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Background and Aim: This single‐arm, open‐label, multicenter, phase 3 trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of seraprevir, an hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural protein 3/4A (NS3/4A) inhibitor, combined with sofosbuvir for treating Chinese patients with chronic HCV infection without cirrhosis. Methods: Treatment‐naive or interferon‐experienced adult patients without cirrhosis were treated with a universal, combinational regimen of seraprevir 100 mg, twice daily and sofosbuvir 400 mg, once daily, for 12 or 24 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoint was sustained virologic response at week 12 after treatment (SVR12). Results: Overall, 205 patients with genotype 1 HCV infection without cirrhosis were enrolled from 23 sites, 202 of whom completed the full treatment and post‐treatment course and 3 discontinued follow‐up. In total, 27 patients (13.2%) were interferon experienced. SVR12 was achieved by 201 out of 205 (98.0% [95% CI, 95.1%, 99.5%]) patients, 100.0% of patients with genotype 1a, and 98.0% of genotype 1b. In the other exploratory study, SVR 12 was achieved by 100% patients with genotype 2 (n = 21), genotype 3 (n = 7), and genotype 6 (n = 8). The majority of adverse events were mild to moderate and transient and did not require a specific medical intervention. Conclusions: The all‐oral, ribavirin‐free regimen of seraprevir and sofosbuvir is an effective and well‐tolerated treatment option for Chinese patients mono‐infected with HCV, including those with a history of interferon treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Spirofluorene (SF) and benzo[d][1,2,3]triazole (BTA) have been considered as promising building blocks to construct n‐type photovoltaic materials. Herein, three new small molecule acceptors (SMAs) named BTA21, BTA23 and BTA27 with the structure of A2 = A1‐D‐A1 = A2 have been designed, in which SF and BTA were used as a central unit of D and bridged acceptor unit of A1, respectively. In addition, 3‐ethylrhodanine, 2‐(3‐ethyl‐4‐ oxothiazolidin‐2‐ylidene)malononitrile and malononitrile were chosen as terminal acceptor units to modulate the properties of the final SMAs. Three SMAs show wide optical band gaps (Eg) of 2.19, 2.15 and 2.21 eV, respectively, with gradually down‐shift of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels in the order of BTA21, BTA23 and BTA27 depending on the electron‐withdrawing capability of terminal acceptor units. BTA21 shows great advantages with respect to donor poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) over BTA23 and BTA27, such as well energy‐level matching, complementary absorption and proper morphology. Concequently, P3HT:BTA21 shows the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) value of 3.28% with an open‐circuit voltage (VOC) of 1.02 V, a short‐circuit current (JSC) of 5.45 mA·cm–2 and a fill factor (FF) of 0.59. These results indicate that the terminal acceptor group end‐capped in SMAs plays a significant role in controlling their optical, electronic, and photovoltaic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heteroatom‐doping of carbon materials has gained much attention recent decades since it was believed to be a brilliant strategy to endow carbon with enhanced physical and chemical properties. In addition, the doped carbon has been frequently employed in various fields such as supercapacitors, batteries, catalytic hydrogenation reactions due to its unique structure and superior features, among which selective hydrogenation is an essential procedure during organic synthesis and has wide industrial applications. It is proved that the incorporation of heteroatoms could have a great effect on the original carbon, such as charge distribution and surface defects, which could further influence the electronic effect and physical interaction between carbon carrier and supported metal, thereby enhance its catalytic performance in hydrogenation reactions. Herein, we briefly reviewed recent progress in the effect of heteroatoms on carbon properties. Meanwhile, the synthesis strategies of doped‐carbon and the application of these catalysts in series of hydrogenation reactions were also summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model‐Based Systems Design (MBSD) formalizes the application of system modeling. However, it is still difficult for designers to implement MBSD in practice. One of the challenges is to make the field of design more unified, as different MBSD methodologies focus on specific areas, and various designers from different areas use ambiguous terms. Moreover, the failure of some products originates in undiscovered couplings of functions in the design stage. Axiomatic Design (AD) provides a scientific foundation for system design. In order to reduce ambiguity and alleviate functional couplings, this paper integrates AD with the MBSD and proposes a unified systems design approach, called Axiomatic Model‐Based Systems Design (A‐MBSD). A‐MBSD uses four pillars: (a) the fundamental framework of AD; (b) the Independence Axiom; (c) a new behavior domain (BD); and (d) an A‐MBSD modeling profile. Finally, the design of a Forest Fire Satellite Monitoring and Control System demonstrates that the proposed approach can improve unity and alleviate the coupling of functions in a system design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]