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Phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) remains the most commonly used electron transport layer in inverted perovskite solar cells (IPSCs). However, its insufficient electrical properties and passivation ability limit the device's performance. In this study, it is demonstrated that introducing an appropriate amount of n‐type polymer N2200 into the PCBM can simultaneously enhance the electrical properties of PCBM and passivate the defects distributed on perovskite surface. This modification of PCBM leads to improved band alignment and enhanced electron mobility. Simultaneously, N2200 polymer contains electron donors such as O, S involved in passivating uncoordinated Pb2+ defects. The PCBM@N2200‐based IPSCs exhibit an enhanced open‐circuit voltage (VOC) of 1.20 V with the minimum 0.36 V voltage loss and reach the champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 24.53% (certified PCE is 24.05%) with narrow distribution. Impressively, the corresponding module achieves an efficiency of 20.30% (11.19 cm2). Moreover, the PCBM@N2200‐based IPSCs maintain 96% of their initial efficiency after operating at the maximum power point for 500 h, thanks to the interfacial passivation, improved uniformity, and increased hydrophobicity resulting from N2200 doping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Vitamin K (VK) as well as vitamin D (VD) plays an important role in osteoporosis. Vitamin K1 (VK1), vitamin K2 (VK2, menaquinone-4 (MK-4), and menaquinone-7 (MK-7)) are significant for the metabolism of skeletal muscle. 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3) reflect circulating VD levels. More sensitive measurements remain to be developed. In the present study, a new high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of VK1, VK2 (MK-4 and MK-7), as well as 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 levels in human serum. Methods: We developed a simple LC-MS/MS method for the determination of VK1, MK-4, MK-7, 25(OH)D2, and 25(OH)D3 levels in human serum and validated the method in a study cohort of 200 patients divided into the premenopausal women group and postmenopausal osteoporosis patient group. Results: The overall precision (coefficient of variation) ranged from 2.66 to 10.11% in the specified working range (0.05–5 ng/mL) for VK1, MK-4, and MK-7. Serum VK1, MK-4, and MK-7 levels in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis were 1.187 ± 0.094 ng/mL, 0.058 ± 0.009 ng/mL, and 0.885 ± 0.064 ng/mL, respectively (mean ± standard deviation). Serum VK1, MK-4, and MK-7 levels in premenopausal women were 1.143 ± 0.103 ng/mL, 0.028 ± 0.003 ng/mL, and 1.553 ± 0.226 ng/mL, respectively. Serum 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 levels in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis were 0.757 ± 0.056 ng/mL and 11.72 ± 0.632 ng/mL, respectively. Serum 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 levels in premenopausal were 1.793 ± 0.575 ng/mL and 12.42 ± 1.069 ng/mL, respectively. Conclusion: A new LC-MS/MS method for determination of serum VK and VD levels was evaluated and validated. MK-7 in plasma decreased earlier than VD in postmenopausal osteoporosis patients. MK-7 status is significantly associated with osteoporosis and could be considered a predictable biomarker in the diagnosis of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unavoidable iodine loss in the perovskite layer is closely related to carrier non‐radiative and device degradation. During the post‐annealing process, the fragile PbI bond is easy to break, leading to the formation of iodine vacancies and inducing stress‐driven structure collapse. Herein, a PbI6 octahedra stabilization strategy via building robust grain boundary modification networks is developed. The introduction of conjugated structure into amides can significantly enhance their anchoring ability with PbI units, while the π–π stacking effect of benzamide enables a passivation network with polymer‐like effect. This is well evidenced by the excellent properties in eliminated iodine loss and stabilized perovskite lattice. Therefore, benzamide modification not only transform the perovskite films from n‐type to p‐type by suppressing the iodine vacancy‐doping effect, but also reduces defect density, ultimately bringing the perovskite layer longer carrier diffusion length and better charge injection efficiency. Finally, the benzamide modified devices realize both high power conversion efficiency of 24.78% and excellent operating stability. Of particular note, the module efficiency with 14 cm2 active area is over 21%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposed a wearable inertial motion capture (Mocap) method for Parkinson’s lower limb motion reconstruction and analysis. To eliminate the error accumulation caused by sensor noise, the error state Kalman filter is used for attitude estimation. The inertial Mocap method proposed in this study is compared with the OptiTrack system to verify the motion tracking effect. The accuracy of different phase-detection methods is compared, and the highest recognition accuracy is 99.11% using the long short-term memory (LSTM) method. In addition, this study collected subjects in healthy control (HC), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and freezing of gait (FOG) groups for comparative analysis. The experimental results revealed differences in motion characteristics and kinematics between PD and healthy subjects. Thus, the quantitative analysis results can be used as an important reference for the clinical application of PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To observe the improvement effect of aerobic exercise on liver tissue of rats with NAFLD, explore whether it can reduce NAFLD symptoms without drug dependence, and provide certain data support for the relief of NAFLD by aerobic exercise. Methods. 40 healthful male SD rats have been divided into ordinary diet and high-fat diet. To observe whether the molding is forming after 6 weeks, then divide the rats into control (C), model (M), and exercise (E) group. E group received 8-week aerobic exercise intervention. Serum and liver samples were taken and analyzed after the last intervention. Results. The morphological of hepatocytes between C and M group becomes different, and the accumulation of fat and inflammatory cells was significant, suggesting that NAFLD symptoms appeared, that is, the model was successfully established. Compared with M group, the morphology of rats in E group was improved in varying degrees. The quantity of ALT, AST, and MDA of rats in M group is increased, and the SOD activity is significantly reduced (P < 0.01). However, aerobic exercise intervention changed those result (P < 0.01). Conclusions. Aerobic exercise can relieve oxidative stress damage, lipid peroxidation levels, and chronic inflammatory status in rats with NAFLD, which can reduce NAFLD symptoms without drug dependence, and is expected to become a means of NAFLD treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aimed to study the intervention effect of exercise on lipid metabolism in NAFLD rats, provide a more scientific experimental basis for exploring and improving the theoretical system of exercise intervention in NAFLD, and further provide a theoretical research basis for clinical treatment of NAFLD. Forty healthy male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into a blank control group (BC,14) and a model group (MO, 26). After 6°weeks of modeling, the MO group was randomly divided into the model control group (MC, 12) and the aerobic exercise group (AE, 12). Platform running intervention in group E was conducted at a slope of 0°, a speed of 15 m/min, 1 h/time, once a day, six times a week, and a day of rest, for 8°weeks in total. After the intervention, the liver tissues of rats were taken for pathological sections, and serum was taken and analyzed for TC, TG, LDL-C, HDL-C, and FFA levels. Under the light microscope, the liver tissue structure of rats in the BC group was complete and clear, the structure of liver lobules was clear and normal, the volume of hepatocytes was uniform, the nucleus was in the middle, and the cytoplasm was red-stained, and no steatosis of hepatocytes was found. The liver of rats in the MC group showed diffuse fatty lesions, disordered structure of hepatic lobules, disordered arrangement of hepatic cords, different sizes of hepatocytes, loose cytoplasm, and diffuse lipid droplets of different sizes in the cytoplasm. The accumulation of liver lipid droplets in the AE group was improved compared with the MC group, the number of fat vacuoles in hepatocytes was significantly reduced, and the degree of liver lipid deposition was reduced. Compared with the BC group, the content of TC, TG, LDL-C, and FFA in the serum of the MC group increased significantly (p < 0.01), and the content of HDL-C decreased significantly (p < 0.01). Compared with the MC group, the content of TC, TG, LDL-C, and FFA in the serum of the AE group decreased significantly (p < 0.01/ p < 0.05), and the content of HDL-C increased significantly (p < 0.01). Therefore, moderate-intensity aerobic exercise has an intervention effect on lipid metabolism in NAFLD rats, which can be used as one of the means to treat NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A low-power multichannel metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) gas sensor device is presented, including a gas sensor with four gas detecting channels. The device adopts a T-shaped structure having a bridge-type single strip microheater along its horizontal axis, which also houses the four gas detecting channels. The device was designed and fabricated using MEMS technology with SnO2 deposited by sputtering as the sensing layer. Based on the temperature gradient of the microheater, at the same heating voltage, the device has a different temperature at each channel. Gas tests for four environmental air pollutants were carried out, and all four channels responded to H2, CO, NO2, and NH3 gases with a total power consumption of 21.92 mW. The responses characteristics of two sets of symmetrical channels are different under the same input heating voltage. The response change trend of each channel is also different with different target gas as the input heating voltage changes. [2021-0243] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qilong capsule (QLC) is a well-known Traditional Chinese Medicine, and it has a long history for the treatment of ischemic stroke. Its major ingredients are saponins, such as paeoniflorin, amygdalin and calycosin-7-glucoside, contributing to vasodilation function. In this study, a simple, rapid and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed to determine three bioactive ingredients in rat plasma after oral administration of QLC. A simple acetonitrile precipitation method was introduced during the sample preparation. Chromatographic separation was performed on a Shiseido CAPCELL PAC MGIII-C18 column using a gradient elution with acetonitrile and water (0.1% formic acid) as a mobile phase, and the chromatographic separation was 5 min. The methodological evaluation showed that this method had a high sensitivity (the lower limit of quantification was 1 ng/mL for calycosin-7-glucoside, 5 ng/mL for paeoniflorin, 5 ng/mL for amygdalin), satisfactory accuracy (relative error ≤ ±15%) and precision (relative standard deviation ≤15%). Then, the analytical method was applied to the pharmacokinetic study in rats following oral administration of the extracts in QLC. Meanwhile, the pharmacokinetic parameters of complex system in QLC were analyzed and the potential interaction between ingredients was explored. The present quantification method and pharmacokinetic study will provide a meaningful reference for the formulas research of QLC in the treatment of ischemic stroke. Highlight A simple, rapid and sensitive HPLC–MS/MS analytical method was developed for the simultaneous determination of three ingredients in rat plasma after oral administration of QLC. A simple acetonitrile precipitation method was introduced to extract three biomedical ingredients during the plasma sample preparation. The pharmacokinetic results revealed the pharmacological active substances, identified internal variation rules and provided a meaningful reference for the formulas research of QLC in the treatment of ischemic stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a ZnO-based gas sensor fabricated entirely by micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) process. The gas sensor is based on a narrow bridge-type micro-heater, which achieve ultra-low static power consumption. A physical vapor deposition (PVD) sputtering method was employed in depositing n-type ZnO-based sensing materials on this heater. Ethanol, a common VOC gas was selected as a choice of gas to be tested, and to enhance the performance of ethanol, a thin layer of metal additive Au is buried between two ZnO film layers in an atmosphere of O2 to form a “sandwiched” ZnO/Au/ZnO structure. The morphology and microstructure of the sensors are observed by SEM and AFM, its crystal structure is characterized by XRD, and its surface characteristic is analyzed by XPS. The results indicate that the “sandwiched” sensing layer shows higher response to ethanol compared with single-layer ZnO, and 15 ($\text{R}_{\text{air}} /\text{R}_{\text{gas}}$) was achieved as the best sensitivity to 100 ppm ethanol with the sensor consuming a low power consumption of just 12.17 mW [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deadlift is one of the most common weight training exercises that can help build waist muscles. However, many trainers with less experience may not receive the expected effect or even damage themselves. To exercise in a healthier way, a portable and quantifiable deadlift evaluation system is proposed in this article. The system employs a body sensor network (BSN), including the inertial and surface electromyography (sEMG) information, to reconstruct the human motion and segment the deadlift into certain phases to realize the detailed analysis. A two-step extended Kalman filter (EKF) that can reduce the magnetic interference is presented to estimate the attitude and the accuracy of the method is validated by the OptiTrack system. We also carry out the kinematic and sEMG analysis among trainers with different levels. The experiment results reveal that our system can significantly discriminate the technical differences for those trainers, which demonstrated that the system can provide valuable information for the deadlift training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macrophages differentiated into a classically activated (M1) or alternatively activated phenotype (M2) in infection and tumor, but the precise effects of glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) metabolic pathway remain unclear. Herein, the effects of glycolysis or OXPHOS on macrophage polarizations were investigated using a pharmacological approach in mice. 2-Deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) treatments, which blocks the key enzyme hexokinase of glycolysis, efficiently inhibits a specific switch to M1 lineage, decreasing the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and expressions of co-stimulatory molecules associated with relieving infectious inflammation in vitro and in vivo. Glycolytic activation through the hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) pathway was required for differentiation to the M1 phenotype, which conferred protection against infection. Dimethyl malonate (DMM) treatment, which blocks the key element succinate of OXPHOS, efficiently inhibits a specific switch to M2 lineage when macrophages receiving M2 stimulation, decreasing the secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokine and CD206 expressions. Mitochondrial dynamic alterations including mitochondrial mass, mitochondrial membrane potential (Dym) and ROS productions were critically for differentiation to the M2 phenotype, which conferred protection against anti-tumor immunity. Glycolysis is also required for macrophage M2 differentiation. Thus, these data provide a basis for a comprehensively understanding the role of glycolysis and OXPHOS in macrophage differentiation during anti-infection and anti-tumor inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to different microenvironmental stimuli, macrophages are polarized into two populations, M1 macrophages which are classically activated by interferon (IFN)-γ with lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) and M2 macrophages which are alternatively activated by interleukin-4 (IL-4), to perform specific roles in innate immune responses. Accordingly, macrophages occupy distinct metabolic profiles, regulated by orchestrated factors and signaling pathways, including the PI3K-AKT, HIF, c-Myc, AMPK, and PPARs pathways. These factors and pathways play pivotal roles not only in metabolic regulation but also in macrophage polarization. After activation, classically activated M1 macrophages and alternatively activated M2 macrophages display distinct patterns in glucose, lipid, amino acid and iron metabolism. Here, we summarized recently discovered metabolism-related inflammatory signaling factors, along with reprogrammed metabolism, after the activation of macrophages under conditions related to immunity and cancer. Additionally, macrophage regulatory roles in infectious diseases, cancer progression and anti-cancer immunotherapy are discussed in terms of metabolic profiles, providing insight into the prevention and treatment of immune-associated diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary : Inflammasome activation and subsequent inflammatory cytokine secretion are essential for innate immune defence against multiple stimuli and are regarded as a link to adaptive immune responses. Dysfunction of inflammasome activation has been discovered at the onset or progression of infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases and cancer, all of which are also associated with metabolic factors. Furthermore, many studies concerning the metabolic regulation of inflammasome activation have emerged in recent years, especially regarding the activity of the NLRP3 inflammasome under metabolic reprogramming. In this review, we discuss the molecular mechanisms of the interactions between metabolic pathways and inflammasome activation, which exerts further important effects on various diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The therapeutic effects of glucocorticoids on colitis and colitis-associated cancer are unclear. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic roles of glucocorticoids in acute experimental ulcerative colitis and colitis-associated cancer in mice and their immunoregulatory mechanisms. Murine acute ulcerative colitis was induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) and treated with dexamethasone (Dex) at different doses. Dex significantly exacerbated the onset and severity of DSS-induced colitis and potentiated mucosal inflammatory macrophage and neutrophil infiltration, as well as cytokine production. Furthermore, under inflammatory conditions, the expression of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) did not change significantly, while mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling was higher in colonic epithelial cells than in colonic immune cells. The deletion of mTOR in intestinal epithelial cells, but not that in myeloid immune cells, in mice significantly ameliorated the severe course of colitis caused by Dex, including weight loss, clinical score, colon length, pathological damage, inflammatory cell infiltration and pro-inflammatory cytokine production. These data suggest that mTOR signaling in intestinal epithelial cells, mainly mTORC1, plays a critical role in the Dex-induced exacerbation of acute colitis and colitis-associated cancer. Thus, these pieces of evidence indicate that glucocorticoid-induced mTOR signaling in epithelial cells is required in the early stages of acute ulcerative colitis by modulating the dynamics of innate immune cell recruitment and activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A facile and efficient method for loading Pd(0) complex on silica support with well-maintained catalytic performance. • PEG has been introduced and adjusted to stably load Pd(0) complex on matched silica support for NBD-QC co-dimerization. • 1.2 L of saturated polycyclic alkane (H Hxx) has been prepared and evaluated as high energy-density fuel. High energy-density hydrocarbon fuels are the key materials for aircraft to increase payload and expand flight distance. Under the catalysis of atomically dispersed Pd(0) complex, saturated hexacyclic exo-exo product with good fuel property can be synthesized via co-dimerization of norbornadiene (NBD) with quadricyclane (QC). But the fragile coordination state of homogeneous Pd(0) complex limited its application in fuel production. In this work, Pd(0) complex has been heterogeneously supported on silica support with the regulation of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to increase its stability and recyclability with limited sacrifice of the activity and dimer selectivity. The structure of silica support was tuned to achieve the proper interaction with PEG and Pd(0) complex. The chain length and concentration of PEG were adjusted to further optimize the state of Pd(0) complex on silica. The as-developed heterogeneous Pd(0) complex supported on dendritic mesoporous silica nanospheres regulated by PEG2000 exhibited superior performance for the production of high energy density fuel through selective NBD-QC co-dimerization. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Obesity-related ovulation abnormalities (OA) affect fertility. LSG is the most frequent bariatric operation. However, no research has identified a reliable indicator for predicting OA recovery after LSG. The purpose of this research was to examine the prognostic usefulness of preoperative the luteinizing hormone (LH) to follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) ratio (LFR)., Methods: Our department conducted a prospective study from 2016 to 2021. Venous blood was typically tested 3 days before surgery to get the preoperative LFR. Descriptive data, preoperative and postoperative variables were also collected. Binary logistic regression related preoperative LFR with OA recovery. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve evulated preoperative LFR's predictive capability., Results: A total of 157 women with a complete follow-up of one year were included. LFR was the only factor linked with OA (P < 0.001). AUC (area under the ROC curve) = 0.915, cutoff = 1.782, sensitivity = 0.93, and specificity = 0.82., Discussion: Overall, LSG has a favorable surgical result, with a %TWL of 66.082 ± 12.012 at 12 months postoperatively. Preoperative sexual hormone levels, as expressed by LFR, has the potential to predict the fate of OA following LSG at one year post-operatively., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Liu, Li, Ye, Jiang, Liu, Li and Ma.)

For the purpose of quantitative analysis, this paper proposes a wearable gait analysis method for Parkinson's disease (PD) to evaluates the motor ability. The error state Kalman filter (ESKF) is used for attitude estimation, and the gait parameters are modified by phase segmentation and zero velocity update (ZUPT) algorithm. In addition, this study uses gait parameters as classifier features to recognize abnormal gait, and compares the recognition effect with statistical features. The effect of our gait system is verified by comparison with the OptiTrack system, and the mean absolute error (MAE) of step length and foot clearance are 2.52 ±3.61 cm and 0.96 ±1.24 cm respectively. Forty Parkinson's patients and forty age-matched healthy people are recruited for gait comparison, the analysis results showed significant differences between the two groups. The abnormal gait recognition results show that gait features have stronger generalization ability than statistical features in leave-one-subject-out (LOSO) validation. The method proposed in this study can be applied to the gait analysis and objective evaluation of PD.