Fe fortification of centrally manufactured and frequently consumed condiments such as bouillon cubes could help prevent Fe deficiency in developing countries. However, Fe compounds that do not cause sensory changes in the fortified product, such as ferric pyrophosphate (FePP), exhibit low absorption in humans. Tetra sodium pyrophosphate (NaPP) can form soluble complexes with Fe, which could increase Fe bioavailability. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate Fe bioavailability from bouillon cubes fortified with either FePP only, FePP+NaPP, ferrous sulphate (FeSO4) only, or FeSO4+NaPP. We first conducted in vitro studies using a protocol of simulated digestion to assess the dialysable and ionic Fe, and the cellular ferritin response in a Caco-2 cell model. Second, Fe absorption from bouillon prepared from intrinsically labelled cubes (2·5 mg stable Fe isotopes/cube) was assessed in twenty-four Fe-deficient women, by measuring Fe incorporation into erythrocytes 2 weeks after consumption. Fe bioavailability in humans increased by 46 % (P<0·005) when comparing bouillons fortified with FePP only (4·4 %) and bouillons fortified with FePP+NaPP (6·4 %). Fe absorption from bouillons fortified with FeSO4 only and with FeSO4+NaPP was 33·8 and 27·8 %, respectively (NS). The outcome from the human study is in agreement with the dialysable Fe from the in vitro experiments. Our findings suggest that the addition of NaPP could be a promising strategy to increase Fe absorption from FePP-fortified bouillon cubes, and if confirmed by further research, for other fortified foods with complex food matrices as well.

The influence of higher processing temperatures on the formation reaction of Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 thin films using a three step reactive annealing process and on the device performance has been investigated. High process temperatures generally lead to the formation of larger grains, decrease the amount of void formation and their distribution at the back Mo/Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 interface, and lead to a much faster formation reaction that shortens the overall reaction process. However, high temperature processing also leads to a decrease in device performance. A loss in open circuit voltage and fill factor could be attributed to enhanced interface recombination processes for the samples fabricated at higher process temperatures, which itself may be caused by a lack of Na and subsequent poor passivation of interface defect states. The lack of Na resulted in a decrease in free charge carrier concentration by two orders of magnitude.

Two fundamental processes associated with shock compression of energetic materials (EM) are initiation and ignition. Initiation occurs just behind a shock front and ignition occurs anywhere from a few nanoseconds to hundreds of nanoseconds later. Experiments are described that probe the fundamental mechanisms of these processes on relevant length and time scales: picosecond vibrational spectroscopy of nanometer thick layers of energetic materials (EM) with laser-driven shock waves, and nanosecond emission spectroscopy of micrometer thick layers of EM using laser-driven flyer plates.