest degradation level. Concerning CD impacts on feed composition, protein, fat, and moisture contents decreased significantly (p < 0.05). Carbohydrates and ash were not affected adversely. Depending on peroxide values estimation, fats were of good quality. Conclusion: The CD effectiveness for AB1, OA, and FMB1 detox from poultry feeds with moderate impact on the quality of feed.

Objective: The efficiency of corona discharge (CD) for detoxification of aflatoxin BI (AB1), ochratoxin A (OA), and fumonisin BI (FMB1) from poultry feeds with its influences on feed components was investigated. Materials and Methods: Feed samples were exposed to CD for six durations (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 min) atthree distances(1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 cm). Mycotoxin levels were estimated by compet-itive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and findings were substantiated by high-performance liquid chromatography. Results: AB1, OA, and FMB1 degradation percentages increased significantly (p < 0.05) with processing times increment and distances reduction to reach values of 83.22%, 84.21%, and 84.76% at the first distance; 80.28%, 84.00%, and 84.12% at the second distance; and 68.30%, 71.74%, and 76.18% at the third distance, respectively, after 60 min of treatment. FMB1 reported the highest degradation level. Concerning CD impacts on feed composition, protein, fat, and moisture contents decreased significantly (p < 0.05). Carbohydrates and ash were not affected adversely. Depending on peroxide values estimation, fats were of good quality. Conclusion: The CD effectivenessfor AB1, OA, and FMB1 detoxfrom poultry feeds with moderate impact on the quality of feed.

High efficiency, lightweight, and cost-effectiveness put the perovskite solar cells to the top of the focus researches of solar cells. The architecture of the cell especially the energy band alignment at the interface is a critical issue in the cell performance. In the current paper, the solar cell structure under investigation consists of TiO 2 , CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 , and Spiro OMe TAD as electron transport layer, absorber and hole transport layer respectively. A 3C-SiC material with energy gap of 2.420 eV was used as interface layer. The role of the interface layer between the perovskite and electron transport layer was considered. Before inserting the interface layer, a parametric study including the thickness and doping of each layer, was achieved. The results showed that the best performance of the cell at a thickness of 400 nm, 300 nm, 200 nm for absorber layer, ETL, and HTL respectively, with a doping concentration of 10 14 cm -3 , 10 19 cm -3 , 10 19 cm -3 for the same layers. These parameters give a V oc , J sc , FF, and PCE of 1.11 V, 28.9 mA·cm -2 , 83.19%, and 26.88% respectively. Inserting an interface layer improved the performance of the cell where the PCE increased over 29% at a thickness of 90 nm. The results showed that the parameters of the interface layer play a significant role in cell performance.

The present work will focus on the investigation of the influence of defects density and carriers capture cross-section are in absorption layer on the performance of perovskite solar cells. Furthermore, the impact of defect density in the electron transport material ETM /absorber interface layer will also be studied. The hybrid halide perovskite solar cells are chosen in this work and will be simulated by using one-dimension solar cells capacitance simulation SCAPS-1D. The proposed structure of the perovskite solar cell is a planar FTO/ETM /perovskite/ HTM based on TiO 2 and Spiro-OMeTAD as electron transport layer ETM and hole transport layer HTM , respectively, and on CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 as absorber layer (perovskite). The results showed that when the defect density in the absorber layer was varied from 10 10 cm -3 to 10 18 cm -3 , the cell parameters, open circuit voltage ( V oc ), the short circuit current ( J sc ), the fill factor (FF), and the efficiency (PCE)were significantly decreased. At high defect density (10 18 cm -3 ), the defect affects negatively on the cell performance due to the high recombination rate of Shockley Read Hall. Similarly, the capture cross section exhibits similar behaviour in the active layer. By increasing the defect density in the ETM /absorber interface layer, the main cell parameters PCE, FF , and J sc are slightly reduced and there has been no noticeable impact on V oc .

The present work will focus on the investigation of the influence of defects density and carriers capture cross-section are in absorption layer on the performance of perovskite solar cells. Furthermore, the impact of defect density in the electron transport material ETM/absorber interface layer will also be studied. The hybrid halide perovskite solar cells are chosen in this work and will be simulated by using one-dimension solar cells capacitance simulation SCAPS-1D. The proposed structure of the perovskite solar cell is a planar FTO/ETM/perovskite/HTM based on TiO2 and Spiro-OMeTAD as electron transport layer ETM and hole transport layer HTM, respectively, and on CH 3NH 3PbI 3 as absorber layer (perovskite). The results showed that when the defect density in the absorber layer was varied from 10 10cm -3 to 10 18 cm -3, the cell parameters, open circuit voltage (Voc), the short circuit current (J sc), the fill factor (FF), and the efficiency (PCE)were significantly decreased. At high defect density (10 18 cm -3), the defect affects negatively on the cell performance due to the high recombination rate of Shockley Read Hall. Similarly, the capture cross section exhibits similar behaviour in the active layer. By increasing the defect density in the ETM/absorber interface layer, the main cell parameters PCE, FF, and J sc are slightly reduced and there has been no noticeable impact on V oc.