Bilingual Weekly
california
Stockton Kaiser employees participate in a regional one-day strike
Kaiser Permanente employees and union leaders circled outside the Kaiser facilities in Stockton on Tuesday, January 31st as part as a one-day strike throughout Northern California, battling over contract negotiations with Kaiser.
New Process for Naturalization
SACRAMENTO, CA — January 24, 2012 marked the last US naturalization ceremony held as a group, with nearly 1,717 who came to swear their oath to the United States of America.
Golden Bell: for Latino High School Program
Lincoln Latin Leadership (LLL), a parent/district-run organization at Lincoln High School, received the 2011 Golden Bell Award.
Like this:
If you missed it: The State of the Union Address
Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address
United States Capitol Washington, D.C. 9:10 P.M. ET
Like this:
Solar Energy Harvesting Breakthrough
MERCED, Calif. — A team of researchers at the University of California, Merced, have redesigned luminescent solar concentrators to be more efficient at sending sunlight to solar cells.
The advancement could be an important breakthrough for solar energy harvesting, said UC Merced physics Professor Sayantani Ghosh, who led the project.
“We tweaked the traditional flat design for luminescent solar concentrators and made them into cylinders,” Ghosh said. “The results of this architectural redesign surprised us, as it significantly improves their efficiency.”
The main problem preventing luminescent concentrators from being used commercially is that they have high rates of self-absorption, Ghosh said, meaning they absorb a significant amount of the light they produce instead of transporting it to the solar cells.
The research team showed the problem can be addressed by changing the shape of the concentrator. They discovered a hollow cylindrical solar concentrator is a better design compared with a flat concentrator or a solid cylinder concentrator. The hollow cylinders absorb more sunlight while having lower self-absorption losses.
Luminiscent solar concentrators are designed to absorb solar radiation over a broad range of colors and re-emit it over a narrower range (for example, only red), a process known as down-converting. This light is transported to solar cells for photocurrent generation. The quantum dots embedded in the concentrator are the materials that carry out this color conversion.
The biggest advantage they offer over traditional solar cells is that they can work even in diffuse sunlight, like on cloudy days. And because of this, they do not need to directly face the sun at all times, eliminating the need for tracking mechanisms.
Ghosh said the discovery could make commercially viable luminescent solar concentrators a reality, especially because the design enhances performance while using the same number of quantum dots, therefore without being more costly.
This saves on infrastructure costs and also opens up the possibility that the collectors can be integrated onto vertical surfaces like walls and windows. The next step is to develop a large array of hollow cylindrical luminescent solar concentrators and track the efficiency of the panel.
Richard Inman, Georgiy Shcherbatyuk, Dmitri Medvedko and Ajay Gopinathan are the other members of the team that conducted this research.
Inman served as the lead researcher while he was an undergraduate at UC Merced, an example of the hands-on learning opportunities available to students. He’s now a graduate student at UC San Diego. Medvedko is an undergraduate student, and Shcherbatyuk is a graduate student. Gopinathan is a physics professor.
The team published a paper on the work, “Cylindrical luminescent solar concentrators with near-infrared quantum dots,” in the journal Optics Express last fall.
—————-
Information provided by UC Merced
2012 New Laws Favor Immigrants
SACRAMENTO CA —As of the 1st of January, hundreds of new laws were enacted. Among the new laws are some that directly affect the daily lives of immigrant workers. Some of the laws favor those persons who are not here legally. “We are human being[s] and most of us believe in God; He gave us a common dignity as He did not provide political or borders laws,” noted Dean McFalls, Saint Mary’s Church Priest, as he believes the updates to the California Law are needed.
Students Infused with the Holiday Spirit
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, CA- A group of students at Weston Ranch High School driven by the “Christmas spirit” decided to extend their holiday enthusiasm and bring joy to families in need—only a few days away from their final exams.
Like this:
A Crane with a story: Heros and Economic Boost Come to Stockton Port
STOCKTON, CA — On Friday, January 6, 2012, the Stockton Port received a special package whose delivery not only benefitted Stockton, but turned into a life saving story for Russia.
Like this:
Pacific Appoints New Dean for McGeorge School of Law
SACRAMENTO, CA – On January 5, 2011, University of the Pacific Provost Maria Pallavicini announced that Francis “Jay” Mootz has been appointed the next dean of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. Mootz is currently the William S. Boyd Professor of Law and associate dean for academic affairs and faculty development at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He will assume his new duties July 1.
The 2011 Top 10 Stories Most Read
As we begin 2012, Bilingual Weekly’s newsroom extracted the top 10 most read stories during the last 352 days. Please note that the top 10 stories were not selected by the Bilingual Weekly’s staff, our team ran the www.bilingualweekly.com English website’s analytics’ report which evaluates the hits received daily and it ranked each story from the highest number of hits to the lowest ranking in local news coverage. The following stories are briefs of the top 10 stories you, our readers clicked on.
Like this:
Two Latinas Vying for the CA Assembly
www.bilingualweekly.com| Mayra Barrios
(bw) CALIFORNIA – The new 13th State Assembly District offers the Latino community a possibility of having a Latina as the Member representing San Joaquin County — two Latinas are vying for the District.
State Controller Continues to find Discrepancy’s in Cities throughout California
Motebello, CA – State Controller John Chiang today released his final review of the City of Montebello, exposing possible pension spiking, payroll errors, a loose petty cash drawer, and systemic problems in the City’s internal controls of its Finances.
Like this:
Avoid Wild Mushrooms
![mushroom amanitaphalloides_thumb[6]](http://bilingualweekly.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/mushroom-amanitaphalloides_thumb6.jpg "mushroom amanitaphalloides_thumb[6]")
By Mayra Barrios
Avoid Wild Mushrooms
As the winter mushrooms season come s near, the California Department of Public Health reminds consumers that eating wild mushrooms can cause serious illness and even death.
“It is very difficult to distinguish which mushrooms are dangerous and which are safe to eat. Therefore, we recommend that wild mushrooms not be eaten unless they have been carefully examined and determined to be edible by a mushroom expert,” Dr. Ron Chapman, director of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and State Public Health Officer in a recent press release to alert consumers.
According to the California Poison Control System (CPCS), 1,748 cases of mushroom ingestion were reported statewide in 2009-2010. Among those cases two individuals died and ten individuals suffered a major health outcome.
The most serious illnesses and deaths have been linked primarily to mushrooms known as Amanita phalloides, or the “death cap”. Mushrooms that grow in California and are commonly found during fall, late winter or spring reported the CDPH.
In 2009 The Record reported that a family from Lodi ended up in an intensive-care unit at a San Francisco hospital after eating “death cap” mushrooms by mistake.
Immigrants are susceptible to confusing these two varieties of mushrooms because they often resemble their native countries edible varieties.
Like this:
HIV Serious Problem Among Latinos
Bilingual Weekly
Mayra Barrios
(BW) SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, CA- 2011 marked 30 years since the first case of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was found in the United States —a case which became an Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
Like this:
Study Shows Sugarcane Ethanol Production Causes Air Pollution
UC Merced researchers show burning of sugarcane fields prior to harvest can create more pollution than previously thought, detracting from benefits of the alternative fuel source
MERCED, Calif. — The burning of sugarcane fields prior to harvest for ethanol production can create air pollution that detracts from the biofuel’s overall sustainability, according to research published recently by a team of researchers led by scientists at the University of California, Merced.
THANK YOU
Recent Comments