Fatty liver (hepatic steatosis) is prevalent in industrialized countries. It is typically linked to obesity, central obesity and the presence of metabolic syndrome. With the introduction of a ...Westernized lifestyle and the increasing frequency of obesity in the Asia‐Pacific region, the prevalence of non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been increasing over the past two decades. The risk factors are similar to those in other ethnic populations; but it is important to adopt the regional (ethnic‐specific) anthropometric criteria to define overweight, obesity (including central obesity) and metabolic syndrome. To be noted, even using strict ethnic‐specific criteria, a high percentage (15–21%) of Asia‐Pacific NAFLD subjects in some series have been found to be non‐obese, i.e. to have a normal body mass index (BMI) (17.5–22.4 kg/m2) or to be overweight (BMI 22.5–24.9 kg/m2). Differential distribution of visceral adipose tissue, recent increase in body weight, intake of high cholesterol diet and genetic background are factors likely associated with the development of NAFLD in these non‐obese (but often overweight) Asia‐Pacific subjects. Furthermore, insulin resistance may be the underlying key mechanism. In addition, since NAFLD may be the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome, the presence of NAFLD is a predictor of future type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, interventions at the public health level are indicated to halt the trend of overweight as well as obesity in Asia‐Pacific region, particularly among those with relevant family history. Since the pathophysiology of NAFLD is closely related to metabolic derangement, lifestyle modification remains the cornerstone of management.
The large non‐radiative recombination is the main factor that limits state‐of‐the‐art organic solar cells (OSCs). In this work, two novel structurally similar oligomers (named 5BDTBDD and 5BDDBDT) ...with D‐A‐D‐A‐D and A‐D‐A‐D‐A configuration are synthesized for high‐performance ternary OSCs with low energy loss. As third components, these PM6 analogue oligomers effectively suppress the non‐radiative recombination in OSCs. Although the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) levels of 5BDTBDD and 5BDDBDT are higher than that of PM6, the oligomers enabled ultra‐high electroluminescence quantum efficiency (EQEEL) of 0.05% and improved VOC, indicating suppressing non‐radiative recombination overweighs the common belief of deeper HOMO requirement in third component selection. Moreover, the different compatibility of 5BDTBDD and 5BDDBDT with PM6 and BTP‐BO4Cl fine‐tunes the active layer morphology with synergistic effects. The ternary devices based on PM6:5BDTBDD:BTPBO4Cl and PM6:5BDDBDT:BTP‐BO4Cl achieve a significantly improved PCEs of 17.54% and 17.32%, representing the state‐of‐the art OSCs processed by green solvent of o‐xylene. The strategy using novel oligomer as third component also has very wide composition tolerance in ternary OSCs. This is the first work that demonstrates novel structurally compatible D‐A type oligomers are effective third components, and provides new understanding of synergetic energy loss mechanisms towards high performance OSCs.
Low energy loss ternary organic solar cells (OSCs) based on PM6:BTP‐BO4Cl achieve significantly improved power conversion efficiencies of 17.54% and 17.32% by introducing novel oligomers with higher HOMO level as third‐components, representing the state‐of‐the‐art OSCs by green solvent. The significance of high electroluminescence quantum efficiency is highlighted and new understanding of energy loss mechanisms is provided toward high‐performance, ecofriendly OSCs.
Polydopamine (pDA) coatings afford tremendous versatility due to their capabilities to provide substrate-independent functionalization with a wide range of amine- and thiol-containing molecules. In ...this work, we developed a new and facile conjugation approach to the formation of β-amino carbonyl linkages between pDA and acrylate/acrylamide molecules via the aza-Michael reaction. Sulfobetaine acrylamide (SBAA), sulfobetaine methacrylate (SBMA), and poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA) were employed to graft onto pDA films, giving rise to formation of antifouling coatings. Because of the universal adhesive property of pDA, the coating strategy was applied to different substrates, including TiO2, gold, SiO2, Nitinol alloy, polystyrene, and poly(dimethylsiloxane). The variation of surface chemistry and surface wettability upon pDA modification and subsequent conjugation was monitored with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and water contact angle measurements. Antifouling properties of coatings were challenged by three common Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Cytocompatibility of the coatings with NIH-3T3 fibroblasts was accessed using MTT assay. The results showed that pDA coatings grafted with SBAA exhibited superhydrophilicity and excellent fouling resistance likely due to the high chemical reactivity of acrylamide, leading to high grafting density. In addition, dual functional coatings containing passive and active antibacterial components were constructed through the in situ deposition of antimicrobial agent, silver nanoparticles, in pDA, followed by the grafting of SBAA for bacterial repellence. The composite coatings allowed reducing adsorption of E. coli by >95%, while killing attached bacteria by up to 98% upon the releasing of Ag+ ions as measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Consequently, this work paves a new avenue to the grafting strategy to engineer pDA and to the functional bioinspired antifouling interfaces in a substrate-independent fashion.
LINKED CONTENT
This article is linked to Cheng et al papers. To view these articles, visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.17765 and https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.17793
Transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) is similar regarding the mode of transmission and related risk factors. Therefore, it is not rare to encounter dual HBV/HCV ...infection in populations at risk of parenteral exposure to hepatitis viruses. Besides, in HBV endemic countries before the era of global HBV vaccination, dual HBV/HCV infection was clinically significant likely because of HCV superinfection over pre‐existing HBsAg carriage. Universal childhood HBV vaccination was implemented worldwide since 1992. Public education programs for prevention of new hepatitis viral infections have been actively promoted recently by World Health Organization. Apart from preventive measures, potent anti‐HBV agents effective in the control of viral replication have been introduced gradually in the past three decades. Direct acting antiviral agents capable of curing HCV infection in more than 97% of patients with chronic hepatitis C have also been widely implemented in the past decade. These interventions will change the epidemiology of new HBV or HCV mono‐infection and dual HBV/HCV infection. Understanding the evolution in the epidemiology of dual HBV/HCV infection is important for evaluation of current public health policy towards infectious disease control in different countries. The changing prevalence of dual HBV/HCV infection in certain Asia‐Pacific countries will be re‐visited based on endemicity of HBV or HCV, as well as in populations at risk of parenteral viral infection.
Abstract
Clinical outcomes of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection vary widely. In addition to host factors, several viral factors including HBV genotype, viral load, specific viral mutations ...and quantitative HBsAg levels, have been associated with disease outcomes. Among viral factors, HBV genotype correlates with not only the clinical outcomes, but also with the response to interferon treatment. Currently, 10 HBV genotypes have been identified. Compared with genotype A and B cases, patients with genotypes C and D have lower rates and usually delayed onset of spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion. HBV-genotype C has a higher frequency of basal core promoter (BCP) A1762T/G1764A mutation and preS deletion, and a higher viral load than genotype B. Similarly, genotype D has a higher prevalence of BCP A1762T/G1764A mutation than genotype A. These observations suggest pathogenic differences between HBV genotypes. Genotyping of HBV can help practicing physicians identify chronic hepatitis B patients at risk of disease progression.
All‐small‐molecule organic solar cells (ASM‐OSCs), which consist of small‐molecule donors and acceptors, have recently been studied extensively to eliminate the batch‐to‐batch variation from ...polymer‐based donor or acceptor. On the other hand, the control of their active layer morphology is more challenging due to the similar chemical structure and miscibility of small‐molecule donor and small‐molecule accepter. Hence, this study develops a dual‐additive‐driven morphology optimization method for ASM‐OSCs based on BTR‐Cl:Y6. One solid additive – 1,4‐diiodobenzene (DIB) and one liquid additive – diiodomethane (DIM) are selected, making use of their distinct interaction mechanisms with Y6 and BTR‐Cl. It is found that DIB can form a eutectic phase with Y6, which can increase the intermolecular interactions and modulate the acceptor phase separation, while the simultaneous volatilization of DIM suppresses the over‐aggregation of BTR‐Cl during the film casting process. As a result of the synergistic morphology tuning, the optimized device delivers a power conversion efficiency (PCE) as high as 15.2%, among the highest PCE reported to date for binary ASM‐OSCs without solvent annealing treatment. This work demonstrates the potential of morphology tuning via the incorporation of dual additives into ASM‐OSCs, enabling them to achieve comparable efficiencies to those of conventional polymer/small‐molecule based OSCs.
A dual‐additive‐driven morphology optimization method is developed for all‐small‐molecule organic solar cells based on BTR‐Cl:Y6. The solid additive DIB and liquid additive DIM are incorporated to synergistically control the active layer morphology through their distinct interaction mechanisms with Y6 and BTR‐Cl, resulting in a high PCE of 15.2% for all‐small‐molecule organic solar cells without solvent annealing treatment.
Summary
Background
Patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are at risk of developing liver disease. Serum hepatitis B core‐related antigen (HBcrAg) is a new biomarker for intrahepatic ...templates for HBV replication.
Aim
To explore whether a high HBcrAg level is associated with increased risk of cirrhosis, especially in patients with intermediate viral load (HBV DNA 2000‐19 999 IU/mL) due to their moderate risk of disease progression.
Methods
A total of 1673 treatment‐naïve, non‐cirrhotic patients with negative hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level <40 U/L at baseline were enrolled. We explored the relationship between baseline levels of HBcrAg and cirrhosis development in all patients, and whether a higher HBcrAg level (<10 vs ≥10 KU/mL) was associated with an increased risk of disease progression in those with intermediate viral load.
Results
Of the 1673 patients, 104 developed cirrhosis after a mean follow‐up of 15.9 years. Higher HBcrAg levels were associated with increased incidence of cirrhosis, cirrhosis‐related complications, and liver‐related death. In 445 patients with intermediate viral load, the cirrhosis risk stratified by HBcrAg level of 10 KU/mL yielded a hazard ratio of 3.22 (95% CI: 1.61‐6.47). The risk stratification remained significant when exploring other pre‐cirrhosis endpoints, including HBeAg‐negative hepatitis, hepatitis flare, and HBV DNA >20 000 IU/mL after 3 years of follow‐up.
Conclusions
In HBeAg‐negative patients with normal ALT levels, higher HBcrAg levels are associated with increased risk of cirrhosis. Among those with intermediate viral load, HBcrAg <10 KU/mL defines a low‐risk group for disease progression.
Relapses are observed in most hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)‐negative chronic hepatitis B patients who discontinue treatment with nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs); however, the rates of relapse vary ...widely among studies, and whether all patients with relapse need retreatment is unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of different definitions on the rates of posttreatment relapse and therefore on the probability of retreatment in patients who have discontinued effective long‐term NA therapy. In total, 130 HBeAg‐negative chronic hepatitis B patients without cirrhosis and before NA treatment were included. All had on‐therapy virological remission for ≥24 months and close follow‐up for ≥12 months after stopping NA treatment or until retreatment, which started on stringent predefined criteria. Relapses rates based on several predetermined definitions of virological and perhaps biochemical criteria were assessed. The median duration of therapy was 60 months and the median duration of on‐therapy virological remission was 43 months. During a median off‐NAs follow‐up of 15 months, no patient experienced liver decompensation or died. Cumulative relapse rates were 2%‐49%, 4%‐73%, 11%‐82%, and 16%‐90% at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months, respectively, whereas cumulative retreatment rates were 15%, 22%, and 40% at 6, 12, and 24 months, respectively, after discontinuation of NA therapy. No patient characteristic was independently associated with the probability of relapse based on at least two definitions or of retreatment. Conclusion: In HBeAg‐negative chronic hepatitis B patients who discontinue NA therapy, the definition of relapse has a great impact on off‐NAs relapse rates and potentially on the probability of retreatment. Regardless of definition, off‐NAs relapses cannot be easily predicted by patient characteristics. A substantial proportion of such patients may not require retreatment if stringent criteria are adopted. (Hepatology 2017).
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