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Solar‐driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) water‐splitting cells coupled with a photovoltaic (PV) cell as a photoanode have become an intriguing topic in solar energy conversion. In this study, for the purpose of developing a system with high efficiency, several photoanode materials were investigated to adjust the oxygen evolution reaction and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) energy bands. Among all, MAPbBr3 with a wide bandgap (2.3 eV) was selected. However, the power conversion efficiency of the PV cell was not desirable due to the low light absorption. Therefore, the NiO–GeSe core–shell was placed inside the perovskite layer to enhance light absorption and carrier generation. In order to achieve a cell with the maximum performance, the core–shell height, and the shell radius were optimized, where the optimum structure was recognized with a core–shell height of 300 nm and a radius of 25–60 nm. The system's total efficiency, which is represented by the solar to hydrogen efficiency, was then increased from 5.49% to 19.74% for the planar and nanostructure photoanode, respectively. The proposed PEC cell with the optimized photoanode is considered as the most efficient half‐tandem and perovskite‐based reported coupled system, operating without the need for an external voltage. In this study, three optical, electrical, and electrochemical models were solved using the finite element method to analyze the coupled system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oocyte selection is a crucial step of assisted reproductive treatment. The most common approach relies on the embryologist experience which is inevitably prone to human error. One potential approach could be the use of an electrical-based approach as an ameliorative alternative. Here, we developed a simple electrical microsensor to characterize mouse oocytes. The sensor is designed similarly to embryo culture dishes and is familiar to embryologists. Different microelectrode models were simulated for oocyte cells and a more sensitive model was determined. The final microsensor was fabricated. A differential measuring technique was proposed based on the cell presence/absence. We predicted oocyte quality by using three electrical characteristics, oocyte radii, and zona thicknesses, and also these predictions were compared with an embryologist evaluation. The evaluation of the oocyte membrane capacitance, as an electrophysiological characteristic, was found to be a more reliable method for predicting oocytes with fertilization and blastocyst formation success competence. It achieved 94% and 58% prediction accuracies, respectively, surpassing other methods and yielding lower errors. This groundbreaking research represents the first of its kind in this field and we hope that this will be a step towards improving the accuracy of the treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction/Aims: Whole‐body magnetic resonance neurography (MRN) is an imaging modality that shows peripheral nerve signal change in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). We aimed to explore the diagnostic potential of whole‐body MRN and its potential as a monitoring tool after immunotherapy in treatment‐naïve CIDP patients. Methods: Whole‐body MRN using coronal 3‐dimensional short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sampling perfection with application‐optimized contrasts by using different flip angle evolution (SPACE) techniques was performed in patients being investigated for CIDP and in healthy controls. Baseline clinical neuropathy scales and electrophysiologic parameters were collected, and MRN findings were compared before and after CIDP treatment. Results: We found highly concordant symmetrical thickening and increased T2 signal intensities in the brachial/lumbosacral plexus, femoral, or sciatic nerves in five of the eight patients with a final diagnosis of CIDP and none of the healthy controls. There were no treatment‐related imaging changes in five patients with CIDP who completed a follow‐up study. Diffuse, symmetrical thickening, and increased T2 signal in root, plexus, and peripheral nerves were found in two patients ultimately excluded due to a diagnosis of polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy, skin changes (POEMS) syndrome in addition to signal changes in the muscles, bony lesions, organomegaly, and lymphadenopathy. Discussion: Whole‐body MRN imaging shows promise in detecting abnormalities in proximal nerve segments in patients with CIDP. Future studies evaluating the role of MRN in assessing treatment response should consider follow‐up scans after treatment durations of more than 4 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

So far, remarkable achievements have been obtained by optimizing the device architecture and modeling of solar cells is a precious and very effective way to comprehend a better description of the physical mechanisms in solar cells. As a result, this study has inspected two-dimensional simulation of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) to achieve a precise model. The solution which has been employed is based on the finite element method (FEM). First, the periodically light trapping (LT) structure has been replaced with a planar structure. Due to that, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of PSC was obtained at 14.85%. Then, the effect of adding an SiO2 layer to the LT structure as an anti-reflector layer was investigated. Moreover, increasing the PCE of these types of solar cells, a new structure including a layer of CH3NH3SnI3 as an absorber layer was added to the structure of PSCs in this study, which resulted in 25.63 mA/cm2 short circuit current (Jsc), 0.96 V open circuit voltage (Voc), and 20.48% PCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]