Flexible silicon solar cells with high power-to-weight ratios.

Silicon solar cells are a mainstay of commercialized photovoltaics, and further improving the power conversion efficiency of large-area and flexible cells remains an important research objective1,2. Here we report a combined approach to improving the power conversion efficiency of silicon heterojunction solar cells, while at the same time rendering them flexible. We use low-damage continuous-plasma chemical vapour deposition to prevent epitaxy, self-restoring nanocrystalline sowing and vertical growth to develop doped contacts, and contact-free laser transfer printing to deposit low-shading grid lines. High-performance cells of various thicknesses (55-130 µm) are fabricated, with certified efficiencies of 26.06% (57 µm), 26.19% (74 µm), 26.50% (84 µm), 26.56% (106 µm) and 26.81% (125 µm). The wafer thinning not only lowers the weight and cost, but also facilitates the charge migration and separation. It is found that the 57-µm flexible and thin solar cell shows the highest power-to-weight ratio (1.9 W g-1) and open-circuit voltage (761 mV) compared to the thick ones. All of the solar cells characterized have an area of 274.4 cm2, and the cell components ensure reliability in potential-induced degradation and light-induced degradation ageing tests. This technological progress provides a practical basis for the commercialization of flexible, lightweight, low-cost and highly efficient solar cells, and the ability to bend or roll up crystalline silicon solar cells for travel is anticipated.

Evaluating clinical pharmacists' involvement in postoperative acute pain services: a multicenter survey in Guangdong Province, China.

Objective: Postoperative pain management is an important part of surgical pharmacy. Postoperative acute pain services in China are in their initial stages. This survey aimed to investigate the attitudes, involvement, and knowledge of clinical pharmacists in China regarding postoperative acute pain services. The results can provide valuable information to guide clinical pharmacists in developing targeted strategies to improve their postoperative acute pain service capabilities. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to the pharmacy departments of 133 grade A tertiary hospitals in Guangdong province, and the responses were collected electronically. Results: 123 completed questionnaires were collected from clinical pharmacists. Although 95.93% of clinical pharmacists believed they should participate in postoperative pain services, only 62.6% reported substantial involvement. Overall satisfaction with the postoperative pain service was 93.5%. Understanding of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioid analgesics by clinical pharmacists was comparable (p > 0.05). Furthermore, 98.37% of clinical pharmacists desired systematic learning in postoperative pain management, and 40.65% expressed a strong need. Conclusion: Clinical pharmacists in China demonstrate a positive attitude toward participating in postoperative acute pain services. However, the actual level of involvement was concerning, and the lack of systematic training and well-established work protocols may be contributing factors. Efforts should be made to establish comprehensive and standardized processes and work protocols for postoperative acute pain services and provide systematic and hierarchical professional training to enhance clinical pharmacists' capabilities in postoperative acute pain services.

The effect of pharmacist-initiated perioperative multidisciplinary pharmaceutical care model and clinical pathway on pain management in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery: a before-after study.

BACKGROUND: Poor pain control is common in perioperative orthopedic surgeries. However, there is a lack of exploration of the clinical pharmacy practice model for this population. AIM: To construct a perioperative pharmaceutical care model and clinical pathway for patients undergoing orthopedic surgeries and assess their impact on pain management. METHOD: This historical before-and-after study was conducted in the Department of Orthopedics of a tertiary hospital in Guangdong Province, China. The control group was surgical patients who received routine diagnosis and treatment. The intervention group received pain management from a multidisciplinary team based on a pharmacist-initiated pharmaceutical care practice model and clinical pathways for medication management. The primary outcome measures were postoperative pain at rest (PAR) and movement-evoked pain (MEP) scores, number of breakthrough pains, and length of hospital stay. RESULTS: A total of 320 orthopedic surgery patients were included. Among patients with expected moderate or severe postoperative pain (82.5%), significantly lower PAR and MEP scores were observed in the intervention group 24 h after surgeries compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Compared to the control group, hospital stay in the intervention group was shortened by 2.3 days (p < 0.001). However, there were no significant differences in the control of breakthrough pain and the incidence of adverse drug reactions (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Multidisciplinary perioperative pain management practice models and clinical pathways initiated by pharmacists could improve outcome indicators related to pain management and support the role and value of pharmacists.