Beneficial effects of potassium iodide incorporation on grain boundaries and interfaces of perovskite solar cells.

Grain boundaries and interfacial impurities are the main factors that limit the further development of polycrystalline perovskite solar cells because their existence severely deteriorates the device performance. In order to optimize the efficiency of perovskite solar cells, it is essential to eliminate these defects. In the present work, potassium iodide (KI) is incorporated into the perovskite absorber.

'Mixing-and-measuring' surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of Bacillus cereus for potentially aiding gold mine field exploration.

Bacillus cereus, a common soil bacterium, has been shown to act as a biogeochemical indicator for concealed mineralisations, e.g., vein-type Au deposits.

Ambient fine particulate matter and ozone higher than certain thresholds associated with myopia in the elderly aged 50 years and above.

Although myopia has been largely ignored among the elderly population, there is an increased risk of myopia with advancing age. Ambient air pollution is one potential contributor to vision impairments, but few epidemiological studies have demonstrated such an association. This cross-sectional survey collected the information of 33,626 subjects aged ≥50 years in six developing countries during 2007-2010.

Migrant population is more vulnerable to the effect of air pollution on preterm birth: Results from a birth cohort study in seven Chinese cities.

Background: Studies have reported that exposure to air pollution during pregnancy was associated with preterm birth (PTB). However, it remains unknown whether this association differs between local residents and migrants.

Objective: This study aimed to differentiate the associations between maternal air pollution exposure and PTB between local residents and migrants.

Durvalumab With or Without Tremelimumab for Patients With Metastatic Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: A Phase 2 Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: New therapeutic options for patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC) are needed. This study evaluated dual checkpoint combination therapy in patients with mPDAC.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the anti-PD-L1 (programmed death-ligand 1) antibody using either durvalumab monotherapy or in combination with the anticytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 antibody using durvalumab plus tremelimumab therapy in patients with mPDAC.

Rapid detection of trace Salmonella in milk and chicken by immunomagnetic separation in combination with a chemiluminescence microparticle immunoassay.

Rapid detection of trace Salmonella is urgently needed to ensure food safety. We present an innovative pretreatment strategy, based on a two-step enrichment culture and immunomagnetic separation, combined with a chemiluminescence microparticle immunoassay to detect at least one proliferative Salmonella cell in 25 mL (25 g) food. The capture performance of immunomagnetic beads (IMBs) of sizes for Salmonella was investigated, and the IMBs of size 2.

Short-term and long-term effects of PM on acute nasopharyngitis in 10 communities of Guangdong, China.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the effects of short-term and long-term exposure to ambient fine particle matter (PM) on acute nasopharyngitis.

Methods: A total of 9468 participants aged 18 years and above were recruited from 10 communities in four cities of Guangdong, China during the baseline survey in 2014, and they were followed-up from January 2015 to December 2016. Air pollution exposure was assessed based on the daily concentrations (short-term) and annual concentrations (long-term) of the nearby air monitoring station and the survey date.

The inherited variations of a p53-responsive enhancer in 13q12.12 confer lung cancer risk by attenuating TNFRSF19 expression.

Background: Inherited factors contribute to lung cancer risk, but the mechanism is not well understood. Defining the biological consequence of GWAS hits in cancers is a promising strategy to elucidate the inherited mechanisms of cancers. The tag-SNP rs753955 (A>G) in 13q12.

Initial stability of one-stage anterior debridement and cage implantation combined with anterior-lateral fixation by a dual screw-rod construct in the treatment of lumbosacral tuberculosis: a cadaveric biomechanical study.

Background: Although various surgical methods are used to treat lumbosacral tuberculosis, no unified surgical approach exists. Thus, exploring an optimal operation method has substantial clinical importance. Evaluate the initial stability of a new surgical method, a one-stage anterior debridement and cage implantation combined with anterior-lateral fixation by a dual screw-rod construct, in the treatment of lumbosacral tuberculosis and provide biomechanical support for its further promotion in clinical applications.

A high-efficiency MUF method benefits postoperative hemodynamic stability and oxygen delivery in neonates with transposition of great arteries.

Objective: To minimize the postoperative hemodynamic changes in neonates with transposition of great arteries (TGA) by modifying the circuit and efficiency of traditional modified ultrafiltration (MUF).

Methods: Ninety-one patients (<5 kg) underwent arterial switch operations, which were randomized to a traditional MUF (tMUF) group (N = 38) or a modified MUF (mMUF) group (N = 53). MUF of both the groups lasted for 8 to 12 minutes, during which the near-infrared spectroscopy was used to monitor cerebral tissue oxygenation parameters.

Coordination of Platinum to α-Synuclein Inhibits Filamentous Aggregation in Solution.

Accumulation of filamentous aggregates of α-synuclein (AS) in Lewy bodies and neurites is characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease. Inhibition of AS fibrillation is helpful for understanding of AS aggregate structure and for developing chemical therapies. Herein, we report that the Pt -containing antitumor drug cisplatin suppresses filamentous aggregation of AS in solution.

Event-Triggered Optimal Control With Performance Guarantees Using Adaptive Dynamic Programming.

This paper studies the problem of event-triggered optimal control (ETOC) for continuous-time nonlinear systems and proposes a novel event-triggering condition that enables designing ETOC methods directly based on the solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation. We provide formal performance guarantees by proving a predetermined upper bound. Moreover, we also prove the existence of a lower bound for interexecution time.

DEER distance measurements on trityl/trityl and Gd(iii)/trityl labelled proteins.

Triarylmethyl (TAM or trityl) radicals are becoming important for measuring distances in proteins and nucleic acids. Here, we report on a new trityl spin label CT02MA, which conjugates to a protein via a redox stable thioether bond. The performance of the new spin label was demonstrated in W-band double electron-electron resonance (DEER) distance measurements on doubly trityl-labelled mutants of immunoglobulin G-binding protein 1 (GB1) and ubiquitin.

First insights into the feeding habits of the Critically Endangered black snub-nosed monkey, Rhinopithecus strykeri (Colobinae, Primates).

Since its initial discovery in 2010 in the Gaoligong Mountains on the Sino-Myanmar border, there remains no direct information on the feeding habits of the black snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri). This species is on the verge of extinction, with an estimated remaining population of < 400 individuals. Due to difficulties in following these monkeys across steep mountainous terrain, during 203 observation days (September 2015-January 2017) we recorded 80 h of behavioral records of a wild population (Luoma group).

Ambient PM and birth outcomes: Estimating the association and attributable risk using a birth cohort study in nine Chinese cities.

Background: Previous studies have reported that maternal exposure to particles with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm (PM) is associated with birth outcomes. However, a multicity birth cohort study has not been conducted in China, and the attributable fraction of adverse birth outcomes due to PM exposure remains unknown.

Applying the concept of "number needed to treat" to the formulation of daily ambient air quality standards.

The World Health Organization sets up the Ambient Air Quality Guidelines mainly based on short-term and long-term health effects of air pollution. Previous studies, however, have generally revealed a non-threshold concentration-response relationship between air pollution and health, making it difficult to determine a concentration, below which no obvious health effects can be observed. Here we proposed a novel approach based on the concept of "number needed to treat", specifically, we calculated the reduction in air pollution concentrations needed to avoid one death corresponding to different hypothetical concentration standards; the one with the smallest value would be the most practical concentration standard.

Short-term and long-term exposures to fine particulate matter constituents and health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Fine particulate matter (Particulate matter with diameter ≤ 2.5 μm) is associated with multiple health outcomes, with varying effects across seasons and locations. It remains largely unknown that which components of PM are most harmful to human health.

In-Cell EPR Distance Measurements on Ubiquitin Labeled with a Rigid PyMTA-Gd(III) Tag.

Double electron-electron resonance (DEER) measures distances between spin labels attached at well-defined sites in a protein and thus has the potential to report on conformational states of proteins in cells. In this work, we evaluate the suitability of the small and rigid 4PS-PyMTA-Gd(III) spin label for in-cell distance measurements. Three ubiquitin double mutants were labeled with 4PS-PyMTA-Gd(III) and delivered into human HeLa cells by electroporation (EP) and hypotonic swelling (HS).

H-CNN: Spatial Hashing Based CNN for 3D Shape Analysis.

We present a novel spatial hashing based data structure to facilitate 3D shape analysis using convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Our method builds hierarchical hash tables for an input model under different resolutions that leverage the sparse occupancy of 3D shape boundary. Based on this data structure, we design two efficient GPU algorithms namely hash2col and col2hash so that the CNN operations like convolution and pooling can be efficiently parallelized.

Ambient PM and O and their combined effects on prevalence of presbyopia among the elderly: A cross-sectional study in six low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Ambient air pollutant directly contacts with the eyes, however, the effect of ambient fine particulate matter (PM) and ozone (O) on vision impairment, such as presbyopia, has been kept largely unknown.

Methods: We surveyed a total of 36,620 participants aged 50 years and above in six low- and middle-income countries. Ambient annual concentrations of PM and O for the residential community were estimated using satellite data and chemical transport model.

NNWarp: Neural Network-Based Nonlinear Deformation.

NNWarp is a highly re-usable and efficient neural network (NN) based nonlinear deformable simulation framework. Unlike other machine learning applications such as image recognition, where different inputs have a uniform and consistent format (e.g.

GM1 Ameliorates Lead-Induced Cognitive Deficits and Brain Damage Through Activating the SIRT1/CREB/BDNF Pathway in the Developing Male Rat Hippocampus.

Developmental lead (Pb) exposure involves various serious consequences, especially leading to neurotoxicity. In this study, we examined the possible role of monosialoganglioside (GM1) in lead-induced nervous impairment in the developing rat. Newborn male Sprague-Dawley rat pups were exposed to lead from birth for 30 days and then subjected to GM1 administration (0.

Long-term exposure to ambient fine particles associated with asthma: A cross-sectional study among older adults in six low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Ambient PM is considered harmful to the respiratory system. However, little has been shown about the long-term association between ambient PM and asthma.

Methods: A survey from 2007 to 2010 was conducted among adults over 50 years of age in six low- and middle- income countries (including China, India, Ghana, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa), which belonged to one part of a prospective cohort study - the Study on global AGEing and adult health.

High Sensitivity In-Cell EPR Distance Measurements on Proteins using an Optimized Gd(III) Spin Label.

Distance measurements by electron-electron double resonance (DEER) carried out on spin-labeled proteins delivered into cells provide new insights into the conformational states of proteins in their native environment. Such measurements depend on spin labels that exhibit high redox stability and high DEER sensitivity. Here we present a new Gd(III)-based spin label, BrPSPy-DO3A-Gd(III), which was derived from an earlier label, BrPSPy-DO3MA-Gd(III), by removing the methyl group from the methyl acetate pending arms.

Ambient fine particulate pollution associated with diabetes mellitus among the elderly aged 50 years and older in China.

The linkage between ambient air pollution exposure and occurrence of diabetes mellitus is not well defined. This study examined the association between exposure to fine particles (PM) and the prevalence of diabetes among Chinese elderly people. We surveyed 11,504 adults aged ≥50 years in China, estimated the annual concentrations of ambient PM using a satellite-based model of aerosol optical depth information.