In recent years, perovskite solar cells have attained unprecedented advancements in power conversion efficiency, yet their commercialization remains a formidable challenge. Addressing this challenge ...relies on developing an affordable and scalable method for manufacturing top‐notch perovskite films. This study presents an innovative strategy, employing both gas quenching technology and ultrasonic‐assisted processing (UAP), to fabricate high‐caliber perovskite thin films. The UAP process enhances the grain size of the perovskite film, reduces grain boundary defects, improves carrier extraction and transport, and suppresses carrier nonradiative recombination. Furthermore, it effectively reduces residual stress and mitigates lattice distortion in the perovskite crystals. Ultimately, efficient and stable inverted perovskite solar cells using FA0.87Cs0.13PbI2.7Br0.3 and FA0.85MA0.1Cs0.05PbI3 perovskite are successfully prepared. The target device achieved a power conversion efficiency of 22.32% and 24.51%, respectively. Moreover, the target devices exhibited enhanced photostability. This work provides a cost‐effective and scalable method for producing high‐quality perovskite films, paving the way for the commercialization of perovskite solar cells.
This study presents an innovative strategy, employing both gas quenching technology and ultrasonic‐assisted processing (UAP), to fabricate high‐caliber perovskite thin films. The UAP promotes the growth of nuclei by enhancing mass and heat transfer through microscopic mixing that improves the film quality. Ultimately, the inverted perovskite solar cells with a champion efficiency of 24.5% are successfully demonstrated.
Ovarian aging is characterized by a progressive decline in ovarian function. With the increase in life expectancy worldwide, ovarian aging has gradually become a key health problem among women. Over ...the years, various strategies have been developed to preserve fertility in women, while there are currently no clinical treatments to delay ovarian aging. Recently, advances in biomaterials and technologies, such as three-dimensional (3D) printing and microfluidics for the encapsulation of follicles and nanoparticles as delivery systems for drugs, have shown potential to be translational strategies for ovarian aging. This review introduces the research progress on the mechanisms underlying ovarian aging, and summarizes the current state of biomaterials in the evaluation and treatment of ovarian aging, including safety, potential applications, future directions and difficulties in translation.
Good physical fitness generally makes the body less prone to common diseases. A personalized exercise plan that promotes a balanced approach to fitness helps promotes fitness, while inappropriate ...forms of exercise can have adverse consequences for health. This paper aims to develop an ontology-driven knowledge-based system for generating custom-designed exercise plans based on a user's profile and health status, incorporating international standard Health Level Seven International (HL7) data on physical fitness and health screening. The generated plan exposing Representational State Transfer (REST) style web services which can be accessed from any Internet-enabled device and deployed in cloud computing environments. To ensure the practicality of the generated exercise plans, encapsulated knowledge used as a basis for inference in the system is acquired from domain experts. The proposed Ubiquitous Exercise Plan Generation for Personalized Physical Fitness (UFIT) will not only improve health-related fitness through generating personalized exercise plans, but also aid users in avoiding inappropriate work outs.
Tumor targeting near-infrared fluorescence and magnetic resonance dual-modality imaging probes are prepared by connecting functional molecules on thioether-bridged mesoporous organosilica ...nanoparticles via click reaction.
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In this work, near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) and magnetic resonance (MR) dual-modality imaging probes are prepared by conjugating maleimide derivative cyanine dye (Mal-Cy5.5), gadolinium‐diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA), and RGD peptide (Mal-PEG2-RGD) on thioether-bridged mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (MONs) via click reaction. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra, zeta potentials, UV–vis spectra, and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrum confirm the successful modifications of the functional molecules on the MONs. The prepared MON-Gd-Cy5.5-RGD probes shows excellent NIRF and MR imaging properties, and the relaxivity rate (r1) is measured up to 2.85 mM−1 s −1. In addition, the MON-Gd-Cy5.5-RGD probes show excellent in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and flow cytometry demonstrate that the MON-Gd-Cy5.5-RGD can efficiently target to MDA-MB-231 tumor cells. Additionally, ex vivo NIFR and in vivo MR imaging demonstrate that the MON-Gd-Cy5.5-RGD probes can accumulate in tumor and improve the signals of tumor.
Left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) was effective in preventing thromboembolic events and stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). However, whether left atrial spontaneous echo contrast ...(LA-SEC) poses a higher risk for thromboembolism is contradictory. We aimed to investigate whether LA-SEC is a risk factor for thromboembolic events in patients who underwent LAAC.
258 consecutive patients who underwent successful LAAC were enrolled and divided according to the presence or absence of LA-SEC detected by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to eliminate covariate imbalances. Baseline characteristics, periprocedural details, and clinical outcomes were compared between LA-SEC and non-LA-SEC groups and PSM-matched groups.
Of the 258 patients enrolled, mean age was 71.8 ± 8.3 years and 59.3 % were male. LA-SEC group had a higher percentage of persistent AF and worse cardiac function. No significant difference in peri-procedure parameters was found. Through follow-up of 38.1 ± 10.7 months, the total incidence of thromboembolic events and stroke was 7.8 % and 6.6 %, respectively. Though the event-free survival rate of thromboembolic events (Log-Rank P = 0.042) and stroke (Log-Rank P = 0.010) was significantly lower in the LA-SEC group, multivariable COX regression analysis showed LA-SEC was not an independent predictor of thromboembolic events (Hazard ratio 2.073, 95 % Confidence interval 0.845–5.082, P = 0.111). Further survival analysis between PSM-matched groups with comparable baseline characteristics presented no significant difference in survival free from thromboembolic events (Log-Rank P = 0.616) and stroke (Log-Rank P = 0.312).
Patients with LA-SEC had worse condition, while LA-SEC per se did not increase the incidence of thromboembolic events and stroke for patients who underwent LAAC.
Macrophages play a critical role in the pathogenesis of endotoxin shock by producing excessive amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines. A pan-caspase inhibitor, zVAD, can be used to induce necroptosis ...under certain stimuli. The role of zVAD in both regulating the survival and activation of macrophages, and the pathogenesis of endotoxin shock remains not entirely clear. Here, we found that treatment of mice with zVAD could significantly reduce mortality and alleviate disease after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge. Notably, in LPS-challenged mice, treatment with zVAD could also reduce the percentage of peritoneal macrophages by promoting necroptosis and inhibiting pro-inflammatory responses in macrophages.
studies showed that pretreatment with zVAD promoted LPS-induced nitric oxide-mediated necroptosis of bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs), leading to reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion. Interestingly, zVAD treatment promoted the accumulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in a mouse model of endotoxin shock, and this process inhibited LPS-induced pro-inflammatory responses in macrophages. Based on these findings, we conclude that treatment with zVAD alleviates LPS-induced endotoxic shock by inducing macrophage necroptosis and promoting MDSC-mediated inhibition of macrophage activation. Thus, this study provides insights into the effects of zVAD treatment in inflammatory diseases, especially endotoxic shock.
Seismic wave velocity is one of the most important processing parameters of seismic data, which also determines the accuracy of imaging. The conventional method of velocity analysis involves scanning ...through a series of equal intervals of velocity, producing the velocity spectrum by superposing energy or similarity coefficients. In this method, however, the sensitivity of the semblance spectrum to change of velocity is weak, so the resolution is poor. In this paper, to solve the above deficiencies of conventional velocity analysis, a method for obtaining a high-resolution velocity spectrum based on weighted similarity is proposed. By introducing two weighting functions, the resolution of the similarity spectrum in time and velocity is improved. Numerical examples and real seismic data indicate that the proposed method provides a velocity spectrum with higher resolution than conventional methods and can separate cross reflectors which are aliased in conventional semblance spectrums; at the same time, the method shows good noise-resistibility.
This case report details a rare instance of rapid iris metastasis from esophageal cancer in a 59-year-old man. A literature review was conducted to explore recent advances in detecting, diagnosing, ...and treating intraocular metastatic malignancies. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography played a crucial role in identifying primary sites and systemic metastases. Local treatment combined with systemic therapy effectively reduced tumor size, preserved useful vision, and improved the patient’s survival rate. A comparison was made of the characteristics of iris metastases from esophageal cancer and lung cancer, including age, gender, tumor characteristics, and treatment. The challenges associated with diagnosis and treatment are discussed, highlighting the implications for clinical practice.
Myasthenia gravis is the most common disease affecting the neuromuscular junction. The most common etiology among patients with juvenile myasthenia gravis is the production of antibodies against the ...acetylcholine receptor. However, the clinical outcome in relation to serum levels of anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies in juvenile myasthenia gravis has rarely been discussed. We aimed to analyze the correlation between the presence of anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies and outcome in juvenile myasthenia gravis.
Patients diagnosed with juvenile myasthenia gravis younger than of 20 years of age were retrospectively recruited from January 1995 to February 2017 in a tertiary referral medical center. According to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America outcome scale, the primary outcome was complete symptom remission and cessation of medications for at least 1 year measured 2 years after diagnosis. Secondary outcome was complete symptom remission at the last outpatient clinic.
A total of 54 patients were followed up for over 2 years. Nine patients (9/54, 16.7%) achieved complete remission without medication use at 2 years after diagnosis. Thirteen (24.1%) patients achieved complete remission during longer follow-up periods. Those with negative anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies were more likely to achieve complete remission at 2 years (6/15 40% vs. 3/39 7.7%, 95% Confidence interval CI 1.670 to 38.323) and at the last outpatient clinic follow-up (8/15 53.3% vs. 5/39 12.8%, 95% CI 2.367 to 20.704). Thirteen patients with comorbid autoimmune thyroid diseases were older than those without disease (11.8 ± 5.8 years old vs. 8.0 ± 6.3 years old, 95% CI 0.018 to 7.33). Moreover, patients negative for anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies were less likely comorbid with autoimmune thyroid disease (1/35 2.9% vs. 12/71 16.9%, 95% CI 0.018 to 1.161).
Juvenile myasthenia gravis patients without anti-acetylcholine antibodies exhibited significantly increased complete remission rates and a reduced likelihood of comorbid autoimmune thyroid diseases compared with those with anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies among Chinese.
Senescent microenvironments play an important role in tumor progression. Here, we report that doxorubicin (DOX)‐pretreated or replicative senescent stromal cells (WI‐38 and HUVEC) promote colorectal ...cancer (CRC) cell growth and invasion in vitro and in vivo. These pro‐tumorigenic effects were attenuated by exogenous administration of Klotho, an anti‐aging factor. We subsequently identified several senescence‐associated secretory phenotype (SASP)‐associated genes, including CCL2, which were significantly upregulated in both types of senescent stromal cells during replication and DNA damage‐induced senescence. Importantly, we found that the secretion of CCL2 by senescent stromal cells was significantly higher than that seen in nonsenescent cells or in senescent cells pretreated with Klotho. Notably, CCL2 was found to accelerate CRC cell proliferation and invasion, while this effect could be blocked by administration of a specific CCR2 antagonist. We further show that Klotho can suppress NF‐κB activation during DOX‐induced senescence and thus block CCL2 transcription. Low expression of Klotho, or high expression of CCL2 in patient tumor tissues, correlated with poor overall survival of CRC patients. Collectively, our findings suggest that senescent stromal cells are linked to progression of CRC. Klotho can suppress the senescent stromal cell‐associated triggering of CRC progression by inhibiting the expression of SASP factors including CCL2. The identification of key SASP factors such as CCL2 may provide potential therapeutic targets for improving CRC therapy.
The senescent microenvironment plays an important role in tumor progression. This study reports that senescent stromal cells can promote colorectal cancer progression through activation of senescence‐associated secretory phenotype‐associated genes including CCL2. Klotho, an anti‐aging factor, was shown to suppress NF‐κB activation and subsequently inhibit CCL2 secretion to attenuate the senescent stromal cell‐triggering pro‐tumorigenic effects.
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