An (un) healthy poster: When environmental cues affect consumers’ food choices at vending machines

Environmental cues can affect food decisions. There is growing evidence that environmental cues influence how much one consumes. This article demonstrates that environmental cues can similarly impact the healthiness of consumers’ food choices. Two field studies examined this effect with consumers of vending machine foods who were exposed to different posters. In field study 1, consumers with a health-evoking nature poster compared to a pleasure-evoking fun fair poster or no poster in their visual sight were more likely to opt for healthy snacks. Consumers were also more likely to buy healthy snacks when primed by an activity poster than when exposed to the fun fair poster. In field study 2, this consumer pattern recurred with a poster of skinny Giacometti sculptures. Overall, the results extend the mainly laboratory-based evidence by demonstrating the health-relevant impact of environmental cues on food decisions in the field. Results are discussed in light of priming literature emphasizing the relevance of preexisting associations, mental concepts and goals.

Oxygen Reduction Reaction on Pt Overlayers Deposited onto a Gold Film: Ligand, Strain, and Ensemble Effect

We study the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), the catalytic process occurring at the cathode in fuel cells, on Pt layers prepared by electrodeposition onto an Au substrate. Using a nominal Pt layer by layer deposition method previously proposed, imperfect layers of Pt on Au are obtained. The ORR on deposited Pt layers decreases with increasing Pt thickness. In the submonolayer region, however, the ORR activity is superior to that of bulk Pt. Using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we correlate the observed activity trend to strain, ligand, and ensemble effects. At submonolayer coverage certain atom configurations weaken the binding energies of reaction intermediates due to a ligand and ensemble effect, thus effectively increasing the ORR activity. At higher Pt coverage the activity is governed by a strain effect, which lowers the activity by decreasing the oxidation potential of water. This study is a nice example of how the influence of strain, ligand, and ensemble effects on the ORR can be deconvoluted.

Characterization of the dose distribution in the halo region of a clinical proton pencil beam using emulsion film detectors

Proton therapy is a high precision technique in cancer radiation therapy which allows irradiating the tumor with minimal damage to the surrounding healthy tissues. Pencil beam scanning is the most advanced dose distribution technique and it is based on a variable energy beam of a few millimeters FWHM which is moved to cover the target volume. Due to spurious effects of the accelerator, of dose distribution system and to the unavoidable scattering inside the patient's body, the pencil beam is surrounded by a halo that produces a peripheral dose. To assess this issue, nuclear emulsion films interleaved with tissue equivalent material were used for the first time to characterize the beam in the halo region and to experimentally evaluate the corresponding dose. The high-precision tracking performance of the emulsion films allowed studying the angular distribution of the protons in the halo. Measurements with this technique were performed on the clinical beam of the Gantry1 at the Paul Scherrer Institute. Proton tracks were identified in the emulsion films and the track density was studied at several depths. The corresponding dose was assessed by Monte Carlo simulations and the dose profile was obtained as a function of the distance from the center of the beam spot.

Transport properties of CuGaSe(2)-based thin-film solar cells as a function of absorber composition

The transport properties of thin-film solar cells based on wide-gap CuGaSe(2) absorbers have been investigated as a function of the bulk [Ga]/[Cu] ratio ranging from 1.01 to 1.33. We find that (i) the recombination processes in devices prepared from absorbers with a composition close to stoichiometry ([Ga]/[Cu] = 1.01) are strongly tunnelling assisted resulting in low recombination activation energies (E(a)) of approx. 0.95 eV in the dark and 1.36 eV under illumination. (ii) With an increasing [Ga]/[Cu] ratio, the transport mechanism changes to be dominated by thermally activated Shockley-Read-Hall recombination with similar E(a) values of approx. 1.52-1.57 eV for bulk [Ga]/[Cu] ratios of 1.12-1.33. The dominant recombination processes take place at the interface between CdS buffer and CuGaSe(2) absorber independently from the absorber composition. The increase of E(a) with the [Ga]/[Cu] ratio correlates with the open circuit voltage and explains the better performance of corresponding solar cells.

Approximate Analytical Model for the Squeeze-Film Lubrication of the Human Ankle Joint with Synovial Fluid Filtrated by Articular Cartilage

The aim of this article is to propose an analytical approximate squeeze-film lubrication model of the human ankle joint for a quick assessment of the synovial pressure field and the load carrying due to the squeeze motion. The model starts from the theory of boosted lubrication for the human articular joints lubrication (Walker et al., Rheum Dis 27:512–520, 1968; Maroudas, Lubrication and wear in joints. Sector, London, 1969) and takes into account the fluid transport across the articular cartilage using Darcy’s equation to depict the synovial fluid motion through a porous cartilage matrix. The human ankle joint is assumed to be cylindrical enabling motion in the sagittal plane only. The proposed model is based on a modified Reynolds equation; its integration allows to obtain a quick assessment on the synovial pressure field showing a good agreement with those obtained numerically (Hlavacek, J Biomech 33:1415–1422, 2000). The analytical integration allows the closed form description of the synovial fluid film force and the calculation of the unsteady gap thickness.

First principles study of Bi dopen CdTe thin film solar cells: electronic and optical properties

Nowadays, efficiency improvement of solar cells is one of the most important issues in photovoltaic systems and CdTe is one of the most promising thin film photovoltaic materials we can found. CdTe reported efficiencies in solar energy conversion have been as good as that found in polycrystalline Si thin film cell [1], besides CdTe can be easily produced at industrial scale.

Characterization of thin film PV modules under standard test conditions: Results of indoor and outdoor measurements and the effects of sunlight exposure

Photovoltaic modules based on thin film technology are gaining importance in the photovoltaic market, and module installers and plant owners have increasingly begun to request methods of performing module quality control. These modules pose additional problems for measuring power under standard test conditions (STC), beyond problems caused by the temperature of the module and the ambient variables. The main difficulty is that the modules’ power rates may vary depending both on the amount of time they have been exposed to the sun during recent hours and on their history of sunlight exposure. In order to assess the current state of the module, it is necessary to know its sunlight exposure history. Thus, an easily accomplishable testing method that ensures the repeatability of the measurements of the power generated is needed. This paper examines different tests performed on commercial thin film PV modules of CIS, a-Si and CdTe technologies in order to find the best way to obtain measurements. A method for obtaining indoor measurements of these technologies that takes into account periods of sunlight exposure is proposed. Special attention is paid to CdTe as a fast growing technology in the market.

Selective ablation with UV lasers of a-Si:H thin film solar cells in direct scribing configuration

Monolithical series connection of silicon thin-film solar cells modules performed by laser scribing plays a very important role in the entire production of these devices. In the current laser process interconnection the two last steps are developed for a configuration of modules where the glass is essential as transparent substrate. In addition, the change of wavelength in the employed laser sources is sometimes enforced due to the nature of the different materials of the multilayer structure which make up the device. The aim of this work is to characterize the laser patterning involved in the monolithic interconnection process in a different configurations of processing than the usually performed with visible laser sources. To carry out this study, we use nanosecond and picosecond laser sources working at 355nm of wavelength in order to achieve the selective ablation of the material from the film side. To assess this selective removal of material has been used EDX (energy dispersive using X-ray) analysis