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Recently, lead halide perovskites have emerged as promising photoanode materials for efficient hydrogen production. However, the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and interfacial defect‐mediated charge accumulation inevitably result in efficiency loss and degradation of perovskite photoanodes. Herein, a defect‐passivated electron transport layer‐based perovskite photoanode combined with a catalyst layer favorable is introduced for iodide oxidation reaction bearing a small thermodynamic barrier and rapid kinetics compared to OER for efficient solar fuel generation. The resulting perovskite photoanode revealed a saturated photocurrent density of 22.4 mA cm−2 at 0.3 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (VRHE) with an impressive onset potential of −0.2 VRHE as well as durability for 225 h in a neutral electrolyte. In addition, an unbiased hydrogen‐production device comprising a perovskite photoanode and Pt coil electrocatalyst is demonstrated, achieving a remarkable solar‐to‐chemical conversion efficiency of 11.45% and stable operation for 25 h. Moreover, a wireless artificial leaf‐structured device realizing solar‐driven hydrogen generation in natural sea water under outdoor sunlight is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiral perovskites have emerged as promising next‐generation materials for polarization detection due to their excellent circularly polarized light (CPL) detection capabilities. However, they suffer from a low chiroptical response when fabricated as a polycrystalline thin film, limiting their potential range of applications. Herein, it is demonstrated that antisolvent dripping during the spin‐coating process can effectively improve the chiroptical properties of polycrystalline chiral perovskite thin films. Systematic analysis with different antisolvents reveals that the highly polar antisolvent chloroform interacts with dimethyl sulfoxide molecules via hydrogen bonding. This strong hydrogen bonding suppresses the formation of intermediate and secondary phases and accelerates the crystallization of chiral 1D perovskites, thus reducing the density of the iodine vacancies inside the perovskite thin films. The lower density of iodine vacancies also intensifies the asymmetric tilting inorganic distortion of PbI6 octahedrons, enhancing the chiroptical response of the fabricated chiral perovskite material. Photodetectors based on the chloroform‐treated chiral perovskite films achieve a remarkably high distinguishability of 0.31, outperforming previously reported photodetectors based on the chiral perovskites. The fabricated photodetectors also exhibit outstanding responsivity and detectivity with enhanced operational stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, lead halide perovskites have attracted significant attention as promising absorber materials for photoelectrochemical (PEC) solar water splitting. However, charge‐accumulation‐induced ion migration at the interface causes perovskite degradation and efficiency loss. To suppress the charge accumulation and improve the PEC performance of the perovskite photoanode, a simple interface engineering is proposed by decorating the SnO2/perovskite interface with a mixture of polyethylenimine ethoxylated (PEIE) and chlorobenzenesulfonic acid (CBSA). The mixed CBSA+PEIE treatment effectively passivates the oxygen vacancies in SnO2 and adjusts the band alignment between SnO2 and the perovskite. The synergistic effects of the mixture treatment facilitate an effective carrier extraction at the SnO2/perovskite interface, enhance the PEC performance, and improve the stability of the device. The perovskite photoanode exhibits an impressive applied bias photon‐to‐current efficiency of 12.9% with an outstanding durability for 225 h. Furthermore, an unbiased solar water splitting is achieved using all the perovskite photoelectrodes, resulting in a remarkable unassisted solar‐to‐hydrogen efficiency of 10.9% and a continuous 22 h stable operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) as a half‐anodic reaction of water splitting hinders the overall reaction efficiency owing to its thermodynamic and kinetic limitations. Iodide oxidation reaction (IOR) with low thermodynamic barrier and rapid reaction kinetics is a promising alternative to the OER. Herein, we present a molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) electrocatalyst for a high‐efficiency and remarkably durable anode enabling IOR. MoS2 nanosheets deposited on a porous carbon paper via atomic layer deposition show an IOR current density of 10 mA cm–2 at an anodic potential of 0.63 V with respect to the reversible hydrogen electrode owing to the porous substrate as well as the intrinsic iodide oxidation capability of MoS2 as confirmed by theoretical calculations. The lower positive potential applied to the MoS2‐based heterostructure during IOR electrocatalysis prevents deterioration of the active sites on MoS2, resulting in exceptional durability of 200 h. Subsequently, we fabricate a two‐electrode system comprising a MoS2 anode for IOR combined with a commercial Pt@C catalyst cathode for hydrogen evolution reaction. Moreover, the photovoltaic–electrochemical hydrogen production device comprising this electrolyzer and a single perovskite photovoltaic cell shows a record‐high current density of 21 mA cm–2 at 1 sun under unbiased conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of highly efficient photoanodes presents a significant challenge to implementing the promising strategy of unbiased solar‐to‐fuel conversion. To achieve high‐performance photoanodes, improving their light harvesting and charge separation/injection capabilities is indispensable. Herein, solution‐processed vertically oriented Sb2S3 nanorod arrays on substrate are obtained via a Au seed layer, resulting in improved optoelectronic properties (due to the light scattering effect) and favorable crystallographic orientation of the 1D nanostructure. Moreover, the (NH4)2WS4 treatment caps the surface of the nanorods with an amorphous WSx layer and passivates the sulfur vacancy of Sb2S3, resulting in boosted charge extraction to the reactants. The resulting photoanode is employed to drive an iodide oxidation reaction (IOR), which is a prominent alternative to sluggish water oxidation reactions, exhibiting a high photocurrent density of 13 mA cm−2 at 0.6 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode. Subsequently, an unassisted hydrogen generation device is demonstrated by combining an Sb2S3 nanorod array‐based photoanode for IOR and a perovskite‐based photocathode for the hydrogen evolution reaction, achieving an efficient hydrogen production current density of 5.7 mA cm−2 without any external bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Hematological indices have been known to be available markers used for evaluating disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study serves to verify the association between four different hematological indices and disease activity measures in patients with RA. Materials and Methods: The study included 257 female RA patients and 71 age-matched female controls. Four hematological indices, namely systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), neutrophil-to-hemoglobin and lymphocyte (NHL) score, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), were evaluated. Composite measures of RA included Disease Activity Score 28 joints (DAS28), the simplified disease activity index (SDAI), and the clinical disease activity index (CDAI). Results: Patients with RA showed statistically higher SII, NHL score, NLR, and PLR compared with controls. SII and NHL score were significantly associated with DAS28 erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR), DAS28 C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP), CDAI, and SDAI, whereas NLR was related to DAS28-CRP, CDAI, and SDAI. SII, NHL score, and NLR tended to increase as disease activity based on DAS28-ESR, DAS28-CRP, and CDAI worsened. In the analysis using receiver operating characteristic curve of hematological indices for diagnostic accuracy, the area under the curve was 0.703 (95% confidence interval, CI 0.637–0.769, p < 0.001) for SII and 0.705 (95% CI 0.639–0.770, p < 0.001) for NHL score, which showed acceptable potential for the diagnosis of RA. Four hematological indices showed weak potential for the detection of remission. Conclusions: The present study results showed that SII and NHL scores might be useful markers that adequately reflect disease activity and lead to more accurate diagnosis in RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antisolvent treatment has been developed to effectively fabricate dimethylammonium‐iodide (DMAI)‐assisted CsPbI3 perovskite solar cells (PSC) under moisture conditions. However, a clear understanding of its effect on the crystallization mechanism is still elusive. Here, the antisolvent bathing effect on DMAI‐assisted CsPbI3 crystallization is investigated under ambient conditions. For films bathed into antisolvents with Lewis basic oxygen (i.e., diethyl ether, anisole, ethyl acetate, and methyl acetate), rapid crystallization kinetics are observed due to the interaction between Cs4PbI6 and antisolvent in the form of the adduct. The Cs4PbI6‐antisolvent adduct lowers the transformation energy barrier, thereby enabling immediate phase transformation to CsPbI3 as soon as DMAPbI3 is decomposed. Based on this observation, a new crystallization mechanism is proposed for DMAI‐assisted CsPbI3 in which Cs4PbI6, instead of DMAPbI3, plays the role of the predominant phase of crystallization. Accelerated crystallization due to anisole antisolvent bathing results in a uniform film morphology and better coverage with fewer defects and pinholes. This enhances the power conversion efficiency of the n‐i‐p‐structured PSCs based on anisole‐bathed CsPbI3 to 18.84%, even under moisture conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiral perovskites are promising materials due to their unique ability to interact with circularly polarized light (CPL), offering great potential in advanced photonic and spintronic applications. However, specific design principles for highly chiroptically active chiral perovskites remain unclear, hindering their practical exploitation. In this study, chiral cation fluorinated isomerization approach is employed to enhance the chiroptical response of chiral perovskites. Specifically, it is systematically discovered that incorporating ortho‐fluorinated chiral cations instead of para‐fluorinated cations induces a strong organic–inorganic halogen–halogen interaction due to the unique spatial arrangement. This boosted chirality transfer, mediated by the strong halogen–halogen interaction, resulting in a fivefold improvement in the circular dichroism compared to its para‐fluorinated counterpart. Consequently, a CPL photodetector utilizing the ortho‐fluorinated chiral perovskite exhibited superior CPL distinguishability of 0.288, the highest value among 2D lead‐iodide perovskite‐based devices. Furthermore, the photodetector incorporating these structural isomers demonstrated extended operational stability as well as high photodetecting performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chirality-induced spin selectivity observed in chiral 2D organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite holds promise to achieve spin-dependent electrochemistry. However, conventional chiral 2D perovskites suffer from low conductivity and hygroscopicity, limiting electrochemical performance and operational stability. Here, a cutting-edge material design is introduced to develop a stable and efficient chiral perovskite-based spin polarizer by employing fluorinated chiral cation. The fluorination approach effectively promotes the charge carrier transport along the out-of-plane direction by mitigating the dielectric confinement effect within the multi-quantum well-structured 2D perovskite. Integrating the fluorinated cation incorporated spin polarizer with BiVO 4 photoanode considerably boosts the photocurrent density while reducing overpotential through a spin-dependent oxygen evolution reaction. Furthermore, the hydrophobic nature of fluorine in spin polarizer endows operational stability to the photoanode, extending the durability by 280% as compared to the device with non-fluorinated spin polarizer., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background/aims: : The clinical significance of partial virological response (PVR) in patients undergoing antiviral therapy is not well known. This study investigated whether PVR after 2 years of entecavir (ETV) therapy is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development in cirrhotic patients., Methods: A total of 472 naïve patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated cirrhosis who were treated with ETV for at least 2 years were retrospectively enrolled. Clinical characteristics, laboratory data, PVR, and noninvasive fibrosis markers (aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio and FIB-4 index) at 2 years after ETV commencement were analyzed for HCC risk., Results: After excluding those who developed HCC within 2 years of ETV therapy, 359 patients (mean age, 51±10 years; male 64.3%) were examined. During a median follow-up of 82 months, 80 patients developed HCC. In the univariate analysis, older age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.056; p<0.001), PVR (HR, 2.536; p=0.002), higher aspartate aminotransferase (HR, 1.018; p=0.005), lower albumin level (HR, 0.463; p<0.001), lower platelet count (HR, 0.993; p=0.01), and higher FIB-4 index (HR, 1.141; p<0.001) at 2 years after ETV commencement were risk factors for HCC. In the multivariate analysis, older age (HR, 1.046; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.022 to 1.072; p<0.001), PVR (HR, 2.358; 95% CI, 1.310 to 4.245; p=0.004), and higher FIB-4 index (HR, 1.103; 95% CI, 1.035 to 1.177; p=0.003) were independent risk factors., Conclusions: PVR and higher FIB-4 index after 2 years of ETV therapy were independent risk factors for HCC. Therefore, efforts to accomplish a complete virological response and reduce the FIB-4 index should be made.

Background/aims: To prevent the perinatal transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) from mother to child, administration of an antiviral agent during pregnancy has been attempted in women who are either hepatitis B e antigen positive or have a high viral load. In this systematic review and meta-analysis with randomized controlled trials, we analyzed the efficacy and safety of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) in preventing the perinatal transmission of HBV in pregnant women who have high HBV DNA titers., Methods: Multiple comprehensive databases (PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases) were searched for studies evaluating the efficacy of TDF for the prevention of perinatal transmission of HBV., Results: Two studies (one open label study and one double blind study) were included and analyzed. Intention-to-treat analysis (527 pregnancies) showed that the preventive effect of TDF was not significant (odds ratio [OR], 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.13 to 2.17; p = 0.38, I2 = 81%). However, the per-protocol analysis showed that TDF significantly reduced perinatal transmission (OR, 0.10; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.77; p = 0.03, I2 = 0%). There was no significant difference between the TDF group and the control group with respect to maternal and fetal safety outcomes., Conclusion: In pregnant women who have high HBV DNA titers, TDF can reduce the perinatal transmission from mother to child without significant adverse events.

Background/aims: Rheumatology in Korea has rapidly advanced in the 24 years since the subspecialty board certification program was established in 1992. The objective of this investigation was to analyze the distribution of rheumatology practices in Korea in order to better understand the rheumatology workforce., Methods: Using a membership list from the Korean College of Rheumatology (KCR), we obtained information on practicing rheumatologists. We mapped the ratio of rheumatologists to the general population and to patients with rheumatologic disease using data from Statistics Korea and the 2015 Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA)., Results: In the 16 administrative districts of Korea in 2015, there were 311 practicing rheumatologists on the list of KCR members. There were 218 members practicing in metropolitan areas and 93 members in the provinces. The mean number of rheumatologists per 100,000 people was 0.60, with 0.33/100,000 in the provinces, but 0.92/100,000 in metropolitan areas, a 2.7-fold difference. The number of rheumatologists per 100,000 patients with chronic rheumatic disease was 17.21 in metropolitan areas but 6.57 in the provinces, according to 2015 HIRA data. This geographic maldistribution emerged as a problem; indeed, the regional disparity in the distribution of Korean rheumatologists was striking when compared to the published medical professional distribution in 2014., Conclusion: Because of the uneven distribution of rheumatologists, it is likely that some patients with chronic rheumatic conditions have limited access to rheumatology care. Thus, a policy-based approach is needed to alleviate this disparity.