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Introduction: Understanding the role of sociologic, structural, and biomedical factors that influence the length of time from HIV infection to diagnosis and reducing the time from infection to diagnosis are critical for achieving the goals of the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative. In a retrospective analysis, the length of time from HIV infection to diagnosis and its association with individual- and facility-level attributes are determined.Methods: Data reported by December 2019 to the U.S. National HIV Surveillance System for people with HIV diagnosed during 2014-2018 were analyzed during December 2020. A CD4 depletion model was used to estimate the time from HIV infection to diagnosis.Results: During 2018, the median time from HIV infection to diagnosis was shorter for those infections diagnosed using the rapid testing algorithm (30.3 months, 95% CI=25.5, 34.5) than those diagnosed using the recommended (41.0 months, 95% CI=39.5, 42.0), traditional (37.0 months, 95% CI=29.5, 43.5), or other (35.5 months, 95% CI=32.5, 38.0) diagnostic testing algorithms. From 2014 to 2018, the time from HIV infection to diagnosis remained stable overall for all testing methods except for the traditional diagnostic testing algorithm. In multivariate analyses, those more likely to have HIV diagnosed closer to the time of infection were younger, were White, had transmission risk factors of injection drug use or heterosexual contact (for female individuals) or male-to-male sexual contact and injection drug use, or had HIV diagnosed at a correctional or screening facility (p<0.01).Conclusions: Providing access to expanded testing, including rapid testing in nonclinical settings, is likely to result in a decrease in the length of time a person is unaware of their HIV infection and thus reduce onward transmission of HIV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Most HIV infection diagnoses used the recommended algorithm. • HIV diagnoses using the rapid algorithm had the shortest median time to care. • Linkage to care within 30 days was most frequent after the rapid algorithm. The association between the type of diagnostic testing algorithm for HIV infection and the time from diagnosis to care has not been fully evaluated. Here we extend an earlier analysis of this association by controlling for patient and diagnosing facility characteristics. Descriptive analysis of HIV infection diagnoses during 2016 reported to the National HIV Surveillance System through December 2017. Algorithm type: traditional = initial HIV antibody immunoassay followed by a Western blot or immunofluorescence antibody test; recommended = initial HIV antigen/antibody immunoassay followed by HIV-1/2 type-differentiating antibody test; rapid = two CLIA-waived rapid tests on the same date. In multivariate analyses controlling for patient and diagnosing facility characteristics, persons whose infection was diagnosed using the rapid algorithm were more likely to be linked to care within 30 days than those whose infection was diagnosed using the other testing algorithms (p < 0.01). The median time to link to care during a 30-day follow-up was 9.0 days (95% CI 8.0–12.0) after the rapid algorithm, 17.0 days (95% CI 17.0–18.0) after the recommended algorithm, and 23.0 days (95% CI 22.0–25.0) after the traditional algorithm. The time from HIV diagnosis to care varied with the type of testing algorithm. The median time to care was shortest for the rapid algorithm, longest for the traditional algorithm, and intermediate for the recommended algorithm. These results demonstrate the importance of choosing an algorithm with a short time between initial specimen collection and report of the final result to the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bipolar pulse High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) based on conventional HiPIMS is put forward to deposit Cu films on silicon wafers. Positive kick pulses with different pulse width and magnitude are applied after the initial negative pulse to drive Cu ions to the substrate, improving the properties of Cu films. Compared to films deposited by conventional HiPIMS, the Cu films prepared by modified HiPIMS exhibit a higher deposition rate. And the increase in voltage and pulse width of kick pulse results in a reduction of tensile stress of the Cu films. The bipolar pulse HiPIMS has potential applications in Cu metallization for semiconductor processing and other applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ti films are widely used in electrical engineering, biomedical instrumentation, and other industries owing to their excellent material properties. High Power Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering (HPPMS) is a promising physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique used for producing highly ionized target species, thereby opening the possibility of controlling the material properties of the growing films. Controlling the thin film properties helps achieve high quality films to cater the needs of a specific application. In this study, Ti films properties were tailored by controlling the peak and average target power values in HPPMS. The effect of peak and average target power on the plasma composition above the substrate was systematically studied. For a constant average power, the increase in the peak power significantly raises the ion-to-atom ratio and density of the plasma flux incident on the substrate. This leads to the Ti films exhibiting compressive stress, smaller grain size, and smoother surface at lower deposition rates. On the other hand, the increase in the average power at a constant peak power causes no remarkable change in the ion-to-atom ratio, but the overall magnitude of the number of metal ions and atoms and gas temperature around the substrate increase obviously. The Ti films deposited at high average powers were characterized by larger grain size with a highly preferred orientation of (002), rougher surface, and exhibited signs of tensile stress. The results obtained from this study provide guidelines for achieving high quality hard metal films with desired properties by manipulating the peak and average power in HPPMS discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An effective method for early nondestructive detection of clubroot was introduced. • The effects of different types of soil on the growth of clubroot plants were compared. • Various analyses were performed on the spectral features of all samples within six weeks. • Convolutional neural network reached higher classification accuracy of 85%. Cabbage often suffers from various diseases as one of the most favorable vegetables in China. Among all the diseases, clubroot is one of the most severe diseases. Due to the ability of hyperspectral technology to reveal hidden changes in plant physiology, it can be used to assess the often nonspecific damage caused by root pathogens. This study explored the feasibility of detecting clubroot by using hyperspectral imaging (HSI) combined with convolutional neural network (CNN). A highly susceptible cabbage variety of clubroot disease, ECD-05 was used in this study. Infected samples were inoculated by the injection vaccination method. To explore the influence of soil types on clubroot detection, three types of soil, including nutrient soil, mixed soil and red clay were studied. Hyperspectral images were acquired six weeks after inoculation of plant with the disease. Qualitative analysis by score images formed by principal component analysis (PCA) indicated differences existed between healthy and infected samples. Convolutional neural networks (CNN) and support vector classification (SVC) models using the object-wise spectra of different treatment of cabbage were built. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted on each wavelength of healthy and infected samples to explore the spectral regions related to the samples' healthy status. Vegetation index-anthocyanin reflectance index (ARI) and physiological reflex index (PhRI) successfully distinguished infected samples from samples. CNN model obtained good performance on predicting object-wise spectra with the classification accuracy of the training set and the test set over 85%. This study demonstrates the feasibility of cabbage clubroot detection by phenotyping of aboveground parts using near-infrared HSI combined with CNN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• MRI was used to detect clubroot of oilseed rape. • Average sample grayscale histograms of MRI images were extracted and analyzed. • Root architecture parameters were extracted from reconstructed 3D root by MRI images. • Good classification performances of clubroot detection were obtained using MRI. Plant root diseases threat plant growth and eventually cause plant death without proper treatment. It is difficult to diagnose root diseases without digging the roots from the soil, and it is late when the above-ground parts show symptoms under the stress of root diseases. This study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for non-invasive root phenotyping to detect oilseed rape clubroot. MRI images of healthy oilseed rape roots and roots infected by clubroot were obtained. After image preprocessing, average sample grayscale histograms (Avg-SGH) were extracted to build classification models for disease identification using logistic regression (LR), support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF). Reconstruction of three-dimensional (3D) root architectures was also conducted. Root architecture parameters were extracted from the reconstructed roots. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the root architecture parameters differed significantly between healthy and infected roots. RF model using root architecture parameters showed good performances, and the feature importance for clubroot identification was also explored. The overall results showed that MRI could effectively detect clubroot diseases in a non-invasive manner, indicating significant potential for plant root phenotyping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Investigations on non-fused-ring acceptors with progressive evolutions. • Counterbalance between high photo-response and low energy loss. • J52:O-PC-EH-based device achieved a best efficiency of 14.43% (certified: 14.1%). Resolving competitive counterbalance between high external quantum efficiency (EQE) response and low energy loss is critical for achieving efficient organic solar cells (OSCs), including those based on low-cost non-fused-ring electron acceptor (NFREA). In this work, we performed a comparable study by utilizing four NFREAs with progressive evolutions in molecular structures, energetic levels, spectral coverages, crystallinity, etc, to pair with polymer donor J52. By regulating the terminal and side chains of NFREAs, the enhanced intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) effect allows O-PC-EH possessing the broader spectral coverage for higher photocurrent, the reduced energetic offset enables O-PC-EH-based device owning higher luminescence property for lower energy loss, the strengthened crystallinity endows O-PC-EH-based blend better charge transport property for less charge recombination. With those comprehensive managements from molecule to blend properties, the J52:O-PC-EH-based OSCs achieved the best efficiency of 14.4% (certified: 14.1%) with benefits in all the three device parameters. This work reveals the importance of fine-tuning molecular structures of NFREAs according to paired polymer donor for maximizing the device performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2D aligned films prepared from engineered M13 bacteriophages (phage) have potential applications in tissue-regeneration and energy devices. TBP54–M13 phage specifically binds to acid-alkali treated titanium (Ti) surface. In this study, polyvinyl pyrrolidone–treated TBP54–M13 phage films were fabricated on Ti surfaces. The resultant film exhibited uniform nanostructure and favorable stability. This film has potential applications in surface multi–functionalization and patterning of Ti implants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acid–alkali treatment is one of means widely used for preparing bioactive titanium surfaces. Peptides with specific affinity to titanium surface modified by acid–alkali two–steps treatment were obtained via phage display technology. Out of the eight new unique peptides, titanium–binding peptide 54 displayed by monoclonal M13 phage at its pIII coat protein (TBP54–M13 phage) was proved to have higher binding affinity to the substrate. The binding interaction occurred at the domain from phenylalanine at position 1 to arginine at position 6 in the sequences of TBP54 (FAETHRGFHFSF) mainly via the reaction of these residues with the Ti surface. Together the coordination and electrostatic interactions controlled the specific binding of the phage to the substrate. The binding affinity was dependent on the surface basic hydroxyl group content. In addition, the phage showed a different interaction way with the Ti surface without acid–alkali treatment along with an impaired affinity. This study could provide more understanding of the interaction mechanism between the selected peptide and its specific substrate, and develop a promising method for the biofunctionalization of titanium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that ternary strategy is an effective tool for improving the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs) and simple-structured small molecules with low-cost and wide bandgap which broadens the scope of the choice in third components recently attracted the attention of researchers. Herein, a small molecule with benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene (BDT) core named BR-C12 which mixed well with PM6 has been designed and synthesized. Incorporating BR-C12 as third component into PM6:Y6, BR-C12 exhibits a complementary absorption with PM6 and Y6, promoted exciton dissociation and charge collection, reduced bimolecular recombination, resulting in more ordered molecular packing. The PM6:Y6:BR-C12 (1:1.2:0.1, weight ratio) OSC shows an improved power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.02% in comparison to host binary devises (16.42%). In addition, by employing BR-C12 as third component into PM6:L8-BO, the ternary device based on PM6:L8-BO:BR-C12 also achieves significant enhancement in device photovoltaic performance with a PCE of 18.26%. In addition, BR-C12-added ternary devices exhibit improved stability than binary ones. This work presents a method for constructing high-performance ternary OSCs and enriches the abundance of materials for the third components. A simple-structured small molecule of BR-C12 is used as third component in the binary blends of PM6:Y6 and PM6:L8-BO to achieve efficient ternary solar cells with enhanced PCEs up to 17.02% and 18.26%, respectively. [Display omitted] • Simple-structured small molecule as cost-effective third component were studied for PM6:Y6 ternary OPV. • The small molecule has good compatibility with PM6 which improves blend morphology and enhances charge transport. • Third component-added ternary devices exhibit improved stability over binary ones. • The ternary OPV with blend of PM6:L8-BO:BR-C12 achieved a PCE of 18.26%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new nonfused ring electron acceptor PDI-DO-2F is designed and synthesized by attaching perylenediimide (PDI) unit as a pendent group to the central donor core. Compared with the control molecule DO-2F , the introduction of PDI lateral substituent can greatly enhance the solubility and decrease the crystallinity of the resulted acceptor. The PBDB-T :PDI-DO-2F blend film exhibits a much better morphology with higher and more balanced carrier mobility in contrast to PBDB-T :DO-2F one. PDI-DO-2F based organic solar cells (OSCs) give a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 11.78%, higher than DO-2F based ones (9.82%). Furthermore, PDI-DO-2F based OSCs shows a Δ E non-rad value of 0.23 eV, which is significantly lower than the DO-2F based ones (0.28 eV). More importantly, the addition of PDI-DO-2F as the third component to the PBDB-T :DO-2F binary system can optimize the morphology of blend films and improve the shelf stability of devices. And the PBDB-T :DO-2F : PDI-DO-2F based ternary OSCs achieve a higher PCE of 13.82%. [Display omitted] • A new nonfused ring electron acceptor is designed and synthesized. • PDI unit as a pendent group can greatly enhance the solubility and decrease the crystallinity of the acceptor. • Significantly different power conversion efficiencies of 9.82%, 11.78% and 13.82% are achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Three small molecular acceptors were designed and synthesized. • Noncovalent Conformational Locks and Side-Chain Engineering can adjust the properties of acceptors. • Significantly different power conversion efficiencies of 12.09%, 12.30% and 14.25% are achieved. Three novel small molecular acceptors (SMAs) BO-2F , BO-C8-2F and BO-C2C6-C8-2F were designed and synthesized. These acceptors all possess planar molecular backbone because of the introduction of intramolecular noncovalent interaction. Among them, BO-C2C6-C8-2F with four side chains, which has the highest solubility, can form more appropriate nanomorphology when blending with PBDB-T. Hence, organic solar cells (OSCs) based on PBDB-T: BO-C2C6-C8-2F displayed an outstanding power convesion efficiency (PCE) of 14.25%, which is higher than BO-2F and BO-C8-2F based ones. To the best of our knowledge, the PCE of 14.25% is one of the highest for the OSCs based on A-π-D-π-A type SMAs. Our results have demonstrated that the combination of side-chain engineering and intramolecular conformation lock has a great prospect in the design of high performance SMAs for OSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Method of radical polymerization is used to prepare electrolytes. [•] PP14TFSI+LiTFSI+PMMA electrolytes have good electrochemical properties. [•] Conductivity of 6.8×10−4 Scm−1 and of 0.37 are achieve at room temperature. [•] XPS show passivating film comprises multilayer films: Li2O and Li2CO3 layer. [•] Model describing Li electrode/electrolyte interface are developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Gel polymer electrolytes containing N-butyl-N-methylpyrrolidinum bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide (PYR14TFSI) ionic liquid are prepared by the solution casting method. Thermal and electrochemical properties have been determined for these gel polymer electrolytes. The electrical properties are investigated in detail by the linear sweep voltammetry, cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy with the aid of the equivalent circuit fitting of the impedance spectra. The results show that the studied electrolytes have good self-standing characteristics, and also a sufficient level of thermal stability and a good electrochemical window. The conductivity increases with increasing amount of mixture, and for the studied system, the highest value of the conductivity measured at room temperature is 4.0×10−4 Scm−1. The lithium ions transference number reaches the maximum value when the gel electrolyte contains 33.3wt% PYR14TFSI ionic liquid. Based on the experiments, measurements and fitting, the models describing the lithium ion transmission and the properties of electrolyte/electrode interface are developed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]