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Objective Defects in the human solute carrier family 26 member 4 (SLC26A4) gene are reported to be one of the causes of congenital hypothyroidism (CH). We aimed to identify SLC26A4 mutations in Chinese patients with CH and analyze the function of the mutations. Methods 273 patients with primary CH were screened for 21 CH candidate genes mutations by targeted next-generation sequencing. All the exons and exon-intron boundaries of SLC26A4 were found and analyzed. The function of 6 missense mutation in SLC26A4 were further investigated in vitro. Results Among 273 patients with CH, 7 distinct SLC26A4 heterozygous mutations (p.S49R, p.I363L, p.R409H, p.T485M, p.D661E, p.H723R, c.919-2A>G) were identified in 10 patients (3.66%, 10/273). In vitro experiments showed that mutation p.I363L, p.R409H,p.H723R affect the membrane location and ion transport of SLC26A4, ,while p.S49R did not.Mutation p.T485M and p.D661E only affect the ion transport, but has no effect on the membrane location. Conclusion Our study indicated that the prevalence of SLC26A4 mutations was 3.66% in the Chinese patients with CH. Five mutations (p.I363L, p.R409H, p.T485M, p.D661E and p.H723R) impaired the membrane location or ion transport function of SLC26A4，which revealed important role of the Ile363,Arg409, Thr485, Asp661, His723 residues in function of SLC26A4. Because these mutations are heterozygous mutations, the pathogenesis of these patients cannot be explained, and the pathogenesis of these patients needs further study.

The cT3 substage criteria based on extramural depth of tumor invasion in rectal cancer have several limitations.This study proposed that the distance between the deepest tumor invasion and mesorectal fascia on pretherapy MRI can distinguish the prognosis of patients with cT3 rectal cancer.This is a cohort study.This study included a prospective, single-center, observational cohort and a retrospective, multicenter, independent validation cohort.Patients who had cT3 rectal cancer with negative mesorectal fascia undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by radical surgery were included in 4 centers in China from January 2013 to September 2014.Baseline MRI with the distance between the deepest tumor invasion and mesorectal fascia, extramural depth of tumor invasion, and mesorectum thickness were measured.The cutoff of the distance between the deepest tumor invasion and mesorectal fascia was determined by time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves, supported by a 5-year progression rate from the prospective cohort, and was then validated in a retrospective cohort.There were 124 and 274 patients included in the prospective and independent validation cohorts. The distance between the deepest tumor invasion and mesorectal fascia was the only predictor for cancer-specific death (HR, 0.1; 95% CI, 0.0-0.7) and was also a significant predictor for distant recurrence (HR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.9). No statistically significant difference was observed in prognosis between patients classified as T3a/b and T3c/d.The sample size is relatively small, and the study focused on cT3 rectal cancers with a negative mesorectal fascia.A cutoff of 7 mm of the distance between the deepest tumor invasion and mesorectal fascia on baseline MRI can distinguish cT3 rectal cancer from a different prognosis. We recommend using the distance between the deepest tumor invasion and mesorectal fascia on baseline MRI for local and systemic risk assessment and providing a tailored schedule of neoadjuvant treatment. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/B682.CORRELACIÓN ENTRE LA DISTANCIA DE LA FASCIA MESORRECTAL Y EL PRONÓSTICO DEL CÁNCER DE RECTO cT3: RESULTADOS DE UN ESTUDIO MULTICÉNTRICO DE CHINAANTECEDENTES:Los criterios de subestadificación cT3 basados en la profundidad extramural de invasión tumoral en el cáncer de recto tienen varias limitaciones.OBJETIVO:Este estudio propuso que la distancia entre la invasión tumoral más profunda y la fascia mesorrectal en la resonancia magnética preterapia puede distinguir el pronóstico de los pacientes con cT3.DISEÑO:Estudio de cohorte.ENTORNO CLINICO:El estudio incluyó una cohorte observacional, prospectiva, unicéntrica, y una cohorte de validación retrospectiva, multicéntrica e independiente.PACIENTE:Se incluyeron pacientes con cáncer de recto cT3 con fascia mesorrectal negativa sometidos a quimio-radioterapia neoadyuvante seguida de cirugía radical en cuatro centros de China desde enero de 2013 hasta septiembre de 2014.INTERVENCIÓN:Imágenes de resonancia magnética de referencia fueron medidas con la distancia entre la invasión tumoral más profunda y la fascia mesorrectal; la profundidad extramural de la invasión tumoral y el grosor del mesorrecto.PRINCIPALES MEDIDAS DE VALORACION:El límite de la distancia entre la invasión tumoral más profunda y la fascia mesorrectal se determinó mediante curvas características operativas del receptor dependientes del tiempo y se apoyó en la tasa de progresión a 5 años de la cohorte prospectiva, y luego se validó en una cohorte retrospectiva.RESULTADOS:Se incluyeron 124 y 274 pacientes en la cohorte de validación prospectiva e independiente, respectivamente. La distancia entre la invasión tumoral más profunda de la fascia mesorrectal fue el único predictor de muerte específica por cáncer (Hazard ratio: 0.1, 95% CI, 0,0-0,7); y también fue un predictor significativo de recurrencia distante Hazard ratio: 0,4, 95% CI, 0,2-0,9). No se observaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en el pronóstico entre los pacientes clasificados como T3a/b y T3c/d.LIMITACIONES:El tamaño de la muestra es relativamente pequeño y el estudio se centró en los cánceres de recto cT3 con fascia mesorrectal negativa.CONCLUSIONES:Un límite de 7 mm de distancia entre la invasión tumoral más profunda y la fascia mesorrectal en la resonancia magnética de referencia puede distinguir el cáncer de recto cT3 de diferentes pronósticos. Recomendamos la distancia entre la invasión tumoral más profunda y la fascia mesorrectal en la resonancia magnética de referencia para la evaluación del riesgo local y sistémico, proporcionando un programa personalizado de tratamiento neoadyuvante. Consulte Video Resumen en http://links.lww.com/DCR/B682. (Traducción- Dr. Francisco M. Abarca-Rendon).

The energy consumption in buildings is increasing, then, a new global multiple-objective optimization method for zero-energy buildings with the comprehensive assessment method is used in this study. The applied optimization design methods for renewable energy systems are the multiple-objective optimization by Enhanced Archimedes Optimization Algorithm (EAOA) on the original design for energy costs and energy optimal models. The Hybrid Gray Multiple-Level Comprehensive Assessment Method (HGMLCAM) is utilized to the optimal model including the solar energy use efficacy, energy conservation, economic and social factors. By the selected decision based on the global optimal model, the best solution is presented. For designing the practical building, the defined solution can be useful for the architects and decision-makers. Consequently, a multiple-objective design for a building located in Shanghai, in China, is studied. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the presented method is efficient to make decisions.

This study presents a switchable Doherty power amplifier (S‐DPA) based on dual compensating reactance and adjusted drain voltage with 124% fractional bandwidth (FBW) using single‐input architecture. The proposed S‐DPA can be operated in wideband mode (WB‐MOD) and dual‐band mode (DB‐MOD) with a larger power back‐off region through one‐click switching directly. The needed back‐off impedance in both operation modes is achieved by using the dual compensating reactance for bandwidth extension. Meanwhile, a load modulation enhancement technique through adjusting the drain voltage of both the carrier and peaking amplifiers is proposed for proper load modulation in DB‐MOD. To verify the proposed techniques, an S‐DPA was designed and fabricated. Measurement results show that the proposed S‐DPA has an efficiency of 51.3%–70.3% at saturated power of higher than 43.4 dBm over the frequency band of 0.8–3.4 GHz with 124% FBW. The 6‐dB back‐off efficiency in WB‐MOD (1.3–2.9 GHz) is 45.3%–56.1% and the 8‐dB back‐off efficiency in DB‐MOD (0.8–1.3 GHz & 2.9–3.4 GHz) is 41.6%–57.9%. 80‐MHz modulated signals with 6.2‐dB and 8.2‐dB peak to average power ratios are used to evaluate the modulated signal performance in two modes. The DPA can achieve an average efficiency of up to 56% with high linearity after digital pre‐distortion linearisation.

DUOX2 is the most frequently mutated gene in patients with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) in China. However, no reliable genotype-phenotype relationship has been found in patients with DUOX2 mutations. In this study, DUOX2 mutations were screened in 266 CH patients, and the enzymatic activity of 89 DUOX2 variants was determined in vitro. Furthermore, the DUOX2 residual activity in 76 CH patients caused by DUOX2 biallelic mutations was calculated. The thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4) levels were found to be higher and lower in patients with DUOX2 residual activity ≤ 22%, respectively, compared to patients with residual enzymatic activity > 22%. Moreover, we interpreted the pathogenicity of DUOX2 variants by applying the ACMG classification criteria with or without PS3/BS3 evidence. The results indicated that residual DUOX2 enzymatic activity was closely related to the clinical phenotypes of CH patients caused by DUOX2 biallelic mutations. These findings suggest that the residual enzymatic activity of 22% may be a cutoff value for estimating the severity of hypothyroidism in CH patients with biallelic DUOX2 mutations. Well-established functional studies are useful and necessary to evaluate the pathogenicity of DUOX2 variants, improving the accuracy and scope of genetic consultations.

This letter presents a novel harmonic impedance matching technique by using a parallel LC resonate block after the combining point to design a fully integrated high-efficiency Doherty power amplifier (DPA). The second harmonic impedances of both carrier and peaking amplifiers can be matched to the optimal area with only one harmonic tuner easily. The insertion loss and size of the output matching network (OMN) can be reduced. For verification, a 4.6–5.2-GHz monolithic microwave integrated circuit DPA was designed and fabricated using a 0.25- $\mu \text{m}$ gallium nitride (GaN)-HEMT process. Experimental results show that a saturated power of 41.8–42.1 dBm, a saturated drain efficiency (DE) of 63.8%–68.4%, and a 6-dB back-off DE of 53.3%–57.4% are achieved from 4.6 to 5.2 GHz. For a 160-MHz modulated signal, a high DE of 54% with good linearity after linearization is obtained at an average output power of 35.6 dBm.

Objective To forward the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based distance between the deepest tumor invasion and mesorectal fascia (DMRF), and to explore its prognosis differentiation value in cT3 stage rectal cancer with comparison of cT3 substage. Methods This was a retrospective, multicenter cohort study including cT3 rectal cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by radical surgery from January 2013 to September 2014. DMRF and cT3 substage were evaluated from baseline MRI. The cutoff of DMRF was determined by disease progression. Multivariate cox regression was used to test the prognostic values of baseline variables. Results A total of 804 patients were included, of which 226 (28.1%) developed progression. A DMRF cutoff of 7 mm was chosen. DMRF category, the clock position of the deepest position of tumor invasion (CDTI) and extramural venous invasion (EMVI) were independent predictors for disease progression, and hazard ratios (HRs) were 0.26 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.13−0.56], 1.88 (95% CI, 1.33−2.65) and 1.57 (95% CI, 1.13−2.18), respectively. cT3 substage was not a predictor for disease progression. Conclusions The measurement of DMRF value on baseline MRI can better distinguish cT3 rectal cancer prognosis rather than cT3 substage, and was recommended in clinical evaluation.

A modified load‐modulation network to design a fully integrated wideband Doherty power amplifier (DPA) from 4.6 to 5.5 GHz is presented in this letter. The modified load‐modulation network uses only two π‐type high‐pass equivalent quarter wavelength transmission lines (QWTLs). Unlike the existing methods, the bandwidth of the load‐modulation network composed of two merged π‐type equivalent QWTLs is broadened. Furthermore, a drain bypass capacitor compensation method is proposed to reduce the leakage of RF power after the drain supply inductors are merged. For verification, a wideband monolithic microwave integrated circuit DPA was designed and fabricated using a 0.25‐μm gallium nitride based high‐electron‐mobility transistor process. Measurement results show that a saturated power of 41.6–42.4 dBm, a saturated drain efficiency (DE) of 65.3–72%, and a 6‐dB back‐off DE of 45–55.4% are achieved from 4.6 to 5.5 GHz. Using a 160‐MHz orthogonal frequency‐division multiplexing signal with a peak‐to‐average power ratio of 6.2 dB, the high average efficiency of 49% with an adjacent channel leakage ratio of –47.2 dBc after linearisation was obtained at an average output power of 35 dBm at 4.9 GHz.

The prerequisite for the exploration and exploitation of natural gas hydrate (NGH) is ensuring that the hydrate sample does not decompose during the sampling process. In order to solve this problem, the hole-bottom freezing sampling technique (HBFS) method was proposed, which uses a cold-alcohol to reduce the temperature of the hydrate sample and prevent its decomposition. However, the low heat exchange between the cold-alcohol and the hydrate sample results in a large loss of energy, and the sample cannot be frozen to the required temperature due to the size limitations of the sampler. In this study, three different heat transfer modes were used to increase the energy efficiency, namely heat conduction (cold-alcohol), phase change heat transfer (liquid nitrogen), phase change convection (alcohol-dry ice mixture). The test results show that the freezing efficiency of the alcohol and dry-ice mixture is 11.38%, which is the highest. The alcohol-dry ice mixture can cool the average temperature of the sample from approximately -17.81 to -23.37 °C, in which the hydrate sample does not decompose rapidly under normal pressure. The alcohol–dry ice mixture is more suitable as a coolant for the HBFS.

As a possible energy source, natural gas hydrates have garnered worldwide interest. Gas hydrate reservoirs are characterized by burial depth, low permeability, and low production rate. This study p...

The first step of preparing black silicon solar cells by Ag metal-assisted chemical etching method (Ag-MACE) is to remove the saw damage layer on the surface of diamond wire saw multi-crystalline silicon wafers. The usual way to do this is with a hot solution of KOH. However, the surface of silicon wafers processed in large quantities in this way will have many white spots and stains. These white spots and stains are the saw damage layer that have not been removed cleanly. They affect not only the appearance of the solar cells, but, most importantly, the subsequent uniform deposition of silver nanoparticles on the silicon wafers. An additive containing cyclodextrin and lignosulfonate has been developed in this work. This can remove effectively the saw damage layer and eliminate the white spots and stains on the surface of the silicon wafer. So as to improve the appearance of silicon wafer and make silver nanoparticles uniformly deposited on the surface of the whole silicon wafer. This additive has been proved to be very useful in improving solar cell efficiency, raising parallel resistance and reducing reverse leakage current and so on. Eventually, mass-produced solar cells made by Ag-MACE with this additive have a maximum efficiency of 19.49%, which is 0.46 percent absolutely higher than that without the additive.

In this paper, Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) silicon solar cells with the industrial area (244.32 cm2) are fabricated on N-type silicon substrates. Both the ultra-thin tunnel oxide layer and phosphorus doped polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) thin film are prepared by the LPCVD system. The wrap-around of polysilicon is observed on the surface of borosilicate glass (BSG). The polysilicon wrap-around can form a leakage current path, thus degrades the shunt resistance of solar cells, and leads to the degradation of solar cell efficiency. Different methods are adopted to treat the polysilicon wrap-around and improve shunt resistance of solar cells. The experimental results indicate that a chemical etching method can effectively solve the problem of polysilicon wrap-around and improve the performance of solar cells. Finally, a conversion efficiency of 22.81% has been achieved by our bifacial TOPCon solar cells, with Voc of 702.6 mV, Jsc of 39.78 mA/cm2 and FF of 81.62%.

To meet the requirements of wearable and portable electronics, flexible and light-weight on-chip micro-supercapacitors (MSCs) have attracted tremendous attention due to the good mechanical and electrochemical performances as well as easy on-chip integration with flexible functional electronic devices. In this review, the recent progresses of flexible on-chip micro-supercapacitors are summarized. Typical strategies toward flexible on-chip MSCs were first discussed, followed with the highlight of multifunctional on-chip MSCs including stretchable MSCs, self-healable MSCs, electrochromic MSCs and thermoreversible self-protection MSCs. Following these parts, wearable electronic systems integrated with flexible on-chip MSCs were discussed in detail. Finally, the challenges and future research emphasis on the flexible on-chip MSCs are put forward.

Hybrid sodium-ion capacitors (SICs) bridge the gap between the supercapacitors (SCs) and batteries and have huge potential applications in large-scale energy storage. However, designing appropriate anode materials with fast kinetics behavior as well as long cycle life to match with the cathode electrodes remains a crucial challenge. Herein, Nb2O5 nanotubes and nanowire-to-nanotube homo-junctions were directly grown on the carbon cloth (CC) via a simple hydrothermal process through regulating the pH value of solution. The as-prepared Nb2O5@CC nanotubes displayed a high reversible capacity of 175 mA h g−1 at the current density of 1 A g−1 with the coulombic efficiency of 97% after 1500 cycles. Besides, the SICs fabricated with Nb2O5@CC and activated carbon (AC) electrode materials showed a high energy density of 195 W h kg−1 at 120 W kg−1, a power density of 7328 W kg−1 at 28 W h kg−1 and 80% of the capacitance retention after 5000 cycles. Additionally, the flexible SIC devices can operate normally at various bendable conditions. The Nb2O5@CC nanotubes in this work can be promising electrode materials in flexible and wearable energy storage devices.

It is important for uniform texture on crystallites with different orientation of diamond wire sawn multi-crystalline silicon solar cells by Ag metal-assisted chemical etching method (Ag-MACE). In this paper, an additive was adopted to make the nanostructures on crystallites with different orientation of multi-crystalline silicon wafers with roughly the same depth and diameter. This additive contains biological enzymes, which are macromolecular proteins with specific catalytic functions. The uniform texture produced by the additive is demonstrated to be helpful in improving the cell performance in terms of surface morphology, reflectivity, effective minority carrier lifetime, auger recombination rate, internal quantum efficiency and external quantum efficiency measurements as well as electroluminescence spectra characterizations. The chemical mechanism of additive assisted etching reaction during the texturing process was discussed. Finally, mass-produced multi-crystalline silicon solar cells made by Ag-MACE with the additive achieve a maximum efficiency and average efficiency of 19.56%, and 19.24%, respectively, which were 0.65% and 0.64% absolutely higher than that without the additive. Moreover, the effective minority carrier lifetime and auger recombination rate of the former was nearly twice and a third of that of the latter respectively.

Unintended pregnancy is a situation that every woman may encounter, and medical abortion is the first choice for women, but abortion often brings many sequelae.Angelica sinensisRadix (Danggui) andLeonuriHerba (Yimucao) are widely used in the treatment of gynecological diseases, which can regulate menstrual disorders, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, and promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, but the mechanism for the treatment of abortion is not clear. We determined the ability of Danggui and Yimucao herb pair (DY) to regulate the Th1/Th2 paradigm by detecting the level of progesterone in the serum and the expression of T-bet and GATA-3 in the spleen and uterus. Then, we detected the level of metabolites in the serum and enriched multiple metabolic pathways. The arachidonic acid pathway can directly regulate the differentiation of Th1/Th2 cells. This may be one of the potential mechanisms of DY in the treatment of abortion.

Background: Computer-aided diagnosis using deep learning algorithms has been initially applied in the field of mammography, but there is no large-scale clinical application.Methods: This study proposed to develop and verify an artificial intelligence model based on mammography. Firstly, retrospectively collected mammograms from six centers were randomized to a training dataset and a validation dataset for establishing the model. Secondly, the model was tested by comparing 12 radiologists’ performance with and without it. Finally, prospectively multicenter mammograms were diagnosed by radiologists with the model. The detection and diagnostic capabilities were evaluated using the free-response receiver operating characteristic (FROC) curve and ROC curve.Results: The sensitivity of model for detecting lesion after matching was 0.908 for false positive rate of 0.25 in unilateral images. The area under ROC curve (AUC) to distinguish the benign from malignant lesions was 0.855 (95% CI: 0.830, 0.880). The performance of 12 radiologists with the model was higher than that of radiologists alone (AUC: 0.852 vs. 0.808, P = 0.005). The mean reading time of with the model was shorter than that of reading alone (80.18 s vs. 62.28 s, P = 0.03). In prospective application, the sensitivity of detection reached 0.887 at false positive rate of 0.25; the AUC of radiologists with the model was 0.983 (95% CI: 0.978, 0.988), with sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 94.36%, 98.07%, 87.76%, and 99.09%, respectively.Conclusions: The artificial intelligence model exhibits high accuracy for detecting and diagnosing breast lesions, improves diagnostic accuracy and saves time.Trial registration: NCT, NCT03708978. Registered 17 April 2018, https://register.clinicaltrials.gov/prs/app/ NCT03708978

From the definition, the circulation of the environment and economy system is based on substance and energy cycle, the presence of substances and energy must occupy a certain space. Conflicts between humans, resources, and environments have also fully embodied in human activities over excessive intrusion of ecological space. Ecological Footprints trace the demand for substances and energy in the random footprint by transforming the material and energy of socio-economic systems into corresponding land and waters. We can measure the carrying capacity of the environmental system from the perspective of production. With the development of society, the advancement of the times, the rapid development of the economy further increases the development of resource ecological environment systems, especially the development of mineral resources, causing high consumption of resources, also causes damage to the environment and ecology Make the entire system degraded. These are basically caused by human factors, because the economy should be developed, resources must be excavated, add unsuccessful development, which has caused great pressure on the ecological environment. The meaning of ecological economic benefits is to develop a discipline between ecology and economic scholars, because there is a lot of entanglement between them, there is similar to similar, to study this discipline, you must study complex ecosystems and economic systems. The structure, function, and motion laws are studied, thereby increasing economic benefits of the entire ecosystem environment.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of BIRC5 for early diagnosis and prognosis in clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) by studying the expression of BIRC5 and the correlation between BIRC5 expression and clinicopathological parameters and prognosis in ccRCC. Methods: The BIRC5 expression in ccRCC tissues and normal kidney tissues was measured using the Cancer Genome Atlas database and the Human Protein Atlas database. The correlation between BIRC5 expression and clinicopathological parameters and prognosis in ccRCC was analyzed using UALCAN, the Kaplan-Meier plotter, GEPIA, and SurvExpress. Thirteen-paired ccRCC plasma samples were used to verify the BIRC5 early diagnosis value of ccRCC. Results: The BIRC5 expression is significantly higher in ccRCC than in normal kidney tissues, and is correlated with the clinical stage and pathological grade of ccRCC (p < 0.05). The result of analyzing the relationship between BIRC5 expression and outcomes in ccRCC indicates that a high BIRC5 expression is an independent prognostic factor affecting the overall survival and disease-free survival of ccRCC (p < 0.05). Compared with normal kidney tissues, the immunohistochemical test shows that BIRC5 is significantly upregulated in ccRCC tissues. mRNA expression levels of BIRC5 were significantly higher in the ccRCC plasma than normal (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The high expression of BIRC5 is an important indicator for the prognosis of ccRCC, which makes BIRC5 an effective biomarker for predicting the prognosis of patients in ccRCC. BIRC5 may be a great potential biomarker for early diagnosis of ccRCC.

Chronic constipation is a common gastrointestinal disorder, with a worldwide incidence of 14–30%. It negatively affects quality of life and is associated with a considerable economic burden. As a disease with multiple etiologies and risk factors, it is important to understand the pathophysiology of chronic constipation. The purpose of this review is to discuss latest findings on the roles of gut motility, fluid, and electrolyte transport that contribute to chronic constipation, and the main drugs available for treating patients. We conducted searches on PubMed and Google Scholar up to 9 February 2021. MeSH keywords “constipation”, “gastrointestinal motility”, “peristalsis”, “electrolytes”, “fluid”, “aquaporins”, and “medicine” were included. The reference lists of searched articles were reviewed to identify further eligible articles. Studies focusing on opioid-induced constipation, evaluation, and clinic management of constipation were excluded. The occurrence of constipation is inherently connected to disorders of gut motility as well as fluid and electrolyte transport, which involve the nervous system, endocrine signaling, the gastrointestinal microbiota, ion channels, and aquaporins. The mechanisms of action and application of the main drugs are summarized; a better understanding of ion channels and aquaporins may be helpful for new drug development. This review aims to provide a scientific basis that can guide future research on the etiology and treatment of constipation.

A novel broadband balun of owning bandwidth of more than a decade octaves is proposed, which is comprised of two parallel stacked spiral transformers with slightly different dimensions. The equivalent coupled line model reveals that the amplitude imbalance of the balun with symmetric structure equals to the coupling coefficient of the coupled line in decibel. Therefore, with higher coupling degree comes smaller amplitude imbalance. Furthermore, combined with the high coupling degree of stacked spiral transformers, the balun of owning optimal amplitude balance can be realised by slightly adjusting the size of one side transformer. Finally, the balun is designed and fabricated in Sanan's integrated passive device (IPD) process and its core size occupies an area of 690 μ m × 240 μ m . The simulation and measurement agree well in general, exhibiting a bandwidth covering from 1.34 up to 16.37 GHz with good return loss, flat insertion loss and high stability of 180° phase difference.

Aim: Restrictive diets are commonly prescribed to cardiac patients for therapeutic and preventative reasons. However, these are often contraindicated for malnourished, older patients. The present study aimed to explore dietary behaviours of malnourished older cardiac inpatients and identify sources of nutritional information. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted over 4 months in a cardiology ward. Data on inpatients' habitual dietary behaviour, duration and reasons for dietary practices, and sources of nutrition advice were obtained during a dietetic assessment. From the reported reasons for dietary practices, diets were categorised by the treating dietitian into ‘clinically indicated’ (CI) or ‘not clinically indicated’ (NCI) diets. Results: Sixty-seven malnourished patients were included, with mean age 76.6 ± 8.3 years and BMI 19.5 ± 6.2 kg/m2. Twenty-six (38.8%) reported at least one dietary restriction, 14 (20.9%) were on a high energy-high protein diet prior to hospitalisation and 27 (40.3%) were on nonrestrictive diets. Five (19.2%) restrictive diets were assessed as CI at the time of admission, while 21 (80.8%) were NCI diets. CI diets were mostly recommended by dietitians (n = 15, 78.9%). Recommendations for NCI restrictive diets came mainly from ‘Other’ sources (n = 10, 55.6%) including the internet, friends and family. Conclusions: Restrictive diets are common among malnourished cardiac inpatients with the majority no longer clinically indicated. It is important for dietitians to explore current dietary practices of malnourished older inpatients on admission. Inpatients following NCI diets may require additional time for education around nutritional priorities.

To explore differential diagnosis value of dissociated lower-limb muscle impairment, we performed a retrospective analysis of clinical and electrophysiological features in 141 lower-limb involved ALS patients, 218 normal controls, 67 disease controls, and 32 lumbar spondylosis disease patients. The dissociated lower-limb muscle impairment was quantified by plantar flexion and dorsiflexion strength, compound muscle action potentials ratio of peroneal and tibial nerves (split index, SI) and semi-quantitative scoring scale of denervation potential. Clinical features: the proportion of decreased dorsiflexion was higher than decreased planter flexor strength in lower-limb involved ALS (77.2%vs 38.3%). Electrophysiological features: (1) SI in ALS was the lowest among four groups (Test statistic = 40.57, p 2 = 87.12, p

With diamond wire sawn (DWS) technique becoming mainstream of multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cells, the corresponding texturing technology for light harvesting is more prominent. In order to further reduce production costs of mature Ag-based metal assisted chemical etching (MACE), an Ag/Cu MACE method was proposed. In this paper, the influence of different pretreatment method which has few studies reported before was investigated. The experimental results indicated that appropriate pretreatment could contribute to achieve uniform nanostructure, low reflectivity and recombination velocities of the silicon wafers. The light trapping mechanism of different texturing method was analyzed. The impact of nanostructure on surface passivation was also studied. Industrial large area solar cells have been fabricated by applying different texturing method. The results showed that the pretreatment using hot alkaline solution with texturing additive was more beneficial to achieve high conversion efficiency. Finally, an efficiency of 18.91% was obtained on DWS mc-Si wafer, which is 0.4% absolutely higher than the cells with traditional acid texturing.

CONTEXT Graves disease (GD) is a common thyroid-specific autoimmune disease and one of the most heritable diseases in the population. We present a risk-prediction model, including confirmed, known genetic variants associated with GD. DESIGN To construct a stable-prediction model, we used known GD susceptibility single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as markers and trained and tested our model in a cohort of 4897 patients with GD and 5098 healthy controls. We weighted the contribution of each SNP to the disease to calculate the weighted genetic risk score (wGRS) for each individual. The efficiency of this model can be estimated by the area under the curve (AUC) receiver operator characteristic curve and the specificity and sensitivity of each wGRS. RESULTS With the 20 confirmed GD risk-related SNPs, our wGRS-prediction model could predict patients with GD from the general population (AUC 0.70 [95% CI: 0.69 to 0.71]) and did especially well in predicting patients with GD with persisting thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antibody positive [pTRAb+; AUC 0.74 (95% CI: 0.72 to 0.76)]. We also evaluated how the four pTRAb+ specific risk SNPs predicted patients with GD with pTRAb+ among all patients with GD [AUC 0.62 (95% CI: 0.61 to 0.63)]. For clinical use, we partitioned subjects in each set into different risk categories to generate the wGRS cutoff of high risk for reference. CONCLUSIONS Our study provides an approach to predict GD risk in the general population by the calculation of the wGRS of 20 known GD susceptibility variants. The wGRS-prediction model was more stable and convenient, whereas the prediction performance was still modest.

In this paper, a two-step growth approach was proposed to deposit a Ge-rich Si1−xGex epilayer directly on a Si substrate by reactive thermal CVD (RTCVD) at low temperature (350 °C). The two-step growth process included seed layer epitaxial growth, post-annealing, and a second epitaxial growth step. The effect of the two-step growth approach on the crystalline quality of the Si1−xGex epilayer was investigated. Raman and TEM measurements indicate that a perfect Si1−xGex film structure, with few in-film defects, can be achieved by the two-step approach, and the resulting Si1−xGex films exhibited an RMS roughness of 1.02 nm with a threading dislocation density of ∼4.5 × 105/cm2 and a degree of strain relaxation of up to 100%. These results suggest that two-step growth, combined with annealing, is a good approach to fabricate a high-quality Si1−xGex epilayer by RTCVD at low temperature.

Background: Studies indicated that air pollutions were associated with respiratory disease have with a lag exposure–response relationship, but not linear. However, few evidences in Zhengzhou, one of the most polluted cities for China.Method: Upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) outpatient visits in the hospital, meteorological parameters and air pollutions data were obtained from October 28, 2013 to May 1, 2018 and were used for evaluating the risk effects of the air pollutants with a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM), including the stratified analysis of gender and age.Result: 475013 cases were included, with obvious seasonal fluctuations,higher in cool/cold and lower in warm. Every increase of 10μg/m3 of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2 and CO showed similar impacts on URTI outpatient visits in different genders and age sub-groups,within 0 to15 days of lag. PM10, SO2 and NO2 had the strongest immediately risk at lag 0 [RRPM10: 1.0011, 95%CI (1.0002-1.0020); RRSO2: 1.0084, 95%CI (1.0039-1.0130); RRNO2: 1.0149, 95%CI: (1.0111-1.0188), respectively], while PM2.5 and CO got highest risk at lag 15 days [RRPM2.5: 1.0014, 95%CI (1.0003-1.0025); RRCO: 1.0002, 95%CI: (1.0001-1.0003), respectively]. In addition, calculating overall accumulated effects of each 10μg/m3 increase in PM10, SO2, NO2, and CO was greater in females than in males, as well as greater in the adolescents (aged 0-18 years) and elderly (aged ≥ 60 years) than in adults (aged 19-59 years), except CO was greater in the adolescents and adults than in the elderly. No significant cumulative effects were found in PM2.5. O3 levelwasno significant correlation withURTI outpatient visits throughout the lag period.Conclusions: Our results indicated that PM10, SO2, NO2 and CO had strong immediate and lag cumulative effects in the females, adolescents, and elderly. PM2.5 has lag effects but has no significant lag cumulative impact effects on gender and age.

Ever since clozapine’s introduction, as a second-generation antipsychotic drug (SGA), it is thought to be one of the most...

This review summarizes recent research progress in the clinical features, image manifestations, and pathological mechanism of multifidus injury. After a brief introduction to the fiber classification, innervation, blood supply, and multifidus function, some factors of multifidus injury, consisting of denervation, intraoperative incision selection and traction, and lumbar degenerative disease are overviewed. In addition, the clinical index of multifidus injury including myoglobin, creatine kinase, IL-6, C-reactive protein, the cross-sectional area of multifidus, the degree of fat infiltration, and intraoperative biopsy are summarized. Furthermore, we recommend that patients with chronic low back pain should take the long-term exercise of lumbodorsal muscles. Finally, some remaining issues, including external fixation and the imaging quantitative evaluation criteria of multifidus, need to be further explored in the future.

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence and big data, the wide application of artificial intelligence and big data has promoted the reform process of traditional teaching mode. Traditional mathematics teaching makes students lack interest in mathematics, and the ability of applied mathematics in practice, what is more, the assessment of students is too single, so it is imperative to carry out mathematics teaching reform. In the teaching reform, artificial intelligence can stimulate students’ study interest, exercise students’ application ability, and enrich examination methods.

This paper presents a dual-band and wideband switchable Doherty power amplifier (DPA) with back-off efficiency reconfiguration. It can be operated in wideband mode and dual-band mode with higher back-off efficiency through switching the carrier and peaking amplifier roles directly. The phase relationship required for dual-mode operation is first given. Meanwhile, the efficiency reconfigurable feature is realized by utilizing the integrated compensating reactance (ICR) technology. To verify the proposed circuits, a back-off efficiency reconfigurable dual-mode Doherty power amplifier (DM-DPA) which can be operated in wideband mode from 3 GHz to 3.8 GHz and dual-band mode at 2.4 GHz and 4.4 GHz was designed and fabricated. The implemented efficiency reaches 35% and 40% for wideband mode and dual-band mode respectively at 6-dB back-off power. When excited by a 100-MHz long-term evolution-advanced modulated signal with 6.5-dB peak-to-average power ratio, the DM-DPA can achieve an average efficiency of more than 37.3% in both wideband and dual-band modes. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first kind of operation mode switchable DPA with back-off efficiency reconfiguration.

In order to achieve infrared imaging spectrometers for environmental gas monitoring in the medium-wave infrared and long-wave infrared spectra, meanwhile detecting the characteristic spectra of a variety of ambient gas molecules, it is necessary to do research on the design of the infrared wide spectrum (3.2μm～14μm) imaging spectrometers optical system with a large relative aperture. First of all, the lens power of reasonable distribution will be available by solving of the wide spectrum correcting chromatic aberrations equation and athermalization equation. Secondly, the list compares the common infrared optical material in the infrared wide spectrum dispersion characteristics and thermal characteristics differences, optimizes the three infrared optical materials of the Germanium single crystal, wide spectral Zinc sulfide, and Chalcogenide glass for transmission optical system design. Thirdly, using CODE V optical design software to optimize the optical parameters, the system uses four lenses, introduces four aspherical faces, the rest are spherical. Finally, the modeling gives the 3D layout of the system, and the image evaluation and tolerance analysis of the optical system are carried out. The results show that the modulation transfer function (MTF) value of the optical system at the spatial frequency 30lp/mm is greater than 0.5. The average square root (RMS) value of the diffused spot diameter is less than 17μm; The working band is 3.2μm ~14μm, F number 1, the optical system in the temperature range of -40°C ~+60 °C has a good imaging quality. The optical system has the characteristics of large relative aperture, wide working band, good process and compact structure, and can be used for 640×480 the infrared wide-spectral segment focal plane detector.

For spatial-modulation imaging spectrometers, the conventional non-uniformity correction method cannot efficiently reduce the pattern noise caused by stationary interference fringes on the imaging plane. In this study, we apply optical the defocus method to realize scene-based non-uniformity correction. By applying severe defocusing, the diffraction effects can be neglected, and the point spread function of the system is equivalent to the geometric projection at the exit pupil. When the light of each spot is within the field of view, it illuminates the entire detector, and the detector obtains uniform irradiance. We can implement a single-point calibration or single-plus-two calibration using the uniform irradiance.

Boron doped emitters prepared by thermal diffusion using boron trichloride (BCl3) have been adopted in N-type Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) silicon solar cells. In order to establish a proper diffusion process of p + emitter that matches to TOPCon solar cells fabrication, the influence of diffusion pressure, pre-deposition O2 flow rate and drive-in O2 flow rate on the doping profiles, sheet resistance, BSG thickness as well as the sheet resistance uniformity are carefully investigated. In addition, the impact of BSG thickness on the surface morphology and optical properties of the TOPCon cells are studied. The experimental results indicate that good uniformity of p + emitter can be obtained at low pressure (300 mbar) with acceptable sheet resistance. In addition, a p + emitter with thick BSG (> 50 nm) layer is very necessary, which can effectively protect the underneath emitter during the removal process of the wrap-around poly-Si. Finally, high efficiency over 22% is obtained for 244.32 cm2 n-type TOPCon solar cells based on the boron diffused emitter with the sheet resistance 70–90 ohm/sq., BSG thickness ~ 100 nm.

Hao Zhang,1,* Jianhao Yin,1,* Xin Wang,2 Dawei Yuan,1 Kun Zhu,1 Kang Li,1 Gang Xu,1 Chengxue Dang,1 Rui Jia,1 Yong Zhang1 1Department of Surgical Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710061, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital of Weinan, Weinan, Shaanxi 714000, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yong ZhangDepartment of Surgical Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710061, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 137 0911 0938Email yongzhang761@mail.xjtu.edu.cnPurpose: This cross-sectional study aimed to describe the responses of cancer patients’ indifferent chemotherapy cycles to the unstructured treatment interruption during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.Patients and Methods: Data from 156 adult patients with common solid tumors undergoing chemotherapy or ready to begin chemotherapy after surgery before the COVID-19 outbreak were analyzed in the study. Patients’ responses to the chemotherapy interruption and their anxiety were assessed.Results: Overall, 141 (90%) patients completed the study, and 115 (81.6%) accepted a switch from their previous intravenous chemotherapy to oral chemotherapy. Of these, 29 (65.9%) patients with lung cancer, 25 (86.2%) with gastric cancer, 33 (89.2%) with colorectal cancer and 28 (90.3%) with breast cancer switched from intravenous to oral treatment, heeding their doctor’s advice. Of the participants, 85 (60.3%) patients reported that they had taken at least one kind of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) scores increased in patients with advanced refractory cancer compared with the scores of adjuvant chemotherapy patients (P 

The incidence rate of cardio-cerebrovascular diseases (CCVDs) is increasing worldwide, causing an increasingly serious public health burden. The pursuit of new promising treatment options is thus becoming a pressing issue. Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) is one of the main active quinochalcone C-glycosides in the florets of Carthamus tinctorius L., a medical and edible dual-purpose plant. HSYA has attracted much interest for its pharmacological actions in treating and/or managing CCVDs, such as myocardial and cerebral ischemia, hypertension, atherosclerosis, vascular dementia, and traumatic brain injury, in massive preclinical studies. In this review, we briefly summarized the mode and mechanism of action of HSYA on CCVDs based on these preclinical studies. The therapeutic effects of HSYA against CCVDs were presumed to reside mostly in its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective roles by acting on complex signaling pathways.

Background and purpose The MRI-assessed tumor regression grade (mrTRG) is limited due to its subjectivity and poor consistency on pathological tumor regression grade (pTRG). A new MRI criterion was established to predict the prognosis of locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). Materials and methods The new MRI criterion magnetic resonance imaging tumor response score (mrTRS) was based on the retrospective sample of 214 LARC patients (unpublished data). Subsequently, 878 LARC patients were enrolled for a prospective, multicenter study. Baseline and postoperative MRI were obtained, and imaging features were measured by collecting the pathological, clinical and follow-up data. Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank estimate and multivariate cox regression model was used to determine the prognosis of mrTRS in LARC patients with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT). The predictive capability of 3-year prognosis between mrTRS and mrTRG was determined by time-dependent ROC curves. Results The results demonstrated that mrTRS acted as an independent predictor of survival outcomes. mrTRS stratified by good and moderate responders showed significantly lower risk of death (HR = 0.04, 95%CI 0.01–0.31; HR = 0.35, 95%CI 0.23–0.52), distant metastasis (HR = 0.25, 95%CI 0.13–0.52; HR = 0.42, 95%CI 0.30–0.58), and local recurrence when compared with poor responders(HR = 0.01 95%CI 0.23–0.52;HR = 0.38, 95%CI 0.16–0.90). In contrast, no significant difference was observed among mrTRG stratified groups. Excellent and substantial interobserver agreement for mrTRS and mrTRG evaluation was observed (κ = 0.92 and 0.62), respectively. Conclusion mrTRS can serve as an effective predictor for assessing tumor regression grade in LARC patients with NACRT.

Background With several susceptibility single nucleotide polymorphisms identified by case–control association studies, Graves’ disease is one of the most common forms of autoimmune thyroid disease. In this study, we aimed to determine whether any observed differences in genetic associations are influenced by sex in Chinese Han populations. Methods A total of 8,835 patients with Graves’ disease and 9,936 sex‐matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Confirmed by a two‐staged association analysis, sex‐specific analyses among 20 Graves’ disease susceptibility loci were conducted. Results A significant sex‐gene interaction was detected primarily at rs5912838 on Xq21.1 between the GPR174 and ITM2A genes, whereby male Graves’ disease patients possessed a significantly higher frequency of risk alleles than their female counterparts. Interestingly, compared to women, male patients with Graves’ disease had a higher cumulative genetic risk and higher persistent thyroid stimulating hormone receptor antibody‐positive rate after receiving antithyroid drug therapy for at least 1 year. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest the existence of one potential sex‐specific Graves’ disease variant on Xq21.1. This could increase our understanding of the pivotal mechanism behind Graves’ disease and ultimately aid in identifying possible therapeutic targets., In this study, sex‐specific genetic differences in Graves' disease have been reported by expanding a recent GWAS of GD to include the X chromosome. The most significant sex‐gene interaction was observed at rs5912838 on Xq21.1, and male patients with Graves’ disease had a higher cumulative genetic risk by calculating weighted genetic risk scores (wGRSs).

The uniform distribution of silver nanoparticles on the surfaces of diamond-wire sawn multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) is critical for the texturing of mc-Si by the Ag metal-assisted chemical etching method (Ag-MACE). In this study, an additive containing alkylphenol polyoxyethylene is developed to improve the Ag-MACE process. It enables an even deposition of the silver nanoparticles over the surface of the silicon wafer, so that the entire wafer surface can be uniformly textured with nanostructures. The experimental results show that the additive improves the appearance and performance of solar cells, including their reflectivity, efficiency, internal quantum efficiency and external quantum efficiency. Mass-produced mc-Si solar cells textured using Ag-MACE with this additive have achieved a maximum efficiency of 19.51%, compared with an efficiency of 19.16% for cells fabricated without the additive. Keywords: Multicrystalline silicon, Solar cell, Diamond wire saw, Metal-assisted chemical etching, Uniform textures, Additive

Particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter equal or less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) is associated with the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The mechanisms by which PM2.5 accelerates disease progression in COPD are poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of PM2.5 on lung injury in rats with hallmark features of COPD. Cardinal features of human COPD were induced in a rat model by repeated cigarette smoke inhalation and bacterial infection for 8 weeks. Then, from week 9 to week 16, some of these rats with COPD were subjected to real-time concentrated atmospheric PM2.5. Lung function, pathology, inflammatory cytokines, oxidative stress, and mucus and collagen production were measured. As expected, the COPD rats had developed emphysema, inflammation, and deterioration in lung function. PM2.5 exposure resulted in greater lung function decline and histopathological changes, as reflected by increased Mucin (MUC) 5ac, MUC5b, Collagen I, Collagen III, and the profibrotic cytokine α-smooth muscle-actin (SMA), transforming growth factor- (TGF-) β1 in lung tissues. PM2.5 also aggravated inflammation, increasing neutrophils and eosinophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and cytokines including Interleukin- (IL-) 1β, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and IL-4. The likely mechanism is through oxidative stress as antioxidants levels were decreased, whereas oxidants were increased, indicating a detrimental shift in the oxidant-antioxidant balance. Altogether, these results suggest that PM2.5 exposure could promote the development of COPD by impairing lung function and exacerbating pulmonary injury, and the potential mechanisms are related to inflammatory response and oxidative stress.

In this paper, a low-temperature technology was introduced for the fabrication of PIN photodiode. A double dielectric oxide layers were prepared by nitric acid oxidation and PECVD, respectively. The selective epitaxial growth of SiGe thin layers, which were in-situ doped in a reactive thermal chemical vapor deposition system, were applied for the preparation of PN junction and high-low junction. A SiNx passivation layer combined with a post-annealing was adopted to lower the reverse current. The temperature was controlled below 450 °C for the whole fabrication process. Finally, the reverse current of 0.7 nA was achieved at room temperature for our 5 mm-diameter PIN detector and the energy resolution of 240 eV was obtained at 5.9 keV, −60 °C. The results indicated that the low-temperature technology is suitable for the fabrication of high quality PIN detector, and the cost can be reduced effectively.

Optimizing the surface texture of silicon wafer to improve the light trapping performance and effective carrier lifetime of silicon surface is an efficient and low-cost way to enhance the energy conversion efficiency of mono-crystalline silicon PERC solar cells. In this paper, a simple method was adopted to prepare inverted pyramids with different sizes by varying the ρ value (ρ = [HF]/([HF]+[H2O2]) of Cu metal assisted chemical etching (Cu-MACE) etching solution. The chemical mechanism of formation, etching rate, surface reflectivity, and effective minority carrier lifetime mapping of different silicon surface structures were systematically investigated. Moreover, the solar energy absorption rate of these different surface structures were studied by the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The results show that when the ρ value was between 25% and 90%, the etching rate of Cu nanoparticles increases with increasing ρ value. The final results reveal that the surface reflectivity, effective minority carrier lifetime and the light absorption were optimal when ρ∼75%, and the uniformity of corresponding inverted pyramid texture is the best. By utilizing the best inverted pyramid texture, the highest efficiency is 22.69%, corresponding Voc is 680.42 mV, Jsc is 41.20 mA/cm2, and FF is 80.94% on the 156.75 × 156.75 mm2 for large area mono-crystalline silicon PERC solar cell.

Purpose: This study aims to assess the efficacy and safety of Pelnac dermal regeneration template assisted by vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) and a split-thickness skin graft to cover the large skin ...

In this paper, the influence of indium tin oxide (ITO) deposition on the passivation quality of tunnel oxide passivated contact solar cells was investigated. Both phosphorous-doped poly-Si/SiOx (n-TOPCon) and boron-doped poly-Si/SiOx (p-TOPCon) stacked films were fabricated on crystalline Si substrate, and ITO thin films were deposited by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering system with various temperatures and RF powers, followed by post annealing. Effective minority carrier lifetime (τeff) of all the samples degraded drastically after ITO deposition. After post annealing, τeff of p-TOPCon samples exhibited significant recovery, while τeff of n-TOPCon samples only recovered partially. In addition, the deposition of ITO at lower RF power or room temperature leads to more effective recovery of τeff. The τeff recovery after ITO deposition thus depends on the types of TOPCon, which may be related to the film quality improvement of poly-Si during the post-annealing. The conversion efficiency of the top/rear TOPCon solar cells was decreased severely due to the sputtering damage during ITO deposition, and it can be improved by post-annealing at relatively high temperature.

Background Most previous studies have focused on the effects of social defeat in male juvenile individuals. Whether chronic social defeat stress in adulthood affects female emotion and the underlying mechanisms remains unclear. Methods Using highly aggressive adult female mandarin voles (Microtus mandarinus), the present study aimed to determine the effects of chronic social defeat stress on anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in adult female rodents and investigate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these effects. Results Exposure of adult female voles to social defeat stress for 14 days reduced the time spent in the central area of the open field test and in the open arms of the elevated plus maze and lengthened the immobility time in the tail suspension and forced swimming tests, indicating increased anxiety- and depression-like behaviors. Meanwhile, defeated voles exhibited increased neural activity in the prelimbic cortex of the medial prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, chronic social defeat stress reduced serotonin projections and levels of serotonin 1A receptors in the medial prefrontal cortex-prelimbic cortex. Intra-prelimbic cortex microinjections of the serotonin 1A receptor agonist 8-OH-DPAT reversed the alterations in emotional behaviors, whereas injections of the serotonin 1A receptor antagonist WAY-100635 into the prelimbic cortex of control voles increased the levels of anxiety- and depression-like behaviors. Conclusions Taken together, our results demonstrated that chronic social defeat stress increased anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in adult female voles, and these effects were mediated by the action of serotonin on the serotonin 1A receptors in the prelimbic cortex. The serotonin system may be a promising target to treat emotional disorders induced by chronic social defeat stress.

It is important to improve the efficiency of solar cells textured by the MACE method, and the surface morphology has a significant effect on the efficiency. In this paper, we textured multicrystalline wafer using MACE method, and the surface morphology was further modified by post-etching process to achieve high efficiency. The influence of structure on diffusion and surface passivation was studied. It reveals that surface structure has a big effect on diffusion and passivation, thus affecting the efficiency. Structure with large aspect ratio results in heavily doped regions and poor passivation performance. Finally, large area solar cells with the efficiency of 19.08% and 19.11% were obtained on slurry wire and diamond wire saw multicrystalline wafer respectively, which is 0.5% and 0.8% absolutely higher than the cells with traditional acid texturing.

Background Lung adenocarcinoma with EGFR activating mutations will inevitably acquire resistance to first generation TKIs. Acquired EGFR T790M mutation causes about 50% of these resistance cases. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) and cobas enables quantification of T790M mutation. Whether these methods can predict clinical response of osimertinib treatment is unknown. Methods Tumor and blood samples from 69 stage IIIB-IV NSCLC patients acquired resistance to EGFR-TKI were collected. Cobas® Mutation Test v2 kit was used to detect EGFR mutations in FFPE or plasma samples. Plasma T790M mutation of both osimertinib naïve and treated patients were quantified by Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). Results T790M mutation rate detected by FFPE tissue cobas, plasma ctDNA cobas and plasma ctDNA ddPCR test were 54.5, 21.3 and 30.4% respectively. The T790M positive rate was 52.2% considering all testing methods. The objective response rate (ORR) was 60.9% in 23 patients received osimertinib treatment. Quantification of T790M after treatment decreased to very low level, but no association was observed between clinical response and T790M mutation level decrease. Conclusion ddPCR is more sensitive in plama ctDNA testing and should be performed even in tumor tissue T790M test negative cases. EGFR T790M mutation level is not associated with clinical response after osimertinib treatment.

We produced low-reflectivity nanostructured black silicon by metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) technology on the 15.6 cm × 15.6 cm diamond wire sawn (DWS) multi-crystalline silicon (mc-Si) wafers. Subsequently, defect removal etching (DRE) processes were carried out for various times to form nanohills with different sizes on the wafer surface. The experimental results indicated that the DRE process could influence the size of the nanohills, reflectivity and the recombination velocities of the silicon wafers. It was found that for the black silicon wafer, with the increasing of DRE time, the reflectivity became larger and the passivation effect became better. The reflectivity and the passivation effect can be adjusted by suitable DRE processes. By this way, we successfully fabricated the DWS mc-Si solar cell (15.6 cm × 15.6 cm) with the highest conversion efficiency of 19.07%, showing an improvement in efficiency of 0.6% compared to a DWS mc-Si solar cell (15.6 cm × 15.6 cm) prepared by conventional acidic texturization.