Quantifying Charge Extraction and Recombination Using the Rise and Decay of the Transient Photovoltage of Perovskite Solar Cells.

The extraction of photogenerated charge carriers and the generation of a photovoltage belong to the fundamental functionalities of any solar cell. These processes happen not instantaneously but rather come with finite time constants, e.g.

Toward the Integration of a Silicon/Graphite Anode-Based Lithium-Ion Battery in Photovoltaic Charging Battery Systems.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy generation is highly dependent on weather conditions and only applicable when the sun is shining during the daytime, leading to a mismatch between demand and supply. Merging PVs with battery storage is the straightforward route to counteract the intermittent nature of solar generation. Capacity (or energy density), overall efficiency, and stability at elevated temperatures are among key battery performance metrics for an integrated PV-battery system.

Trait-environment relationships differ between mixed-species flocking and nonflocking bird assemblages.

Hypotheses about the mechanisms of community assembly suggest that biotic and abiotic filters constrain species establishment through selection on their functional traits. It is unclear how differences in traits influence the niche dimensions of closely related bird species when they coexist in spatiotemporally heterogeneous environments. Further, it is necessary to take into account their participation in mixed-species flocks, social systems that can include both competition and facilitation.

LncRNA HOXA-AS2 and its molecular mechanisms in human cancer.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a novel class of noncoding RNAs, are commonly defined as RNA molecules more than 200 nucleotides in length. Emerging research indicated that lncRNA played a vital role in human tumorigenesis and progression by serving as tumor oncogenes or suppressors. LncRNA has been shown to get involved in participate various biological processes, such as cell growth, anti-apoptosis, migration and invasion.

Diagnosis and management of primary hepatic pregnancy: literature review of 31 cases.

Purpose: To summarize the appropriate diagnostic methods and therapeutic options for primary hepatic pregnancy (PHP).

Methods: Literature searches were performed in Pubmed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Embase databases (1956-2017), using the following search terms: primary hepatic pregnancy, hepatic pregnancy, liver pregnancy, hepatic ectopic pregnancy and intrahepatic pregnancy. Further literature was confirmed through cross-referencing.

Prognostic Significance of Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II Expression in Pediatric Adrenocortical Tumors: A St. Jude and Children's Oncology Group Study.

Purpose: Histologic markers that differentiate benign and malignant pediatric adrenocortical tumors are lacking. Previous studies have implicated an association of MHC class II expression with adrenocortical tumor prognosis. Here, we determined the expression of MHC class II as well as the cell of origin of these immunologic markers in pediatric adrenocortical tumor.

Partial Geometric Frustration in Inorganic Supramolecular Spin Systems with One-Dimensional Trigonally Aligned Magnetic Chains ∞1(MCl4)2- (M = Fe2+, Co2+).

Exploration of new spin systems with low-dimensional subunits have been of great interest in the past decades due to their interesting physical properties and potential applications in molecular spintronics. Two inorganic supramolecular complexes, (Hg3S2)(FeCl4) and (Hg3S2)(CoCl4), with trigonally aligned 1-D infinite magnetic ∞(1)(FeCl4)(2-) or ∞(1)(CoCl4)(2-) chains have been prepared by solid-state reactions. They exhibit 3-D long-range spin order with strong field dependence and field induced metamagnetic behavior.

SVSI: fast and powerful set-valued system identification approach to identifying rare variants in sequencing studies for ordered categorical traits.

In genetic association studies of an ordered categorical phenotype, it is usual to either regroup multiple categories of the phenotype into two categories and then apply the logistic regression (LG), or apply ordered logistic (oLG), or ordered probit (oPRB) regression, which accounts for the ordinal nature of the phenotype. However, they may lose statistical power or may not control type I error due to their model assumption and/or instable parameter estimation algorithm when the genetic variant is rare or sample size is limited. To solve this problem, we propose a set-valued (SV) system model to identify genetic variants associated with an ordinal categorical phenotype.

Color tunable and near white-light emission of two solvent-induced 2D lead(II) coordination networks based on a rigid ligand 1-tetrazole-4-imidazole-benzene.

Two new lead(II) coordination polymers, [Pb(NO3)(tzib)]n (1) and [Pb(tzib)2]n (2), were successfully synthesized from the reaction of a rigid ligand 1-tetrazole-4-imidazole-benzene (Htzib) and lead(II) nitrate in different solvents. The obtained polymers have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, which show that both polymers feature 2D layer structures. The inorganic anion nitrate in 1 shows a μ2-κO3:κO3 bridging mode to connect adjacent lead ions into a zigzag chain, and then the organic ligands tzib(-) join the neighboring chains into a 2D layer by a μ3-κN1:κN2:κN6 connection mode.

Genomic landscape of paediatric adrenocortical tumours.

Paediatric adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare malignancy with poor prognosis. Here we analyse 37 adrenocortical tumours (ACTs) by whole-genome, whole-exome and/or transcriptome sequencing. Most cases (91%) show loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of chromosome 11p, with uniform selection against the maternal chromosome.

Intense photo- and tribo-luminescence of three tetrahedral manganese(II) dihalides with chelating bidentate phosphine oxide ligand.

Three air-stable tetrahedral manganese(ii) dihalide complexes [MnX2(DPEPO)] (DPEPO = bis[2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl]ether oxide; X = Cl, Br and I) were prepared. All of the obtained compounds were structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, which reveal that they crystallize in centrosymmetric space groups and feature an isolated mononuclear structure with Mn(2+) in a tetrahedral environment. Interestingly, these complexes show excellent photoluminescent performance in neat solid form, with the highest total quantum yield (Φtotal) of up to 70% recorded for the dibromide complex.

The genomic landscape of childhood and adolescent melanoma.

Despite remarkable advances in the genomic characterization of adult melanoma, the molecular pathogenesis of pediatric melanoma remains largely unknown. We analyzed 15 conventional melanomas (CMs), 3 melanomas arising in congenital nevi (CNMs), and 5 spitzoid melanomas (SMs), using various platforms, including whole genome or exome sequencing, the molecular inversion probe assay, and/or targeted sequencing. CMs demonstrated a high burden of somatic single-nucleotide variations (SNVs), with each case containing a TERT promoter (TERT-p) mutation, 13/15 containing an activating BRAF V600 mutation, and >80% of the identified SNVs consistent with UV damage.

An R package that automatically collects and archives details for reproducible computing.

Background: It is scientifically and ethically imperative that the results of statistical analysis of biomedical research data be computationally reproducible in the sense that the reported results can be easily recapitulated from the study data. Some statistical analyses are computationally a function of many data files, program files, and other details that are updated or corrected over time. In many applications, it is infeasible to manually maintain an accurate and complete record of all these details about a particular analysis.

The most informative spacing test effectively discovers biologically relevant outliers or multiple modes in expression.

Summary: Several outlier and subgroup identification statistics (OASIS) have been proposed to discover transcriptomic features with outliers or multiple modes in expression that are indicative of distinct biological processes or subgroups. Here, we borrow ideas from the OASIS methods in the bioinformatics and statistics literature to develop the 'most informative spacing test' (MIST) for unsupervised detection of such transcriptomic features. In an example application involving 14 cases of pediatric acute megakaryoblastic leukemia, MIST more robustly identified features that perfectly discriminate subjects according to gender or the presence of a prognostically relevant fusion-gene than did seven other OASIS methods in the analysis of RNA-seq exon expression, RNA-seq exon junction expression and micorarray exon expression data.

Homochiral zinc(II) coordination compounds based on in-situ-generated chiral amino acid-tetrazole ligands: circular dichroism, excitation light-induced tunable photoluminescence, and energetic performance.

We employed two pairs of new in-situ-generated chiral amino acid-tetrazole ligands in constructing homochiral Zn(II) coordination compounds: [Zn(tzet)]n (1a for (S)-tzet and 1b for (R)-tzet, H2tzet = N-[2-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)ethyl]tryptophan) and [Zn(tzep)(H2O)2]·H2O (2a for (S)-tzep and 2b for (R)-tzep, H2tzep = N-[2-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)ethyl]proline), which were hydrothermally synthesized and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Structural analysis reveals that 1 features a 2D homochiral framework generated by both tetrazolate and carboxylate bridges in tzet(2-) ligands. The isolated structure of 2 is stabilized by extensive hydrogen bonds, which leads to formation of a supramolecular 2D architecture.

A genomic random interval model for statistical analysis of genomic lesion data.

Motivation: Tumors exhibit numerous genomic lesions such as copy number variations, structural variations and sequence variations. It is difficult to determine whether a specific constellation of lesions observed across a cohort of multiple tumors provides statistically significant evidence that the lesions target a set of genes that may be located across different chromosomes but yet are all involved in a single specific biological process or function.

Results: We introduce the genomic random interval (GRIN) statistical model and analysis method that evaluates the statistical significance of the abundance of genomic lesions that overlap a specific locus or a pre-defined set of biologically related loci.

Large mid-IR second-order nonlinear-optical effects designed by the supramolecular assembly of different bond types without IR absorption.

Two new different-bond-type hybrid compounds, (Hg6P4Cl3)(PbCl3) (1) and (Hg23P12)(ZnCl4)6 (2), with supramolecular interactions between host and guest moieties, which based on metal-pnicogen, pnicogen-pnicogen, and metal-halogen bonds were obtained by solid-state reactions. Compounds 1 and 2 show large second-harmonic-generation (SHG) activity and are transparent in the wide mid-IR region, providing an effective route for searching new IR nonlinear-optical material systems by combining two or more different bond types with no IR absorption within a single compound through supramolecular assembly. Theory predications based on first-principles calculations are also performed on the SHG properties of 1 and 2.

NCK2 is significantly associated with opiates addiction in African-origin men.

Substance dependence is a complex environmental and genetic disorder with significant social and medical concerns. Understanding the etiology of substance dependence is imperative to the development of effective treatment and prevention strategies. To this end, substantial effort has been made to identify genes underlying substance dependence, and in recent years, genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have led to discoveries of numerous genetic variants for complex diseases including substance dependence.

Large scale association analysis for drug addiction: results from SNP to gene.

Many genetic association studies used single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) data to identify genetic variants for complex diseases. Although SNP-based associations are most common in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), gene-based association analysis has received increasing attention in understanding genetic etiologies for complex diseases. While both methods have been used to analyze the same data, few genome-wide association studies compare the results or observe the connection between them.

Empirical evaluation of scoring functions for Bayesian network model selection.

In this work, we empirically evaluate the capability of various scoring functions of Bayesian networks for recovering true underlying structures. Similar investigations have been carried out before, but they typically relied on approximate learning algorithms to learn the network structures. The suboptimal structures found by the approximation methods have unknown quality and may affect the reliability of their conclusions.

Genetic association test for multiple traits at gene level.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) at the gene level are commonly used to understand biological mechanisms underlying complex diseases. In general, one response or outcome is used to present a disease of interest in such studies. In this study, we consider a multiple traits association test from the gene level.

Machine learning analysis of the relationship between changes in immunological parameters and changes in resistance to Listeria monocytogenes: a new approach for risk assessment and systems immunology.

No method has been reported to predict, even approximately, the impact of mild-to-moderate changes in several immunological parameters on resistance to infection. The ability to make such predictions would be useful in risk assessment. In addition, equations that predict host resistance on the basis of changes in components of a complex biological system (the immune system) would fulfill one of the major goals of systems biology.

[Fushile: a safe and effective therapeutic for benign prostatic hyperplasia].

Objective: To observe the efficacy and safety of Fushile, a compound preparation of several Chinese herbal drugs, in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

Methods: A multi-centered, open and self-controlled clinical trial was performed in 60 BPH patients, who were treated with Fushile for 12 weeks. The efficacy of the compound was evaluated by the International Prostate Syndrome Score (IPSS), maximum flow rate (Qmax), post void residual (PVR) and prostate volume as the primary indexes and by the quality of life (QOL) score and average urinary flow rate (Qave) as the secondary indexes.

[Plasma polypeptide hormone levels in rats with gastric ulcer after exposure to intense noise].

Objective: To observe changes of plasma polypeptide hormone levels in rats with gastric ulcer after exposure to intense noise, and to discuss their mechanism.

Methods: 80 Wistar rats were used in the study. Plasma levels of rat gastrin (GAS), motilin (MTL), osteocalcin (BGP), substance P (SP), neurotensin (NT) and somatostatin (SS) in rats were measured by radioimmunoassay.