For the fabrication of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) using a solution process, it is essential to understand the characteristics of the perovskite precursor solution to achieve high performance and ...reproducibility. The colloids (iodoplumbates) in the perovskite precursors under various conditions were investigated by UV–visible absorption, dynamic light scattering, photoluminescence, and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy techniques. Their local structure was examined by in situ X-ray absorption fine structure studies. Perovskite thin films on a substrate with precursor solutions were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, space-charge-limited current, and Kelvin probe force microscopy. The colloidal properties of the perovskite precursor solutions were found to be directly correlated with the defect concentration and crystallinity of the perovskite film. This work provides guidelines for controlling perovskite films by varying the precursor solution, making it possible to use colloid-engineered lead halide perovskite layers to fabricate efficient PSCs.
Summary
This study was performed to examine whether capsaicin, the main pungent ingredient of red peppers, exerts protective effects against testicular injuries induced by transient scrotal ...hyperthermia. Capsaicin (0.33 mg kg−1) was administered subcutaneously to mice one hour before heat stress (HS) in a 43°C water bath for 20 min. After 7 days, mice exposed to HS showed low testicular weight, severe vacuolisation of seminiferous tubules followed by loss of spermatogenic cells, and appearance of multinucleated giant cells and remarkable TUNEL‐positive apoptotic cells, as well as weak immunoreactivity of phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPx) in spermatogenic cells. Levels of lipid peroxidation and heat shock 70‐kDa protein 1 (Hsp72) and BCL2‐associated X protein (Bax) mRNA were greatly increased, but PHGPx, manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), and B‐cell lymphoma‐extra large (Bcl‐xL) mRNAs were significantly diminished in the testes by HS. However, capsaicin pre‐treatment significantly suppressed the spermatogenic cell death, oxidative stress (levels of MDA, PHGPx immunoreactivity, and Hsp72, PHGPx, and MnSOD mRNA) and apoptosis (levels of TUNEL‐positive cells, and Bcl‐xL and Bax mRNA) in testes by HS. These suggest that capsaicin has a protective effect against spermatogenic cell death induced by scrotal hyperthermia through its antioxidative and anti‐apoptotic activities.
The Multigap Resistive Plate Chamber (MRPC) is a gaseous detector that has low building costs and excellent timing performances. It is usually operated using a mixture of C2F4H2 and SF6, which have ...very high Global Warming Potential (GWP) values (1430 and 23,900 respectively). The ecological HFO-1234ze (C3F4H2), GWP <7, was investigated if it could be a viable alternative to the standard gas mixture. In this work, we present the performances of an MRPC with 10 gaps of 235μm width, built using 0.5 mm thick plates of low resistive glass. This detector was also operated using the standard gas mixture for comparison. At low particle rate, this detector reaches an efficiency of 98% and a time resolution of around 70 ps for the two mixtures of gases. We observed no degradation of its performances when a limited size of its active area is exposed to particle rates up to 63 kHz/cm2.
Despite the growing clinical and economic burden of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), data on CDI in the intensive care unit (ICU) in the Asia-Pacific region are lacking.
This retrospective ...study analysed 191 patients who were treated with CDI in the ICUs of three hospitals in South Korea from January 2017 to May 2021. Backward-stepwise multiple logistic regression was used to identify factors influencing the treatment response and mortality.
Fifty-eight patients (30.4%) were considered immunocompromised. The mean Charlson comorbidity index was 5.65 ± 2.39 (10-year survival rate: 21%), the APACHE II score was 20.86 ± 7.78 (mortality rate: 40%), the ATLAS score was 5.45 ± 1.59 (cure rate: 75%), and the SOFA score was 7.97 ± 4.03 (mortality rate: 21.5%). Fifty-eight (30.4%) of the CDI cases were severe and 40 (20.9%) were fulminant. Oral vancomycin or oral metronidazole was the most frequently first-line treatments (N = 57; 32.6%). The 10-day response rate was 59.7% and the eight-week overall mortality rate was 41.4%. Fulminant CDI (OR 0.230; 95% CI 0.085–0.623) and each one-unit increment in the SOFA score (OR 0.848; 95% CI 0.759–0.947) were associated with treatment failure. High APACHE II (OR 0.355; 95% CI 0.143–0.880) and SOFA (OR 0.164; 95% CI 0.061–0.441) scores were associated with higher mortality.
High-risk patients in the ICU had a higher mortality rate and a lower cure rate of CDI. Further research is required to provide more accurate prediction scoring systems and better clinical outcomes.
Stathmin1 is a microtubule-regulating protein that has an important role in the assembly and disassembly of the mitotic spindle. The roles of stathmin1 in carcinogenesis of various cancers, including ...prostate and breast cancer, have been explored. However, its expression and roles in gastric cancer have not yet been described.
Stathmin1 expression in paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 226 patients was analysed by immunohistochemistry. Roles of stathmin1 were studied using a specific small interfering RNA (siRNA).
The expression of stathmin1 was positively correlated with lymph node metastasis, TNM stages and vascular invasion, and negatively with recurrence-free survival, in the diffuse type of gastric cancer. The median recurrence-free survival in patients with a negative and positive expression of stathmin1 was 17.0 and 7.0 months, respectively (P=0.009). When the expression of stathmin1 was knocked down using siRNA, the proliferation, migration and invasion of poorly differentiated gastric cancer cells in vitro were significantly inhibited. Moreover, stathmin1 siRNA transfection significantly slowed the growth of xenografts in nude mice.
These results suggest that stathmin1 can be a good prognostic factor for recurrence-free survival rate and is a therapeutic target in diffuse-type gastric cancer.
Study of a large strip-type MRPC with single-ended readout Baek, Y.W.; Williams, M.C.S.
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
10/2019, Volume:
940
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
A double stack MRPC has been built and equipped with long pickup strips for its readout. It is a double stack design, with each stack having three gas gaps; the gap size is 250μm. It has a sensitive ...area of 85×85cm2. Particularly, this MRPC was equipped with readout cards on only one end of the chamber. On the other end, the strips were connected to other strips with 50Ω coaxial cables. The gas mixture C2F4H2∕SF6 was used during the beam test period.
Study of a large size double stack MRPC with strip readout Baek, Y.W.; Kim, D.W.; Williams, M.C.S.
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
06/2019, Volume:
928
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC) have been using in many experiments for the purpose of particle identification by the measurement of time-of-flight, thanks to its excellent timing ...performance. We present here a new design of a large size MRPC. It consists of double stack with three gaps of 250μm each with long readout strips. The sensitive area is 85 × 85cm2. The aim of this design was to reduce the applied voltage. Gas distribution tubes have been added to improve the uniformity of the gas flow to the entire sensitive area of large MRPC.
Abstract Objective Although elevated expression of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt1) plays a major role in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia, it is unclear how hypoxia regulates placental ...sFlt1 expression. Thus, we investigated sFlt1 expression in placentas from normal and preeclamptic pregnancies and in human placental hypoxia models in vitro to examine the role of the PI3K-Akt pathway in regulating the expression of this molecule. Methods We examined the expression of VEGF, PlGF, sFlt1, PI3K, Akt, and HIF-1 in placental samples from ten women with pre-eclampsia and ten normotensive control patients and in human choriocarcinoma trophoblast cells treated with 600 μM CoCl2 by Western blotting. Using models of placental hypoxia, we also determined whether inhibition of the PI3K-Akt pathway plays a direct role in regulating the expression of sFlt1. Results The VEGF, PlGF, sFlt1, PI3K, Akt, and HIF-1 levels were significantly higher in the preeclamptic placentas than the normal placentas. In the placental hypoxia models, the expression of VEGF and PlGF increased in a time-dependent manner, whereas the expression of sFlt1 plateaued after 3 h of CoCl2 treatment. The expression levels of p-Akt and PI3K were maximal after 6 and 12 h of CoCl2 treatment, respectively. The expression of HIF-1α increased in a time-dependent manner with CoCl2 treatment. Inhibition of the PI3K-Akt pathway with the PI3K-specific inhibitor LY294002 leads to decreased sFlt1 levels and unchanged or increased VEGF and PlGF levels. Conclusion Inhibition of the PI3K-Akt pathway may be a useful therapeutic approach, if it were to decrease sFlt1 secretion without inhibiting VEGF or PlGF secretion. This pathway provides a potential target for a new treatment strategy in patients with pre-eclampsia.
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