Lattice Manipulation with Di-Tertiary Ammonium Spacer in Bismuth Bromide Perovskite Directs Efficient Charge Transport and Suppressed Ion Migration for Photodetector Applications.

Bismuth halide hybrid perovskites have emerged as promising alternatives to their lead halide homologs because of high chemical stability, low toxicity, and structural diversity. However, their advancements in optoelectronic field are plagued with poor charge transport, due to considerable microstrain triggered by bulky spacer. Herein, the di-tertiary ammonium spacer (N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-1,4-butanediammonium, TMBD) is explored to direct stable 1D bismuth bromide lattice structure with relaxed microstrain. Compared to the primary pentamethylenediamine (PD)2+, the (TMBD)2+ adopting alternating alignment enables a unique H-bonds mode to distort the configuration of inorganic layers to form corner-sharing [BiBr5] near-regular chains with narrower bandgap, lower exciton binding energy, and reduced carrier-lattice interactions, thereby facilitating charge-carrier transport. Moreover, the (TMBD)2+ spacers largely suppress ion migration in perovskite lattice, as substantiated by the experimental and theoretical investigations. Consequently, (TMBD)BiBr5 single crystal photodetector delivers a 185-fold increase in current on/off ratio with respect to (PD)BiBr5 under white light irradiation, considerable responsivity (≈82.97 mA W-1), detectivity (≈8.06 ×1011 Jones) under weak light (0.02 mW cm-2) irradiation, in the top rank of the reported hybrid bismuth halide perovskites. This finding offers novel design criterion for high-performance lead-free perovskites.

Case report and literature review: A thyroid storm patient with severe acute hepatic failure treated by therapeutic plasma exchange and a double plasma molecular absorption system.

Thyroid storm (TS) leading to acute liver failure is rare but fatal in clinical practice and hepatic failure can remarkably limit medication options for TS. We successfully cured a patient with TS complicated with acute hepatic failure using therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) and a double plasma molecular absorption system (DPMAS) and summarized the case characteristics of 10 similar critical patients reported worldwide. We recommend that patients with TS complicated with liver failure disuse propylthiouracil or methimazole. TPE should be utilized to rapidly decrease thyroid hormone levels, and DPMAS should be considered for supportive treatment in the presence of hepatic encephalopathy or dramatic bilirubin elevations.

Bulk Photovoltaic Effect in Polar 3D Perovskitoid Enables Self-Powered Polarization-Sensitive Photodetection.

The family of polar hybrid perovskites, in which bulk photovoltaic effects (BPVEs) drive steady photocurrent without bias voltage, have shown promising potentials in self-powered polarization-sensitive photodetection. However, reports of BPVEs in 3D perovskites remain scare, being mainly hindered by the limited dipole moment or lack of symmetry breaking. Herein, a polar 3D perovskitoid, (BDA)Pb2Br6 (BDA = NH3C4H8NH3), where the spontaneous polarization (Ps)-induced BPVE drives self-powered photodetection of polarized-light is reported. Emphatically, the edge-sharing Pb2Br10 dimer building unit allows the optical anisotropy and polarity in 3D (BDA)Pb2Br6, which triggers distinct optical absorption dichroism ratio of ≈2.80 and BPVE dictated photocurrent of 3.5 µA cm-2. Strikingly, these merits contribute to a polarization-sensitive photodetection with a high polarization ratio (≈4) under self-powered mode, beyond those of 2D hybrid perovskites and inorganic materials. This study highlights the potential of polar 3D perovskitoids toward intelligent optoelectronic applications.

Halide Ordering Enables Superior Charge Transport in 3D (NMPDA)Pb2 I4 Br2 Perovskitoid Single Crystal.

Halide composition engineering has been demonstrated as an effective strategy for optical and electronic properties modulation in 3D perovskites. While the impact of halide mixing on the structural and charge transport properties of 3D perovskitoids remains largely unexplored. Herein, it is demonstrated that bromine (Br) mixing in 3D (NMPDA)Pb2 I6 (NMPDA = N-methyl-1,3-propane diammonium) perovskitoid yields stabilized (NMPDA)Pb2 I4 Br2 with specific ordered halide sites, where Br ions locate at the edge-sharing sites. The halide ordered structure enables stronger H-bonds, shorter interlayer distance, and lower octahedra distortion in (NMPDA)Pb2 I4 Br2 with respect to the pristine (NMPDA)Pb2 I6 . These attributes further result in high ion migration activation energy, low defect states density, and enhanced carrier mobility-lifetime product (µτ), as underpinned by the electrical properties investigation and DFT calculations. Remarkably, the parallel configured photodetector based on (NMPDA)Pb2 I4 Br2 single crystal delivers a high on/off current ratio of 3.92 × 103 , a satisfying photoresponsivity and detectivity of 0.28 A W-1 and 3.05 × 1012 Jones under 10.94 µW cm-2 irradiation, superior to that of (NMPDA)Pb2 I6 and the reported 3D perovskitoids. This work sheds novel insight on exploring 3D mixed halide perovskitoids toward advanced and stable optoelectronic devices.

Acute pancreatitis: A review of diagnosis, severity prediction and prognosis assessment from imaging technology, scoring system and artificial intelligence.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a potentially life-threatening inflammatory disease of the pancreas, with clinical management determined by the severity of the disease. Diagnosis, severity prediction, and prognosis assessment of AP typically involve the use of imaging technologies, such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound, and scoring systems, including Ranson, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, and Bedside Index for Severity in AP scores. Computed tomography is considered the gold standard imaging modality for AP due to its high sensitivity and specificity, while magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound can provide additional information on biliary obstruction and vascular complications. Scoring systems utilize clinical and laboratory parameters to classify AP patients into mild, moderate, or severe categories, guiding treatment decisions, such as intensive care unit admission, early enteral feeding, and antibiotic use. Despite the central role of imaging technologies and scoring systems in AP management, these methods have limitations in terms of accuracy, reproducibility, practicality and economics. Recent advancements of artificial intelligence (AI) provide new opportunities to enhance their performance by analyzing vast amounts of clinical and imaging data. AI algorithms can analyze large amounts of clinical and imaging data, identify scoring system patterns, and predict the clinical course of disease. AI-based models have shown promising results in predicting the severity and mortality of AP, but further validation and standardization are required before widespread clinical application. In addition, understanding the correlation between these three technologies will aid in developing new methods that can accurately, sensitively, and specifically be used in the diagnosis, severity prediction, and prognosis assessment of AP through complementary advantages.

N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) Modification in Natural Immune Cell-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases.

The post-transcriptional N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification of RNA influences stability, transport, and translation with implications for various physiological and pathological processes. Immune cell development, differentiation, and activation are also thought to be regulated by m6A and affect host defense against pathogens and inflammatory response with impacts on infectious, neoplastic, autoimmune, cardiovascular, hepatic, and osteal diseases. The current review summarizes recent research on m6A in monocyte/macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells, natural killer cells, and microglia and gives insights into epigenetic modifications of the immune system and novel therapeutic strategies for immune-related diseases.

Broadband red emission from one-dimensional hexamethonium lead bromide perovskitoid.

Broadband emissions from low-dimensional hybrid perovskites have aroused intense interest. However, the achievement of broadband red emission in lead halide perovskites remains challenging. Herein, we report a one-dimensional (1D) hybrid lead bromide perovskitoid, (HM)Pb2Br6 (HM = hexamethonium), featuring a corrugated "3 × 3" [Pb2Br6]2- chain. The unique structure results in intriguingly red emission peaking at 692 nm, with a PLQY of around 6.24%. Our spectroscopic and computational studies reveal that the red emission derives from self-localized Pb23+, Pb3+ and Br2- species confined within the inorganic lead bromide lattice that function as radiative centres. This finding will benefit the design of perovskite systems for efficient red emission.

Asymmetric Diammonium Directed In-Plane Charge Transport Enhancement in Two-Dimensional Lead Bromide Perovskite for Weak-Light Detection.

Two-dimensional (2D) Dion-Jacobson (DJ) perovskites are drawing significant attention in optoelectronic fields because of their enhanced out-of-plane electron coupling and improved structure stability. However, the structural effects of organic cations on the in-plane charge transport properties of 2D DJ lead bromide perovskites have remained less explored. Herein, we adopt asymmetric 3-(dimethylamino)-1-propylammonium (DMPD) and symmetric butane-1,4-diammonium (BDA) to systematically investigate the influence of organic cations on the structural, optical, and in-plane charge transport properties of 2D lead bromide perovskites. The large penetration depth of DMPD2+ induces a decreased perovskite layer distortion and a lower bandgap in DMPDPbBr4, compared with that of BDAPbBr4. Moreover, DMPDPbBr4 is shown to possess a low exciton binding energy, a low defect density, and a low ion migration activation energy, thereby yielding a more efficient in-plane charge collection efficiency than BDAPbBr4. Density functional theory calculations suggest that the improved in-plane charge transport can be traced to the enlarged antibonding coupling between Pb-6s and Br-4p orbitals that enables a high band dispersion and a low carrier effective mass in the in-plane direction of DMPDPbBr4. Finally, the planar Ag/DMPDPbBr4/Ag photodetector delivers a satisfying detectivity of 1.73 × 1012 Jones under an incident power intensity of 0.16 mW cm-2 and a high on/off ratio of 5.3 × 103. The above findings offer novel insight for the design of 2D DJ lead bromide perovskites for optoelectronic devices.

Association Between Previous Stroke and Severe COVID-19: A Retrospective Cohort Study and an Overall Review of Meta-Analysis.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the association between previous stroke and the risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: We included 164 (61.8 ± 13.6 years) patients with COVID-19 in a retrospective study. We evaluated the unadjusted and adjusted associations between previous stroke and severe COVID-19, using a Cox regression model. We conducted an overall review of systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the relationship of previous stroke with the unfavorable COVID-19 outcomes. Results: The rate of severe COVID-19 in patients with previous stroke was 28.37 per 1,000 patient days (95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.65-75.59), compared to 3.94 per 1,000 patient days (95% CI: 2.66-5.82) in those without previous stroke (p < 0.001). Previous stroke was significantly associated with severe COVID-19 using a Cox regression model (unadjusted [hazard ratio, HR]: 6.98, 95% CI: 2.42-20.16, p < 0.001; adjusted HR [per additional 10 years]: 4.62, 95% CI: 1.52-14.04, p = 0.007). An overall review of systematic review and meta-analysis showed that previous stroke was significantly associated with severe COVID-19, mortality, need for intensive care unit admission, use of mechanical ventilation, and an unfavorable composite outcome. Conclusion: Previous stroke seems to influence the course of COVID-19 infection; such patients are at high risk of severe COVID-19 and might benefit from early hospital treatment measures and preventive strategies.

Exosomes from human induced pluripotent stem cells derived mesenchymal stem cells improved myocardial injury caused by severe acute pancreatitis through activating Akt/Nrf2/HO-1 axis.

Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells (iMSCs) have been believed to be a promising alternative for the stem cell transplantation therapy. The exosomes (Exo) from iMSCs play an important role in several kinds of life activities. The role of exosomes from iMSCs in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) induced myocardial injury (MI) has not been investigated. The Exo were isolated from iMSCs through differential centrifugation method. The SAP rat model was established with 5% sodium taurocholate injection into the distal end of the bilepancreatic duct. RT-PCR and western blotting were used to measure related gene expression. Masson trichrome and Sirius Red stainings were used to evaluate MI injury. Cardiac function was detected through cardiac ultrasound.Exo promoted cell viability through activating Akt/nuclear factor E2 related factors 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) signaling pathway in vitro. Exo improved MI induced by SAP through activating Akt/Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway. Exo improved cardiac function, and suppressed oxidative status in the SAP model. Exo increased the expression of von Willebrand Factor (vWF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) through activating Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway. Our data indicated that the Exo from iMSCs could improve MI caused by SAP through activating Nrf2/HO-1 axis. These findings firstly unfold the potential application of Exo from iMSCs in treating MI induced by SAP.Abbreviations: LVEF: Left ventricular ejection fraction; LVFS: left ventricular fractional shorten; LVDd: left ventricular end-diastolic diameter; LVDs: left ventricular end-systolic diameter; MI: Myocardial infarction; MSCs: Mesenchymal stem cells; iPSCs: Human-induced pluripotent stem cells; SAP: Severe acute pancreatitis; iMSCs: iPSCs derived VEGF: MSCs; vascular endothelial growth factor; Nrf2: Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor; RT-PCR: Real-time polymerase chain reaction; HE: Hematoxylin-eosin; MODS: Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome; PI3K: Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; SOD: Superoxide dismutase; FBS: Fetal bovine serum; ECL: Enhanced chemiluminescence; IHC: Immunohistochemistry.

Six-month follow-up of functional status in discharged patients with coronavirus disease 2019.

BACKGROUND: The long-term functional outcome of discharged patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains unresolved. We aimed to describe a 6-month follow-up of functional status of COVID-19 survivors. METHODS: We reviewed the data of COVID-19 patients who had been consecutively admitted to the Tumor Center of Union Hospital (Wuhan, China) between 15 February and 14 March 2020. We quantified a 6-month functional outcome reflecting symptoms and disability in COVID-19 survivors using a post-COVID-19 functional status scale ranging from 0 to 4 (PCFS). We examined the risk factors for the incomplete functional status defined as a PCFS > 0 at a 6-month follow-up after discharge. RESULTS: We included a total of 95 COVID-19 survivors with a median age of 62 (IQR 53-69) who had a complete functional status (PCFS grade 0) at baseline in this retrospective observational study. At 6-month follow-up, 67 (70.5%) patients had a complete functional outcome (grade 0), 9 (9.5%) had a negligible limited function (grade 1), 12 (12.6%) had a mild limited function (grade 2), 7 (7.4%) had moderate limited function (grade 3). Univariable logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between the onset symptoms of muscle or joint pain and an increased risk of incomplete function (unadjusted OR 4.06, 95% CI 1.33-12.37). This association remained after adjustment for age and admission delay (adjusted OR 3.39, 95% CI 1.06-10.81, p = 0.039). CONCLUSIONS: A small proportion of discharged COVID-19 patients may have an incomplete functional outcome at a 6-month follow-up; intervention strategies are required.

The predictive value of serum level of cystatin C for COVID-19 severity.

To investigate the potential prognostic value of Serum cystatin C (sCys C) in patients with COVID-19 and determine the association of sCys C with severe COVID-19 illness. We performed a retrospective review of medical records of 162 (61.7 ± 13.5 years) patients with COVID-19. We assessed the predictive accuracy of sCys C for COVID-19 severity by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The participants were divided into two groups based on the sCys C cut-off value. We evaluated the association between high sCys C level and the development of severe COVID-19 disease, using a COX proportional hazards regression model. The area under the ROC curve was 0.708 (95% CI 0.594-0.822), the cut-off value was 1.245 (mg/L), and the sensitivity and specificity was 79.1% and 60.7%, respectively. A multivariable Cox analysis showed that a higher level of sCys C (adjusted HR 2.78 95% CI 1.25-6.18, p = 0.012) was significantly associated with an increased risk of developing a severe COVID-19 illness. Patients with a higher sCys C level have an increased risk of severe COVID-19 disease. Our findings suggest that early assessing sCys C could help to identify potential severe COVID-19 patients.

Antisolvent-assisted Crystallization of Centimeter-sized Lead-free Bismuth Bromide Hybrid Perovskite Single Crystals with X-ray Sensitive Merits.

Hybrid bismuth halides perovskites have emerged as promising candidates for X-ray detection, due to the strong absorptivity of high-energy X-ray photons, high resistivity, large carrier diffusion length and low toxicity. However, the mostly investigated hybrid bismuth iodides single crystals are usually opaque and require a harsh synthesis process. Herein, novel one-dimensional (1D) pentamethylenediamine bismuth bromide (PDA)BiBr5 single crystals were synthesized via an antisolvent-assisted crystallization method at room temperature. Bulk (PDA)BiBr5 single crystals have sizes of 10×1.3×1.5 mm3 and high transparency. They are shown to have low density of defects of 2.0×1010  cm-3 and obvious photoconductivity. Moreover, they exhibit large bulk resistivity of 2.13×1011 â€…Ω cm and good X-ray attenuation coefficient. Consequently, the vertical structured (PDA)BiBr5 single crystal X-ray photoconductor produces a sensitivity of 3.8 µC Gyair -1  cm-2 . This study provides a facile strategy for synthesizing bulk hybrid bismuth bromides single crystals with potential X-ray detection application.

Does pre-existent physical inactivity have a role in the severity of COVID-19?

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Physical inactivity is considered an important lifestyle factor for overweight and cardiovascular disease. We aimed to investigate the association between pre-existent physical inactivity and the risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: We included 164 (61.8 ± 13.6 years) patients with COVID-19 who were admitted between 15 February and 14 March 2020 in this retrospective study. We evaluated the association between pre-existent physical inactivity and severe COVID-19 using a logistic regression model. RESULTS: Of 164 eligible patients with COVID-19, 103 (62.8%) were reported to be physically inactive. Univariable logistic regression analysis showed that physical inactivity was associated with an increased risk of severe COVID-19 [unadjusted odds ratio (OR) 6.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.88-22.62]. In the multivariable regression analysis, physical inactivity remained significantly associated with an increased risk of severe COVID-19 (adjusted OR 4.12, 95% CI 1.12-15.14) after adjustment for age, sex, stroke, and overweight. CONCLUSION: Our data showed that pre-existent physical inactivity was associated with an increased risk of experiencing severe COVID-19. Our findings indicate that people should be encouraged to keep physically active to be at a lower risk of experiencing a severe illness when COVID-19 infection seems unpredicted.The reviews of this paper are available via the supplemental material section.

Prevalence and outcomes of re-positive nucleic acid tests in discharged COVID-19 patients.

The prevalence and outcomes of patients who had re-activation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) after discharge remain poorly understood. We included 126 consecutively confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 2-month follow-up data after discharge in this retrospective study. The upper respiratory specimen using a reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction test of three patients (71 years [60-76]) were positive within 11-20 days after their discharge, with an event rate of 19.8 (95%CI 2.60-42.1) per 1,000,000 patient-days. Moreover, all re-positive patients were asymptomatic. Our findings suggest that few recovered patients may still be virus carriers even after reaching the discharge criteria.

The effect of vascular risk factor burden on the severity of COVID-19 illness, a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Patients with cardiovascular comorbidities are at high risk of poor outcome from COVID-19. However, how the burden (number) of vascular risk factors influences the risk of severe COVID-19 disease remains unresolved. Our aim was to investigate the association of severe COVID-19 illness with vascular risk factor burden. METHODS: We included 164 (61.8 ± 13.6 years) patients with COVID-19 in this retrospective study. We compared the difference in clinical characteristics, laboratory findings and chest computed tomography (CT) findings between patients with severe and non-severe COVID-19 illness. We evaluated the association between the number of vascular risk factors and the development of severe COVID-19 disease, using a Cox regression model. RESULTS: Sixteen (9.8%) patients had no vascular risk factors; 38 (23.2%) had 1; 58 (35.4%) had 2; 34 (20.7%) had 3; and 18 (10.9%) had ≥4 risk factors. Twenty-nine patients (17.7%) experienced severe COVID-19 disease with a median (14 [7-27] days) duration between onset to developing severe COVID-19 disease, an event rate of 4.47 per 1000-patient days (95%CI 3.10-6.43). Kaplan-Meier curves showed a gradual increase in the risk of severe COVID-19 illness (log-rank P < 0.001) stratified by the number of vascular risk factors. After adjustment for age, sex, and comorbidities as potential confounders, vascular risk factor burden remained associated with an increasing risk of severe COVID-19 illness. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with increasing vascular risk factor burden have an increasing risk of severe COVID-19 disease, and this population might benefit from specific COVID-19 prevention (e.g., self-isolation) and early hospital treatment measures.

MicroRNA-127-5p attenuates severe pneumonia via tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 1.

Pneumonia is a persistent and pervasive disease, the effects of which can be severe. MicroRNA (miR)-127-5p has been utilized as a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of severe pneumonia. The present study aimed to investigate the function of miR-127-5p during severe pneumonia. An in vitro model of severe pneumonia in Ana-1 murine macrophages was established using lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Subsequently, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and ELISA were performed to detect the mRNA and protein expression levels of interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. Western blotting was also performed to measure the activity of AKT and NF-κB. The results indicated that compared with the control group, LPS treatment increased TNF receptor-associated factor 1 (TRAF1) expression levels and reduced miR-127-5p expression levels. Furthermore, the results revealed that the 3'-untranslated region of TRAF1 was targeted by miR-127-5p. miR-127-5p mimic reduced LPS-induced increases in IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α expression by targeting TRAF1, which was potentially mediated by inactivation of the AKT and NF-κB signaling pathways. Collectively, the results demonstrated that miR-127-5p may attenuate severe pneumonia by reducing LPS-induced inflammatory cytokine production, and inactivating the AKT and NF-κB signaling pathways by targeting TRAF1.

5-Ammoniumvaleric acid stabilized mixed-dimensional perovskite submicron platelets with white light emission.

Low-dimensional Pb-Br and Pb-Cl perovskite single crystals have aroused considerable attention due to their broadband white-light emission. But their synthesis involving halogenation of organic amines, dissolution of lead oxide and a slow cooling process is quite complicated. Herein, we report white light emission from mixed-dimensional AVA x (MAPbCl3) perovskite submicron platelets formed by one-step solution processing. It is found that the presence of 5-ammoniumvaleric acid (5-AVA) with a zwitterionic functional group is crucial for modulating the morphology and structural dimensionality of perovskites. Importantly, AVA x (MAPbCl3) perovskites exhibit distinctive structural dimensionality dependent broadband emission, indicating the formation of self-trapped excited states. The AVA2(MAPbCl3) perovskite exhibits white-light emission with a color rendering index (CRI) of 85 and a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 8624 K, yielding "cold" white light. Moreover, the mixed-dimensional perovskite exhibits good stability for more than 30 days. With this report, we aim to provide a facile approach for synthesizing stable low-dimensional perovskite nanostructures for making advanced optoelectronic devices.

Morusin alleviates mycoplasma pneumonia via the inhibition of Wnt/ß-catenin and NF-κB signaling.

Morusin has been traditionally used for the treatment of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP), but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. The present study aimed to explore the mechanism by which morusin achieves efficacy on mycoplasma pneumonia. Mycoplasma pneumonia model was established in BALB/c mouse and the effects of morusin were evaluated in the model. Compared with the model group, DNA amount of M. pneumoniae decreased by 24.6 ± 3.14% and 47.6 ± 6.78% in low morusin (20 mg/kg) and high morusin (50 mg/kg) groups, respectively (P<0.05). Moreover, morusin treatment led to decreased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1ß, and tumor necrosis factor α and increased level of anti-inflammatory IL-10 in mice lung tissue. Furthermore, morusin treatment inhibited the activation of Wnt/ß-catenin and NF-κB pathways in mice lung tissue. Taken together, our results suggest that morusin relieves mycoplasma pneumonia via the inhibition of the activation of Wnt/ß-catenin and NF-κB pathways, and is a potential natural agent for the treatment of mycoplasma pneumonia.