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HIGHLIGHTSOur cost model shows competitive perovskite PV requires high-throughput processingWe replace conventional annealing with rapid thermal processing without PCE lossThe combination of RTA and blade coating establishes a scalable processing routeIn situ XRD reveals a perovskite conversion mechanism and role of intermediates Bruening et al., Joule SUMMARYCost modeling shows that high-throughput processing of perovskite solar cells is required not only to compete with incumbent technologies in terms of levelized cost of energy, but more importantly, it is the major enabling factor facilitating sustainable growth rates of solar cell manufacturing capacity commensurate with global climate targets. We performed rapid thermal annealing at bladecoating speed to quickly deposit and convert perovskite thin films for scalable manufacturing of perovskite solar cells. In situ X-ray diffraction during film deposition and thermal conversion gave insight into the formation of crystalline intermediates, essential for high-quality films. Parameters were optimized based on the in situ study, allowing perovskite films to be annealed within 3 s with a champion power conversion efficiency of 16.8%. This opens up a clear pathway toward industrial-scale high-throughput manufacturing, which is required to fulfill the projected photovoltaic installation rates needed to reach climate goals.

This study investigated hepatitis B virus (HBV) single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) and deletion mutations linked with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Ninety-three HCC patients and 108 non-HCC patients were enrolled for HBV genome-wide next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis. A systematic literature review and a meta-analysis were performed to validate NGS-defined HCC-associated SNVs and deletions. The experimental results identified 60 NGS-defined HCC-associated SNVs, including 41 novel SNVs, and their pathogenic frequencies. Each SNV was specific for either genotype B (n = 24) or genotype C (n = 34), except for nt53C, which was present in both genotypes. The pathogenic frequencies of these HCC-associated SNVs showed a distinct U-shaped distribution pattern. According to the meta-analysis and literature review, 167 HBV variants from 109 publications were categorized into four levels (A-D) of supporting evidence that they are associated with HCC. The proportion of NGS-defined HCC-associated SNVs among these HBV variants declined significantly from 75% of 12 HCC-associated variants by meta-analysis (Level A) to 0% of 10 HCC-unassociated variants by meta-analysis (Level D) (P < 0.0001). PreS deletions were significantly associated with HCC, in terms of deletion index, for both genotypes B (P = 0.030) and C (P = 0.049). For genotype C, preS deletions involving a specific fragment (nt2977-3013) were significantly associated with HCC (HCC versus non-HCC, 6/34 versus 0/32, P = 0.025). Meta-analysis of preS deletions showed significant association with HCC (summary odds ratio 3.0; 95% confidence interval 2.3-3.9). Transfection of Huh7 cells showed that all of the five novel NGS-defined HCC-associated SNVs in the small surface region influenced hepatocarcinogenesis pathways, including endoplasmic reticulum-stress and DNA repair systems, as shown by microarray, real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. Their carcinogenic mechanisms are worthy of further research. Copyright © 2017 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this paper, we demonstrate an SiGe HBT ultra-wideband (UWB) low-noise amplifier (LNA), achieved by a newly proposed methodology, which takes advantage of the Miller effect for UWB input impedance matching and the inductive shunt-shunt feedback technique for bandwidth extension by pole-zero cancellation. The SiGe UWB LNA dissipates 25.8-mW power and achieves 11 below 10 dB for frequencies from 3 to 14 GHz (except for a small range from 10 to 11 GHz, which is below 9 dB), flat 21 of 24.6 1.5 dB for frequencies from 3 to 11.6 GHz, noise figure of 2.5 and 5.8 dB at 3 and 10 GHz, respectively, and good phase linearity property (group-delay variation is only 28 ps across the entire band). The measured 1-dB compression point ( 1 dB ) and input third-order intermodulation point are 25.5 and 17 dBm, respectively, at 5.4 GHz.