Substantial photo-response of InGaN p-i-n homojunction solar cells

InGaN p-i-n homojunction structures were grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, and solar cells with different p-contact schemes were fabricated. X-ray diffraction measurements demonstrated that the epitaxial layers have a high crystalline quality. Solar cells with semitransparent p-contact exhibited a fill factor (FF) of 69.4%, an open-circuit voltage (V-oc) of 2.24 V and an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 41.0%. On the other hand, devices with grid p-contact showed the corresponding values of 57.6%, 2.36 V, 47.9% and a higher power density. These results indicate that significant photo-responses can be achieved in InGaN p-i-n solar cells.

Roles of microRNA in plant defense and virus offense interaction

MicroRNAs (miRNA) that are around 22 nucleotides long non-protein-coding RNAs, play key regulatory roles in plants. Recent research findings show that miRNAs are involved in plant defense and viral offense systems. Advances in understanding the mechanism of miRNA biogenesis and evolution are useful for elucidating the complicated roles they play in viral infection networks. In this paper a brief summary of evolution of plant anti-virus defense is given and the function of miRNAs involved in plant-virus competition is highlighted. It is believed that miRNAs have several advantages over homology-dependent and siRNA-mediated gene silencing when they are applied biotechnologically to promote plant anti-virus defense. miRNA-mediated anti-virus pathway is an ancient mechanism with a promising future. However, using miRNAs as a powerful anti-virus tool will be better realized only if miRNA genomics and functions in plant viral infection are fully understood.