Methanol as an anti-solvent to improve the low open-circuit voltage of CsPbBr3 perovskite solar cells prepared with water.

CsPbBr3 has received more and more attention in the field of optoelectronic devices due to its excellent stability. To address the cost and environmental concerns associated with the use of toxic methanol, water has been explored as a substitute solvent for CsBr in the preparation of CsPbBr3 perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In this study, we utilized methanol as an anti-solvent of the CsBr/H2O solution to regulate the detrimental effects of water on the CsPbBr3 film and control the crystallization process. From results of the experiment, it was found that methanol anti-solvent treatment greatly improved the crystallization of the CsPbBr3 film, increased the grain size, and reduced the defect density. After the introduction of methanol anti-solvent treatment, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) increased from 6.09% to 7.91%, while the open-circuit voltage (Voc) increased from 1.18 V to 1.39 V. Furthermore, we incorporated 2-hydroxyethylurea into the CsPbBr3 PSCs to improve the wettability of PbBr2 towards the CsBr/H2O solution and ensure the formation of pure-phase CsPbBr3 films. The introduction of 2-hydroxyethylurea resulted in an additional increase in Voc from 1.19 V to 1.42 V. The PCE further improved from 6.56% to 8.62% after methanol anti-solvent treatment. These results demonstrate that methanol treatment effectively addresses the low Voc issue observed in CsPbBr3 PSCs prepared with water as a solvent. Importantly, this approach significantly reduces the reliance on methanol compared to conventional fabrication methods for CsPbBr3 PSCs. Overall, this work presents a promising pathway for achieving high Voc and efficiency in CsPbBr3 PSCs by utilizing water as a solvent.

Melatonin inhibits the formation of intraplaque neovessels in ApoE-/- mice via PPARγ- RhoA-ROCK pathway.

BACKGROUND: According to former research, the atherosclerotic plaque is thought to be aggravated by intraplaque neovessels (IPN) and intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH). Intriguingly, a lower incidence of IPH was found in plaque treated with melatonin. In this study, we attempted to investigate the impact and underlying mechanism regarding the influences of melatonin upon IPN. METHODS: A mouse model was established by subjecting the high fat diet (HFD)-fed ApoE-/- mice to tandem stenosis (TS) surgery with melatonin and GW9662, a PPARγ antagonist, being given by gavage. In vitro experiment was conducted with HUVECs exposing to according treatments of VEGF, melatonin, GW9662, or Y27632. RESULTS: Plaque and IPN were attenuated by treatment with melatonin, which was then reversed by blocking PPARγ. Western blotting results showed that melatonin increased PPARγ and decreased RhoA/ROCK signaling in carotid artery. Elevated RhoA/ROCK signaling was observed in melatonin-treated mice when PPARγ was blocked. In accordance with it, experiments using protein and mRNA from HUVECs revealed that melatonin inhibited the RhoA/ROCK signaling by enhancing PPARγ. According to in vitro study, melatonin was able to inhibit cell migration and angiogenesis, which was aborted by GW9662. Blockage of ROCK using Y27632 was able to cease the effect of GW9662 and restored the suppression on cell migration and angiogenesis by melatonin. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that melatonin is able to curb development of plaque and IPN formation by inhibiting the migration of endothelial cells via PPARγ- RhoA-ROCK pathway. That provides a therapeutic potential for both melatonin and PPARγ agonist targeting IPN, IPH, and atherosclerotic plaque.

Comprehensive Analysis of Gut Microbiota Alteration in the Patients and Animal Models with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common disease of endocrine-metabolic disorder, and its etiology remains largely unknown. The gut microbiota is possibly involved in PCOS, while the association remains unclear. The comprehensive analysis combining gut microbiota with PCOS typical symptoms was performed to analyze the role of gut microbiota in PCOS in this study. The clinical patients and letrozole-induced animal models were determined on PCOS indexes and gut microbiota, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) was conducted. Results indicated that the animal models displayed typical PCOS symptoms, including disordered estrous cycles, elevated testosterone levels, and ovarian morphological change; meanwhile, the symptoms were improved after FMT. Furthermore, the microbial diversity exhibited disordered, and the abundance of the genus Ruminococcus and Lactobacillus showed a consistent trend in PCOS rats and patients. The microbiota diversity and several key genera were restored subjected to FMT, and correlation analysis also supported relevant conclusions. Moreover, LEfSe analysis showed that Gemmiger, Flexispira, and Eubacterium were overrepresented in PCOS groups. Overall, the results indicate the involvement of gut microbiota in PCOS and its possible alleviation of endocrinal and reproductive dysfunctions through several special bacteria taxa, which can function as the biomarker or potential target for diagnosis and treatment. These results can provide the new insights for treatment and prevention strategies of PCOS.

Improvement of the Stability and Optical Properties of CsPbBr3 QDs.

All-inorganic perovskite quantum dots (CsPbX3 QDs) (X = Cl, Br, I) have the advantages of adjustable emission position, narrow emission spectrum, high fluorescence quantum efficiency (PLQY), easy preparation, and elevated defect tolerance; therefore, they are widely used in optoelectronic devices, such as solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and lasers. However, their stability still constrains their development due to their intrinsic crystal structure, ionic exchange of surface ligands, and exceptional sensitivity to environmental factors, such as light, water, oxygen, and heat. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate the stability improvement of CsPbX3 QDs and apply fabricated high-efficiency, stable perovskite QDs to solar cells to improve the performance of the cells further. In this paper, we focus on CsPbBr3 QDs with intrinsic extreme stability and optimize CsPbBr3 QDs using strategies, such as Mn+ doping, ligand regulation, and polymer encapsulation, which can improve optical properties while ensuring their stability. The test results show that the above five methods can improve the strength and luminescence performance of QDs, with the best stability achieved when PMMA encapsulates QDs with a ratio of PMMA = 2:1 and PLQY increases from 60.2% to 90.1%.

In Situ Nanofibrillar Polypropylene-Based Composite Microcellular Foams with Enhanced Mechanical and Flame-Retardant Performances.

With the increasing demand for plastic components, the development of lightweight, high strength and functionalized polypropylene (PP) from a cost-effective and environmentally friendly process is critical for resource conservation. In situ fibrillation (INF) and supercritical CO2 (scCO2) foaming technology were combined in this work to fabricate PP foams. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and poly(diaryloxyphosphazene)(PDPP) particles were applied to fabricate in situ fibrillated PP/PET/PDPP composite foams with enhanced mechanical properties and favorable flame-retardant performance. The existence of PET nanofibrils with a diameter of 270 nm were uniformly dispersed in PP matrix and served multiple roles by tuning melt viscoelasticity for improving microcellular foaming behavior, enhancing crystallization of PP matrix and contributing to improving the uniformity of PDPP's dispersion in INF composite. Compared to pure PP foam, PP/PET(F)/PDPP foam exhibited refined cellular structures, thus the cell size of PP/PET(F)/PDPP foam was decreased from 69 to 23 µm, and the cell density increased from 5.4 × 106 to 1.8 × 108 cells/cm3. Furthermore, PP/PET(F)/PDPP foam showed remarkable mechanical properties, including a 975% increase in compressive stress, which was attributed to the physical entangled PET nanofibrils and refined cellular structure. Moreover, the presence of PET nanofibrils also improved the intrinsic flame-retardant nature of PDPP. The synergistical effect of the PET nanofibrillar network and low loading of PDPP additives inhibited the combustion process. These gathered advantages of PP/PET(F)/PDPP foam make it promising for lightweight, strong, and fire-retardant polymeric foams.

Lightweight and High Impact Toughness PP/PET/POE Composite Foams Fabricated by In Situ Nanofibrillation and Microcellular Injection Molding.

Polypropylene (PP) has become the most promising and candidate material for fabricating lightweight products. Microcellular injection molding (MIM) is a cost-effective technology for manufacturing porous plastic products. However, it is still challenging to fabricate high-performance PP microcellular components. Herein, we reported an efficient strategy to produce lightweight and high impact toughness foamed PP/polyethylene terephthalate (PET)/polyolefin-based elastomer (POE) components by combining in situ fibrillation (INF) and MIM technologies. First, the INF composite was prepared by integrating twin-screw compounding with melt spinning. SEM analysis showed PET nanofibrils with a diameter of 258 nm were achieved and distributed uniformly in the PP due to the POE's inducing elaboration effect. Rheological and DSC analysis demonstrated PET nanofibrils pronouncedly improved PP's viscoelasticity and crystal nucleation rate, respectively. Compared with PP foam, INF composite foam showed more stretched cells in the skin layer and refined spherical cells in the core layer. Due to the synergistic toughening effect of PET nanofibrils and POE elastic particles, the impact strength of INF composite foams was 295.3% higher than that of PP foam and 191.2% higher than that of melt-blended PP/PET foam. The results gathered in this study reveal potential applications for PP based INF composite foams in the manufacturing of lightweight automotive products with enhanced impact properties.

Klf4 deficiency exacerbates myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in mice via enhancing ROCK1/DRP1 pathway-dependent mitochondrial fission.

RATIONAL: Excessive mitochondrial fission is considered key process involved in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. However, the upstream mechanism remains largely unclear. Decreased level of Kruppel Like Factor 4 (KLF4) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of mitochondrial dysfunction and heart's adaption to stress. However, the role of Klf4 in I/R process is not fully elucidated. This study aims to investigate how Klf4 regulates mitochondrial dynamics and further clarify its underlying mechanism during cardiac I/R injury. METHODS: Loss-of-function and gain-of-function strategies were applied to investigate the role of Klf4 in cardiac I/R injury via genetic ablation or intra-myocardial adenovirus injection. Mitochondrial dynamics was analyzed by confocal microscopy in vitro and transmission electron microscopy in vivo. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assay were performed to explore the underlying mechanisms. RESULTS: KLF4 was downregulated in I/R heart. Cardiac-specific Klf4 knockout significantly exacerbated cardiac dysfunction in I/R mice. Mechanistically, Klf4 deficiency aggravated mitochondrial apoptosis, reduced ATP generation and boosted ROS overproduction via enhancing DRP1-dependent mitochondrial fission. ROCK1 was identified as a kinase regulating DRP1 activity at Ser616. Klf4 deficiency upregulated the expression of ROCK1 at transcriptional level, thus increasing S616-DRP1-mediated mitochondrial fission during I/R. Finally, reconstitution of Klf4 inhibited mitochondrial fission, restored mitochondrial function and alleviated I/R injury. CONCLUSION: Our study provides the first evidence that Klf4 deficiency exacerbates myocardial I/R injury through regulating ROCK1 expression at transcriptional level to induce DRP1-mediated mitochondrial fission. Targeting mitochondrial dynamics by restoring Klf4 might be potentially cardio-protective strategies attenuating I/R injury.

Validating the accuracy of a multifunctional smartwatch sphygmomanometer to monitor blood pressure.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is the most modifiable factor associated with cardiovascular events and complications. The conventional blood pressure (BP) meter method is simple but is limited in terms of real-time monitoring abnormal BP. Therefore, the development of a multifunction smartwatch (HUAWEI WATCH D) sphygmomanometer could significantly improve integrated BP monitoring. METHODS: We enrolled 361 subjects from Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China to validate the accuracy of the smartwatch versatile sphygmomanometer using ISO 81060-2:2018. Resting and ambulatory BP accuracy of the smartwatch were compared with gold standard clinical sphygmomanometers using ISO 81060-2:2018 guidelines, the accuracy of 24 h systolic blood pressure (SBP) circadian rhythm monitoring, and diurnal high SBP alert for this smartwatch were assessed using a confusion matrix approach. Additionally, we analyzed online users of different ages for compliance. RESULTS: Eighty-five subjects underwent resting BP measurements; the mean resting BP differences between two devices were -0.683 ± 6.203 mmHg (SBP) (P = 0.723) and 1.628 ± 5.028 mmHg (diastolic blood pressure, DBP) (P = 0.183). In 35 subjects' ambulatory BP measurements, the mean differences of ambulatory BP were -1.943 ± 5.475 mmHg (SBP) (P = 0.923) and 3.195 ± 5.862 mmHg (DBP) (P = 0.065). All data complied with ISO 81060-2:2018 guidelines (mean ≤ ±5 mmHg and standard deviation ≤ ±8 mmHg) with no significant differences. Positive predictive values (PPV) of resting SBP and DBP were 0.635 and 0.671, respectively. The PPV of ambulatory SBP and DBP were 0.686. Also, 24 h SBP circadian rhythm monitoring was performed in 107 subjects: accuracy = 0.850, specificity = 0.864, precision/PPV = 0.833, sensitivity = 0.833, and F1-measure (F1) = 0.833. The accuracy, specificity, precision, sensitivity, and F1 values in 85 subjects undergoing diurnal high SBP alerting were 0.858, 0.876, 0.706, 0.809, and 0.754, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: When compared with the gold standard clinical sphygmomanometer, smartwatch results were consistent and accurate. Online user feedback showed that elderly individuals cared more about BP monitoring accuracy, with better compliance.

N­acetyl cysteine prevents ambient fine particulate matter­potentiated atherosclerosis via inhibition of reactive oxygen species­induced oxidized low density lipoprotein elevation and decreased circulating endothelial progenitor cell.

Ambient fine particulate matter (PM) serves an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease, including atherosclerosis. Antioxidant N­acetyl cysteine (NAC) has protective effects in the cardiovascular system. However, it is unknown if NAC prevents PM­potentiated atherosclerosis in hyperlipidemia. Low­density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor knockout mice were pretreated with 1 mg/ml NAC in drinking water for 1 week and continued to receive NAC, high­fat diet and intranasal instillation of PM for 1 week or 6 months. Blood plasma was collected for lipid profile, oxidized (ox­)LDL, blood reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inflammatory cytokine (TNF­α, IL­1ß and IL­6) measurement. Blood cells were harvested for endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) population and intracellular ROS analysis. Murine aorta was isolated for atherosclerotic plaque ratio calculation. NAC treatment maintained circulating EPC level and significantly decreased blood ox­LDL and ROS, inflammatory cytokines, mononuclear and EPC intracellular ROS levels as well as aortic plaque ratio. NAC prevented PM­potentiated atherosclerosis by inhibiting plasma ROS­induced ox­LDL elevation, mononuclear cell and EPC intracellular ROS­induced circulating EPC reduction and inflammatory cytokine production.

A Hierarchical Path Planning Approach with Multi-SARSA Based on Topological Map.

In this paper, a novel path planning algorithm with Reinforcement Learning is proposed based on the topological map. The proposed algorithm has a two-level structure. At the first level, the proposed method generates the topological area using the region dynamic growth algorithm based on the grid map. In the next level, the Multi-SARSA method divided into two layers is applied to find a near-optimal global planning path, in which the artificial potential field method, first of all, is used to initialize the first Q table for faster learning speed, and then the second Q table is initialized with the connected domain obtained by topological map, which provides the prior information. A combination of the two algorithms makes the algorithm easier to converge. Simulation experiments for path planning have been executed. The results indicate that the method proposed in this paper can find the optimal path with a shorter path length, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the presented method.

Differences in the reaction of hyperlipidemia on different endothelial progenitor cells based on sex.

The sex of a patient can affect the outcomes of several cardiovascular diseases, and men generally tend to experience earlier episodes of cardiovascular diseases compared with women. The progression of atherosclerosis during hyperlipidemia can be induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidized-low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL). By contrast, bone marrow (BM)-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been reported to serve a protective role against atherosclerosis. The aim of the present was to compare the effects of sex under conditions of hyperlipidemia on different populations of EPCs, and to identify the potential underlying mechanisms. EPC numbers and ROS levels in the blood and BM were measured using fluorescence activated cell sorting in male and female LDL receptor knock-out C57BL/6 mice maintained on a high-fat diet for 6 months, and in male and female wild type C57BL/6 mice following ox-LDL injection for 3 days. Female hyperlipidemic mice exhibited lower levels of plasma lipids, atherosclerotic plaque formation, intracellular EPC ROS formation and inflammatory cytokine levels. Furthermore, BM CD34+/ fetal liver kinase-1 (Flk-1+), CD34+/CD133+ and stem cell antigen-1+/Flk-1+, as well as all circulating EPCs, were maintained at higher levels in female hyperlipidemic mice. In addition, similar changes with regards to BM CD34+/Flk-1+, CD34+/CD133+, c-Kit+/CD31+ and circulating CD34+/Flk1+ and CD34+/CD133+ EPCs were observed in female mice following ox-LDL treatment. These sustained higher levels of BM and circulating EPCs in female mice with hyperlipidemia may be associated with reduced levels of ox-LDL as a result of reduced intracellular ROS formation in EPCs and decreased inflammatory cytokine production.

Does "replacing business tax with value-added tax" promote the energy efficiency of the logistics industry in China?

This paper investigates the relationship between "replacing business tax with value-added tax" (RBTVT) and the total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) of the logistics industry using regression discontinuity (RD) method, and the research shows that the TFEE of the logistics industry in China has presented a benign growth trend. RBTVT has significantly promoted the development of TFEE in the logistics industry, and its influence has mainly stemmed from the improvement of green technology progress. Moreover, the promotion mechanism of policy in the eastern region reacts more sharp than that in the central and western regions does. So this paper claims that the government should built a tax incentive mechanism of green production and energy conservation. It is necessary to use RBTVT to promote the high-quality development of the logistics industry and create an environment which coexist low-carbon environmental protection and economic benefits.

Elevated plasma levels of Mac-2 binding protein predict poor cardiovascular outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Mac-2 binding protein (M2BP) is an inflammatory glycoprotein associated with carotid atherosclerosis and all-cause mortality in patients with suspected coronary artery diseases. We aimed to explore the potential association of plasma M2BP levels with unstable plaque morphology and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We compared plasma M2BP levels among three groups: 216 patients with ACS, 82 patients with stable angina pectoris, and 50 controls. Angiographic analyses of complex lesions were carried out in patients with ACS and they were followed up prospectively for 12 months for the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular outcomes (MACEs). RESULTS: Patients with ACS showed significantly higher plasma levels of M2BP than patients with stable angina pectoris (P<0.001) and controls (P<0.001). M2BP levels correlated positively with the presence (P<0.001) and extent (P=0.005) of complex lesions. During follow-up, 45 (20.8%) cases of MACEs occurred. Survival analysis indicated that high M2BP levels were associated with a poor prognosis (log-rank P=0.008). After Cox multivariate adjustment, plasma M2BP levels remained an independent predictor of MACEs either as a continuous variable (hazard ratio: 1.178, 95% confidence interval: 1.093-1.270, P<0.001) or as a categorical variable (hazard ratio: 2.783, 95% confidence interval: 1.433-5.404, P=0.002). CONCLUSION: Plasma M2BP levels might be predictive of unstable plaque and were associated independently with poor cardiovascular outcomes in patients with ACS.