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By alternating the substituted position in the terminal end group, two asymmetric non-fullerene acceptor isomers are designed, showing a better device performance for the γ-substituted fashion.

For polymer solar cells (PSCs), the mixture of polymer donors and small-molecule acceptors (SMAs) is fine-tuned to realize a favorable kinetically trapped morphology and thus a commercially viable device efficiency. However, the thermodynamic relaxation of the mixed domains within the blend raises concerns related to the long-term operational stability of the devices, especially in the record-holding Y-series SMAs. Here, a new class of dimeric Y6-based SMAs tethered with differential flexible spacers is reported to regulate their aggregation and relaxation behavior. In their polymer blends with PM6, it is found that they favor an improved structural order relative to that of Y6 counterpart. Most importantly, the tethered SMAs show large glass transition temperatures to suppress the thermodynamic relaxation in mixed domains. For the high-performing dimeric blend, an unprecedented open circuit voltage of 0.87 V is realized with a conversion efficiency of 17.85%, while those of regular Y6-base devices only reach 0.84 V and 16.93%, respectively. Most importantly, the dimer-based device possesses substantially reduced burn-in efficiency loss, retaining more than 80% of the initial efficiency after operating at the maximum power point under continuous illumination for 700 h. The tethering approach provides a new direction to develop PSCs with high efficiency and excellent operating stability.

Carbon reductant used in metallurgy industry is a considerable source of carbon dioxide emissions. Growing concerns over greenhouse effect have urgently prompted research in the application of hydrogen energy as an alternative. However, some basic kinetic problems in the hydrogen reduction process have not been clarified and resolved yet, such as the activation energy fluctuations caused by neglect of pore characteristics, along with the overly subjective division of the whole reaction process to analyze rate limiting mechanisms. In this study, a novel approach for acquiring instantaneous activation energy is proposed that is able to identify the activation energy at every reaction moment and thereby provide a quantitative basis for kinetics segmentation and rate-limiting mechanism determination. Moreover, due to the space requirements, the activation energy for the reaction stage controlled by nucleation and nuclei growth has a strong correlation with specific surface area. Whereas the restriction mechanisms of chemical reaction and diffusion are closely related to the average pore size. These results reveal that the different pore characteristics and changes in value have a direct influence on the corresponding rate limiting mechanisms and restriction degrees.

MicroRNA-221-3p (miR-221-3p) is an important regulator involved in the progression and prognosis of various cancers. In this study, we aimed to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic value of miR-221-3p expression along with long non-coding RNA X-inactive specific transcript (XIST), which was identified as its upstream regulator in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by bioinformatics analysis, and further validated by RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and dual-luciferase reporter assays. Their expression was measured in tumor tissues and corresponding non-tumor tissues by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), which revealed that XIST was weakly expressed in HCC cells and tumors, while miR-221-3p was overexpressed. Complete knockdown of XIST enhanced HCC cell proliferation and migration and inhibited apoptosis, as observed by MTT, transwell, and flow cytometry experiments, respectively. Animal studies validated that XIST knockdown induces tumor growth

This work was aimed to improve the shear strength of disintegrated carbonaceous mudstone (DCM) with nanotalc (NT). A series of direct shear tests were carried out on the NT-modified DCM specimens to determine their shear strengths at various NT concentrations. Subsequently, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed to reveal the underlying mechanism which the results showed that shear strength was first increased and then decreased with increasing certain NT concentration. Moreover, the increase in NT concentration also resulted in rise in cohesion and reduction in angle of internal friction. The optimum NT concentration for shear strength improvement of DCM is 4%. This improvement of shear strength is achieved because NT can fill the pores in DCM and its products can bind with particles. This results in formation of large aggregates owing to the small size, strong adsorption capacity and cation-exchange capacity.

PurposeMicrotubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3B (LC3B) serves as a key component of autophagy, which is associated with the progression of carcinoma. Yet, it is still unclear whether LC3B is also an independent risk factor for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). We aim to explore the predictive value of LC3B on prognosis of ICC, and to establish a novel and available nomogram to predict relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) for these patients after curative-intent hepatectomy.Materials and MethodsFrom August 2004 to March 2017, 105 ICC patients were eligibly enrolled in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. Preoperative clinical information of enrolled patients was collected. Expression LC3B in the ICC specimen was detected by immunohistochemistry.ResultsThe 5-year RFS and OS in this cohort were 15.7% and 29.6%, respectively. On multivariate Cox regression analysis, independent risk factors for 5-year OS were cancer antigen 125, microvascular invasion, LC3B expression and lymph node metastasis. Except for the above 4 factors, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and tumor differentiation were independent factors for 5-year RFS. The area under the curve of nomograms for OS and RFS were 0.820 and 0.747, respectively.ConclusionThe nomograms based on LC3B can be considered as effective models to predict postoperative survival for ICC patients.

Slope protection has always been a major concern in highway construction and later operation. Ecological protection technology is widely used in highway slope, which takes into account functions of protection, ecology, and landscape. Ecological protection technology is mainly to improve the stability of the slope through the combination of supporting structure and plants, and vegetation restoration can reduce the negative impact of highway construction. In this paper, the latest research progress of ecological protection technology was first reviewed to identify the main construction process and types, which revealed the protection mechanism of ecological protection technology. The comprehensive benefits of ecological slope protection technology were analysed from the aspects of air, water circulation, landscape and biodiversity. It has found that ecological protection technology of highway slope mainly forms the atmosphere-plant-soil system. Ecological protection technology of highway slope improved the stability of the slope through the supporting structure and the anchoring effect of plant roots. And the restoration of the surface vegetation on the slope promoted the photosynthesis and transpiration of plants and purifies the air quality along the highway. Ecological protection technology of highway slope could quickly restore the ecological balance, overall landscape and biodiversity of the region.

Two anthracene-based dyes (MPA-H and MPA-E) with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and photosensitization characteristics were prepared to obtain solid-state luminophores by photoinitiating the photopolymerization of acrylic monomers with iodonium salt under visible light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The photoinitiating activities of MPA-H/iodonium salt and MPA-E/iodonium salt were evaluated in the photopolymerization of acrylic monomers under 405, 460, and 520 nm LED sources. The aggregation-induced enhanced emission of MPA-H and MPA-E occurred during photocuring. MPA-H and MPA-E showed potential as fluorescent molecular probes to monitor the progress of free radical photopolymerization.

To broaden the application of oxime ester and obtain a photoinitiating system with high performance in visible light photopolymerization, we prepared the two arylaminocarbazole oxime ester (CZ–OXE), OXE1 and OXE2, with visible absorption. The multicomponent initiation systems of OXE as one of the components were evaluated in visible photopolymerization. Synergism between OXEs and diaryliodonium salt (ION), N-vinylcarbazole (NVK), ethyl 4-dimethylamino benzoate (EDB), and triphenylphosphine (TPP) were experimentally studied via steady state photolysis and fluorescence quenching. The thermodynamic feasibility for electron transfer reaction in photoinitiating systems was confirmed by cyclic voltammetry experiments. Electron spin resonance techniques proved the production of active species in the systems. Polymerization experiments under a 405 nm light source showed that the two-component initiation system OXEs/ION was more efficient than the one-component initiator OXEs. Similarly, three-component OXEs/ION/co-initiator photoinitiating systems are more efficient than OXEs/ION systems.

To exploit novel ferrocene-based small molecules with long conjugated structures as visible and electrochemical multichannel chemosensors, four conjugated ferrocene ethynyl semicarbazide derivatives (Fc-X-An) were synthesized via the Sonogashira coupling reaction. The synthesized Fc-X-Ans are 2-(4-(ferrocenylethynyl)benzylidene) hydrazine-1-carboxamide (Fc-Ph-An), 2-((5-(ferrocenylethynyl)thiophen-2-yl)methylene)hydrazine-1-carboxamide (Fc-Thie-An), 2-((9-ethyl-6-(ferrocenylethynyl)-9H-carbazol-3-yl) methylene)hydrazine-1-carboxamide (Fc-Cz-An) and 2-((10-ethyl-7-(ferrocenylethynyl)-10H-phenothiazin-3-yl) methylene)hydrazine-1-carboxamide (Fc-PTZ-An). The recognition abilities of the semicarbazide derivative Fc-X-Ans for several anions were evaluated from visible absorption spectra, 1H NMR, and electrochemical technique.

Slopes with carbonaceous mudstone (CM) are widely distributed in the southwest of China and have experienced numerous geological disasters in special climate, especially in rainfall conditions. Therefore, novel materials to stabilize CM slopes have attracted increasing interests. However, developing ultra-stable and cost-effective additives for CM slopes is still a great challenge. Herein, a hydrophobic polymeric material (polyvinylidene fluoride, PVDF) is investigated as an additive to enhance the mechanical strength and long-time stability of CM slopes. The PVDF is uniformly dispersed in CM matrix via interfacial interaction. The contact angle of the PVDF-modified carbonaceous mudstone (PVDF-MCM) can reach as high as 103.95°, indicating an excellent hydrophobicity. The unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and tensile strength (TS) of PVDF-MCM have been intensively enhanced to 4.07 MPa and 1.96 MPa, respectively, compared with ~0 MPa of pristine CM. Moreover, the UCS and TS of PVDF-MCM remain at 3.24 MPa and 1.03 MPa even after curing for 28 days in high humidity conditions. Our findings show that the PVDF can improve the hydrophobicity of CM significantly, which leads to super mechanical stability of PVDF-MCM. The excellent performance makes PVDF a promising additive for the development of ultra-stable, long-lifetime and cost-effective carbonaceous mudstone slopes.

The single-phase polycrystalline copper oxide (Cu2O) films were prepared on sapphire substrates by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technology which was characterized by low cost and high efficiency. The influences of oxygen flow rate on physical characteristics of the prepared films were investigated. The XRD results showed that the single-phase Cu2O film exhibited a (110) preferred orientation through the analysis of texture coefficient. The AFM images exhibited that the prepared Cu2O film had the highest surface roughness with a distinctive quadrangular surface morphology. The optical transmittance of the single-phase Cu2O film was under 35% and the band gap energy was calculated to be 2.30 eV, the absorption spectra included the peak wavelength of solar radiation and the high absorptivity made it to be a suitable absorbing material. The Hall measurement indicated that all the samples exhibited p-type conductivity. The resistivity, mobility and carrier concentration of the single-phase Cu2O film was 4625 Ω·cm, 1.87 cm2/v·s and 7.227×1014 cm−3, respectively.

BackgroundFatigue is a kind of non-specific symptom, which is widely found in sub-health and various diseases. It is closely related to people's physical and mental health.Due to lack of objective evidence, it is often neglected in clinical diagnosis,especially in the early stage of disease.A large number of clinical practices and studies have shown that tongue and pulse image are reflection of overall state of the body.Establishing an objective evaluation method for diagnosis of disease fatigue and non-disease fatigue by combining clinical symptom and index and tongue and pulse data is of great significance for timely and effective clinical treatment.MethodsIn this study, 2362 physical examination subjects were divided into healthy control, the group of sub-health fatigue and disease fatigue ,used complex network technology to screen out the core symptoms and western medicine indexes of fatigue,respectively. Constructed the core symptom network and the core symptom-index network. At the same time, used canonical correlation analysis to get the associated relationship of tongue and pulse, and analyzed the characteristic of the tongue and pulse data.ResultsThere were some similarities between the core symptoms of sub-health fatigue and disease fatigue,as well as differences. Symptom-index associated analysis of disease fatigue showed that the core indexes in the group of disease fatigue group had a significant canonical correlation, with the canonical correlation coefficient was 0.42 (P

Background Given tongue features and basic features, this study aimed to develop and assess a non-invasive machine learning model to perform regression prediction on fasting plasma glucose and glycated haemoglobin which will help optimize diabetes risk warning. Methods We collected the basic features, tongue features and blood features of the subjects. Using machine learning algorithms to analyze these data, we built models to predict fasting plasma glucose and glycated haemoglobin. Then the performance of the models was evaluated through 5-fold cross-validation results and test set results. Results The results of cross validation on the training set showed that given non-invasive input features, the minimum average mean square error of fasting plasma glucose and glycated haemoglobin prediction was 1.227 and 0.438. Our non-invasive fasting plasma glucose prediction model with tongue features and basic features combined achieved a minimum mean square error of 0.601 and a maximum coefficient of determination of 0.606 on the test set. The glycated haemoglobin prediction model product a minimum mean square error of 0.272 and a maximum coefficient of determination of 0.539 on the test set. The Clarke’s Error Grid Analysis showed that the non-invasive blending model had 90.83% of points in zone A and 8.49% of points in zone B on the test set. Conclusions We developed an effective non-invasive method for estimating fasting plasma glucose and glycated haemoglobin from tongue features and basic features combined, which may help identify individuals at high risk for diabetes.

In this work, we reported the effects of sputtering power on the structure, optical and electrical properties of InN nanodots prepared on Al2O3 substrate by magnetron sputtering.The results showed that the as-grown InN films exhibited uniform nanodot morphology and the size of the InN nano grains increased with the sputtering power was increased. The InN nanodot exhibited highly c-axis prefered orientation with mainly InN (002) diffraction. The optical band gap of InN samples showed an decreasing trend with the increase in sputteirng power. Moreover, the electrical properties of the InN samples were discussed in detail by hall effect and the carrier concentration and mobility could be adjusted from 3.233×1019 to 1.655×1020 cm-3 and 1.151 to 10.101 cm2/v•s, respectively. These results will lay a good fundation for the applicaion of InN material in the field of gas sensers and light emitting diodes.

Embankments filled with disintegrated carbonaceous mudstone (DCM) are prone to uneven settlements because of water-softening property and secondary disintegration of carbonaceous mudstone. To address this problem, nano-Al²O³ and cement were proposed in this study to improve the strength of DCM. Many nano-Al²O³- and cement-modified DCM (NACDCM) specimens with various nano-Al²O³ contents were prepared. Unconfined compression tests and triaxial compression tests were performed to examine the strengths of NACDCM under different conditions. Moreover, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations were performed to reveal the microscopic mechanism for modification of the NACDCM. Macroscopic results showed that the unconfined compressive strength of NACDCM reached maximum when the nano-Al²O³ content was 0.2%. The cohesion showed positive correlation with nano-Al²O³ content while the angle of internal friction presented negative correlation with nano-Al²O³ content. Moreover, microscopic results indicated that nano-Al²O³ and cement improved the strength of NACDCM, mainly through cement hydration reaction, pozzolanic reaction, ion exchange, gel effect and filling effect.

Nanotechnology is an extension of sciences and technologies that deal with particles less than 100 nm. This paper reviews previous studies on how nanomaterials work and what their advantages are in subgrade and pavement engineering. In subgrade engineering, the nanomaterials particles can not only improve the physicochemical and mechanical properties of subgrade soils by filling the voids between soil particles but also promote hydration reaction between cement and ion exchange between soil particles. In pavement engineering, the water stability, rutting resistance, fatigue resistance and optical properties of flexible pavements are enhanced by adding nanomaterials into the asphalt mixture. Nanosilica enhances the interface between cement pastes and aggregates and promotes the pozzolanic reaction of concrete, thus, mechanical properties of concrete pavements are improved. Compared with traditional materials, nanomaterials play a promising role in subgrade and pavement engineering, benefitting from their environmental friendliness, lower environmental disturbance, better price/performance ratio and higher durability.

Carbonaceous mudstone is widely distributed in many areas. Its disintegrated material has attracted great interest as a low-cost embankment filler. However, the poor mechanical properties of the disintegrated carbonaceous mudstone (DCM) prevent its widespread application. In this paper, we report the use of artemisia sphaerocephala Krasch. gum (ASK gum) to improve the mechanical properties of DCM. A series of DCM/ASK gum mixtures containing 0 to 8% ASK gum have been prepared and examined by direct shear, unconfined compressive strength, dry-wet cycle, and permeability tests. When 4% ASK gum is incorporated, the unconfined compressive strength of the mixture cured at a duration of 14 days increases by 380%. After 8 dry-wet cycles, the strength of the DCM/ASK gum mixture is 6.4 MPa, which is 12.8 times higher than that of untreated DCM, and the strength retention rate is 61.5% compared to that of 45.5% for untreated DCM. When the normal pressure is 100 kPa, the shear strength increases by 50.0%. In addition, the permeability coefficient was reduced to only 15.9% at 96% compaction degree when only 1% ASK gum is introduced. Scanning electron microscope measurements disclose that the ASK gum can cross-link the DCM particles to form a compact and flat structure, which explains the improved mechanical properties. As both DCM and ASK are abundant, low-cost, and environmentally friendly, the mixture with substantially improved mechanical properties can be a very promising filling material for embankment application.

The aim of this study was to investigate the plantar blood flow response to the same accumulated pressure stimulus in diabetic patients with different peak plantar pressure (PPP), which is important for assessing the risk of diabetic foot ulcer. Eleven diabetic subjects with high PPP (PPP ≥ 207 kPa) and 8 diabetic subjects with low PPP (PPP 207 kPa) were asked to walk naturally on a treadmill so as to induce an accumulated stimulus of 73,000 kPa·s on their first metatarsal head, which was monitored with a sensorized insole. Blood perfusion (BP) in the first metatarsal head was measured before and after walking. Results showed that blood flow after applying the same walking stimulus was significantly decreased in comparison to the basal BP before walking in both high PPP and low PPP groups (p 0.05), but no significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of BP parameters and its percentage change (p 0.05). Moreover, BP parameters were not significantly correlated to PPP and the pressure-time integral (PTI) of the subjects' gait (p 0.05). This indicated that, besides PPP and PTI, the accumulated mechanical stimulus should be taken into consideration when assessing the risk of diabetic patients developing foot ulcers. Graphical abstract Plantar blood flow response to a walking stimulus.

Background: There is growing evidence that the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), a novel prognostic biomarker based on peripheral lymphocyte, neutrophil, and platelet counts, is associated with poor prognosis for several tumors. However, the prognostic value of SII in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who undergo liver transplantation (LT) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between SII and prognosis in these patients. Methods: This retrospective study involved 150 patients with HCC who underwent LT within the Hangzhou criteria. The optimal cut-off value was determined by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to stratify the patients into those with a high SII and those with low SII. The Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards model were used to evaluate the prognostic value of SII. Finally, we calculated the area under the ROC curve to compare the prognostic power of SII, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR). Results: Patients were divided into high SII (≥ 226) and low SII (< 226) groups. Five-year overall survival (OS) was lower in the high SII group than in the low SII group (56.1% vs. 82.4%, p = 0.002). SII ≥ 226 × 109/L, maximum tumor size> 5 cm, microvascular invasion, and poor differentiation were independent prognostic factors for OS. However, SII did not predict 5-year recurrence-free survival (high vs. low SII: 64.1% vs. 78.4%, p = 0.073). The area under the ROC curve was greater for SII than for PLR, NLR, and MLR. Conclusions: Preoperative SII may be a powerful prognostic biomarker in patients with HCC who undergo LT within the Hangzhou criteria. SII is superior to PLR, NLR, and MLR for prediction of OS in these patients.

Background/Aims: The age-bilirubin-international normalized ratio-creatinine (ABIC) score, which is a predictive model commonly used for alcoholic hepatitis, has not yet been studied in acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure (HBV-ACLF). We aimed to investigate the predictive value of the ABIC score in patients with HBV-ACLF. Methods: This retrospective study involved 398 patients diagnosed with HBV-ACLF, who were divided into a training cohort of 305 patients and a validation cohort of 93 patients. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were used to determine risk factors for mortality. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated to estimate and compare the predictive values of different prognostic scores. Results: The ABIC score was significantly higher in the death group of the training cohort than in its survival group. Independent risk factors for mortality identified by multivariate Cox analysis included blood urea nitrogen, ABIC score, and Chronic Liver Failure Consortium Organ Failure (CLIF-C OF) score. For predicting 1- and 3-month mortality, AUC was higher for the ABIC score than for the Model for End-stage Liver Diseases (MELD) score (0.732 vs. 0.653, P < 0.05, 0.695 vs. 0.619, P < 0.05, respectively), CLIF-C OF score (0.693, P=0.353, 0.656, P=0.341, respectively), and Child-Pugh score (0.675, P=0.189, 0.656, P=0.300, Respectively). Patients with ABIC score > 9.44 had reduced 1- and 3-month survival rates. Conclusion: ABIC score is superior to MELD score in predicting short-term survival in HBV-ACLF patients. ABIC score > 9.44 predicts high short-term mortality risk in HBV-ACLF patients.

Curcumin is attractive in photopolymerization especially in cationic photopolymerization, because of its broad absorption and nontoxic properties. Curcuminoid (CMD) is a linear diarylheptanoid and can be considered as a derivative of curcumin. Based on the framework of curcumin, four CMDs containing carbazole/triphenylamine/dimethylaniline/phenothiazine as electron donors and β-diketone as electron acceptors are prepared using a facile synthesis method. The absorption maxima of the prepared CMDs all showed significant red-shifts compared with that of curcumin. The CMDs can act as high performance photosensitizers of iodonium salt (ONI) to start the ring-opening cationic photopolymerization of epoxides and the free radical photopolymerization of acrylates upon blue-green light exposure using light-emitting diodes. Excellent polymerization initiating efficiencies are found, and high final function conversions are obtained. The initiating abilities of the CMDs/ONI can be enhanced in the presence of N-vinyl carbazole or triphenylphosphine. More remarkably, the CMDs/ONI exhibit excellent photobleaching properties, and can be used in deep free radical photopolymerization.

Background/Aims: Systemic inflammatory response (SIR) is widely considered as a preoperative risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) outcomes. The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), two of the prognostic indices, have been investigated in post-therapeutic recurrence and survival of HCC. Here, we quantify the prognostic value of these two biomarkers and evaluate their consistency in different HCC therapies. Methods: A systematic review of electronic database of the Web of Science, Embase, PubMed and the Cochrane Library was conducted to search for associations between the NLR and PLR in the blood and clinical outcomes of HCC. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were the primary outcomes, and hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were explored as effect measures. Subgroup analyses were performed to explore the heterogeneity of different therapies. Results: A total of 24 articles comprising 6318 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, the pooled outcomes revealed that a high NLR before treatment predicted a poor OS (HR: 1.54, 95% CI: 1.34 to 1.76, p