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INTRODUCTION: This study retrospectively analyzed a total of 86 leukapheresis treatments in 55 patients with hyperleukocytic leukemia (HLL). METHODS: In the leukapheresis treatments, the monitoring collection (MNC) program in COBE spectra continuous flow centrifuge (CFC) for blood component separator was used. RESULTS: In this study, the white blood cell (WBC) suspension volume collected in leukapheresis treatment were 870.72±208.40 mL, and significantly larger than that reported in previous study. Compared with before leukapheresis, there were no difference in patient with HLL on the peripheral blood platelet (PLT) count and hemoglobin (HGB) levels. The index plasma fibrinogen (FIB) concentration was slightly reduced by leukapheresis, however, it did not affect a lot the maintenance of normal hemostatic function in patients with HLL. DISCUSSION: Our data provided evidences that large-volume leukapheresis had no obvious effects on HGB level and coagulation functions in patient with HLL. So large-volume leukapheresis by CFC could be widely used in clinic.

Red blood cells (RBCs) of the Asian-type DEL phenotype express few RhD proteins and are typed as serologic RhD-negative (D-) in routine testing. RhD-positive (D+) RBC transfusion for Asian-type DEL patients has been proposed but has not been generally adopted due to a lack of direct evidence regarding its safety and underlying mechanism. We performed a single-arm multicenter clinical trial to document the outcome of D+ RBC transfusion in Asian-type DEL patients; none of the recipients (0/42; 95% confidence interval, 0%-8.40%) developed alloanti-D after a median follow-up of 226 days. We conducted a large retrospective study to detect alloanti-D immunization in 4,045 serologic D- pregnant women throughout China; alloanti-D was found only in true D- individuals (2.63%, 79/3,009), but not in those with Asian-type DEL (0/1,032). We further retrospectively examined 127 serologic D- pregnant women who had developed alloanti-D and found none with Asian-type DEL (0/127). Finally, we analyzed RHD transcripts from Asian-type DEL erythroblasts and examined antigen epitopes expressed by various RHD transcripts in vitro, finding a low abundance of full-length RHD transcripts (0.18% of the total) expressing RhD antigens carrying the entire repertoire of epitopes, which could explain the immune tolerance against D+ RBCs. Our results provide multiple lines of evidence that individuals with Asian-type DEL cannot produce alloanti-D when exposed to D+ RBCs following transfusion or pregnancy. Therefore, we recommend considering D+ RBC transfusion and discontinuing anti-D prophylaxis in Asian-type DEL patients, including pregnant women. This clinical trial is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03727230.

In this paper, an energy harvesting floor based on piezoelectric transducers is studied. A structure with multiple layers of piezoelectric beams is designed. Different striking frequencies are stud...

We describe a new fungal species of the genus Lentithecium, collected from dead culms of Artemisia sp. in Songhua Reservoir at Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. Multi-gene phylogenetic analyses of LSU, ITS, SSU, and tef1-α sequence data showed that our new fungal strain belongs to Lentithecium and is well separated from all other extant species of Lentithecium. Lentithecium yunnanensis sp. nov. is compared with all the extant species by morphological characteristics, culture characteristics, host, and location information and is the first report of Lentithecium from China on Artemisia. A comprehensive description, a color photo plate of microcharacteristics, and a phylogenetic tree to show the position of the new species are provided.

The CrFeCoNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) exhibits excellent mechanical properties at lower temperatures due to its low stacking-fault energy, however, its medium- and high-temperature strengths are still insufficient. In consideration of the potential diversified applications, more strengthening approaches except for the previously proposed L12 phase hardening deserve further exploration due to its rapid coarsening tendency at high temperatures. Here, we achieved significant high-temperature strengthening of the cast CrFeCoNi HEA by in-situ precipitation of highly thermostable carbides. Alloys with 0.5 at.% and 1 at.% niobium and carbon were prepared by simple casting processes, i.e. drop cast, solute solution and aging. A highly thermostable microstructure was formed, which comprises very coarse grains accompanied with extensive thermostable carbide precipitates embedded, including submicrometer coherent NbC particles in grain interiors and intergranular coherent M23C6 carbides. This high thermostability of microstructure, which is beneficial for the high-temperature loading, is ascribed to the synergy of lacking growth driving force and Zenner pinning effect by the carbides. Tensile properties tested at 673, 873 and 1073 K show that the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength are significantly increased by Nb/C doping, along with the elongation escalation at higher temperatures. The strengthening is mainly due to the precipitation hardening of carbide particles.

Here, we demonstrate an in-situ growth of micropatterned silver nanospheres (Ag NS) array on transparent polyimide (PI), namely PI-Ag substrate, applied as a flexible platform for metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF). The scheme proposed here can easily control the grid formation of Ag NSs and the particle size inside, thus achieving patterned fluorescence imaging and MEF efficiency optimization. Meanwhile, the magnitude of enhanced intensity, relying on the distance between Ag NSs and emissive molecules, was systematically investigated by exploring diverse polyethyleneimine (PEI) spacer thickness. Consequently, an optimal enhancement factor of 7.9 and a pattern of grid fluorescence imaging was obtained with an insertion of 10 nm PEI on the PI-Ag (25 nm) platform. Moreover, owing to robust adhesion between Ag NSs and PI film by in-situ growth, this flexible PI-Ag MEF platform maintained a stable MEF efficiency even after taking mechanical bending for 1000 cycles. This new surface-confined micropatterned Ag NSs PI film provides a promising candidate in design flexible MEF platforms for future analytical and clinical sensing applications.

Noble metal complex nanomaterials were widely investigated in bioscientific systems for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging. Silver (Ag) has higher enhancement factors, arising from be...

In the present study, we selected solutes to be added to the CrCoNi medium-entropy alloy (MEA) based on the mismatch of self-diffusion activation energy (SDQ) between the alloying elements and constituent elements of the matrix, and then investigated their grain growth behavior and mechanical properties. Mo and Al were selected as the solutes for investigation primarily because they have higher and lower SDQ, respectively, than those of the matrix elements; a secondary factor was their higher and lower shear modulus. Their concentrations were fixed at 3 at.% each because previous work had shown these compositions to be single-phase solid solutions with the face-centered cubic structure. Three alloys were produced by arc melting, casting, homogenizing, cold rolling and annealing at various temperatures and times to produce samples with different grain sizes. They were (a) the base alloy CrCoNi, (b) the base alloy plus 3 at.% Mo, and (c) the base alloy plus 3 at.% Al. The activation energies for grain growth of the CrCoNi, CrCoNi-3Mo and CrCoNi-3Al MEAs were found to be ∼251, ∼368 and ∼219 kJ/mol, respectively, consistent with the notion that elements with higher SDQ (in this study Mo) retard grain growth (likely by a solute-drag effect), whereas those with lower values (Al) accelerate grain growth. The room-temperature tensile properties show that Mo increases the yield strength by ∼40 % but Al addition has a smaller strengthening effect consistent with their relative shear moduli. The yield strength as a function of grain size for the three single-phase MEAs follows the classical Hall-Petch relationship with much higher slopes (＞600 MPa μm−0.5) than traditional solid solutions. This work shows that the grain growth kinetics and solid solution strengthening of the CrCoNi MEA can be tuned by selecting solute elements that have appropriate diffusion and physical properties.

The poor stability of perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) is one of the major obstacles for their application in optoelectronic devices. Herein, we develop an easy in situ strategy for preparing polyimide (PI)-coated single-particle CsPbBr3 NCs in a continuous stirred-tank reactor system. Benefiting from the protection of the thick polyimide layer, these PI-coated CsPbBr3 NCs show excellent stability against severe environments such as water, heat, oxygen, and light. Meanwhile, time-resolved photoluminescence and ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy revealed that the polyimide (PI) polymer contributes to passivating the surface defects of the CsPbBr3 NCs, giving CsPbBr3/PI NCs a higher photoluminescence quantum yield. Thanks to the performances of high luminescent efficiency and stability, these green-emitting perovskite CsPbBr3/PI NCs show promising potentials in the fields of solid-state lighting and display.

Background HIF-1α is relevant to inflammation and fibrosis in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related liver diseases. Thus, we designed a predictive model for decompensated cirrhosis. Methods Peripheral plasma HIF-1α levels were measured in 52 subjects, including 20 patients with HBV-related-compensated-cirrhosis (HBV-CC), 20 patients with HBV-related-decompensated-cirrhosis (HBV-DC) that underwent transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS), and 12 healthy controls (HC). Portal plasma HIF-1α levels were detected in HBV-DC patients. The correlation between clinical data and HIF-1α levels was assessed, logistic regression and nomogram were used to develop prediction model. Results Plasma HIF-1α levels were significantly higher in HBV-DC patients than that in HBV-CC patients and healthy controls (DC: 656.34±417.96, CC: 294.23±138.03, HC: 194.63±54.14, pg/ml; P = 0.0004). Plasma HIF-1α levels were positively correlated with total bile acid, total bilirubin, APRI, FIB-4, and MELD scores, and negatively correlated with albumin and platelets. Multivariate logistic regression manifested that total bilirubin (OR = 19.439; 95% CI: 1.486–254.320, P = 0.024), spleen thickness (OR = 75.144; 95% CI: 4.157–1358.440, P = 0.003) and HIF-1α concentrations above 341.78 pg/ml (OR = 23.580; 95% CI: 1.842–301.781, P = 0.015) were markedly associated with HBV-DC and thus included in the nomogram. The terrific cut-off value for the probability of HBV-DC was > 45%, and area under the curve was 0.954 (P < 0.001), with 95% sensitivity and specificity. Conclusions HIF-1α is related to biochemical liver parameters, cirrhosis grade, and progression to HBV-DC. Our model has preferable predictive value for HBV-DC.

In this paper we describe a new species of cave fungus belonging to Sporocadaceae (Amphisphaeriales), collected from Gem Cave, Fumin County, Yunnan Province, China. Initial morphological observations confirmed that our fungal collection is a pestalotioid species. Phylogenetic analyses of combined internal transcribed spacer (ITS), β-tubulin (TUB) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1α) gene sequence dataset confirmed that our fungus forms an independent branch within Neopestalotiopsis. Thus, we describe our fungus as a new species of Neopestalotiopsis based on both morphology and multigene phylogeny. This is the first-ever report of Neopestalotiopsis from a cave habitat. A full description, micrographs and a phylogenetic tree showing the placement of the new species are provided.

Two A-B-C type amphiphilic triblock fullerene derivatives (C60-PEHBS and C60-2EHTPB) were synthesized and applied to modify zinc oxide (ZnO) layer in inverted organic solar cells (OSCs). These two fullerene derivatives are typical hydrophilic-amphiphilic-hydrophobic triblock macromolecules with hydrophobic fullerene block, amphiphilic fluorene block and hydrophilic fluorene block. The amphiphilic fluorene contains 1,2-diethoxyethane (-C6H14O2) on the side chains. And the hydrophilic fluorene blocks contain potassium butane-1-sulfonate (-C4H9SO3K) or N,N,N-trimethylpropan-1-aminium bromide (-C6H16BrN) side chains. When introducing as the cathode interface layers on ZnO, solvent annealing was applied on these two fullerene derivatives layers and then obvious self-assembly were observed, which were supported by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and water contact angle measurement. It was found that the fullerene derivatives could modify the nanoparticle of ZnO surface, passivate surface traps, suppress the recombination loss of carriers, reduce the series resistance and improve the electrical coupling of ZnO/active layer effectively. The power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of the devices with structure of ITO/ZnO/fullerene derivatives/PTB7-Th: PC71BM/MoO3/Al are enhanced to 8.56% and 9.00% for C60-PEHBS and C60-2EHTPB respectively, compared to 8.13% of bare ZnO. The new amphiphilic triblock macromolecules and their solvent induced self-assembly opens an opportunity to study the morphologies in their super thin layers and develop their applications.

An eco-friendly n-type water/alcohol-soluble conjugated polyelectrolyte PFEO SO3 Li was synthesized and applied as a cathode interfacial layer in organic solar cells. The π-delocalized polyfluorene backbone has an intimate connection with the hydrophobic active layer, and the side chain with lithium ion may move toward the ZnO layer through the self-assembly property of conjugated polyelectrolytes. UV photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that modification with PFEO SO3 Li dramatically lowers the work function of indium-doped tin oxide (ITO)/ZnO and may form strong interfacial dipoles between ZnO and the active layer. Meanwhile, introduction of lithium ions as spectator cations may contribute to reduction of the intrinsic surface defects of ZnO. The green emission in the photoluminescence spectrum of ZnO disappeared after modification with PFEO SO3 Li. In addition, the roughness of ZnO barely changed after coating with PFEO SO3 Li, and the surface became more hydrophobic, which demonstrates that the thin conjugated polyelectrolyte layer exhibits good adhesion with both ZnO and the active layer. These phenomena indicate that the introduction of PFEO SO3 Li makes ITO/ZnO an efficient cathode. As a result, inverted organic solar cell devices with ZnO/PFEO SO3 Li double-interlayers exhibit high efficiencies of 11.7 and 10.6 % for PBDB-T:IT-M and PBDB-T:ITIC blend systems, respectively.

Magnesium, the second most predominant intracellular cation, plays a crucial role in many physiological functions; magnesium-based biomaterials have been widely used in clinical application. In a variety of cancer types, the high intracellular concentration of magnesium contributes to cancer initiation and progression. Therefore, we initiated this study to investigate the likelihood of confounding magnesium with cancer therapy. In this study, the anti-tumor activity of magnesium and underlying mechanisms were assessed in bladder cancer both in vitro and in vivo. The results indicated that the proliferation of bladder cancer cells was inhibited by treatment with a high concentration of MgCl2 or MgSO4. The apoptosis, G0/G1 cell cycle arrest, autophagy, and ER stress were promoted following treatment with MgCl2. However, the migratory ability of MgCl2 treated cells was similar to that of control cells, as revealed by the trans-well assay. Besides, no significant difference was observed in the proportion of CD44 or CD133 positive cells between the control and MgCl2 treated cells. Thus, to improve the therapeutic effect of magnesium, VPA was used to treat cancer cells in combination with MgCl2. As expected, combination treatment with MgCl2 and VPA could markedly reduce proliferation, migration, and in vivo tumorigenicity of UC3 cells. Moreover, the Wnt signaling was down-regulated, and ERK signaling was activated in the cells treated with combination treatment. In conclusion, the accurate utilization of MgCl2 in targeting autophagy might be beneficial in cancer therapy. Although further studies are warranted, the combination treatment of MgCl2 with VPA is an effective strategy to improve the outcome of chemotherapy.

Flexible surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors have attracted great attention as a portable and low-cost device for chemical and bio-detection. However, flexible SERS sensors tend to suffer low signal spatial homogeneity due to the uneven distribution of active plasmonic nanostructures (hot spots) and quick degradation of their sensitivity due to low adhesion of hot spots and flexible substrates during fast sampling. Herein, a large-area (20 × 20 cm

A co-precipitation method based on supersaturated recrystallization in a continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) system was applied to uncover the growth mechanism of CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals (NCs). The reaction rate can be controlled by changing the reaction conditions in this CSTR system, which helps us to observe important intermediate stages to gain insight into the growth mechanism of these NCs. The effects of the temperature, concentrations of the ligands (oleylamine and oleic acid), and precursor concentrations during the growth process of CsPbBr3 NCs were discussed in detail. Further, the growth mechanism of CsPbBr3 NCs was investigated in terms of the dynamics and thermodynamics on the basis of experimental results. The growth mechanism is a useful guide to large-scale synthesis. The synthesized CsPbBr3 NCs were employed for fabrication of both white light-emitting diodes and quantum-dot light-emitting diodes to test their photoelectric properties; the results show that CsPbBr3 NCs show great promise for optoelectronics applications.

The poor stability of perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) is one of the major obstacles for their application in optoelectronic devices. Herein, we develop an easy in situ strategy for preparing polyimide (PI)-coated single-particle CsPbBr

A series of isomeric alicyclic-functionalized polyimide with chemical imidization and thermal imidization (CPI-x and TPI-x) were prepared from a rigid alicyclic-functionalized isomerism diamine, 5(6)-amino-1-(4-aminophenyl)-1,3,3-trimethylindane (DAPI). The influences of incorporation of the isomeric rigid alicyclic structure onto the backbone of the polymers were systematically investigated in terms of optical, thermal, mechanical, dielectric and surface properties, respectively. Due to the moderate chemical imidization condition, CPI-x series retain higher glass transition temperature (Tg) in the range of 329–429 °C than the Tg of TPI-x (from 321.9 °C to 370.7 °C). Therefore, the CPI-1 film based 5-DAPI was chosen as the flexible substrate. MoO3 was chosen as the interface layer to improve the compatibility between PI substrate and the metal electrode. Then a ultra-thin layer of MoO3 (3 nm)/Au(2 nm)/Ag(4 nm) was utilized to be the transparent electrode. After annealing at 220 °C for 0.5 h, zinc oxide (ZnO) was deposited onto the electrode to maintain the superior electron mobility and improve the transparency of the electrode. Consequently, the flexible quantum dots light emitting diode (QLED) obtained a high luminance of 5230 (cd/m2) and EQE of 5.2%, meanwhile, a device performance of 4.36% was achieved in organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices.

We aimed to evaluate the value of immunoadsorption (IA) treatment after the failure of intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP) therapy for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). Sixty-one NMOSD attacks unresponsive to IVMP were included: 22 patients received rescue IA (IVMP+IA), 24 underwent rescue plasma exchange (PE) (IVMP+PE), and 21 received no further rescue therapy (IVMP alone). The improvement frequencies were higher in the IVMP+IA and IVMP+PE groups than in the IVMP-alone group (P = 0.024). The effective period for IA treatment may be longer than previously thought. IA treatment for IVMP-resistant NMOSD attacks was effective and comparable to PE treatment.

Solid alcohol 1-pyrenemethanol (PyM) was first introduced to modify the zinc oxide (ZnO) layer which is used in the inverted polymer solar cells (PSCs) as a cathode buffer layer (CBL). As a low-cost industrial product, the PyM can modify the surface defects and improve the electron mobility of ZnO CBL, which can be attributed to the self-assembly of PyM on the ZnO surface due to the hydrogen bonds and the conjugated structure in PyM. With a blend of PTB7:PC71BM as active layer, the device with ZnO/PyM CBL exhibited a notable power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.26%, which is better than that of control devices based on bare ZnO CBL (7.26%). With the addition of PyM, the device based on PTB7-Th:PC71BM showed a higher PCE of 9.10%, an obvious improvement from the 7.79% of control devices. There was no obvious change in device performance with the increase of PyM solution concentration, indicating that the device fabrications are thickness-insensitive. These results could be particularly useful in solution...

Background Neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT), caused by maternal antibodies raised against alloantigens carried on foetal platelets, is a very common haematological abnormality in newborns worldwide. However, baseline data on NAIT in China are lacking. Therefore, this study seeks to explore the incidence of alloantibody against the human platelet antigen (HPA) in pregnant women and its associations with NAIT in China. Methods A multicentre, prospective cohort study design will be used, and 55,497 pregnant women will be recruited for the first screening of the anti-HPA antibody at 12 to 28 weeks of gestational age. Subjects who are positive in the first screening for the anti-HPA antibody will be included in the exposure group. Re-tests of the antibody titre, antigen-specificity and genotyping of HPA and HLA will be conducted during admission. A ratio of 1:1 paired individuals with the same ethnicity and parity but testing negative for the anti-HPA antibody will be randomly selected to be included in the non-exposure group. NAIT will be diagnosed in the newborns on day one of the birth. The HPA of the neonates in the exposure group will also be genotyped by sequencing. Associations of maternal HLA with the occurrence of the anti-HPA antibody and correlation of the severity of NAIT with the titre of the anti-HPA antibody will be further analysed. Discussion The study is expected to provide baseline data on NAIT in China. Besides, we hope to find out a population who expresses particular HLA molecules has significant higher risk of HPA alloimmunization in Chinese individuals. We also hope to find a Chinese-specific cut-off antibody titre for the prediction of the severity of NAIT and to provide a means to evaluate the necessity of antenatal treatment. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02934906 (date registered: 13.10.2016).

The present study aimed to characterize the function and hemorheology of red blood cells (RBCs) recovered during liver transplantation surgery in patients with hepatitis B and decompensation. A total of 15 hepatitis B patients with decompensation who underwent liver transplantation surgery were included in the present study. Blood samples were recovered during the liver transplantation surgery using an Autologous Blood Recovery System. The morphology and structure of RBCs were characterized and compared between pre-operative and recovered blood samples. In addition, the physiological functions of RBCs were measured and compared between pre-operative and recovered blood samples. No significant differences in the morphological score, 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, Na+K+-ATPase, Ca2+-ATPase, Mg2+-ATPase, malondialdehyde and osmotic fragility were identified between RBCs in the pre-operative and recovered blood samples. The level of free hemoglobin in RBCs of the recovered blood samples was significantly higher than in the pre-operative blood samples (P0.05) in the low-shear blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, relative blood viscosity, erythrocyte aggregation index or Casson yield stress were identified between recovered and pre-operative blood samples. These findings suggested that autologous blood transfusion in liver transplantation surgery in patients with hepatitis B and decompensation had no significant influence on the morphology, structure, function and hemorheology of RBCs.

Celecoxib, a selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor, has been demonstrated to exert antitumor activity in a variety of cancer cells. The underlying mechanism involves inhibition of cell cycle progression and induction of apoptosis. Besides, celecoxib has also been found to induce autophagy in some solid tumor cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of celecoxib on cell proliferation in HL-60 human acute leukemia cells and to explore the potential mechanism. HL-60 cells were exposed to various concentrations of celecoxib and cell viability was evaluated by the MTT assay. Apoptosis was analyzed with flow cytometry and the amount of autophagosome was evaluated by LysoTracker probe labelling. The expression of apoptosis- and autophagy-related proteins was assayed by Western blot and LysoSensor probe labelling was used to detect the effect of celecoxib on the lysosomal functions. The results of this study indicated that celecoxib inhibited cell proliferation in a time- and dose-dependent fashion. The flow cytometry analysis showed that celecoxib induced apoptosis at low concentrations and mainly cell necrosis at high concentrations. The Western blot test confirmed the induction of apoptosis by the upregulation of apoptosis-related proteins cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved PARP. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that celecoxib prevented the autophagic flux by inhibiting lysosome function; the fluorescence intensity of the LysoTracker probe and the level of autophagy-related proteins LC3-II and p62 were increased, but the fluorescence intensity of the LysoSensor probe was weakened. These findings show that celecoxib is an autophagy suppresser and has antitumor effects in HL-60 cells by inducing cell apoptosis and necrosis.

Background Cirrhosis is a complex acquired disorder of hemostasis and patients frequently receive blood transfusions. But there is very limited data on patterns of blood use at a patient level. Aims To characterize blood use in cirrhotic patients in China and compare with recommendations to help identify areas where quality improvement strategies can be targeted. We also compared findings to a similar study undertaken in UK. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 11 hospitals over a 2-month period. Data were collected prospectively on each hospitalized cirrhotic patient to day 28. Results 1595 cirrhotic patients were included and 20.6% were transfused. 48.2% of transfused patients received transfusion for bleeding, most commonly gastrointestinal bleeding (65.8%). The remaining 51.8% were transfused for non-bleeding indications. 32.5% of patients transfused for gastrointestinal bleeding with red blood cells had a pre-transfusion haemoglobin >7 g/dL. 89.1% of patients transfused frozen plasma for non-bleeding indications received them in the absence of a planned procedure. The patterns of blood transfusion in cirrhosis were different between China and UK. Of note, empirical prophylactic use of frozen plasma was more common in the Chinese study (89%) than in the UK (24%). Conclusion Education and research should be implemented to improve patient blood management, especially in prophylactic frozen plasma use area.

We report about a flexible substrate incorporating surface-confined silver nanoparticles on transparent polyimide (PI). The incorporated silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs), which possessed excellent adhesive strength with the PI substrate, induced localized surface plasmon resonance and light scattering effects by changing the particle size and interparticle distance to promote light harvesting in the perovskite solar cells. Moreover, the reduced sheet resistance was beneficial for the charge extraction and transportation in the devices when high-conductivity poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS, PH1000) was deposited on the Ag NP-confined PI serving as a flexible bottom electrode. A power conversion efficiency of 10.41% was obtained for the flexible perovskite solar cells based on a Ag NP-confined PI substrate (the particle size of the Ag NPs was 25 nm mixed with 40 nm), which was obviously enhanced in all parameters. Especially, a 61% improvement existed in the short-circuit current density compared to that based on the bare PI substrates. It indicates that the substrate would be a promising candidate for the development of flexible electronics.

Background: Patients with HBV-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) are characterized by immune paralysis and susceptibility to sepsis. Macrophages are central mediators of immunoreaction, and reported to polarize to pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory functional status in different morbid states. The role of chloride intercellular channel 3 (CLIC3) in immune function is little known. Aims: To investigate the dynamic changes of macrophage polarization in different stages of HBV-related liver diseases, explore the role of CLIC3 in macrophage polarization and its mechanism. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells derived macrophages from healthy controls (n=10), mild chronic hepatitis B patients (n=226), HBV-related compensated cirrhosis patients (n=36), HBV-related decompensated liver cirrhosis patients (n=40) and HBV-related acute-on-chronic failure patients (n=62) were collected to analyze the macrophage polarization using flowcytometry. Transcriptome sequencing analysis was performed for better understanding the roles of macrophages in HBV-ACLF. Virto cell experiments were used to investigate the role of CLIC3 in macrophage polarization. Results: The anti-inflammatory, CD163+CD206+ macrophages, significantly increased in HBV-ACLF patients, which predicted a poor clinical outcome. Transcriptome sequencing analysis indicated, CLIC3 was declined in HBV-ACLF patients, negatively related with V-set and immunoglobulin domain containing 4, involving in immunological disease, organismal injury and abnormalities. Virto cell experiments showed CLIC3 regulated macrophage polarization through NF-kB and AKT pathway. And CLIC3 suppression in macrophages promoted anti-inflammatory polarization and aggravated the impair of hepatocytes. Conclusion: Polarization to anti-inflammatory status of macrophages predicts poor prognosis of HBV-ACLF patients. And CLIC3 plays a vital role in macrophage polarization in HBV-ACLF progression. Funding Statement: This study was supported by the Guangzhou city science and technology project (No. 201607010064), and the Natural Fund of Guangdong Province (No. 2016A030313237 and 2015A030313172). Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University Five-Fiver Project (No. k00005). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: This study was approved by the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University ethics committee ([2018]02-432-01). If patients were unable to provide consent, informed consent was obtained by the next of kin.

Background: Patients with HBV-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) are characterized by immune paralysis and susceptibility to infections. Macrophages are reported to polarize to proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory functional states in different morbid states. However, the molecular mechanisms of macrophage polarization in the disease progression of HBV-ACLF have not yet been elucidated. Aims: To investigate the dynamic macrophage polarization changes in different stages of HBV-related liver disease and explore the potential mechanism of macrophage polarization during HBV-ACLF. Methods: The functional status of peripheral blood mononuclear cells derived from macrophages from patients with mild chronic hepatitis B, HBV-related compensated liver cirrhosis, HBV-related decompensated liver cirrhosis, HBV-ACLF and healthy controls was determined. A transcriptome sequencing analysis was performed to investigate the pathways involved in macrophage polarization in HBV-ACLF. The chloride intracellular channel-3 (CLIC3) gene expression was suppressed in the human monocytic THP-1-derived macrophages to study its role in macrophage polarization. Results: Macrophages exhibited different functional statuses in different stages of HBV-related liver disease. Macrophages were mainly exhibiting an anti-inflammatory phenotype and functional characteristics in patients with HBV-ACLF, which was predictive of a poor clinical outcome. The expression of CLIC3, which is involved in immunological diseases, was reduced in HBV-ACLF patients, indicating a poor prognosis. In addition, CLIC3 could regulate proinflammatory macrophage polarization through the NF-κB and Akt pathways. Conclusion: Macrophage polarization changes dynamically in HBV-related liver diseases. CLIC3 suppression-mediated anti-inflammatory macrophage polarization plays an important role in the progression of HBV-ACLF, and CLIC3 expression is a potential indicator of the prognosis of HBV-ACLF patients. Funding Statement: Supported by the Guangzhou City Science and Technology Project (No. 201607010064), the Natural Fund of Guangdong Province (No. 2016A030313237), the National Science and Technology Major Project (2018ZX10302204) and The National Natural Science Foundation of China (81672701). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: This study was approved by the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University Ethics Committee ([2018]02-432-01). If patients were unable to provide consent, informed consent was obtained from the next of kin.

The morphology of active layer with an interpenetrating network structure and appropriate phase separation is of great significance to improve the photovoltaic performance for polymer solar cells. A highly crystalline small molecule named DPP-TP6 was synthesized and incorporated into the narrow bandgap polymer solar cells to optimize the morphology of PTB7:PC71BM active layer. The DPP-TP6 small molecule was demonstrated to enhance the light absorbance of active layer and play the role of energy cascade to increase the exciton separation and charge transfer. What's more, DPP-TP6 facilitated forming interpenetrating network structure and increasing the phase separation size of ternary blends. These phenomena lead to a higher hole mobility and a more balanced carrier mobility, so as to increase the power conversion efficiency to 7.85% at DPP-TP6 weight ratio of 8 wt %, comparing to the pristine PTB7:PC71BM system of 6.50%. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016

Three easily accessible diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-based small molecular electrolytes (SMEs) with different counter anions (CAs), such as bromide, tetrafluoroborate, and tetraphenylborate, namely DPPN-Br, DPPN-BF 4 , and DPPN-BPh 4 , respectively, were synthesized to function as a cathode buffer layer for improving the performance of polymer solar cells. Intriguingly, a strong CA size dependence of self-doping was observed in the SMEs. More interestingly, a tunable dipoles were achieved on the ITO surface modified with electrolytes by simply varying the size of CAs, as verified by the significantly reduced effective work function ( Φ eff ). These n-type self-doped electrolytes possessed a higher electron mobility and created Ohmic contact between the ITO and active layer. Notably, an improved power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 9.0% was achieved in the device with DPPN-BPh 4 interlayer.

All inorganic perovskite CsPbX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) nanocrystals (NCs) have been endowed great promise for optoelectronic device applications. However, further practical applications of these NCs are blocked because of their poor stability. In the present work, we propose a novel strategy to synthesize highly luminescent and stable red-emitting CsPbBrI2/PbSe heterojunction nanocrystals (h-NCs) via an epitaxial solution growth method, in which lattice-matching condition between CsPbBrI2 and PbSe was satisfied, and each CsPbBrI2 NC was partially covered by PbSe in the CsPbBrI2/PbSe heterodimers. The ultrafast transient absorption (TA) and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) spectroscopy revealed that incorporation of PbSe can modify surface and hence passivate the surface trap states of the CsPbBrI2 NCs, helping to enhance the photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQY) (up to 83.4%) of these CsPbBrI2/PbSe h-NCs. First-principle calculations based on DFT confirmed that the significantly improved stability of these CsPbBrI2/PbSe h-NCs was attributed to the strong chemical bonding of selenium atoms of PbSe and lead atoms of PbX2-terminated surface from CsPbBrI2. Thin films of these CsPbBrI2/PbSe h-NCs can maintain bright red PL brightness and cubic phase even after 15-day storage under a high humidity condition. Benefiting from the performances of high stability and luminescent efficiency, these red-emitting CsPbBrI2/PbSe h-NCs have a positive implication for bright light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

A novel rigid semi-alicyclic dianhydride 9,10-difluoro-9,10-bis(trifluoromethyl)-9,10-dihydroanthracene-2,3,6,7-tetracarboxylic acid dianhydride (8FDA) was reported, and its single crystal X-ray diffraction result revealed the existence of the polymorphic structure in this compound. The detail geometric configuration transition during the synthesized process was investigated, exhibiting a transition of from trans- to cis- when the hydroxyl groups were substituted by fluoride with diethylaminosulfur trifluoride (DAST). Compared with the dianhydride 4,4′-(Hexaflouroisopropylidene) diphthalic anhydride (6FDA) and 1S,2R,4S,5R-cyclohexanetetracarboxylic dianhydride (HPMDA), the resulting polyimide (PI) films based on 8FDA exhibited an obviously higher glass transition temperature (Tg, 401 °C) and a much lower coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE, 14 ppm K−1). This indicates that 8FDA is an ideal building block in high-performance soluble PIs with low CTE.

A new amphiphilic diblock fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyricacid-4-(9,9,9',9'-tetrakis(3-bromopropyl)-9H,9'H-[2,2'-bifluoren]-7-yl)phenol-(N,N,N-trimethylpropan-1-aminium) bromide (C60-4TPB) was synthesized and applied in organic solar cells. Solvent annealing by toluene could obviously induce the self-assembly of the C60-4TPB layer, which can be tested by the measurements of the water contact angle. After the treatment with toluene, a vertical-like arrangement in the ultrathin layer of the C60-4TPB molecule will be formed between electron-collecting zinc oxide (ZnO) layers and the active layer (blend system of PTB7:PC71BM), leading to the improvement of the interfacial compatibility between the active layer and the ZnO layer. On the top surface of the C60-4TPB layer, the C60 molecules can be expected to induce the enrichment of PC71BM and block the hole, resulting in further increase in the open-circuit voltage (VOC) and fill factor (FF). After spin-coating the C60-4TPB solutions onto the ZnO layer with a concentration of 0.5 mg/mL in dimethyl sulfoxide, obviously improved performances were obtained with a power conversion efficiency of 8.07%, which can be attributed to the optimized interface morphology between hydrophilic ZnO and hydrophobic PTB7:PC71BM.

Three novel n-type alcohol-soluble small molecule electrolytes (n-SMEs) based on the diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) backbone functionalized with different polar groups (diethylamino, diethanolamino, quaternary ammonium), called DPPN, DPPNOH, and DPPNBr, respectively, have been designed and synthesized, respectively. Thanks to the chemical interaction with zinc oxide (ZnO), the n-SMEs can be easily deposited on the ZnO surface, and then we modified ZnO defects, fine-tuned the work function of ZnO, and simultaneously improved the compatibility at the ZnO/active layer inorganic/organic interface. Moreover, the n-type feature of the backbone in the n-SMEs also facilitates the electron transfer. Consequently, these n-SME-modified ZnO can serve as an efficient electron-transporting layer (ETL) in inverted polymer solar cells (I-PSCs). Inspiringly, the device based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):(6,6)-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) with ZnO/DPPNOH as ETL delivers a notable power conversion efficienc...