Two-dimensional materials such as graphene are attractive materials for making smaller transistors because they are inherently nanoscale and can carry high currents. However, graphene has no band gap ...and the transistors are "leaky"; that is, they are hard to turn off. Related transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) such as molybdenum sulfide have band gaps. Transistors based on these materials can have high ratios of "on" to "off" currents. However, it is often difficult to make a good voltage-biased (p-n) junction between different TMDC materials. Li et al. succeeded in making p-n heterojunctions between two of these materials, molybdenum sulfide and tungsten selenide. They did this not by stacking the layers, which make a weak junction, but by growing molybdenum sulfide on the edge of a triangle of tungsten selenide with an atomically sharp boundary Science, this issue p. 524 Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) such as molybdenum sulfide MoS2 and tungsten sulfide WSe2 have potential applications in electronics because they exhibit high on-off current ratios and distinctive electro-optical properties. Spatially connected TMDC lateral heterojunctions are key components for constructing monolayer p-n rectifying diodes, light-emitting diodes, photovoltaic devices, and bipolar junction transistors. However, such structures are not readily prepared via the layer-stacking techniques, and direct growth favors the thermodynamically preferred TMDC alloys. We report the two-step epitaxial growth of lateral WSe2-MoS2 heterojunction, where the edge of WSe2 induces the epitaxial MoS2 growth despite a large lattice mismatch. The epitaxial growth process offers a controllable method to obtain lateral heterojunction with an atomically sharp interface.
Efficient lithium-ion transport is pivotal for the battery advancement, and the transference number plays a central role in achieving this efficiency. In the literature, significant discrepancies in ...transference number values are often observed. For instance, in polymer electrolytes, notable inconsistencies in transference numbers exist even when the electrolyte chemistry, such as salt concentration and polymer molecular weight, is held constant. Therefore, conventional wisdom focusing on the material chemistry cannot explain these inconsistent results. Herein, we report a long-standing overlooked aspect: the discrepant transference number results can stem from the misestimation of parameters in measurement methodologies. Our analysis leverages the transmission-line-model applied to a polyethylene oxide electrolyte, allowing us to reevaluate traditional measurement methods. Through this reassessment, we not only uncover how the determination of measurement parameters can exert a significant influence on the attained transference number but also suggest a method to accurately characterize the transference number. Furthermore, we explore the origins of anomalous transference number and elucidate the impact of transference number on electrochemical impedance and direct-current polarization experiments. This research contributes vital insights into addressing critical challenges associated with transference number measurements in electrolyte systems, promoting the development of more efficient lithium-ion transport in battery technology.
•Inconsistent transference numbers often occur in traditional measurement methods.•Instructions for accurate determination of transference numbers are provided.•Impacts of improperly determined parameters on transference numbers are unveiled.•The proposed method is applicable to various types of electrolyte systems.
Aim
To synthesise nurses' and physicians' experiences with withdrawing life‐sustaining treatment in an intensive care unit.
Design
The chosen methodology is thematic synthesis. The Preferred ...Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta‐Analyses and Enhancing Transparency are used in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Research Statement.
Methods and Data Sources
A systematic search is conducted in APA PsycINFO, CINAHL Plus, EMBASE, PubMed and Web of Science following the inclusion and exclusion criteria in April 2023. Two reviewers independently screened and extracted the qualitative data. Subsequently, data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis of qualitative research. This study was not registered with any review registry due to the irrelevance of the data to health‐related outcomes.
Results
From the 16 articles, 267 quotes were extracted and analysed. The findings of the study revealed five analytical themes: (1) tensions between interdependent collaboration and hierarchical roles; (2) tensions between dignified dying or therapeutic perspectives; (3) family members' reflections of patient's wishes; (4) tensions in family members' positions; and (5) double‐sidedness of distress.
Conclusion
This study contributes to nursing knowledge by providing a more nuanced understanding of this complex phenomenon of withdrawing life‐sustaining treatment. The findings of this study have revealed significant variations globally in the practices surrounding the withdrawal of life‐sustaining treatment in intensive care units, emphasising the need for further research to inform clinical practices that cater to diverse contexts.
Reporting Method
Enhancing Transparency are used in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Research Statement (ENTREQ statement).
Patient or Public Contribution
Since this study reported a potential collision between the patient's dignified dying and the family member's perceptions and interests, the family member's wishes should be carefully distinguished from the patient's quality of end of life in practice.
The Conducting of polymers belongs to the class of polymers exhibiting excellence in electrical performances because of their intrinsic delocalized π- electrons and their tunability ranges from ...semi-conductive to metallic conductive regime. Conducting polymers and their composites serve greater functionality in the application of strain and pressure sensors, especially in yielding a better figure of merits, such as improved sensitivity, sensing range, durability, and mechanical robustness. The electrospinning process allows the formation of micro to nano-dimensional fibers with solution-processing attributes and offers an exciting aspect ratio by forming ultra-long fibrous structures. This review comprehensively covers the fundamentals of conducting polymers, sensor fabrication, working modes, and recent trends in achieving the sensitivity, wide-sensing range, reduced hysteresis, and durability of thin film, porous, and nanofibrous sensors. Furthermore, nanofiber and textile-based sensory device importance and its growth towards futuristic wearable electronics in a technological era was systematically reviewed to overcome the existing challenges.
Network is a useful way for presenting many types of biological data including protein-protein interactions, gene regulations, cellular pathways, and signal transductions. We can measure nodes by ...their network features to infer their importance in the network, and it can help us identify central elements of biological networks.
We introduce a novel Cytoscape plugin cytoHubba for ranking nodes in a network by their network features. CytoHubba provides 11 topological analysis methods including Degree, Edge Percolated Component, Maximum Neighborhood Component, Density of Maximum Neighborhood Component, Maximal Clique Centrality and six centralities (Bottleneck, EcCentricity, Closeness, Radiality, Betweenness, and Stress) based on shortest paths. Among the eleven methods, the new proposed method, MCC, has a better performance on the precision of predicting essential proteins from the yeast PPI network.
CytoHubba provide a user-friendly interface to explore important nodes in biological networks. It computes all eleven methods in one stop shopping way. Besides, researchers are able to combine cytoHubba with and other plugins into a novel analysis scheme. The network and sub-networks caught by this topological analysis strategy will lead to new insights on essential regulatory networks and protein drug targets for experimental biologists. According to cytoscape plugin download statistics, the accumulated number of cytoHubba is around 6,700 times since 2010.
Objectives
To evaluate the feasibility and potential effects of patient‐centred self‐administered acupressure for alleviating fatigue and co‐occurring symptoms among Chinese advanced cancer patients ...receiving treatment.
Methods
Thirty advanced cancer patients who screened positive for moderate/severe fatigue with symptoms of insomnia and/or pain were recruited from a hospital in Hong Kong. They were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive a 4‐week patient‐centred self‐administered acupressure intervention or health education. Fatigue (primary outcome) and secondary outcomes (sleep quality, pain, fatigue–sleep disturbance–pain symptom cluster severity, anxiety, depression and quality of life) were measured by questionnaires and actigraphy.
Results
Twenty‐four participants (80%) completed the study. Adherence to self‐administered acupressure practice was satisfactory, with all retained participants attending all sessions and 90.9% practising acupressure daily. All completers rated the class as very enjoyable or quite enjoyable. Fatigue, pain, symptom cluster severity, anxiety, depression and quality of life appeared to improve from baseline to post‐intervention in the intervention group. Among these outcomes, only the between‐group difference in anxiety post‐intervention was significant. The group × time interaction effect was nonsignificant for all outcomes.
Conclusions
Patient‐centred self‐administered acupressure appears to be feasible and acceptable among advanced cancer patients. A fully powered trial is warranted to confirm the intervention effect.
Purpose
Advancements in medical treatments have resulted in increased medical costs for cancer patients. More than half of the patients with advanced lung cancer reported unmet financial needs. The ...purpose of this study is to examine the differences in the prevalence and correlates of financial hardship between middle- and older-aged patients with advanced lung cancer, and its impact on multiple health-related outcomes.
Methods
This study presents a cross-sectional analysis involving 226 patients with advanced lung cancer, who were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial conducted between 2018 and 2020. Data collection was performed through self-reported questionnaires and electronic medical records. Multivariable logistic and linear regression models were adopted for analysis.
Results
58.0% reported experiencing financial hardships. Middle-aged participants who were single and had a lower education level were more likely to experience financial difficulties. However, males and higher performance status were associated with a lower likelihood of experiencing financial difficulties among older-aged participants. Financial hardship was significantly associated with anxiety (
p
< 0.001), depression (
p
< 0.001), sleep disturbances (
p
< 0.001), quality of life, global health status (
p
= 0.002), functional scale score (
p
< 0.001), symptom scale score (
p
< 0.001), and lung cancer-specific scale score (
p
< 0.001).
Conclusions
More than half of the patients with advanced lung cancer experienced financial hardships caused by cancer or its treatment, with a higher prevalence reported in middle-aged patients. Different sociodemographic and clinical variables correlated with financial hardship in middle- and older-aged participants, respectively. More attention should be paid to middle-aged patients with advanced lung cancer, particularly during routine assessments.
Recently, finding solutions to assembly flowshop scheduling problems is a topic of extensive discussion in research communities. While existing research assumes that job processing times are constant ...numbers, in several practical situations, due to several external factors like machine breakdowns, working environment changes, worker performance instabilities, and tool quality variations and unavailability, job processing times may vary. In this study, therefore, we address a two-stage assembly flowshop scheduling problem with two scenario-dependent jobs processing times to minimise the maximum makepsan among both scenarios (called robust makespan) In view of the NP-hard nature, we first derive a dominance property and a lower bound to propose a branch-and-bound algorithm to find a permutation schedule with minimum makespan. Following that, we use Johnson's rule to propose eight polynomial heuristics for finding near-optimal solutions. Furthermore, we propose four cloud theory-based simulated annealing (CSA) hyper-heuristic algorithms incorporating seven low level heuristics to solve a robust two-stage assembly flowshop problem with scenario-dependent processing times. Finally, we empirically evaluate the effectiveness of all the proposed algorithms in minimising the robust makespan.
With the recent impact by the COVID‐19 pandemic, nursing research has gone through unexpected changes across the globe. The purpose of this special report is to present the commonalities in the ...impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on nursing research across four countries, including the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, and one region, that is, Hong Kong, and to make recommendations for future nursing research during the immediate postpandemic period and future pandemic situations. To identify the commonalities, seven researchers/leaders from the five countries/regions had discussions through 3 days of an international workshop. The content for this discussion paper derived from: (a) the exemplars/cases of the COVID‐19 impact on the research process, (b) researchers/leaders' presentations on the COVID‐19 impact, and (c) memos from the workshop. The materials were analyzed using a simple content analysis. The commonalities included: (a) “a heavy emphasis on teaching and fluctuating productivity,” (b) “increased funding opportunities and governmental support,” (c) “gendered experience complicated by professional differences,” (d) “delays and changes/modifications in research process,” (e) “limited research settings and difficulties in getting access,” and (f) “increased online dissemination activities with positive changes in the image of nursing.” With all collective wisdom that nurse researchers have obtained during the COVID‐19 pandemic, nursing research will evolve again for the successful future of the nursing discipline.
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