Suppressing Charge Extraction Loss in Quantum Dot Infrared Photovoltaics by Optimizing the Charge Transport Layer.

Infrared solar cells (IRSCs), capable of converting low-energy infrared photons to electron-hole pairs, are promising infrared optoelectronic devices because of their extended utilization region of the solar to short-wavelength infrared region. For PbS QDs IRSCs, charge extraction loss, easily generated at the interfaces, has been one of the dominate obstacles impeding the improvement of device efficiencies due to too many trap states and mismatched energy levels between the photoactive layer and electron transport layer (ETL). Herein, an advanced ZnO ETL was developed to improve the extraction of photogenerated charges from the PbS QD photoactive layer to ETLs. The advanced ETL film exhibited effectively suppressed trap states and better-matched energy levels compared with the QD layer. As a consequence, high-performance PbS QD IRSCs with the highest infrared power conversion efficiencies of 1.26% under 1100 nm filtered solar illumination are achieved, suggesting an effective and facile route for enhancing the charge extraction in infrared photovoltaics.

Safety of Mechanical Thrombectomy for Acute Ischemic Stroke in Patients with Thrombocytopenia.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The impact of low platelet count on outcomes in patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS) undergoing Mechanical Thrombectomy (MT) is still unclear. In this study we have further explored the effect of thrombocytopenia on the safety and efficacy of MT in patients with anterior circulation Large Vessel Occlusion (LVO) stroke. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with AIS who underwent MT at our center between June 2015 and November 2021 were examined. Based on the platelet count recorded on admission patients were divided into two groups: those with thrombocytopenia (<150 × 109/L) and those without thrombocytopenia (≥ 150 × 109/L). Symptomatic Intracranial Hemorrhage (sICH) was the primary safety outcome. The efficacy outcome was functional independence defined as a 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 0-2. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to determine the risk factors for post-procedure sICH and 90-day functional outcomes. RESULTS: Among 302 patients included in the study, thrombocytopenia was detected in 111 (36.8%) cases. Univariate analysis showed age, the proportion of atrial fibrillation, the rates of sICH, 90-day poor outcomes, and mortality to be higher in patients with thrombocytopenia (all p < 0.05). Multivariable analysis showed thrombocytopenia to be independently associated with a higher rate of sICH (OR 2.022, 95% CI 1.074-3.807, p =0.029) however, thrombocytopenia did not affect the 90-day functional outcomes (OR 1.045, 95%CI 0.490-2.230, p =0.909) and mortality (OR 1.389, 95% CI 0.467- 4.130 p = 0.554). CONCLUSION: Thrombocytopenia may increase the risk of sICH but not affect the 90-day functional outcomes and mortality in patients with AIS treated with MT.

Establishing and Validating a novel Prognostic Model in the Initial Diagnosis of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer with Bone Metastases.

Background: The aim of this research is to establish and validate a prognostic model for predicting prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with bone metastases. Methods: Overall, 176 NSCLC patients with bone metastases were retrospectively evaluated in the research. We employed the LASSO-Cox regression method to select the candidate indicators for predicting the prognosis among NSCLC patients complicated with bone metastases. We employed the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and the concordance index (C-index) to assess the discriminative ability. Results: Based on the LASSO-Cox regression analysis, 9 candidate indicators were screened to build the prognostic model. The prognostic model had a higher C-index in the training cohort (0.738, 95% CI: 0.680-0.796) and the validation cohort (0.660, 95% CI: 0.566-0.754) than the advanced lung cancer inflammation index (ALI). Furthermore, the AUCs of the 1-, 2-, and 3-year OS predictions for the prognostic model were higher than ALI in both cohorts. Kaplan-Meier curves and the estimated restricted mean survival time (RMST) values showed that the patients in the low-risk subgroup had the lower probabilities of cancer-specific mortality than high-risk subgroup. Conclusions: The prognostic model could provide clinicians with precise information and facilitate individualized treatment for patients with bone metastases.

Effective Charge Collection of Electron Transport Layers for High-Performance Quantum Dot Infrared Solar Cells.

Infrared (IR) solar cells, capable of converting low-energy IR photons to electron-hole pairs, are promising optoelectronic devices by broadening the utilization range of the solar spectrum to the short-wavelength IR region. The emerging PbS colloidal quantum dot (QD) IR solar cells attract much attention due to their tunable band gaps in the IR region, potential multiple exciton generation, and facile solution processing. In PbS QD solar cells, ZnO is commonly utilized as an electron transport layer (ETL) to establish a depleted heterostructure with a QD photoactive layer. However, band gap shrinkage of large PbS QDs makes it necessary to tailor the behaviors of the ZnO ETL for efficient carrier extraction in the devices. Herein, the characteristics of ZnO ETL are efficiently and flexibly tailored to match the QD layer by handily adjusting the postannealing process of ZnO ETL. With a suitable temperature, the well-matched energy level alignment and suppressed trap states are simultaneously achieved in the ZnO ETL, effectively reducing the nonradiative recombination and accelerating the electron injection from the QD layer to ETL. As a consequence, a high-performance PbS QD photovoltaic device with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 10.09% and 1.37% is obtained under AM 1.5 and 1100 nm filtered solar illumination, demonstrating a simple and effective approach for achieving high-performance IR photoelectric devices.

A Novel Strategy for the Synthesis of High Stability of Luminescent Zero Dimensional-Two Dimensional CsPbBr3 Quantum Dot/1,4-bis(4-methylstyryl)benzene Nanoplate Heterostructures at an Atmospheric Condition.

Perovskite quantum dots (QDs), emerging with excellent bright-green photoluminescence (PL) and a large absorption coefficient, are of great potential for the fabrication of light sources in underwater optical wireless communication systems. However, the instability caused by low formation energy and abundant surface traps is still a major concern for perovskite-based light sources in underwater conditions. Herein, we propose ultra-stable zero dimensional-two dimensional (0D-2D) CsPbBr3 QD/1,4-bis(4-methylstyryl)benzene (p-MSB) nanoplate (NP) heterostructures synthesized via a facile approach at room temperature in air. CsPbBr3 QDs can naturally nucleate on the p-MSB NP toluene solution, and the radiative combination is drastically intensified owing to the electron transfer within the typical type-II heterostructures, leading to a sharply increased PLQY of the heterostructure thin films up to 200% compared with the pristine sample. The passivation of defects within CsPbBr3 QDs can be effectively realized with the existence of p-MSB NPs, and thus the obviously improved PL is steadily witnessed in an ambient atmosphere and thermal environment. Meanwhile, the enhanced humidity stability and a peak EQE of 9.67% suggests a synergetic strategy for concurrently addressing the knotty problems on unsatisfied luminous efficiency and stability of perovskites for high-performance green-emitting optoelectronic devices in underwater applications.

Tetracyclines resistance in Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma urogenital isolates derived from human: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Urogenital Mycoplasma infections are considered an important public health problem, owing to the presence of antibiotic resistance or decreased susceptibility, the treatment options are limited. OBJECTIVE: Therefore, this meta-analysis aimed to estimate resistance rates of genital Mycoplasmas to tetracyclines (tetracycline, doxycycline, and minocycline). METHODS: We searched the relevant published studies in PubMed, Scopus, and Embase until 3, March 2022. All statistical analyses were carried out using the statistical package R. RESULTS: The 26 studies included in the analysis were performed in 15 countries. In the metadata, the proportions of tetracycline, doxycycline, and minocycline resistance in Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma urogenital isolates were reported 14.2% (95% CI 8.2-23.2%), 5% (95% CI 3-8.1%), and 11.9% (95% CI 6.3-21.5%), respectively. According to the meta-regression, the tetracycline and minocycline resistance rate decreased over time. Although, the doxycycline resistance rate increased over time. There was a statistically significant difference in the tetracyclines resistance rates between different continents/countries (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The prevalence rate and antibiotic susceptibility profiles vary geographically. Therefore, rigorous or improved antimicrobial stewardship, contact tracing, and enhanced intensive surveillance systems are necessitated for preventing the emergence and further spreading of tetracyclines resistance in genital Mycoplasmas.

Measurement of the Acoustic Relaxation Absorption Spectrum of CO2 Using a Distributed Bragg Reflector Fiber Laser.

Reconstruction of the acoustic relaxation absorption curve is a powerful approach to ultrasonic gas sensing, but it requires knowledge of a series of ultrasonic absorptions at various frequencies around the effective relaxation frequency. An ultrasonic transducer is the most widely deployed sensor for ultrasonic wave propagation measurement and works only at a fixed frequency or in a specific environment like water, so a large number of ultrasonic transducers operating at various frequencies are required to recover an acoustic absorption curve with a relative large bandwidth, which cannot suit large-scale practical applications. This paper proposes a wideband ultrasonic sensor using a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) fiber laser for gas concentration detection through acoustic relaxation absorption curve reconstruction. With a relative wide and flat frequency response, the DBR fiber laser sensor measures and restores a full acoustic relaxation absorption spectrum of CO2 using a decompression gas chamber between 0.1 and 1 atm to accommodate the main molecular relaxation processes, and interrogates with a non-equilibrium Mach-Zehnder interferometer (NE-MZI) to gain a sound pressure sensitivity of -45.4 dB. The measurement error of the acoustic relaxation absorption spectrum is less than 1.32%.

Congenital hepatic hemangioma: an unusual case report of pulmonary hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) in newborns is a rare but serious condition that often requires immediate intervention and quick diagnosis of the correct etiology to prevent mortality. Congenital hepatic hemangioma (CHH) is an example of an extrathoracic etiology of PH. CASE PRESENTATION: Herein, we report the case of a newborn with a giant liver hemangioma, who presented with an early onset of PH and was successfully treated with intra-arterial embolization. CONCLUSIONS: This case illustrates the importance of suspicion and prompt evaluation of CHH and related systemic arteriovenous shunts among infants with unexplained PH.

N-acetylneuraminate pyruvate lyase controls sialylation of muscle glycoproteins essential for muscle regeneration and function.

Deleterious variants in N-acetylneuraminate pyruvate lyase (NPL) cause skeletal myopathy and cardiac edema in humans and zebrafish, but its physiological role remains unknown. We report generation of mouse models of the disease: NplR63C, carrying the human p.Arg63Cys variant, and Npldel116 with a 116-bp exonic deletion. In both strains, NPL deficiency causes drastic increase in free sialic acid levels, reduction of skeletal muscle force and endurance, slower healing and smaller size of newly formed myofibers after cardiotoxin-induced muscle injury, increased glycolysis, partially impaired mitochondrial function, and aberrant sialylation of dystroglycan and mitochondrial LRP130 protein. NPL-catalyzed degradation of sialic acid in the muscle increases after fasting and injury and in human patient and mouse models with genetic muscle dystrophy, demonstrating that NPL is essential for muscle function and regeneration and serves as a general marker of muscle damage. Oral administration of N-acetylmannosamine rescues skeletal myopathy, as well as mitochondrial and structural abnormalities in NplR63C mice, suggesting a potential treatment for human patients.

Multi-MEMS-microphone schemes in a miniature photoacoustic cell for acetylene trace gas measurement.

Dissolved gas analysis is a strong tool for online health monitoring of electrical power equipment. The industry's large-scale deployment of photoacoustic (PA) sensors is still constrained by cost and sensitivity, despite the great accuracy achieved with a mid-infrared light source or optical sensors. We provide a low-cost PA sensor for ppb-level trace gas sensing based on a near-infrared distributed feedback laser source, miniature gas cell, and multiple microelectromechanical system (MEMS) microphones. Five multi-MEMS-microphones schemes are modeled. The simulation indicates that the sensor, including two MEMS microphones in the center of the resonator, is the most cost-efficient option. The experiments that present this scheme can be realized easily by modifying a traditional single microphone PA cell and with ppb-level sensitivity.

Sensitivity Enhancement of 2D Material-Based Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor with an Al-Ni Bimetallic Structure.

In this paper, a variety of 2D materials on the surface plasmon resonance sensor based on Al-Ni bimetallic layer are compared. Simulation results indicate that lateral position shift, which is calculated according to the real and imaginary parts of the refractive index of material, can be used as an effective parameter to optimize the sensitivity. By using the parameters for optimizing the SPR structures, the results show that the multiple layer models of Al(40 nm)-Ni(22 nm)-black phosphorus (BP)(1 L) and Al(40 nm)-Ni(22 nm)-blue phosphorus (BlueP)/WS2(1 L) exhibit average angular sensitivities of 507.0 °/RIU and 466 °/RIU in the refractive index range of 1.330-1.335, and maximum sensitivity of 542 °/RIU and 489 °/RIU at the refractive index of 1.333, respectively. We expect more applications can be explored based on the highly sensitive SPR sensor in different fields of optical sensing.

Modal interference discrepancy and its application to a modified fiber Mach-Zehnder Vernier interferometer.

In this paper, modal interference discrepancy in an all-fiber MZI is theoretically analyzed and experimentally verified. Theoretical analysis demonstrates that ambient refractive index (RI) response of core-cladding modal interference in an all-fiber MZI is blue-shift, while that of cladding-cladding modal interference is red-shift. Temperature response trends of the two kinds of modal interference are uniformly red-shift. The discrepancy is used to fabricate an improved Vernier sensor which is cascaded by two unit MZIs. One MZI is slightly core-offset fused to obtain core-cladding modal interference, and the other is obviously offset fused to get cladding-cladding modal interference. Ambient RI sensitivity of the cascaded sensor is improved with temperature cross-talk restrained. Ambient RI responses of the two unit MZIs are measured to be opposite, which are -54.009 nm/RIU (within RI range of 1.3362∼1.3811) for the slight and 142.581 nm/RIU for the obvious offset unit MZI. While, temperature response trends of them are consistent, which are 0.042 nm/°C for the slight and 0.025 nm/°C for the obvious offset unit MZI, respectively. For the cascaded Vernier sensor ambient RI sensitivity reaches -1788.160 nm/RIU, which is 33.1 and 12.5 folds improved over the two unit MZIs, respectively. Temperature sensitivity of the cascaded sensor is as low as 0.167 nm/°C and only causes a slight RI error of 9.339 × 10-5 RIU/°C. Due to the simple structure, ease of fabrication, and low temperature cross-talk, the modal interference discrepancy-based Vernier sensor is believed to have potential application prospects in biochemical sensing fields.

High Performance 0D ZnO Quantum Dot/2D (PEA)2PbI4 Nanosheet Hybrid Photodetectors Fabricated via a Facile Antisolvent Method.

Two-dimensional (2D) organic-inorganic perovskites have great potential for the fabrication of next-generation photodetectors owing to their outstanding optoelectronic features, but their utilization has encountered a bottleneck in anisotropic carrier transportation induced by the unfavorable continuity of the thin films. We propose a facile approach for the fabrication of 0D ZnO quantum dot (QD)/2D (PEA)2PbI4 nanosheet hybrid photodetectors under the atmospheric conditions associated with the ZnO QD chloroform antisolvent. Profiting from the antisolvent, the uniform morphology of the perovskite thin films is obtained owing to the significantly accelerated nucleation site formation and grain growth rates, and ZnO QDs homogeneously decorate the surface of (PEA)2PbI4 nanosheets, which spontaneously passivate the defects on perovskites and enhance the carrier separation by the well-matched band structure. By varying the ZnO QD concentration, the Ion/Ioff ratio of the photodetectors radically elevates from 78.3 to 1040, and a 12-fold increase in the normalized detectivity is simultaneously observed. In addition, the agglomeration of perovskite grains is governed by the annealing temperature, and the photodetector fabricated at a relatively low temperature of 120 °C exhibits excellent stability after a 50-cycle test in the air condition without any encapsulation.

Refractive index sensitivity of Brillouin acoustic modes in single-mode subwavelength-diameter fibers.

The acousto-optic interaction is strongly modified and different in subwavelength confinement. Here, the optical propagation and acoustic propagation in a subwavelength-diameter fiber (SDF) have been investigated through adopting a two-layer fiber model of air-coated silica rod. Theoretical investigation indicates that SDF with a diameter below 1.2 µm supports the single mode of light propagation, and various Brillouin acoustic modes with well-spaced spectral distribution can be also excited. Due to the light propagation with the outer environment as the cladding layer, the surrounding medium will greatly affect Brillouin scattering of SDFs. Both the simulation and experiment results indicate a relatively good linear relationship between the Brillouin frequency shift of the lower acoustic modes and surrounding environmental refractive index (RI), and the higher RI sensitivity in finer SDFs can be obtained. In addition, hybrid acoustic waves have shown higher sensitivity and stability than surface acoustic modes. A RI sensitivity of about 5.1 GHz/RIU has been achieved in a 1.1 µm SDF, demonstrating its potential application in RI sensing.

A novel quantitative prognostic model for initially diagnosed non-small cell lung cancer with brain metastases.

BACKGROUND: The prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with brain metastases (BMs) had been researched in some researches, but the combination of clinical characteristics and serum inflammatory indexes as a noninvasive and more accurate model has not been described. METHODS: We retrospectively screened patients with BMs at the initial diagnosis of NSCLC at Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center. LASSO-Cox regression analysis was used to establish a novel prognostic model for predicting OS based on blood biomarkers. The predictive accuracy and discriminative ability of the prognostic model was compared to Adjusted prognostic Analysis (APA), Recursive Partition Analysis (RPA), and Graded Prognostic Assessment (GPA) using concordance index (C-index), time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (td-ROC) curve, Decision Curve Analysis(DCA), net reclassification improvement index (NRI), and integrated discrimination improvement index (IDI). RESULTS: 10-parameter signature's predictive model for the NSCLC patients with BMs was established according to the results of LASSO-Cox regression analysis. The C-index of the prognostic model to predict OS was 0.672 (95% CI = 0.609 ~ 0.736) which was significantly higher than APA,RPA and GPA. The td-ROC curve and DCA of the predictive model also demonstrated good predictive accuracy of OS compared to APA, RPA and GPA. Moreover, NRI and IDI analysis indicated that the prognostic model had improved prediction ability compared with APA, RPA and GPA. CONCLUSION: The novel prognostic model demonstrated favorable performance than APA, RPA, and GPA for predicting OS in NSCLC patients with BMs.

Robust Walking for Humanoid Robot Based on Divergent Component of Motion.

In order to perform various complex tasks in place of humans, humanoid robots should walk robustly in the presence of interference. In the paper, an improved model predictive control (MPC) method based on the divergent components of motion (DCM) is proposed. Firstly, the humanoid robot model is simplified to a finite-sized foot-pendulum model. Then, the gait of the humanoid robot in the single-support phase (SSP) and double-support phase (DSP) is planned based on DCM. The center of mass (CoM) of the robot will converge to the DCM, which simplifies the feedback control process. Finally, an MPC controller incorporating an extended Kalman filter (EKF) is proposed to realize the tracking of the desired DCM trajectory. By adjusting the step duration, the controller can compensate for CoM trajectory errors caused by disturbances. Simulation results show that-compared with the traditional method-the method we propose achieves improvements in both disturbed walking and uneven-terrain walking.

Skull modulated strategies to intensify tumor treating fields on brain tumor: a finite element study.

Tumor treating fields (TTFields) are a breakthrough in treating glioblastoma (GBM), whereas the intensity cannot be further enhanced, due to the limitation of scalp lesions. Skull remodeling (SR) surgery can elevate the treatment dose of TTFields in the intracranial foci. This study was aimed at exploring the characteristics of the skull modulated strategies toward TTFields augmentation. The simplified multiple-tissue-layer model (MTL) and realistic head (RH) model were reconstructed through finite element methods (FEM), to simulate the remodeling of the skull, which included skull drilling, thinning, and cranioplasty with PEEK, titanium, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), connective tissue and autologous bone. Skull thinning could enhance the intensity of TTFields in the brain tumor, with a 10% of increase in average peritumoral intensity (API) by every 1 cm decrease in skull thickness. Cranioplasty with titanium accompanied the most enhancement of TTFields in the MTL model, but CSF was superior in TTFields enhancement when simulated in the RH model. Besides, API increased nonlinearly with the expansion of drilled burr holes. In comparison with the single drill replaced by titanium, nine burr holes could reach 96.98% of enhancement in API, but it could only reach 63.08% of enhancement under craniectomy of nine times skull defect area. Skull thinning and drilling could enhance API, which was correlated with the number and area of skull drilling. Cranioplasty with highly conductive material could also augment API, but might not provide clinical benefits as expected.

Pregnane glycosides from Adonis amurensis and their bioactivity.

Seven undescribed pregnane glycosides named amurensides A-G and two known aglycones were isolated from the whole herb of Adonis amurensis Regel & Radde. Their structures were established based on 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic analyses, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and acid hydrolysis. The cytotoxicity of all compounds against three tumor cell lines (HepG2, Caco-2, and A549) were evaluated. Among them, amurensides A-C and E showed moderate inhibitory effects on the growth of HepG2 cells, with IC50 values ranging from 15.6 to 48.7 µM (sorafenib, 7.5 ± 1.9 µM). Amurensides A、D and F displayed inhibitory effects on the growth of A549 cells with IC50 values of 18.8 ± 1.2, 12.4 ± 0.6, and 30.4 ± 0.1 µM (cis-platinum, 6.1 ± 0.1 µM), respectively.

Plasma obtained following murine hindlimb ischemic conditioning protects against oxidative stress in zebrafish models through activation of nrf2a and downregulation of duox.

Ischemia/reperfusion of organ systems in trauma patients with resuscitated hemorrhagic shock (HSR) contributes to tissue injury and organ dysfunction. Previous studies using a murine model of HSR showed that remote ischemic preconditioning (RIC) protected against organ injury and that the plasma was able to prevent neutrophil migration in a zebrafish tailfin-cut inflammation model. In this study, we hypothesized that RIC plasma inhibits neutrophil function through a decrease in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production via the upregulation of the transcription factor Nrf2 and downstream antioxidative genes. Plasma from mice subjected to RIC (4 cycles of 5-min hindlimb ischemia/reperfusion) was microinjected into zebrafish. The results show that RIC plasma caused a reduction of ROS generation in response to tail injury. In addition, RIC plasma protected the fish larvae in the survival studies when exposed to either H2O2 or LPS. Oxidative stress PCR Array showed that RIC plasma treatment led to upregulation of antioxidative related genes including hsp70, hmox1a, nqo1 as well as downregulation of duox, the producer of H2O2. To explore the role of nrf2 in RIC, RIC plasma from Nrf2 KO mice were injected to the zebrafish and showed no inhibitory effect on neutrophil migration. Moreover, knockdown of nrf2a attenuated the anti-inflammatory and protective effect of RIC plasma. The downregulation of duox and upregulation of hmox1a were confirmed to require the activation of nrf2a. Therefore, we show that the protective effect of RIC may be related to the elaboration of humoral factors which counter injury-induced ROS generation in a nrf2-dependent fashion.

Quantitative Detection of Components in Polymer-Bonded Explosives through Near-Infrared Spectroscopy with Partial Least Square Regression.

The components in polymer-bonded explosive X, including cyclotetramethylene-tetranitramine, paraffin, and polytetrafluoroethylene, were determined using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Using partial least squares as the multivariate calibration method, quantitative calibration models for components in X were verified internally and externally. The possible combinations of eight general spectral pretreatment methods and different bands of the scanning spectral region (12,500-4000 cm-1) were established. The models were analyzed, evaluated, and optimized via the fitting effect. The data were combined with the mathematical meaning of the model spectral pretreatment methods and the chemical significance of the modeling spectral bands. Prediction performance offered optimal quantitative calibration models. Paired bilateral Student's t tests show that there is no significant difference between the values obtained by NIR and chemical analysis methods, and the NIR method has good accuracy. Moreover, the precision of the NIR method is better than that of the chemical method, and the analysis time is reduced from 2 days to a few minutes.