Demonstration of the operation principles of intermediate band solar cells at room temperature

In this work we report, for the first time at room temperature, experimental results that prove, simultaneously in the same device, the two main physical principles involved in the operation of intermediate band solar cells: (1) the production of sub-bandgap photocurrent by two optical transitions through the intermediate band; (2) the generation of an output voltage which is not limited by the photon energy absorption threshold. These principles, which had always required cryogenic temperatures to be evidenced all together, are now demonstrated at room temperature on an intermediate band solar cell based on InAs quantum dots with Al0.3Ga0.7As barriers.

Unraveling principles of lead discovery: from unfrustrated energy landscapes to novel molecular anchors.

The search for novel leads is a critical step in the drug discovery process. Computational approaches to identify new lead molecules have focused on discovering complete ligands by evaluating the binding affinity of a large number of candidates, a task of considerable complexity. A new computational method is introduced in this work based on the premise that the primary molecular recognition event in the protein binding site may be accomplished by small core fragments that serve as molecular anchors, providing a structurally stable platform that can be subsequently tailored into complete ligands. To fulfill its role, we show that an effective molecular anchor must meet both the thermodynamic requirement of relative energetic stability of a single binding mode and its consistent kinetic accessibility, which may be measured by the structural consensus of multiple docking simulations. From a large number of candidates, this technique is able to identify known core fragments responsible for primary recognition by the FK506 binding protein (FKBP-12), along with a diverse repertoire of novel molecular cores. By contrast, absolute energetic criteria for selecting molecular anchors are found to be promiscuous. A relationship between a minimum frustration principle of binding energy landscapes and receptor-specific molecular anchors in their role as "recognition nuclei" is established, thereby unraveling a mechanism of lead discovery and providing a practical route to receptor-biased computational combinatorial chemistry.

Principles of protein-protein interactions.

This review examines protein complexes in the Brookhaven Protein Databank to gain a better understanding of the principles governing the interactions involved in protein-protein recognition. The factors that influence the formation of protein-protein complexes are explored in four different types of protein-protein complexes--homodimeric proteins, heterodimeric proteins, enzyme-inhibitor complexes, and antibody-protein complexes. The comparison between the complexes highlights differences that reflect their biological roles.

Robotic control systems based on bioinspired multi-agent systems: application of the principles of neuroscience to robotics

Robotics is a field that presents a large number of problems because it depends on a large number of disciplines, devices, technologies and tasks. Its expansion from perfectly controlled industrial environments toward open and dynamic environment presents a many new challenges, such as robots household robots or professional robots. To facilitate the rapid development of robotic systems, low cost, reusability of code, its medium and long term maintainability and robustness are required novel approaches to provide generic models and software systems who develop paradigms capable of solving these problems. For this purpose, in this paper we propose a model based on multi-agent systems inspired by the human nervous system able to transfer the control characteristics of the biological system and able to take advantage of the best properties of distributed software systems.

The European Court of Justice and the Draft Constitution: A Supreme Court for the Union? Research Paper in Law 8/2003

[Introduction]. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it examines selectively the provisions of the draft Constitution pertaining to the Court of Justice and assesses the ways in which the draft Constitution is likely to affect the jurisdiction and the function of the Court. Secondly, it discusses the challenges faced by the Court in relation to the protection of human rights by reference to the recent judgment in Schmidberger.1 Both aspects of the discussion serve to underlie that the Court is assuming the function of the Supreme Court of the Union whose jurisdiction is fundamentally constitutional in character. It has a central role to play not only in relation to matters of economic integration but also in deciding issues of political governance, defining democracy at European and national level, and contributing through the process of judicial harmonisation to the emergence of a European demos. This constitutional jurisdiction of the ECJ is not new but has acquired more importance in recent years and is set to be enhanced under the provisions of the new Constitution. The paper is divided as follows: The first section provides an overview of the way the new Constitution affects the ECJ. The subsequent sections examine respectively Article 28(1) of the draft Constitution, the appointment and tenure of the judiciary, locus standi for private individuals, sanctions against Member States, jurisdiction under the CFSP and the Chapter on freedom, security and justice, preliminary references, other provisions o f the Constitution pertaining to the Court, the principle of subsidiarity, and the judgment in Schmidberger. The final section contains some concluding remarks.