Coherent Charge Transfer Reveals a Different Theoretical Limit of Power Conversion Efficiency in Organic Solar Cells.

The hopping charge transfer (CT) theory is used to explain the dynamics of traditional donor-acceptor (D-A) devices in organic solar cells (OSCs). But it is not applicable to the unconventional OSCs inspired by photosynthesis, referred to as Z-devices. In this study, we establish a universal heterojunction CT model in OSCs, based on the reported coherent CT in photosynthesis.

Tear fluid cytokine analysis: a non-invasive approach for assessing retinopathy of prematurity severity.

Purpose: To determine whether there is a significant association between inflammatory cytokines in the tear fluid and the severity of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP).

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Methods: The cytokine levels in tear fluids were determined in 34 eyes with ROP and 18 eyes without ROP.

Pyrobacteriopheophorbide-a derivatives possessing various hydrophilic esterifying groups at the C17-propionate residues for photodynamic therapy.

Aiming at the application to photodynamic therapy, natural bacteriochlorophyll-a was converted to chemically stable free-base derivatives possessing different kinds of hydrophilic C17-propionate residues. These semi-synthetic bacteriochlorins were found to have self-assembling ability in an aqueous environment and formed stable J-type aggregates in a cell culture medium containing 0.2% DMSO.

Photomultiplication Behavior of Chlorophyll-Based Photodetector under Biased Voltage.

In this study, we fabricated a photodetector (PD) with two types of chlorophyll derivatives, namely, zinc methyl 3-devinyl-3-hydroxymethyl-pyropheophorbide-a (ZnChl) and methyl 13-deoxo-13-dicyanomethylene-pyropheophorbide-a (HChl'), via a two-step drop-coating process. In the absorption range of ZnChl/HChl' films, the maximum external quantum efficiency of ZnChl/HChl'-based devices reached 1363% at -8 V and 1345% at 2.5 V, exhibiting the photomultiplication (PM) phenomenon.

Profiling miRNAs in tear extracellular vesicles: a pilot study with implications for diagnosis of ocular diseases.

Purpose: To estimate the roles of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in tears and to determine whether their profiles are associated with the type of ocular disease.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: Tear EVs were extracted from 14 healthy participants and from 21 patients with retinal diseases (age-related macular degeneration [AMD] or diabetic macular edema [DME]).

Clinical and imaging features of interstitial lung disease in cancer patients treated with trastuzumab deruxtecan.

Background: Interstitial lung disease/pneumonitis (ILD/pneumonitis) has been identified as a drug-related adverse event of special interest of trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd), but there were a few reports of T-DXd-related ILD/pneumonitis in clinical practice.

Methods: Between May 25, 2020 (the launch of T-DXd in Japan) and February 24, 2022, there were 287 physician-reported potential ILD/pneumonitis cases from the Japanese post-marketing all-case surveillance. By February 27, 2022, an independent adjudication committee assessed 138 cases and adjudicated 130 cases as T-DXd-related ILD/pneumonitis.

Perovskite Solar Cells Based on Polymerized Chlorophyll Films as Environmentally Friendly Hole-Transporting Layers.

Hole-transporting layers (HTLs) play a crucial role in the performance of inverted, p-i-n perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Chlorophylls (Chls) are naturally abundant organic photoconductors on earth, with good charge carrier mobility and appropriate Fermi energy levels that make them promising candidates for use in photovoltaic devices. However, Chls films prepared using the solution method exhibit lower carrier mobility compared to other organic polymer films, which limits their application in PSCs.

Preferred Orientation Deposition via Multifunctional Gel Electrolyte with Molecular Anchor Enabling Highly Reversible Zn Anode.

The high activity of water molecules results in a series of awful parasitic reaction, which seriously impede the development of aqueous zinc batteries. Herein, a new gel electrolyte with multiple molecular anchors is designed by employing natural biomaterials from chitosan and chlorophyll derivative. The gel electrolyte firmly anchors water molecules by ternary hydrogen bonding to reduce the activity of water molecules and inhibit hydrogen evolution reaction.

Nintedanib administration after the onset of acute exacerbation of interstitial lung disease in the real world.

Nintedanib reduces the decline in forced vital capacity and extends the time to the first acute exacerbation of interstitial lung disease (AE-ILD). However, the effect of additional nintedanib administration after AE-ILD onset is unknown. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of nintedanib administration after AE-ILD development.

Remodeling Zinc Deposition via Multisite Zincophilic Chlorophyll for Powerful Aprotic Zinc Batteries.

The organic electrolyte can resolve the hurdle of hydrogen evolution in aqueous electrolytes but suffers from sluggish electrochemical reaction kinetics due to a compromised mass transfer process. Herein, we introduce a chlorophyll, zinc methyl 3-devinyl-3-hydroxymethyl-pyropheophorbide- (Chl), as a multifunctional electrolyte additive for aprotic zinc batteries to address the related dynamic problems in organic electrolyte systems. The Chl exhibits multisite zincophilicity, which significantly reduces the nucleation potential, increases the nucleation sites, and induces uniform nucleation of Zn metal with a nucleation overpotential close to zero.

Blood Eosinophil Count as a Predictive Biomarker of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbation in a Real-World Setting.

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death, and COPD exacerbation worsens the prognosis. Eosinophilic airway inflammation is a COPD phenotype that causes COPD exacerbation and is correlated with peripheral blood eosinophil count. We analyzed real-world data of COPD patients to assess the risk factors of COPD exacerbation focusing on blood eosinophils.

Squaraine dye/TiCT MXene organic-inorganic hybrids for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

MXenes, a new family of 2D nanostructured materials, have been widely studied in the field of artificial photosynthesis due to their outstanding physicochemical properties. In this work, a series of 2,4-bis[4-(N,N-dibutylamino)phenyl] squaraine (SQ) derivatives with different number of hydroxyl groups were hybridized with TiCT MXene nanosheets, and the organic-inorganic hybrid photocatalysts were applied for water-splitting hydrogen evolution. The mass ratios of SQ@TiCT were optimized to 4 wt% for each SQ, and the best hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) rate of 28.

Quality of cauda epididymal sperm immediately after collection and after freezing-thawing from Amur leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis euptilurus) and a local population of the subspecies Tsushima leopard cats.

In this study, cauda epididymal sperm were collected from Amur leopard cats with various causes of death as well as Tsushima leopard cats that underwent castration surgery, and sperm quality was compared with that in domestic cats. A sufficient number of sperm similar to those in domestic cats could be collected from the cauda epididymis of Amur leopard cats. However, in old leopard cats, no or very few cauda epididymal sperm were recovered, although there were no differences in sperm motility and sperm abnormality.

A Randomized Phase 2 Study of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid Hydrochloride and Sodium Ferrous Citrate for the Prevention of Nephrotoxicity Induced by Cisplatin-Based Chemotherapy of Lung Cancer.

Introduction: Cisplatin-based chemotherapy was established in the 1980s, and it has been improved by the development of a short hydration protocol in lung cancer therapy. However, cisplatin-based chemotherapy is still associated with renal toxicity. Because 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) with sodium ferrous citrate (SFC) is known to be a mitochondrial activator and a heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) inducer, 5-ALA with SFC is speculated to mitigate cisplatin-induced renal inflammation.

Histopathologic Features of Immune-related Adverse Events in the Gastrointestinal Tract: A Case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 and Cytomegalovirus Infection in a Patient with Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.

In this article, we report the case of a patient with unresectable stage III squamous cell lung carcinoma who developed immune-related adverse events in the gastrointestinal tract following the administration of immune checkpoint inhibitors. The patient developed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pneumonia and cytomegalovirus gastritis during immunosuppressive therapy for an immune-related adverse event. Cytomegalovirus infection was managed with the administration of ganciclovir.

Biohybrid Organic Heterostructure Based on Chlorophyll-Bacteriochlorophyll Aggregates for Ecofriendly Hydrogen Production.

Hydrogen energy is an abundant, clean, sustainable and environmentally friendly renewable energy source. Therefore, the production of hydrogen by photocatalytically splitting water on semiconductors has been considered in recent years as a promising and sustainable strategy for converting solar energy into chemical energy to replace conventional energy sources and to solve the growing problem of environmental pollution and the global energy crisis. However, highly efficient solar-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production remains a huge challenge due to the poor visible light response of available photocatalytic materials and the low efficiency of separation and transfer of photogenerated electron-hole pairs.

Multiple Types of Taste Disorders among Patients with COVID-19.

Objective Based on the increasing incidence of smell and taste dysfunction among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, such issues have been considered an early symptom of infection. However, few studies have investigated the type of taste components that are most frequently affected in COVID-19 patients. This study investigated the difference in frequencies of the types of taste component disorders among hospitalized COVID-19 patients.