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Polycomb group (PcG) proteins have recently been identified as critical regulators in tumor initiation and development. However, the function of CBX8 in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains largely unknown. Our study was designed to explore the biological function and clinical implication of CBX8 in HCC. We investigated the interplay between CBX8 and cell cycle through Gene Set Enrichment Analysis and western blotting. Bioinformatics tools and co-immunoprecipitation were used to explore cell cycle regulation. Finally, we studied the expression and clinical significance of CBX8 in HCC through 3 independent datasets. CBX8 was upregulated in HCC and its expression correlated with cell cycle progression. CyclinD1 was downregulated by CBX8 knockdown but upregulated by CBX8 overexpression. YBX1 interacted with CBX8 and regulated the cell cycle. Moreover, targeting YBX1 with specific siRNA impaired CBX8-mediated regulation of CyclinD1. CBX8 overexpression boosted HCC cell growth, while CBX8 knockdown suppressed cell proliferation. Further, YBX1 interacted with CBX8. YBX1 knockdown compromised the proliferation of CBX8 overexpressing cells. CBX8 promotes HCC cell proliferation through YBX1 mediated cell cycle progression and is related to poor HCC prognoses. Therefore, CBX8 may serve as a potential target for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.

In recent years, perovskite materials have been the subject of great progress in optoelectronic devices. The perovskite layer is the light absorption layer of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), and the majority charge carriers type play a crucial role in the formation of a P&ndash, N junction. In this paper, the light absorption layer of PSCs was Rb-mixed at a low concentrations by using a two-step spin-coating method, which could adjust the majority charge carriers type in perovskite films from N-type to P-type, and it has little influence on the crystal structure and light absorption capacity of perovskite. In addition, low concentration Rb-mixing is different from high concentration Rb-mixing. With increasing Rb-mixing concentration, the perovskite grains does not change shape. Although the quality of perovskite films deteriorated and the PL peaks exhibit a slight blue shift after mixing, the efficiency only slightly decreased, indicating that the new P-N hetero-junction was still formed after mixing, which provided a new idea for the future research of homo-junction PSCs.

The film quality of the electron transport layer (ETL) plays an important role in improving the performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In order to reduce the effect of rough fluorine-doped SnO2 (FTO)substrate on the film quality of the TiO2 ETL, multiple cycles of spin-coating were employed to realize optimized TiO2 film and improve the performance of PSCs with rough FTO. The results show that TiO2 ETL was optimized most effectively using two spin-coating cycles, obtaining the best performance of PSCs with rough FTO. The carbon electrode-based PSCs were then demonstrated. Our work discusses the feasibility of low-quality rough FTO for the fabrication of PSCs and photodetectors to reduce costs.

BackgroundSince the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease (COVID-19) outbreaks in Wuhan, China, healthcare systems capacities in highly endemic areas have been overwhelmed. Approaches to efficient management are urgently needed and key to a quicker control of the outbreaks and casualties. We aimed to characterize the clinical features of hospitalized patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, and develop a mortality risk index for COVID-19 patients.MethodsIn this retrospective one-centre cohort study, we included all the confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients hospitalized in a COVID-19-designated hospital from January 21 to February 5, 2020. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, radiological and clinical outcome data were collected from the hospital information system, nursing records and laboratory reports.ResultsOf 577 patients with at least one post-admission evaluation, the median age was 55 years (interquartile range [IQR], 39 - 66); 254 (44.0%) were men; 22.8% (100/438) were severe pneumonia on admission, and 37.7% (75/199) patients were SARS-CoV-2 positive. The clinical, laboratory and radiological data were comparable between positive and negative SARS-CoV-2 patients. During a median follow-up of 8.4 days (IQR, 5.8 - 12.0), 39 patients died with a 12-day cumulative mortality of 8.7% (95% CI, 5.9% to 11.5%). A simple mortality risk index (called ACP index), composed of Age and C-reactive Protein, was developed. By applying the ACP index, patients were categorized into three grades. The 12-day cumulative mortality in grade three (age ≥ 60 years and CRP ≥ 34 mg/L) was 33.2% (95% CI, 19.8% to 44.3%), which was significantly higher than those of grade two (age ≥ 60 years and CRP < 34 mg/L; age < 60 years and CRP ≥ 34 mg/L; 5.6% [95% CI, 0 to 11.3%]) and grade one (age < 60 years and CRP < 34 mg/L, 0%) (P ConclusionThe ACP index can predict COVID-19 related short-term mortality, which may be a useful and convenient tool for quickly establishing a COVID-19 hierarchical management system that can greatly reduce the medical burden and therefore mortality in highly endemic areas.

Flexible perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have received increasing attention in wearable and portable devices over the past ten years. The low-temperature process of electron transport layer plays a key role in fabricating flexible PSCs. In this paper, we improve the performance of flexible PSCs by controlling the thermodynamic procedure in the low-temperature annealing process of solution-processed TiO2 layers and modulating the precursor concentration of (6,6)-phenyl c61 butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)/TiO2 substrate. The results show that slowing down evaporation rate of residual solvent and adopting PC61BM of appropriate precursor concentration are confirmed to be effective methods to improve the performance of flexible PSCs. We also demonstrate carbon electrode-based flexible PSCs. Our work expands the feasibility of low temperature process for the development of flexible perovskite photodetectors and light-emitting diodes, as well as flexible PSCs.

In recent years, flexible perovskite solar cells have drawn tremendous attention in the field of wearable devices, and optimization of perovskite composition plays an important role in improving film quality and photophysical properties. At present, some researchers have only studied A-site organic cations mixing or X-site halide anions mixing in the ABX3 structure of perovskite, but there are few reports on co-mixing of A-site and X-site ions in flexible perovskite solar cells. In this paper, we mainly try to study the effects of different concentrations of mixed formamidine methylamine halide (FAxMA1-xBrxClyI1-x-y) precursor solutions on the quality and photophysical properties of perovskite films under low temperature process. We conclude that the film quality and photophysical properties reached the best results when the optimized precursor solution concentration was 60:6:6. The investigation on composition optimization in this experiment laid the foundation for the improvement of the performance of flexible perovskite solar cells. We also use the results of this experiment to prepare flexible perovskite solar cells based on carbon electrodes, which are expected to be applied in other flexible optoelectronic or electro-optical devices.

Background: Since the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease (COVID-19) outbreaks in Wuhan, China, healthcare systems capacities in highly endemic areas have been overwhelmed. Approaches to efficient management are urgently needed and key to a quicker control of the outbreaks and casualties. We aimed to characterize the clinical features of hospitalized patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, and develop a mortality risk index for COVID-19 patients. Methods: In this retrospective one-centre cohort study, we included all the confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients hospitalized in a COVID-19-designated hospital from January 21 to February 5, 2020. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, radiological and clinical outcome data were collected from the hospital information system, nursing records and laboratory reports. Findings: Of 577 patients with at least one post-admission evaluation, the median age was 55 years (interquartile range [IQR], 39 - 66); 254 (44·0%) were men; 22·8% (100/438) were severe pneumonia on admission, and 37·7% (75/199) patients were SARS-CoV-2 positive. The clinical, laboratory and radiological data were comparable between positive and negative SARS-CoV-2 patients. During a median follow-up of 8·4 days (IQR, 5·8 - 12·0), 39 patients died with a 12-day cumulative mortality of 8·7% (95% CI, 5·9% to 11·5%). A simple mortality risk index (called ACP index), composed of Age and C-reactive Protein, was developed. By applying the ACP index, patients were categorized into three grades. The 12-day cumulative mortality in grade three (age ≥ 60 years and CRP ≥ 34 mg/L) was 33·2% (95% CI, 19·8% to 44·3%), which was significantly higher than those of grade two (age ≥ 60 years and CRP < 34 mg/L; age < 60 years and CRP ≥ 34 mg/L; 5·6% [95% CI, 0 to 11·3%]) and grade one (age < 60 years and CRP < 34 mg/L, 0%) (P

Ferroelectric photovoltaic materials are more stable compared to perovskite materials and are increasingly promising as light absorbing layers for the fabrication of solar cells. In this paper, a narrow bandgap molecular ferroelectric Hexane-1,6-diammonium pentaiodobismuth (HDA-BiI5) is used to fabricate solar cells, and the structure of inverted electron transport-free layer is determined after calculating its conduction band bottom and valence band top. The results show that the short-circuit current density (Jsc) of the device reaches 1.057 mA/cm2 at the third bias scan, which is about 9 times the initial performance of the device. Although the change of open circuit voltage (Voc) is not obvious, while the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the device is improved significantly. The improved photovoltaic performance of the device is due to the combined effect of the depolarization field formed after multiple polarizations and the built-in electric field at the P-N junction.

The depolarization field of ferroelectric photovoltaic materials can enhance the separation and transport of photogenerated carriers, which will improve the performance of photovoltaic devices, thus attracting the attention of researchers. In this paper, a narrow bandgap molecular ferroelectric Hexane-1,6-diammonium pentaiodobismuth (HDA-BiI5) was selected as the photo absorption layer for the fabrication of solar cells. After optimizing the ferroelectric thin film by the antisolvent process, the effect of different polarization voltages on the performance of ferroelectric devices was studied. The results showed that there was a significant increase in short-circuit current density, and the photoelectric conversion efficiency showed an overall increasing trend. Finally, we analyzed the internal mechanism of the effect of polarization on the device.

It is crucial to find a good material as a hole transport layer (HTL) to improve the performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), devices with an inverted structure. Polyethylene dioxythiophene-poly (styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and inorganic nickel oxide (NiOx) have become hotspots in the study of hole transport materials in PSCs on account of their excellent properties. In our research, NiOx and PEDOT: PSS, two kinds of hole transport materials, were prepared and compared to study the impact of the bottom layer on the light absorption and morphology of perovskite layer. By the way, some experimental parameters are simulated by wx Analysis of Microelectronic and Photonic Structures (wxAMPS). In addition, thin interfacial layers with deep capture levels and high capture cross sections were inserted to simulate the degradation of the interface between light absorption layer and PEDOT:PSS. This work realizes the combination of experiment and simulation. Exploring the mechanism of the influence of functional layer parameters plays a vital part in the performance of devices by establishing the system design. It can be found that the perovskite film growing on NiOx has a stronger light absorption capacity, which makes the best open-circuit voltage of 0.98 V, short-circuit current density of 24.55 mA/cm2, and power conversion efficiency of 20.01%.

we insert (6,6)-phenyl c61 butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) interlayer of different precursor solution concentrations between low-temperature TiO2 electron transport layer (ETL) and light absorption layer to modify charge carrier transporting, mitigate hysteresis and improve perovskite film quality. The results show that the TiO2 / perovskite interface, the perovskite film morphology and photo physical properties can be modified by optimizing the precursor solution concentrations of PC61BM interlayer, which facilitates the electron extraction from perovskite absorption layer to TiO2 ETL and reduces the hysteresis.

TiO2 is an important electron transport material in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Some researchers have prepared dense TiO2 particles and mesoporous TiO2, but there are few reports on preparation of TiO2 nanosheets for solar cells. We have prepared in-situ controllable TiO2 nanosheet array on the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate with multiple spin-coating method, and the nanosheets were horizontally arranged in order with good shape consistency. Our research provides references for the preparation of solar cells with TiO2 nanosheets as electron transport layer (ETL).

As a new type of solar cells, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have received widespread attention. The grain growth and surface morphology of perovskite thin films are considered to have an important influence on the performance of PSCs. In this paper, the K+ was introduced into the CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) and the effect of different doping concentration on the morphology, photophysical properties, and semiconductor characteristics of the perovskite films was investigated. From experiments, we found that the incorporation of low-concentration K+ has a passivation effect on the grain boundaries, which reduces the defect density at interface. The phase transition and obvious red shift of MAPbI3 could be seen under high doping concentration in XRD pattern and absorption spectrum, respectively. The modulation of the perovskite layer major charge carrier type was observed when K+ was introduced, which laid a basis for future investigation on inverted homo-junction solar cells.

Energy band alignment between perovskite layer and charge transport layers is critical to the perovskite solar cell efficiency. The thickness of functional layers also has a great influence on the device performance. We have optimized the energy band alignment at the interface between electron transport layer (ETL) and perovskite layer by using appropriate Cd1-xZnxS ETL (x represents the Zn molar concentration). Different hole transport layers (HTLs) have also been selected to address the mismatching energy band alignment at perovskite/HTL interface. Additionally, the thickness of Cd1-xZnxS ETL and perovskite layer (MAPbI3) has been optimized. We performed all the analysis via numerical simulation with wx Analysis of Microelectronic and Photonic Structures (wxAMPS) software. We also compared the results obtained in this study, with results reported in other literature to ascertain the validity of the results. The results show that the device performance could be improved by appropriately increasing the molar concentration of Zn in Cd1-xZnxS. Spike-type energy band structure at the interface of MAPbI3/HTL could favor the performance of perovskite solar cells when MASnBr3 is adopted as HTL. Appropriate ETL and perovskite layer thickness would increase the short circuit current and reduce the recombination loss.

The investigation of crystal growth is crucial for us to improve the film quality and photophysical properties of CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3). In the two-step spin-coating process, the crystal structure could be modulated by controlling the growth conditions of PbI2 and CH3NH3I (MAI) layers. In this paper, the PbI2 layer was treated with annealing under different times. A liquid&ndash, liquid diffusion (LLD) mechanism is proposed to modify the deposition of MAI precursor solution and enhance the flatness of organic&ndash, inorganic hybrid perovskite film. Furthermore, the perovskite films are prepared using different concentrations of MAI. The evolution process of perovskite structure is observed by modulating the concentration of MAI. The spin-coating of moderate MAI tends to form high quality MAPbI3 films with enhanced absorption and carrier extraction capabilities. The high concentration of MAI would cause the perovskite phase transition, which provides a novel perspective to modulate the structure of organic&ndash, inorganic hybrid perovskite in the two-step spin-coating process, although it deteriorates the device performance.

Perovskite components have tremendous influence on the film quality and device performance. There are obvious impurity defects, holes, etc. in the films of conventional perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In this work, the perovskite component was tuned to [HC(NH2)2]0.3(CH3NH3)0.7PbI2.4Cl0.3Br0.3 (FA0.3MA0.7PbI2.4Cl0.3Br0.3) via cation and anion co-mixing, it was observed that the residual PbI2 at perovskite film had a good passivation effect on the grain boundaries and further ameliorated the quality of the film. The photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of low-cost carbon electrode-based photovoltaic devices we prepared increased from 8.58% to 12.40%. Our work will also be more beneficial to the commercialization of PSCs and the preparation of other optoelectronic devices.