All-polymer organic solar cells with nano-to-micron hierarchical morphology and large light receiving angle.

Distributed photovoltaics in living environment harvest the sunlight in different incident angles throughout the day. The development of planer solar cells with large light-receiving angle can reduce the requirements in installation form factor and is therefore urgently required. Here, thin film organic photovoltaics with nano-sized phase separation integrated in micro-sized surface topology is demonstrated as an ideal solution to proposed applications. All-polymer solar cells, by means of a newly developed sequential processing, show large magnitude hierarchical morphology with facilitated exciton-to-carrier conversion. The nano fibrilar donor-acceptor network and micron-scale optical field trapping structure in combination contributes to an efficiency of 19.06% (certified 18.59%), which is the highest value to date for all-polymer solar cells. Furthermore, the micron-sized surface topology also contributes to a large light-receiving angle. A 30% improvement of power gain is achieved for the hierarchical morphology comparing to the flat-morphology devices. These inspiring results show that all-polymer solar cell with hierarchical features are particularly suitable for the commercial applications of distributed photovoltaics due to its low installation requirement.

SDV-LOAM: Semi-Direct Visual-LiDAR Odometry and Mapping.

Visual-LiDAR odometry and mapping (V-LOAM), which fuses complementary information of a camera and a LiDAR, is an attractive solution for accurate and robust pose estimation and mapping. However, existing systems could suffer nontrivial tracking errors arising from 1) association between 3D LiDAR points and sparse 2D features (i.e., 3D-2D depth association) and 2) obvious drifts in the vertical direction in the 6-degree of freedom (DOF) sweep-to-map optimization. In this paper, we present SDV-LOAM which incorporates a semi-direct visual odometry and an adaptive sweep-to-map LiDAR odometry to effectively avoid the above-mentioned errors and in turn achieve high tracking accuracy. The visual module of our SDV-LOAM directly extracts high-gradient pixels where 3D LiDAR points project on for tracking. To avoid the problem of large scale difference between matching frames in the VO, we design a novel point matching with propagation method to propagate points of a host frame to an intermediate keyframe which is closer to the current frame to reduce scale differences. To reduce the pose estimation drifts in the vertical direction, our LiDAR module employs an adaptive sweep-to-map optimization method which automatically choose to optimize 3 horizontal DOF or 6 full DOF pose according to the richness of geometric constraints in the vertical direction. In addition, we propose a novel sweep reconstruction method which can increase the input frequency of LiDAR point clouds to the same frequency as the camera images, and in turn yield a high frequency output of the LiDAR odometry in theory. Experimental results demonstrate that our SDV-LOAM ranks 8th on the KITTI odometry benchmark which outperforms most LiDAR/visual-LiDAR odometry systems. In addition, our visual module outperforms state-of-the-art visual odometry and our adaptive sweep-to-map optimization can improve the performance of several existing open-sourced LiDAR odometry systems. Moreover, we demonstrate our SDV-LOAM on a custom-built hardware platform in large-scale environments which achieves both a high accuracy and output frequency. We have released the source code of our SDV-LOAM for the development of the community.

News Text Mining-Based Business Sentiment Analysis and Its Significance in Economy.

The purpose of business sentiment analysis is to determine the emotions or attitudes expressed toward the company, products, services, personnel, or events. Text analysis are the simplest and most developed types of sentiment analysis so far. The text-based business sentiment analysis still has some unresolved challenges. For example, the machine learning algorithms are unable to recognize double meanings, jokes and allusions. The regional differences between language and non-native speech structures cannot be explained. To solve this problem, an undirected weighted graph is constructed for news topics. The sentences in an article are modeled as nodes, and the normalized sentence similarity is used as the link of the nodes, which can help avoid the influence of sentence length on the summary results. In the topic extraction process, the keywords are not limited to a single word, to achieve the purpose of improving the readability of the abstract. To improve the accuracy of sentiment classification, this work proposes a robust news mining-based business sentiment analysis framework, called BuSeD. It contains two main stages: (1) news collection and preprocessing, and (2) feature extraction and sentiment classification. In the first stage, the news is collected by using crawler tools. The news dataset is then preprocessed by reducing noises. In the second stage, topics in each article is extracted by using traditional topic extraction tools. And then a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based text analyzing model is designed to analyze news from sentence level. We conduct comprehensive experiments to evaluate the performance of BuSeD for sentiment classification. Compared with four classical classification algorithms, the proposed CNN-based classification model of BuSeD achieves the highest F1 scores. We also present a quantitative trading application based on sentiment analysis to validate BuSeD, which indicates that the news-based business sentiment analysis has high economic application value.

Design Rules of the Mixing Phase and Impacts on Device Performance in High-Efficiency Organic Photovoltaics.

In nonfullerene acceptor- (NFA-) based solar cells, the exciton splitting takes place at both domain interface and donor/acceptor mixture, which brings in the state of mixing phase into focus. The energetics and morphology are key parameters dictating the charge generation, diffusion, and recombination. It is revealed that tailoringthe electronic properties of the mixing region by doping with larger-bandgap components could reduce the density of state but elevate the filling state level, leading to improved open-circuit voltage (V OC) and reduced recombination. The monomolecular and bimolecular recombinations are shown to be intercorrelated, which show a Gaussian-like relationship with V OC and linear relationship with short-circuit current density (J SC) and fill factor (FF). The kinetics of hole transfer and exciton diffusion scale with J SC similarly, indicating the carrier generation in mixing region and crystalline domain are equally important. From the morphology perspective, the crystalline order could contribute to V OC improvement, and the fibrillar structure strongly affects the FF. These observations highlight the importance of the mixing region and its connection with crystalline domains and point out the design rules to optimize the mixing phase structure, which is an effective approach to further improve device performance.

Highly Efficient Organic Solar Cells Enabled by the Incorporation of a Sulfonated Graphene Doped PEDOT:PSS Interlayer.

An interface modification layer plays an important role in improving the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). The structure design or doping of electrode interlayer materials can effectively inhibit interfacial carrier recombination and improve ohmic contact between the active layer and the electrodes, which is desirable for realizing high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) has been extensively used as a hole-transport layer (HTL) in OSCs. Here, a modification of PEDOT:PSS is proposed using sulfonated graphene (SG) as a secondary dopant for improving the surface morphology and conductivity. The incorporation of the SG-doped PEDOT:PSS as the HTLs in OSCs leads to the increased charge extraction and shows the best PCEs of 17.48% for PM6:Y6 devices and 18.56% for PM6:L8-BO devices. The significant improvement in device performance suggests that SG-PEDOT:PSS is a promising interfacial layer for efficient charge transport and extraction toward high-efficiency OSCs.

Single-junction organic solar cells with over 19% efficiency enabled by a refined double-fibril network morphology.

In organic photovoltaics, morphological control of donor and acceptor domains on the nanoscale is the key for enabling efficient exciton diffusion and dissociation, carrier transport and suppression of recombination losses. To realize this, here, we demonstrated a double-fibril network based on a ternary donor-acceptor morphology with multi-length scales constructed by combining ancillary conjugated polymer crystallizers and a non-fullerene acceptor filament assembly. Using this approach, we achieved an average power conversion efficiency of 19.3% (certified 19.2%). The success lies in the good match between the photoelectric parameters and the morphological characteristic lengths, which utilizes the excitons and free charges efficiently. This strategy leads to an enhanced exciton diffusion length and a reduced recombination rate, hence minimizing photon-to-electron losses in the ternary devices as compared to their binary counterparts. The double-fibril network morphology strategy minimizes losses and maximizes the power output, offering the possibility of 20% power conversion efficiencies in single-junction organic photovoltaics.

The Molecular Ordering and Double-Channel Carrier Generation of Nonfullerene Photovoltaics within Multi-Length-Scale Morphology.

The success of nonfullerene acceptor (NFA) solar cells lies in their unique physical properties beyond the extended absorption and suitable energy levels. The current study investigates the morphology and photophysical behavior of PBDB-T donor blending with ITIC, 4TIC, and 6TIC acceptors. Single-crystal study shows that the π-π stacking and side-chain interaction dictate molecular assembly, which can be carried to blended films, forming a multi-length-scale morphology. Spontaneous carrier generation is seen in ITIC, 4TIC, and 6TIC neat films and their blended thin films using the PBDB-T donor, providing a new avenue of zero-energy-loss carrier formation. The molecular packing associated with specific contacts and geometry is key in influencing the photophysics, as demonstrated by the charge transfer and carrier lifetime results. The 2D layer of 6TIC facilitates the exciton-to-polaron conversion, and the largest photogenerated polaron yield is obtained. The new mechanism, together with the highly efficient blending region carrier generation, has the prospect of the fundamental advantage for NFA solar cells, from molecular assembly to thin-film morphology.

Correlating Electronic Structure and Device Physics with Mixing Region Morphology in High-Efficiency Organic Solar Cells.

The donor/acceptor interaction in non-fullerene organic photovoltaics leads to the mixing domain that dictates the morphology and electronic structure of the blended thin film. Initiative effort is paid to understand how these domain properties affect the device performances on high-efficiency PM6:Y6 blends. Different fullerenes acceptors are used to manipulate the feature of mixing domain. It is seen that a tight packing in the mixing region is critical, which could effectively enhance the hole transfer and lead to the enlarged and narrow electron density of state (DOS). As a result, short-circuit current (JSC ) and fill factor (FF) are improved. The distribution of DOS and energy levels strongly influences open-circuit voltage (VOC ). The raised filling state of electron Fermi level is seen to be key in determining device VOC . Energy disorder is found to be a key factor to energy loss, which is highly correlated with the intermolecular distance in the mixing region. A 17.53% efficiency is obtained for optimized ternary devices, which is the highest value for similar systems. The current results indicate that a delicate optimization of the mixing domain property is an effective route to improve the VOC , JSC , and FF simultaneously, which provides new guidelines for morphology control toward high-performance organic solar cells.

Capture the high-efficiency non-fullerene ternary organic solar cells formula by machine-learning-assisted energy-level alignment optimization.

Appropriate energy-level alignment in non-fullerene ternary organic solar cells (OSCs) can enhance the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs), due to the simultaneous improvement in charge generation/transportation and reduction in voltage loss. Seven machine-learning (ML) algorithms were used to build the regression and classification models based on energy-level parameters to predict PCE and capture high-performance material combinations, and random forest showed the best predictive capability. Furthermore, two sets of verification experiments were designed to compare the experimental and predicted results. The outcome elucidated that a deep lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the non-fullerene acceptors can slightly reduce the open-circuit voltage (V OC) but significantly improve short-circuit current density (J SC), and, to a certain extent, the V OC could be optimized by the slightly up-shifted LUMO of the third component in non-fullerene ternary OSCs. Consequently, random forest can provide an effective global optimization scheme and capture multi-component combinations for high-efficiency ternary OSCs.

High-Efficiency Organic Photovoltaics using Eutectic Acceptor Fibrils to Achieve Current Amplification.

The intrinsic electronic properties of donor (D) and acceptor (A) materials in coupling with morphological features dictate the output in organic solar cells (OSCs). New physical properties of intimate eutectic mixing are used in nonfullerene-acceptor-based D-A1 -A2 ternary blends to fine-tune the bulk heterojunction thin film morphology as well as their electronic properties. With enhanced thin film crystallinity and improved carrier transport, a significant JSC amplification is achieved due to the formation of eutectic fibrillar lamellae and reduced defects state density. Material wise, aligned cascading energy levels with much larger driving force, and suppressed recombination channels confirm efficient charge transfer and transport, enabling an improved power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.84%. These results reveal the importance of utilizing specific material interactions to control the crystalline habit in blended films to form a well-suited morphology in guiding superior performances, which is of high demand in the next episode of OSC fabrication toward 20% PCE.

Single-layered organic photovoltaics with double cascading charge transport pathways: 18% efficiencies.

The chemical structure of donors and acceptors limit the power conversion efficiencies achievable with active layers of binary donor-acceptor mixtures. Here, using quaternary blends, double cascading energy level alignment in bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic active layers are realized, enabling efficient carrier splitting and transport. Numerous avenues to optimize light absorption, carrier transport, and charge-transfer state energy levels are opened by the chemical constitution of the components. Record-breaking PCEs of 18.07% are achieved where, by electronic structure and morphology optimization, simultaneous improvements of the open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current and fill factor occur. The donor and acceptor chemical structures afford control over electronic structure and charge-transfer state energy levels, enabling manipulation of hole-transfer rates, carrier transport, and non-radiative recombination losses.

Epidemiology of 2000 Chinese uveitis patients from Northeast China.

AIMS: To study the clinical characteristics of 2000 patients with uveitis admitted to the ophthalmology centre of the Second Hospital of Jilin University. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed 2000 patients with uveitis who were admitted to the uveitis clinic of the Second Hospital of Jilin University from July 2010 to June 2019 and analysed data on sex, onset age, onset season, anatomical classification, visual acuity and compared the results with those of other investigation studies. RESULTS: Among 2000 uveitis patients, the mean age of onset was 39.9±14.9 years. There were 946 male patients (47.3%) and 1054 female patients (52.7%). By anatomical classification, panuveitis was the most common (986 cases, 49.3%), followed by anterior uveitis (786 cases, 39.3%), posterior uveitis (119 cases, 6.0%) and intermediate uveitis (109 cases, 5.5%). Among anterior uveitis cases, ankylose spondylitis (207 cases, 26.34%), Fuchs syndrome (74 cases, 9.41%) and viral uveitis (71 cases, 9.03%) were the most common. Among panuveitis cases, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome (372 cases, 37.73%), Behcet's disease (142 cases, 14.40%) and sympathetic ophthalmitis (33 cases, 3.35%) were the most common. Uveitis often occurs during the autumn-winter transition period. The prevalence of anterior uveitis is highest in November, and statistical analysis shows that the incidence of uveitis has a significant correlation with the month. Panuveitis has the most significant effect on vision. CONCLUSION: Panuveitis and anterior uveitis are the most common anatomical classifications of uveitis, which has a significant impact on vision, and their incidence is related to seasonal changes.

Interfacial and structural modifications in perovskite solar cells.

The rapid and continuous progress made in perovskite solar cell (PSC) technology has drawn considerable attention from the photovoltaic research community, and the application of perovskites in other electronic devices (such as photodetectors, light-emitting diodes, and batteries) has become imminent. Because of the diversity in device configurations, optimization of film deposition, and exploration of material systems, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of PSCs has been certified to be as high as 25.2%, making this type of solar cells the fastest advancing technology until now. As demonstrated by researchers worldwide, controlling the morphology and defects in perovskite films is essential for attaining high-performance PSCs. In this regard, interface engineering has proven to be a very efficient way to address these issues, obtaining better charge collection efficiency, and reducing recombination losses. In this review, the interfacial modification between perovskite films and charge-transport layers (CTLs) as well as CTLs and electrodes of PSCs has been widely summarized. Grain boundary (GB) engineering and stress engineering are also included since they are closely related to the improvement in device performance and stability.

pH control and microbial community analysis with HCl or CO2 addition in H2-based autotrophic denitrification.

H2-based autotrophic denitrification is promising to remove nitrate from water or wastewater lacking organic carbon sources, and pH is one of its most important process parameters. HCl and CO2 addition are known as adequate pH control methods for practical purposes. However, because of H2, added CO2 may participate in microbial metabolisms and affect denitrification mechanisms. Here, a combined micro-electrolysis and autotrophic denitrification (CEAD) reactor, in which H2 is generated based on galvanic-cell reactions between zero-valent iron and carbon, was optimized and continuously operated for 233 days by adding HCl or CO2 to control pH in the range of 7.2-8.2. Microbial communities were compared between the two pH-control methods through high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA, nirS, and nirK genes. Under a low COD/N ratio of 0.5 in the influent (with ∼36 mgNO3--N/L), when adding HCl, the total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency reached 91.4% ±â€¯0.9% with a 28-h hydraulic retention time (HRT). When adding CO2, the TN removal efficiency was improved to 96.5% ±â€¯1.7% with 24-h HRT. Significant differences of 16S rRNA and nirS genes between the two pH-control stages indicated the variation of microbial communities and nirS-type denitrifiers. With HCl addition, Thiobacillus, unclassified Comamonadaceae, Arenimonas, Limnobacter, and Thermomonas, which were reported previously as likely autotrophic or heterotrophic denitrifiers, were most dominant in the biofilms. With CO2 addition, the biofilms became dominated by Anaerolineaceae and Methylocystaceae (related to organic carbon metabolism), Denitratisoma (likely heterotrophic denitrifier), and uncultured bacteria TK10 and AKYG587. The results suggest that the added CO2 not only contributed to pH control but also participated in microbial metabolisms. This study provides useful insights into microbial mechanisms and further optimization of H2-based autotrophic denitrification in water and wastewater treatment.

Protective effect of lycopene on testicular toxicity induced by Benzo[a]pyrene intake in rats.

Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) stimulates male reproductive toxicity. In this study, we want to examine the ameliorative potential of Lycopene (LYC) on BaP-induced testicular toxicity. Adult male Wistar rats were segregated into 5 groups: Control, LYC, BaP, BaP + LYC and BaP + PQ7. Sperm parameters, testosterone level, oxidant and antioxidant parameters were determined. MRNA and protein abundances of key genes were analyzed. Cell death and apoptosis were assessed by trypan blue exclusion and Annexin V-FITC staining assay, respectively. LYC inhibited BaP-caused decrease in sperm motility and epididymal sperm concentration, and increase in head, tail and total abnormal sperm rate. LYC inhibited BaP-caused decrease in testosterone level in serum and intratesticular fluids. LYC protected germ cells from BaP-caused oxidative stress. LYC also prevented BaP-caused germ cell death and apoptosis by inhibiting apoptotic pathway. Besides, LYC ameliorated BaP-mediated gap-junction dysfunction of sertoli cells, as shown by the inhibited sertoli cell death and apoptosis, the upregulation of Bcl2 and Cx43, the downregulation of Cleaved Caspase 3, Bax and CaM, and the decrease in Ca2+ level. LYC ameliorated BaP-caused testicular damage via inhibiting oxidative stress and apoptosis, and relieving the gap-junction dysfunction of sertoli cells.

Effect of Surgical Adhesive on the Uterus of Rabbits Following Occlusion.

Purpose/Aim of the Study: The present study investigated the effect of surgical adhesives on the uterus of rabbits and the histomorphology alterations following occlusion, to improve the clinical treatment of abnormal fallopian tube with surgical adhesives for in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET). Materials and Methods: The experimental rabbits received laparotomy and occlusion of the uterus by surgical adhesive adjacent to the two fallopian tubes, while the control rabbits only received laparotomy. The body weight, hysterosalpingography, and histomorphology were measured to evaluate the uterine occlusion at 1 and 6 months after surgery. Results: There was no significant difference in the mortality rate or body weight between the experimental and control groups. In the experimental group, 38 uterine cavities were identified in 19 rabbits, of which 97.37% were occluded, with expanded uterine cavity and tissue oppression at 1 month after surgery. In total, 33 uterine cavities out of the 36 in the control group were occluded, with proliferation of new stratified epithelial cells observed at 6 months after surgery. In the control group, 20 uterine cavities of 10 rabbits were observed to be absent of occlusion at 1 month after surgery, while 18 uterine cavities in the remaining 9 rabbits were also absent of occlusion at 6 months after the surgery. Conclusion: Surgical adhesives are effective in occluding the uterus of rabbits without adverse effects, supporting their potential clinical use to treat the occlusion in abnormal fallopian tubes prior to IVF-ET.

Paclitaxel Promotes Cell Apoptosis in Uterine Leiomyomas.

Uterine leiomyomas are common clinical gynecological tumors, which are a major health concern for many women. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the effect of paclitaxel (PTX) on uterine leiomyomas. A mouse model of uterine leiomyomas was established by estradiol benzoate, followed by treatment with increasing doses of PTX. PTX showed no dose-limiting toxicity that affected the survival of mice, and was able to restore the apoptosis level of uterus tissues of the model mice to normal levels. In this study, we discovered that PTX played a critical role in promoting apoptosis in the mouse model of uterine leiomyomas, which provides a new insight into the therapy of uterine leiomyomas.

The plasma and peritoneal fluid concentrations of matrix metalloproteinase-9 are elevated in patients with endometriosis.

BACKGROUND: Enzyme matrix metalloproteinase-9 is a member of the matrix metalloproteinase family, which is critical to normal tissue remodelling during embryogenesis and wound healing. In patients with endometriosis, increased expression and activity of matrix metalloproteinase-9 have been observed in ectopic endometrium, but the plasma and peritoneal fluid concentrations of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in patients with endometriosis and their relation to disease severity have not been clear. The aim of the study was to investigate the concentrations of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in plasma and peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis. METHODS: A prospective case-control study was conducted in Jinan Military General Hospital between January 2010 and December 2013. Fifty patients with proven endometriosis and 26 endometriosis-free controls were enrolled in this study. Patients with endometriosis were evaluated and divided into moderate/severe endometriosis group (stage I-II, n = 26) and minimal/mild endometriosis group (stage III-IV, n = 24) according to the revised criteria of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Blood samples and peritoneal fluid were obtained from both patients and controls. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in plasma and peritoneal fluid. The concentration of matrix metalloproteinase-9 between different groups was compared and its correlation to disease severity was analysed. RESULTS: Plasma and peritoneal fluid concentrations of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in patients with endometriosis were higher than that in controls. In addition, those patients with moderate/severe endometriosis had significantly higher plasma and peritoneal fluid concentrations of matrix metalloproteinase-9 compared to those with minimal/mild endometriosis. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 concentrations in plasma and peritoneal fluid were both positively correlated with severity of endometriosis and plasma matrix metalloproteinase-9 concentrations had a positive correlation with peritoneal fluid matrix metalloproteinase-9 concentrations in patients with endometriosis. CONCLUSIONS: Increased concentrations of plasma and peritoneal fluid concentrations of matrix metalloproteinase-9 appear to be associated with disease severity of endometriosis and may serve as an alternative biomarker to determine disease severity of endometriosis.

Different Effects of p52SHC1 and p52SHC3 on the Cell Cycle of Neurons and Neural Stem Cells.

SHC3 is exclusively expressed in postmitotic neurons, while SHC1 is found in neural stem cells and neural precursor cells but absent in mature neurons. In this study, we discovered that suppression of p52SHC1 expression by RNA interference resulted in proliferation defects in neural stem cells, along with significantly reduced protein levels of cyclin E and cyclin A. At the same time, p52SHC3 RNAi caused cell cycle re-entry (9.54% in S phase and 5.70% in G2-M phase) in primary neurons with significantly up-regulated expression of cyclin D1, cyclin E, cyclin A, CDK2, and phosphorylated CDK2. When p52SHC3 was overexpressed, the cell cycle of neural stem cells was arrested with reduced protein levels of cyclin D1, cyclin E, and cyclin A, while overexpression of p52SHC1 did not result in significant changes in postmitotic neurons. Our results indicate that p52SHC3 plays an important role in maintaining the mitotic quiescence of neurons, while p52SHC1 regulates the proliferation of neural stem cells.

Correlation between matrix metalloproteinase-9 and endometriosis.

Endometrial implantation is the major cause of endometriosis (EMS). Matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) can degrade multiple extracellular matrix and has been postulated to be related with EMC occurrence. This study thus investigated serum and ascites levels of MMP-9 in EMS patients, in an attempt to discuss the correlation between MMP-9 and EMS. A total of 100 EMS patients, including eutopic endometrium and ectopic endometrium, were recruited in this study along with hysteromyoma patients as the control group. Peripheral blood and ascites samples were collected and tested for MMP-9 levels using gelatin zymogram and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In EMS patients, MMP-9 levels in serum and ascites were 6.24 ± 0.53 mM and 38.57 ± 4.93 mM, respectively. Both of them were significantly higher than those in control group (P<0.05). Eutopic endometrium group had higher MMP-9 levels compared to those in ectopic endometrium ones (P<0.05). With advancement of disease stage, EMS patients had progressively elevated MMP-9 levels (P<0.05). Patients at proliferative stage had higher MMP-9 secretion (P<0.05). In summary, site of endometrium, clinical stage and proliferative cycle were independent risk factors for EMS. The elevation of serum and ascites MMP-9 existed in EMS patients, of which those had ectopic endometrium, advanced stage and at proliferative stage had higher MMP-9 expression.