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Abstract A new technique is proposed for the calculation of the width W of space charge region and consequently the concentration of uncompensated acceptors NA–ND, which is based on the open-circuit analysis of thin film heterojunction solar cells illuminated by monochromatic light with the wavelength within photosensitivity region. The proposed method was simulated under different values of the theoretically considered parameters (ideality coefficient n, saturation current I0 and shunt resistance Rsh) of a CdS/CdTe heterojunction solar cell. The calculated values of W and NA–ND were established to be dependent on the mentioned above electrical parameters.

By the method of simulation using transparent liquids, physical processes in metallic melts during electrohydropulse treatment and in complexation with magnetodynamic treatment are explored. The value of the rate of moving cavitation clouds and rates of nonstationary hydrodynamic streams at electrohydropulse treatment are determined, and the efficiency of the waveguide immersion at a depth of 1/3 the height of the liquid column in the reservoir is confirmed. The dependence of the cavitation area volume on the parameters of the complex treatment is found. The schemes of the complex treatment that provide the maximal degree of gas removal from the model liquid are determined.

The results of an experimental study of a high-energy spark ignition system with self-stabilization of the discharge current are presented. A description of the physical principle that provides self-stabilization is given. The effect of a high-speed gas flow on such parameters of a spark discharge as discharge current, resistance of the discharge gap, voltage across the spark gap, the energy input into the spark discharge, the duration and efficiency of the input is studied.

1. The character of axial strip distortion in powder rolling is similar, after the end of structural deformation, to that observed in the rolling of cast metals. 2. Crescent distortion of powder strip can be prevented by rolling with a forward pull.

Abstract The photoelectrochemical behaviour of an Si anode coated with a film of mixed oxide of ruthenium and titanium (ORT) is studied in the reaction of photodecomposition of KCl and HCl solutions. Single-crystalline uniformly doped n-type silicon, as well as with p-n junction, was used as a substrate. The film is shown to protect the Si electrode against photocorrosion during the photoelectrolysis of the above solutions. The heights of the Schottky barrier at the n-Si/ORT contact is theoretically estimated using photoelectrochemical data to be up to 0.9 eV. The efficiency of a real electrode with Schottky barrier is significantly lower than the predicted value due to the destructive influence of a resistant interlayer formed during ORT film application to the silicon surface. The resistant interlayer formation may be prevented by implanting the silicon surface layer with boron, hence, by using an electrode with an n-Si/p + -Si junction as substrate. The efficiency of conversion of light energy into chemical energy in the n-Si/p + -Si/ORT/30% HCl/Pt cell is 6%.

Interaction of lava-like fuel-containing masses of Unit 4 at the Chernobyl NPP with structural concrete in the active phase of the accident of April 26, 1986, was studied. It was found that the fission fragments and the accumulated products contained in spent nuclear fuel penetrated the concrete from lava with different fractionation coefficients Kfr. The absolute values of Kfr were calculated, and this phenomenon was identified as a factor to be taken into account when estimating the total amount of radioactive waste for the Shelter.

Cyclones and other climate disturbances profoundly affect coastal ecosystems, promoting changes in the benthic communities that require time, sometimes even years, for a complete recovery. In this study we have analysed the morphological and genetic changes occurred in top shell (Gibbula umbilicalis and Phorcus lineatus) assemblages from the Bay of Biscay following explosive cyclogenesis events in 2014. Comparison with previous samples at short (three years before the cyclogenesis) and long (Upper Pleistocene) temporal scales served to better evaluate the extent of change induced by these disturbances in a more global dimension. A significant increase in mean size after the cyclogenesis was found for the two species, suggesting selective sweeping of small individuals weakly adhered to substrata. Loss of haplotype variants at the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene suggests a population bottleneck, although it was not intense enough to produce significant changes in haplotype frequencies. The high population connectivity and metapopulation structuring of the two species in the area likely help the populations to recover from disturbances. At a wider temporal scale, cyclogenesis effects seemed to compensate the apparent decreasing trends in size for P. lineatus occurred after the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Considering disturbance regimes for population baselines is recommended when the long-term effects of climate and anthropogenic pressures are evaluated.

Abstract A model is developed to investigate the effect of energy investment on economic growth under a set of simplifying assumptions. The economy is treated as a two sector aggregate; the energy sector and the rest of the economy, whereas the model describing the energy-economy interaction is linear to the differential changes of the variables, adaptable to structural evolution and requires a modest amount of data for initialization. It can be used in a single stage or an iterative mode to produce outcomes for the short and medium run. The analysis reveals that energy productive investment has had an impact on the rate of formation of the non-energy capital stock and subsequently on economic growth. These effects appear amplified under a regime of increasing energy price.