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The local breakdown behavior may be harmful to solar cells and could possibly permanently damage the cell. Therefore, understanding the breakdown mechanisms in commercially competitive photovoltaic devices such as monocrystalline silicon (Si) solar cells is of great importance. Here, by using the reverse-biased electroluminescence (ReBEL) imaging technique, we observed three types of breakdown phenomena in monocrystalline Si solar cells: defect-induced breakdown, avalanche breakdown, and early breakdown. We have applied a variety of methods to diagnose each breakdown mechanism. The positions of defect-induced breakdown were first determined by combining EL and ReBEL imaging. An innovation method, the distributed circuit modeling was further introduced to trace the formation of different defect-induced breakdown sites. It is firstly applied this approach in the analysis of the breakdown mechanism. Then, avalanche breakdown was demonstrated by the temperature coefficient. The origin of its emission spectra was analyzed by the Si energy band structure combined with Baraff theory. Moreover, the characteristic of early breakdown was found to be consistent with the Zener effect, which may be caused by the metal stains such as aluminum (Al) during the manufacturing process.

In this paper, Sb2S3 thin-film solar cells are fabricated by the vapor transport deposition (VTD) method. The effect of the source-substrate proximity on the performance of Sb2S3 thin-film solar cells has been investigated and comparative studies of different source-substrate proximity are carried out. The device efficiency is improved from 0.83 to 3.02% by optimizing the source-substrate proximity with the augment of open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density and fill factor. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy studies indicate that the deposited Sb2S3 films can achieve optimal grain orientation, high crystallinity, and compact morphology. Moreover, the current transport mechanism is analyzed in detail from dark current density–voltage (J-V) measurements and shows the optimal sample to be least affected by Shockley-Read-Hall recombination and space-charge-limited current (SCLC). Meanwhile, temperature and light intensity-dependent open-circuit voltage measurements reveal the carrier recombination rates are lowest for the optimal cell in all regions, including the CdS/Sb2S3 interface, the space-charge region (SCR), and the quasi-neutral region (QNR). These can account for the efficiency enhancement of the optimal cell and can be used to facilitate the further development of Sb2S3 thin-film solar cells.

Two-dimensional materials with unique physical and chemical properties have recently attracted widespread attention in the field of solar thermal conversion. However, affected by the Fresnel effect, traditional two-dimensional materials such as MXenes, graphene, transition metal disulfide often have relatively significant light reflection losses at the solid-liquid or gas interface. So how to improve the light absorption of the two-dimensional material performance has become a new challenge in photothermal conversion. Here, we use an improved thermal-injection method to uniformly grow Tricopper(I) Bismuth Sulfide (Cu3BiS3, CBS) on the surface of Ti3C2 nanosheets in a nonaqueous polar solvent environment. A three-dimensional nanoflower-nanosheet structure CBS-Ti3C2 for photothermal conversion has been constructed successfully. Owing to the excellent photothermal performance of Cu3BiS3 in the near-infrared region, the good thermal conductivity of Ti3C2, and the unique porous structure of the composite material, the composite achieves broadband absorption of light (more than 90% in the visible light region, more than 80% in the near-infrared region), which optical model and finite element simulation have theoretically verified. The composite material has obtained higher solar-to-heat conversion performance than similar material systems, and the steady-state temperature can reach 62.3 °C under 1 sun incident light intensity. CBS-Ti3C2 is expected to become a light-absorbing layer material for solar vapor generation devices due to its excellent light-to-heat conversion performance and good material flexibility. It still guarantees a reasonably high steam generation rate (1.32 kg·m-2·h-1) even with a thinner material thickness (0.48 mg·cm-2) and a comprehensive conversion efficiency higher than 90%. Besides, CBS-Ti3C2 also exhibits the characteristics of resisting surface salt accumulation, which is conducive to maintaining the long-lasting photothermal seawater evaporation process. The material's electronic structure and the charge transfer process of the heterojunction interface have been studied with the first-principles calculation. The high light absorption performance and good thermal conductivity of the composite material are theoretically explained and supported.

Despite many successful realizations of laser operations in various micro/nanostructured lead halide perovskites (LHPs), the electron–hole plasma (EHP) lasing dynamics has only rarely been reported...

In this paper, we demonstrate numerical evidence that interfacial passivation in the Sb2Se3 solar cell forming the configuration of indium tin oxide (ITO)/SnO2/CdS/Sb2Se3/Au is beneficial for suppr...

A MoS2@VS2 micro–nanocomposite was synthesized via a two-step hydrothermal method. The field emission properties of the MoS2@VS2 micro–nanocomposite were investigated for the first time. The finger-like VS2 has a larger field-enhancement factor than the common sheet-like morphology. Besides, MoS2 composited with VS2 not only improves the stability, but also improves the field emission performance of the sample greatly. Compared with pure MoS2 and VS2, the MoS2@VS2 composite sample has the best field emission performance, including low turn on (0.8 V μm−1) and threshold fields (1.6 V μm−1), small work function, large field-enhancement factor, and good current stability. We attribute the enhanced field emission performance to the synergy of the two materials. We believed that the MoS2@VS2 micro–nanomaterial reported in this work might be one of the best candidates for flat panel display materials.

Electroluminescence (EL) images with absolute photon emissions from Cu(In, Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells were obtained under different forward current injections, with the spatially distributed EL emission becoming non-uniform as the current density gradually increases. A distributed two-diode electrical three-dimensional model was established which simulated the dark current density-voltage curves and the absolute EL images of the CIGS solar cells very well. Then, the resistive effects were analyzed using this model and simulation results show that the sheet resistance of the transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer dominates the non-uniform distribution of the EL emission in the studied CIGS thin-film solar cells. The effect of the sheet resistance of the TCO and the series resistance of the micro-diode on the EL variations is found to become obvious under high-current-injection conditions, whereas the effect of shunt resistance of the micro-diode on the EL variations becomes more obvious under low-resistance value or low-current-injection conditions.

Superstrate ITO/CdS/Sb2Se3/Au thin-film solar cells were fabricated with a CdS film produced by a radio-frequency (RF) magnetron-sputtering method as the buffer layer. The effect of the CdS layer thickness (70–120 nm) on the properties of Sb2Se3 thin films and the performance of the solar cells was investigated. The optimal CdS thickness was 90 nm, which led to the best power conversion efficiency of 5.91%; to the best of our knowledge, this is the highest efficiency for Sb2Se3 solar cells with a sputtered CdS buffer layer to date. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope results indicated that the Sb2Se3 films grown on 90-nm-thick CdS layers had the optimal grain orientation and the best morphology. The current–voltage (J–V) and admittance results indicated that the Sb2Se3 cell with a 90-nm-thick CdS layer had the lowest saturation current and the smallest defect densities. Moreover, temperature- and light intensity-dependent open-circuit (Voc) measurements revealed that the carrier recombination rates at the CdS/Sb2Se3 interface, space-charge region (SCR), and quasi-neutral region (QNR) all achieved the smallest value for the Sb2Se3 cells with a 90-nm CdS buffer layer. These data account for the optimal cell performance and offer new research directions for solving challenges of chemical bath deposition of CdS in Sb2Se3 solar cells.

Electronic transport mechanisms in Sb2Se3 thin-film solar cells were investigated using temperature-dependent current-voltage (J-V) measurements. Sb2Se3 thin films were deposited via the vapor transporting deposition method using a double-temperature-zone tubular furnace system, and comparative studies were performed for Sb2Se3 films formed on substrates located at three different positions away from the furnace center. The device efficiency varied from 3.83 to 6.24%. First, structural properties obtained by X-ray diffraction, Raman and scanning electron microscopy measurements verified the optimal Sb2Se3 film quality for the cell with the highest efficiency. Then, temperature-dependent saturation current and open-circuit voltage (Voc) measurements revealed that the dominant carrier recombination occurred in the CdS/Sb2Se3 interface region, which possibly influenced the Voc for all cells: the highest Voc for the optimal Sb2Se3 cell was at least partly due to it having the lowest CdS/Sb2Se3 interface recombination rate. Finally, the reverse bias current relationship revealed that non-ohmic shunt current (space-charge-limited current, SCLC) plays an important role in affecting the performance of solar cells, as lower-efficiency cells had higher non-ohmic shunt current.

A two-dimensional distributed resistance model has been used to simulate the measured dark current-voltage (J-V) curve and the absolute electroluminescence (EL) images of a GaAs solar cell, with the deviation between the simulated and experimental results smaller than 5%. The effects of different kind of defects on the EL distributions with various current densities were also analyzed, and it has been demonstrated that it was possible to identify the defects by analyzing the current-density dependent EL distributions and also by analyzing the current-density dependent voltage difference (ΔV) between the defects and normal points.

A novel flexible pattern reconfigurable antenna for WLAN wireless system is proposed. The reconfigurable antenna is fed by a microstrip, and consists of a circular monopole patch, three ship-shaped...

Hybrid organic–inorganic metal halide perovskites are currently arousing enthusiasm and stimulating huge activity across several fields of optoelectronics due to their outstanding properties. In this study, we present the incoherent random lasing (RL) emissions from CH3NH3PbBr3 perovskite thin films on both planar fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates and patterned sapphire substrates (PSSs). A detailed examination of the spectral evolution indicates that inelastic exciton–exciton scattering called P-emission is the most plausible mechanism accounting for the lasing emissions. The RL threshold of the perovskite films on PSSs is found to be effectively reduced by more than one order of magnitude from 2.55 to 0.15 μJ per pulse compared to that on FTO substrates. The giant threshold reduction is ascribed to the enhanced random scattering of light and the photon recycling induced by the multireflection processes at the perovskite/PSS interface, which increases the likelihood that the inoperative random rays will re-enter the possible optical loops formed among the perovskite particles, resulting in considerable optical resonance enhancement. The simulation results reveal that the light extraction efficiency on the top facet of the perovskites is significantly increased by approximately 155% by utilizing the PSS instead of the FTO substrate. Moreover, the first direct experimental observation of the multireflection phenomenon of light, as well as the dynamic processes of photon propagation in the composite PSS structure, is presented by Kerr-gate-based time-resolved photoluminescence. Our results provide an effective strategy to achieve high-performance perovskite random lasers and novel light-emitting devices for speckle-free full-field imaging and solid-state lighting applications, by introducing ingeniously designed periodic nano-/microscale optical structures.

Sb2Se3 thin films prepared by vapor transport deposition (VTD) method have been treated by post annealing process at 200 °C in vacuum condition for 1 h, and the comparative studies between the post annealing treatment (PAT) and without the treatment were carried out. The device efficiency was improved from 4.89% to 5.72% by PAT via the augment of open-circuit voltage and fill factor. Electrical properties from dark J-V and C-V measurements, structural properties from X-ray diffraction, Raman and scanning electron microscope measurements, defect properties from admittance measurements have been compared for the two cell samples. The Sb2Se3 cell sample with PAT was found to own less parallel current pathways, larger built-in voltage, better crystalline and lower defects densities, which may account for the efficiency enhancement.

To introduce, and to evaluate the efficacy of the trans-superior articular process (trans-SAP) approach utilizing visual trephine in percutaneous endoscopic transforaminal lumbar discectomy (PETLD) for migrated lumbar disc herniation.This study included 98 patients, 50 patients were in trans-SAP PETLD group and 48 patients were in conventional PETLD group. Visual analogue scale (VAS), Oswestry disability index (ODI), gender, age, blood loss, operation time, the frequency of X-ray fluoroscopy and the percentage of highly migrated herniation were evaluated and compared between the trans-SAP PETLD and conventional PETLD group.In both trans-SAP PETLD and conventional PETLD group, VAS and ODI were decreased at postoperative 1 day and 3 months compared with preoperative (p0.001). What's more, the VAS and ODI of postoperative 3 months were lower than postoperative 1 day (p0.001). There was no difference in gender, age, blood loss after the operation, and VAS during operation between trans-SAP group and conventional group (p0.05). The blood loss during the operation of trans-SAP group was higher (p0.05), but the operation time and frequency of X-ray fluoroscopy were lower than conventional group (p0.001). Last, trans-SAP group had a higher percentage of highly migrated herniation (p0.001).Both the conventional way and trans-SAP approach can achieve excellent surgical results. But, in trans-SAP group, the operation time is shorter, and X-ray fluoroscopy is less. PETLD with visual trephine has more advantages in highly migrated herniation and maybe easier to be mastered by young surgeons.

Background One public health problem that cannot be ignored is the mental health of left-behind elderly individuals in rural areas. However, the burden of care and parenting stress among left-behind elderly individuals has never been analyzed. The purpose of this study was to explore the level of caregiver burden and parenting stress and their relationship among left-behind elderly individuals. Methods A total of 261 left-behind elderly people responded to the study. The 22-item Zarit Burden Interview and the 36-item Parenting Stress Index-Short Form were used. Results We sent out 300 questionnaires in total. The effective rate was 87% (n = 261). Among the left-behind elderly individuals, most respondents were female (n = 171; 65.5%). The results showed that older age (OR:3.04; 95%CI: 1.307–7.048), an annual income of ¥5000–¥9900 (OR:3.25; 95%CI: 1.192–8.852) and higher parenting stress (OR:1.17; 95%CI: 1.103–1.242) were the risk factors related to higher caregiver burden in the left-behind elderly individuals. The influencing factor for lower caregiver burden in the left-behind elderly was gender (being male) (OR:0.08; 95%CI:0.036–0.178). Age (r = − 0.789; P P P Conclusion Parenting stress is a risk factor affecting caregiver burden of left-behind elderly individuals. Healthcare professionals should pay close attention to the caregiver burden and parenting stress of left-behind elderly individuals, especially those who are older, female and have lower income.

With the rapid development of e-commerce, logistic enterprises must better predict customer demand to improve distribution efficiency, so as to deliver goods in advance, which makes logistics stochastic and dynamic. In order to deal with this challenge and respond to the concept of “green logistics,” an electric vehicle routing problem with stochastic demands (EVRPSD) and proactive remedial measures is investigated, and an EVRPSD model with probability constraints is established. At the same time, a hybrid heuristic algorithm, combining a saving method and an improved Tabu search algorithm, is proposed to solve the model. Moreover, two insertion strategies with the greedy algorithm for charging stations and dynamic nodes are introduced. Finally, a large number of experimental data show that the heuristic algorithm proposed in this paper is feasible and effective.

Organometallic halide perovskites have been demonstrated to be very promising for nonlinear optics and practical frequency upconversion devices in integrated photonics. In this work, high quality o...

The combination of lasers and solar cells has potential applications in many areas. Therefore, investigating the laser induced damage and defect formation in such cells is crucial. In this study, a Cu(In, Ga)Se2 solar cell was irradiated with a 532 nm continuous wave laser beam. The damage threshold power density with irradiation for 10 s was found to be approximately 5000 W/cm2 by analyzing the light current density–voltage curves and the variation of the solar cell efficiency after laser exposure. Further, absolute electroluminescence (EL) imaging with distributed circuit modeling was used to determine the laser induced defects. By simulating the measured injection current dependent EL intensities of the defect spots, the defects created by exposure to laser power densities less than 5000 W/cm2 could be mainly attributed to increased series resistance or increased transparent conductive oxide layer resistance, whereas those created by exposure to laser power densities greater than 5000 W/cm2 could be mainly attributed to decreased shunt resistance.

Current defect inspection methods for photovoltaic (PV) devices based on electroluminescence (EL) imaging technology lack juggling both labor-saving and in-depth understanding of defects, restricting the progress towards yield improvement and higher efficiency. Herein, we propose an adaptive approach for automatic solar cell defect detection and classification based on absolute EL imaging. Specifically, we first develop an unsupervised algorithm to automatically detect defects referring to the defect features in EL images. Then a diagnosis approach is proposed, which statistically classifies the detected defects based on the electrical origin. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed method is the first effort to integrate automatic defect detection with fine-grained classification. Experimental results on multiple types of solar cells show that the proposed method can achieve the average uncertainty of 5.15% at the minimum, with by up to 98.90% optimization ratio compared with two conventional methods. The proposed method is expected to provide more guiding feedback in both practical design and reliability diagnosis of the PV industry.

A spatially resolved absolute electroluminescence (EL) imaging method was utilized to analyze the photovoltaic properties and resistive loss properties of a GaAs thin-film solar cell. The I–V relation was extrapolated from the absolute EL efficiency measurements in conjunction with the external-quantum-efficiency (EQE) measurements; the EL extrapolated I–V relation has a merit over the conventional I–V relation measured with a solar simulator that it could eliminate the series resistance effect caused by external probe contact. Then, the mapping of the internal voltage of the solar cell and the sheet resistance of the window layer of the solar cell were obtained from the calibrated absolute EL imaging method. Finally, optic electroconversion losses of the solar cell including radiative loss, nonradiative loss, thermalization loss, transmission loss, and junction loss were quantified given by the EL and EQE measurements.

Background Experimental research suggests that females have a higher survival rate after trauma, although this claim is controversial. This study sought to determine the role of sex on mortality among trauma patients in China. Methods The study enrolled 1789 trauma patients who visited the Emergency Intensive Care Unit of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University during 2015 and 2016. A retrospective data analysis was performed to determine sex-based differences after blunt trauma. Patients were stratified by age and injury severity (using the Injury Severity Score). Multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the association between sex and post-injury complications and mortality. Results Female trauma patients experienced a significantly lower risk of mortality than males (odds ratio, 0.931; 95% confidence interval, 0.883–0.982). This survival advantage of females was particularly notable in the ‘younger than 45 years’ age group. Sex-based differences were also found in the occurrence of life-threatening complications after trauma. Conclusion This study demonstrated that females are more likely to survival after severe blunt trauma and also have less inpatient complications than men, suggesting an important role for sex hormones after severe traumatic injury.

Patient: Male, 51 Final Diagnosis: ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction with acute stent thrombosis Symptoms: Chest pain • hiccups Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Cardiology Objective: Unusual clinical course Background: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) can present with atypical chest pain or symptoms not attributed to heart disease, such as indigestion. Hiccups, a benign and self-limited condition, can become persistent or intractable with overlooked underlying etiology. There are various causes of protracted hiccups, including metabolic abnormalities, psychogenic disorders, malignancy, central nervous system pathology, medications, pulmonary disorders, or gastrointestinal etiologies. It is rarely attributed to cardiac disease. Case Report: We report a case of intractable hiccups in a 51-year-old male with cocaine related myocardial infarction (MI) before and after stent placement. Coronary angiogram showed in-stent thrombosis of the initial intervention. Following thrombectomy, balloon angioplasty, and stent, the patient recovered well without additional episodes of hiccups. Although hiccups are not known to present with a predilection for a particular cause of myocardial ischemia, this case may additionally be explained by the sympathomimetic effects of cocaine, which lead to vasoconstriction of coronary arteries. Conclusions: Hiccups associated with cardiac enzyme elevation and EKG ST-segment elevation before and after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) maybe a manifestation of acute MI with or without stent. The fact that this patient was a cocaine user may have contributed to the unique presentation.

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on ZnO were fabricated on a p -Si substrate by using a pulsed laser deposition system. Significant electroluminescence (EL) improvement was demonstrated with the insertion of an HfO 2 electron blocking layer (EBL) in n -ZnO/ p -Si heterojunctions. Distinct near-band-edge emission at around 392 nm accompanying by a broadly strong visible emission was achieved when a proper thickness of HfO 2 EBL was used. Current-voltage and capacitance-voltage measurements confirmed that a proper thickness of the HfO 2 EBL can effectively balance the injection of electrons and holes, resulting in an increase of radiative recombination in the ZnO active layer and thus enhancing the EL performance of the devices. Five independent emissions corresponding to five different transition processes were proposed to clarify the EL origination of the n -ZnO/HfO 2 / p -Si heterojunction LEDs by Gaussian deconvolutions. It is hoped that results in this work should be helpful for the development of ZnO-based LEDs that can integrate ZnO with the Si planar technology.

Patient: Female, 48 Final Diagnosis: Primary pulmonary DLBCL Symptoms: Cough • weigh loss Medication: R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) Clinical Procedure: Bone marrow biopsy • CT-guided lung biopsy Specialty: Oncology Objective: Rare disease Background: Primary pulmonary diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is extremely rare neoplasm representing only 0.5–1% of primary pulmonary malignancies. These patients usually have non-specific clinical presentation and radiological findings. Therefore, it is important to increase awareness of this rare disease, as the correct characterization of the tumors will have therapeutic and prognostic implications. Case Report: We present the case of a middle-aged Hispanic woman with chronic cough and an abnormal chest X-ray revealing a lung mass, who was found to have primary pulmonary DLBCL. She underwent 6 cycles of R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) therapy and attained complete remission. Conclusions: With its non-specific presentation, the diagnosis of primary pulmonary DLBCL is very challenging and often leads to misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis. The pathogenesis of primary pulmonary DLBCL is still poorly understood. The choice of treatment approach should be based on the biological characteristic of the tumor, stage, and performance status.

High on-current field effect transistors (FETs) are highly desirable for driving information displays such as active matrix organic light-emitting diode displays. Herein, indium-doped ZnO (IZO) horizontal nanorod arrays were fabricated for high on-current FETs by a facile and tunable hydrothermal method. We have found that indium doping can influence the growth behavior of ZnO nanorods. After indium doping, the ZnO nanorods tend to grow better along the horizontal direction and have a better flat morphology. More importantly, indium doping increases the carrier concentration of the IZO nanorods; this leads to better transfer and output performances of the IZO nanorod FETs. Therefore, the IZO nanorod FET with a high on-current of 6.39 × 10−4 A and a field effect mobility of 26.3 cm2 V−1 s−1 has been synthesized and demonstrated in this study.

A novel mid-long-infrared two-color photodetector is proposed. It combines quantum cascade detector (QCD) and surface plasmonic coupling structure. The reflection spectrum and electric field are analyzed by algorithm of finite difference time domain method (FDTD). This QCD is sensitive to 4.4 μm and 9.0 μm infrared light. Mid-infrared and long-infrared pixels are interlaced arranged with specific plasmonic micro-cavity structures integrated. 7.1 and 7 times enhancement in optical absorption are obtained for mid-infrared and long-infrared pixels, respectively. Besides, a polarization-discriminating detection performance has been observed.

Two organic-inorganic halide CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells prepared in the same experimental batch but having different power conversion efficiencies −18.46% and 17.15%—were investigated based on the absolute electroluminescence (EL) efficiency measurements and traditional I-V measurements. The possible factors that affect the power conversion efficiency were also investigated. Comparing the experimental I-V curves of the two solar cells, it was found that the short-circuit currents (Jsc) were nearly the same; however, the open-circuit voltages (Voc) were markedly different. Moreover, the deduced I-V curves from the absolute EL efficiencies of the two solar cells, which were mainly affected by the material quality, were almost the same, proving that the device processing technology has a vital effect on Voc.

Jia-Wei-Kai-Xin-San (JWKXS) is a Chinese medicine formula applied for treating morbid forgetfulness in ancient China. Today, this formula is frequently applied for Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia (VD) in clinic. Here, we developed it as granules and aimed to evaluate its anti-AD effect on β amyloid protein 1–42 (Aβ1-42) induced cognitive deficit mice and reveal the possible molecular mechanisms. Firstly, daily intra-gastric administration of chemically standardized of JWKXS granules for 7 days significantly ameliorated the cognitive deficit symptoms and inhibited cell apoptosis in hippocampus on Aβ1-42 injection mice. JWKXS granules significantly decreased Aβ level, increased superoxide dismutase activity and decreased malondialdehyde level in hippocampus of model mice. It also restored acetylcholine amounts, inhibited acetylcholinesterase activities and increased choline acetyltransferase activities. In addition, JWKXS granules enabled the transformation of precursors of NGF and BDNF into mature forms. Furthermore, JWKXS granules could regulate gene expressions related to Aβ production, transportation, degradation and neurotrophic factor transformation, which led to down-regulation of Aβ and up-regulation of NGF and BDNF. These findings suggested that JWKXS granules ameliorated cognitive deficit via decreasing Aβ levels, protecting neuron from oxidation damages and nourishing neuron, which could serve as alternative medicine for patients suffering from AD.

In this research, the authors designed an interactive spatial augmented reality system for stage performance based on the technologies of UWB positioning and Bluetooth&reg, triggering. The position of the actor is obtained through the antenna tag carried by the actor and the signal base station placed on the stage. Special effects can be triggered through the Bluetooth&reg, module according to the actor, and rendered at the relevant location on the screen, which has higher concealment. The system has a higher degree of freedom in practical applications, which can present an interactive spatial augmented reality effect, and therefore provide new possibilities for the application of spatial augmented reality in the stage performance.

Background Mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) has become the preferred approach for HSC transplantation. AMD3100, a competitive inhibitor of C-X-C motif chemokine receptor-4, has been found to be a rapid mobilizing agent. The present study evaluated approaches to optimize the product collected. Methods Mobilized peripheral blood mononuclear cells (mPBMCs) from B6 mice were transplanted to recipient BALB/c mice conditioned with ablative or nonmyeloablative approaches. Results The optimal dose of AMD3100 was found to be 5.0 mg/kg. Optimal HSC mobilization was observed when AMD3100 (day 10) was coadministered with Flt3 ligand (FL) (days 1-10) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) (days 4-10). There was a 228.8-fold increase of HSC with FL/GCSF/AMD3100 compared with AMD3100 treatment alone. When unmodified mPBMCs were transplanted into ablated allogeneic recipients, all recipients expired by day 40 from severe acute graft versus host disease (GVHD). When T cells were depleted from mPBMC, long-term survival and engraftment were achieved in majority of the recipients. When PBMC mobilized by FL/GCSF/AMD3100 were transplanted into recipients conditioned nonmyeloablatively with anti-CD154/rapamycin plus 100, 200, and 300 cGy of total body irradiation, 42.9%, 85.7%, and 100% of mice engrafted, respectively. Donor chimerism was durable, multilineage, and stable. Lymphocytes from mixed chimeras showed no response to host or donor antigens, suggesting functional bidirection T-cell tolerance in vitro. Most importantly, none of the engrafted mice exhibited clinical features of GVHD. Conclusions FL/GCSF/AMD3100 is an efficient treatment to maximally mobilize HSC. Durable engraftment and donor-specific tolerance can be achieved with mPBMC in nonmyeloablative conditioning without GVHD.

All-inorganic perovskite micro/nanolasers are emerging as a class of miniaturized coherent photonic sources for many potential applications, such as optical communication, computing, and imaging, owing to their ultracompact sizes, highly localized coherent output, and broadband wavelength tunability. However, to achieve single-mode laser emission in the microscale perovskite cavity is still challenging. Herein, we report unprecedented single-mode laser operations at room temperature in self-assembly CsPbX 3 microcavities over an ultrawide pumping wavelength range of 400–2300 nm, covering one- to five-photon absorption processes. The superior frequency down- and upconversion single-mode lasing manifests high multiphoton absorption efficiency and excellent optical gain from the electron–hole plasma state in the perovskite microcavities. Through direct compositional modulation, the wavelength of a single-mode CsPbX 3 microlaser can be continuously tuned from blue-violet to green (427–543 nm). The laser emission remains stable and robust after long-term high-intensity excitation for over 12 h (up to 4.3 × 10 7 excitation cycles) in the ambient atmosphere. Moreover, the pump-wavelength dependence of the threshold, as well as the detailed lasing dynamics such as the gain-switching and electron–hole plasma mechanisms, are systematically investigated to shed insight into the more fundamental issues of the lasing processes in CsPbX 3 perovskite microcavities.

We present a joint experimental and theoretical investigation on a long wavelength infrared quantum cascade detector to reveal its dark current paths. The temperature dependence of the dark current is measured. It is shown that there are two different transport mechanisms, namely resonant tunneling at low temperatures and thermal excitation at higher temperature, dominate the carrier flow, respectively. Moreover, the experimental intersubband transition energies obtained by the magneto-transport measurements matches the theoretical predictions well. With the aid of the calculated band structures, we can explain the observed oscillation phenomena of the dark current under the magnetic field very well. The obtained results provide insight into the transport properties of quantum cascade detectors thus providing a useful tool for device optimization.

Patient: Male, 61 Final Diagnosis: Ifosfamide induced reactivation of hepatitis B Symptoms: — Medication: Ifosfamide Clinical Procedure: DC ifosfamide and added Tenofovir Specialty: Oncology Objective: Unusual clinical course Background: Patients receiving cancer treatment are at risk for hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation. Ifosfamide is an alkylating agent and is considered to be one of the important drugs for the treatment of metastatic sarcoma. No association of ifosfamide and HBV reactivation has been reported so far. Case Report: We report a case of a 61-year-old Asian man with metastatic retroperitoneal liposarcoma who was HBcAb positive and was treated with ifosfamide and dacarbazine, developed HBV reactivation secondary to ifosfamide requiring treatment with tenofovir. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing HBV reactivation in a patient with positive HBcAb who was treated with ifosfamide. Conclusions: We recommend close surveillance of possible HBV reactivation while employing ifosfamide chemotherapy.

The incidence of melanoma in both males and females continues to rise during the past 40 years despite the stable or declining trends for most cancer types. Due to the tremendous advance in immunobiology and molecular biology, breakthroughs in both immunotherapies and molecular targeted therapies have recently revolutionized the standard of care for patients with advanced melanoma. In 2011, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ipilimumab, an anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) antibody for metastatic melanoma therapy. Since then, novel drugs including antibodies to programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) such as pembrolizumab and nivolumab (both approved in 2014), selective BRAF inhibitors such as vemurafenib (approved in 2011), dabrafenib (approved in 2013); and MEK inhibitor trametinib (approved in 2013), have greatly extended the potential of immunotherapy and molecular targeted therapy for advanced melanoma. All of which have been demonstrated a significant increase in overall survival rate, and long-term benefits in multiple large clinical trials. Several new agents and novel therapies are currently under phase III clinical trials with the hope of being approved in the near future. We already entered a golden era in oncology that are providing significant survival improvement. In the meantime, new challenges for clinicians also started to emerge. In this review, we presented the existing evidence for the newest treatments for advanced melanoma, including CTLA-4, PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors and BRAF, MEK inhibitors. We also discussed the strengths, limitations and challenges of using these novel therapies, and potential solutions as well as highlighted the areas requiring further research.

The search for new direct bandgap, earth-abundant semiconductors for efficient, high-quality optoelectronic devices, as well as photovoltaic and photocatalytic energy conversion has attracted considerable interest. One methodology for the search is to study ternary and multiternary semiconductors with more elements and more flexible properties. Cation mutation such as binary → ternary → quaternary for ZnS → CuGaS_2 → Cu_2ZnSnS_4 and ZnO → LiGaO_2 → Li_2ZnGeO_4 led to a series of new quaternary chalcogenide and oxide semiconductors with wide applications. Similarly, starting with GaN, ternary nitrides such as ZnSnN_2 and ZnGeN_2 have been designed and synthesized recently. However, quaternary nitride semiconductors have never been reported either theoretically or experimentally. Through a combination of the Materials Genome database with the first-principles calculations, we designed a series of quaternary nitride compounds I–III–Ge_2N_4 (I = Cu, Ag, Li, Na, K; III = Al, Ga, In) following the GaN → ZnGeN_2 → I–III–Ge_2N_4 mutation. Akin to Li_2ZnGeO_4, these quaternary nitrides crystallize in a wurtzite-derived structure as their ground state. The thermodynamic stability analysis shows that while most of them are not stable with respect to phase separation, there are two key exceptions (i.e., LiAlGe_2N_4 and LiGaGe_2N_4), which are stable and can be synthesized without any secondary phases. Interestingly, they are both lattice-matched to GaN and ZnO, and their band gaps are direct and larger than that of GaN, 4.36 and 3.74 eV, respectively. They have valence band edges as low as ZnO and conduction band edges as high as GaN, thereby combining the best of GaN and ZnO in a single material. We predict that flexible and efficient band structure engineering can be achieved through forming GaN/LiAlGe_2N_4/LiGaGe_2N_4 heterostructures, which have tremendous potential for ultraviolet optoelectronics.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Kai-Xin-San (KXS) has been prescribed by TCM doctors for treating psychiatric diseases with the core symptoms of anhedonia, amnesia, and dizziness. According to the symptoms of patients, KXS series formulae are created by varying the compatible ratio of herbs. Today, these formulae are still used in the clinic to treat major depressive disorders. Aim of the study We hoped to evaluate the antidepressant-like effect of Kai-Xin-San via regulation of the gut-brain axis. Materials and methods Standardized extracts of three representative compatible ratios of KXS had been prepared, and quality control of the extracts was performed by HPLC-MS/MS. Chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced depression-like mice were used as the depression animal model. After KXS treatment, the antidepressant-like effects of KXS were assessed by behavioural tests. The gut microbiota compositions in the faeces were determined by 16S rRNA sequencing technology. The levels of LPS, pro-inflammatory cytokines and HPA-axis-related hormones were measured by ELISA kits, and the expression of barrier proteins in the small intestines and prefrontal cortex were determined by Western blot analysis. Furthermore, antibiotics were used to determine the correlation between KXS exerting an antidepressant-like effect and regulating the gut-brain axis. Results KXS alleviated depression-like behaviours in CUMS-exposed mice. Furthermore, these parameters were also found to be changed after KXS treatment. Alteration of the gut microbiota composition were found in the small intestines. A decrease in the LPS and the pro-inflammatory cytokines were found in both the small intestine and brain. An increase in the tight junction proteins was found in the gut epithelium barrier and the blood-brain barrier. A decrease in the stress-related hormones was found in the central nervous system. Furthermore, antibiotic treatment attenuated the antidepressant-like effect of KXS in CUMS-exposed mice. Conclusions KXS exerted an antidepressant-like effect regulating the gut-brain axis, which included gut micro-environment modification, suppression of neuronal inflammation in the brain and inhibition of HPA axis activation in CUMS-induced depression-like mice.

The defect properties of C H 3 N H 3 P b I 3 solar cells with efficiencies ranging from 7.70% to 12.51% were investigated using admittance spectroscopy measurements. Trap levels of the same kind with activation energies varied in the range of 0.16–0.23 eV above the valence band were found for different samples and identified as an interface-type defect. Moreover, the defect parameters, including the capture cross section of the holes, capture lifetime of the holes, and defect density, were extracted, and their relationships with the cell efficiencies were investigated. The results indicated that, compared with other parameters, defect density is a critical factor for C H 3 N H 3 P b I 3 solar cell performance.

Background. This study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of complement 3 (C3) deposition in renal tubules of children with primary nephrotic syndrome (PNS).Methods. The clinical and pathological characteristics of PNS were retrospectively reviewed in 99 PNS pediatric patients, who were divided into the C3 deposition and the non-C3 deposition groups.Results. A total of 39 patients (39.39%) had renal tubule C3 deposition. In the C3 deposition group, the ratios of urine N-acetylglucosaminidase/creatinine (UNAG/Cr), urineβ2 microglobulin/creatinine (Uβ2MG/Cr), and urine transferrin/creatinine (UTRF/Cr) were significantly higher than those of the non-C3 deposition group. The patients of the C3 deposition group had lower serum total protein and albumin, higher cholesterol and D-dimer (DD), lower proportion of CD3+CD8+ cells, and higher proportion of CD19+CD23+ cells. The number of the patients with interstitial fibrosis, renal cell vacuolar degeneration, renal tubular immunoglobulin deposition, and severe tubulointerstitial injury in the C3 deposition group was higher than that of the non-C3 deposition group. The C3 deposition intensity was positively correlated with the number of recurrences.Conclusion. PNS pediatric patients with C3 deposition in renal tubules have more severe disease condition, tubulointerstitial injury, and recurrence suggesting a worse long-term prognosis.

By using Microsoft Kinect, virtual objects could be fused with presenter in a real-time video for educational purpose. Unfortunately Kinect’s video quality is not good also it could not overcome the issues of occlusion. In this paper, real-time high quality RGB video from a professional video camera was calibrated with the depth image from Kinect to achieve real-virtual fusion, and a hand shape blue-color mask was attach to the presenter’s hand to realize high quality occlusion between virtual objects and real presenter.

The authors developed a system for augmenting live performances where the performer can drive the rendered background image via an infrared LED transmitter prop. A multi-sensory prop was designed to aid the position tracking of performer on large scale stage. An infrared LED and a wireless circuit were integrated into the prop, it could be captured by an infrared camera and host computer. It could also trigger the interaction between performer and virtual objects or visual effects, then the virtual objects or special effects will be matched with the position of real performer and displayed on the background large screen to make a real-time augmented live performance.

The flower-like MoS2/BiVO4 composite with heterojunction has been successfully fabricated by a two-step approach. A possible formation mechanism of this heterostructure was investigated. The calculated valence band offset (VBO) and conduction band offset (CBO) of MoS2/BiVO4 heterojunction showed that the VBO and CBO of MoS2/BiVO4 are 1.4 and 0.3 eV, respectively, implying the formation of well-defined staggered type II band alignment. The photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) was adopted to assess the photocatalytic ability of the pristine MoS2 and BiVO4 as well as MoS2/BiVO4 composites. It exhibited that the MoS2/BiVO4 composite structures performed much better than that of the pristine MoS2 and BiVO4, which was due to the staggered band alignment formed between the two structures. Besides, the corresponding mechanism of enhanced photocatalysis regarding the separation of the photogenerated electron–hole pairs for the heterojunction has also been investigated by the first-principles calculation.

For the first time, a novel dual-petal nanostructured WS2@MoS2 heterojunction was fabricated via a facile two-step approach and explored as a photocatalyst for the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB). In the light of the results obtained from experiments, a reasonable formation mechanism for the nanopetal (NP) structured WS2 was proposed, in which the pretreatment of ball milling had played an important role in the formation of WS2 NPs that subsequently acted as the base material to grow curly MoS2 sub-NPs. Because the dual-petal nanostructured WS2@MoS2 possessed plenty of active sites that originated from its unique structural characteristics with densely stacked MoS2 nanopetals and an effective separation of photoinduced carriers, it exhibited significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity and obviously exceeded the pristine MoS2/WS2. In order to propose a scientific explanation for the corresponding enhancement mechanism, we further conducted comprehensive first-principles calculations to investigate the corresponding structural, electronic, and optical properties of this WS2@MoS2 composite. The results revealed that the calculated band gap of the WS2@MoS2 composite was narrower than that of pristine WS2 and MoS2, meanwhile, it had a well-defined staggered type-II band alignment, leading to the injection of photoexcited electrons into the conduction band minimum (CBM) of MoS2 from the CBM of WS2. This separation of carriers can restrain the photogenerated e−–h+ pair recombination and prolong the lifetime of carriers for proper interface charge distribution. In short, the calculated results fully explained the reason why the composite presented improved photocatalysis and provide valuable references for future studies.

Photo based panoramas were widely used to make realistic virtual tour for existed scenes, but traditional panorama could only allow users to look around the scene from a fixed point where it was shot, while traditional panorama could not provide binocular stereo effect that is very common for a virtual reality head mounted display. We could walk freely in a modeling based virtual tour scene, but there are great difficulties in modeling an existed scene and making it look real.

A potent T cell response is an important component of durable anti-tumor immunity. The quality of the T cell response can, in-part, be measured by the avidity of the T cell for its tumor antigen-expressing target. While convention suggests that raising the avidity of the responding T cells may make for a more potent anti-tumor immune response, the threshold for effective tumor immunity remains unclear, as do some of the adverse effects of an inappropriately high avidity response. In this review, we discuss the relationship between T cell avidity and anti-tumor immunity, considering both experimental model systems as well as human clinical trials.

Complex oxide heterointerfaces, which play host to an incredible variety of interface physical phenomena, are of great current interest in introducing new functionalities to systems. Here, coherent super-tetragonal BiFeO3/LaAlO3 and rhombohedral BiFeO3/LaAlO3 heterointerfaces are investigated by using a combination of high-angle annular dark-field (HAADF) imaging and annular bright-field (ABF) imaging in a spherical aberration (Cs) corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM), and first-principles calculations. The complicated ferroelectric polarization pinning and relaxation that occurs at both interfaces is revealed with atomic resolution, with a dramatic change in structure of BiFeO3, from cubic to super-tetragonal-like. The results enable a detailed explanation to be given of how non-bulk phase structures are stabilized in thin films of this material.

Compared to the visible range, nano-scale material research in the infrared or terahertz wavelength is seriously limited due to a lack of useful microscope which can overcome diffraction limit and achieve spatial resolution down to the nanometers. For this purpose, we constructed a new terahertz scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope (THz s-SNOM, Fig. 1(a)). By equipping an ultra-high sensitive detector (15 µm) in a well-designed confocal microscope system, and modulating a sharp tungsten tip close to sample surface, thermally excited near-field evanescent waves of room temperature objects can be picked up (without external illumination), therefore we term the system as a passive type THz s-SNOM. Fig. 1(b) shows a SiO 2 sample covered with sub-wavelength Au patterns (SEM image), which can be passively imaged by our microscope (Fig. 1(c)). The estimated spatial resolution is ∼ 50 nm, which is already far beyond the diffraction limit (λ/300). Various other samples (sub-wavelength plasmonic structures, semiconductor nano-devices, carbon nanotubes, et al.) have been studied, and many interesting new phenomenon has been revealed. The introduced THz s-SNOM can be a powerful tool for various material research.

Background Non-Shiga toxin-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome is known to be caused by dysregulation of the alternative complement pathway. Infections, drugs, pregnancy, bone marrow transplantation, malignancy, and autoimmune disorders have all been reported to trigger episodes of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no previous reports of an association between diabetic ketoacidosis and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome. Case presentation We describe a case of a 26-year-old Spanish man who presented with diabetic ketoacidosis and was found to have the triad of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and acute kidney injury. The patient had a normal ADAMTS13 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13) activity level, and his renal biopsy demonstrated predominant changes of diabetic glomerulosclerosis with an area compatible with thrombotic microangiopathy suggestive of superimposed atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome. Complement sequencing subsequently revealed a potential causative mutation in exon 12 of complement factor B with changes of lysine at amino acid position 533 to an arginine (CFB p.K533R). Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of diabetic ketoacidosis presenting with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome associated with a variant of complement factor B in an adult patient.

A novel method for the synthesis of water-soluble CdSe and CdSe/CdS quantum dots (QDs) under the assistance of high-intensity ultrasonic irradiation is reported. As-prepared CdSe/CdS QDs were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction and high-resolution transmission electronmicroscopy. The absorption and fluorescence emission spectra were measured to investigate the effect of CdS passivation on the electronic structure of the quantum dots. After the growth of CdS shell, the photoluminescence quantum yields of CdSe/CdS core–shell quantum dots increased three times more than that of the original CdSe QDs. The QDs were successfully used for the fluorescence imaging of cells and blood capillary.