One-Dimensional Perovskite-like Cu(I)-Halides with Ideal Bandgap Based on Quantum-Well Structure.

Low-dimensional halide perovskites with quantum-well structures are promising materials for electronics and optoelectronics because of their excellent optoelectronic properties. This work concerns two novel, lead-free, one-dimensional organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite-like Cu(I) halides, (MV)Cu2X4 (MV = methyl viologen; X = Br, I), for optoelectronic applications. Both Cu(I) halides exhibited good stability under ambient conditions. The optical bandgaps of (MV)Cu2Br4 and (MV)Cu2I4 are 1.4 and 1.5 eV, respectively, which are in the ideal bandgap range for solar cells. (MV)Cu2Br4 possessed a characteristic quantum-well structure in which [CuBr4]n3n- chains with a nanowire-like structure were rolled up and isolated by tightly packed organic cations. Thanks to quantum confinement in the unique structure, the optical bandgap of (MV)Cu2Br4 fell in the ideal bandgap range for solar cells and was superior to that of (MV)Cu2I4. The good photoresponse properties of these Cu(I) halides suggest their great potential for application as light-harvesting materials in solar cells.

Alkyl modified cationic COFs for preferential trapping of charge dispersed perrhenate: Synergistic hydrophobicity and anion-recognition effects.

Charge dispersed oxoanionic pollutants (such as TcO4- and ReO4-) with low hydrophilicity are typically difficult to be preferentially extracted. Recently, cationic covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have received considerable attention for anions trapping. Two cationic COFs, denoted as Tp-S and Tp-D, were synthesized by incorporating ethyl and cyclic alkylated diquats into 2,2'-bipyridine-based COF. A synergistic effect of hydrophobic channel and anion-recognition sites were achieved by branched chains, which effectively surmounted the Hofmeister bias. Both Tp-S and Tp-D exhibited raising removal performance for surrogate ReO4- at high acidity with adsorption capacities of 435.6 and 291.4 mg g-1, respectively. Obvious variations caused by side chains were displayed in microstructures and adsorption performance. Specially, compared with Tp-D, Tp-S demonstrated desirable priority in uptake capacity and selectivity. In a real-scenario experiment, Tp-S could remove 72.8 % of ReO4- in a simulated Hanford LAW stream, which was attributed to the spatial effects and charge distribution arising from the open and flexible side chains of Tp-S. Otherwise, the rigid cyclic chains endowed pyridine-base Tp-D material an unprecedented alkaline stability. Spectra and theoretical calculations revealed a mechanism of preferential capture based on electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding between charge dispersed ReO4-/TcO4- and Tp-S/Tp-D. This work provides an innovative perspective to tailored materials for the treatment of oxoanionic contaminants.

Non-Contact Blood Pressure Estimation from Radar Signals by a Stacked Deformable Convolution Network.

This study introduces a contactless blood pressure monitoring approach that combines conventional radar signal processing with novel deep learning architectures. During the preprocessing phase, datasets suitable for synchronization are created by integrating Kalman filtering, multiscale bandpass filters, and a periodic extraction method in the time domain. These data comprise data on chest micro variations, encapsulating a complex array of physiological and biomedical information reflective of cardiac micromotions. The Radar-based Stacked Deformable convolution Network (RSD-Net) integrates channel and spatial self attention mechanisms within a deformable convolutional framework to enhance feature extraction from radar signals. The network architecture systematically employs deformable convolutions for initial deep feature extraction from individual signals. Subsequently, continuous blood pressure estimation is conducted using self attention mechanisms on feature map from single source coupled with multi-feature map channel attention. The performance of model is corroborated via the open-source dataset procured using a non-invasive 24GHz six-port continuous wave radar system. The dataset, encompassing readings from 30 healthy individuals subjected to diverse conditions including rest, the Valsalva maneuver, apnea, and tilt-table examinations. It serves to substantiate the validity and resilience of the proposed method in the non-contact assessment of continuous blood pressure. Evaluation metrics reveal Pearson correlation coefficients of 0.838 for systolic and 0.797 for diastolic blood pressure predictions. The Mean Error (ME) and Standard Deviation (SD) for systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements are -0.32 ±6.14mmHg and -0.20 ±5.50mmHg, respectively. The ablation study assesses the contribution of different structural components of the RSD-Net, validating their significance in the overall of model performance.

Assessing Effects of van der Waals Corrections on Elasticity of Mg3Bi2-xSbx in DFT Calculations.

As a promising room-temperature thermoelectric material, the elastic properties of Mg3Bi2-xSbx (0 ≤ x ≤ 2), in which the role of van der Waals interactions is still elusive, were herein investigated. We assessed the effects of two typical van der Waals corrections on the elasticity of Mg3Bi2-xSbx nanocomposites using first-principles calculations within the frame of density functional theory. The two van der Waals correction methods, PBE-D3 and vdW-DFq, were examined and compared to PBE functionals without van der Waals correction. Interestingly, our findings reveal that the lattice constant of the system shrinks by approximately 1% when the PBE-D3 interaction is included. This leads to significant changes in certain mechanical properties. We conducted a comprehensive assessment of the elastic performance of Mg3Bi2-xSbx, including Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, bulk modulus, etc., for different concentration of Sb in a 40-atom simulation box. The presence or absence of van der Waals corrections does not change the trend of elasticity with respect to the concentration of Sb; instead, it affects the absolute values. Our investigation not only clarifies the influence of van der Waals correction methods on the elasticity of Mg3Bi2-xSbx, but could also help inform the material design of room-temperature thermoelectric devices, as well as the development of vdW corrections in DFT calculations.

Thermoelectric Properties of Mg3(Bi,Sb)2 under Finite Temperatures and Pressures: A First-Principles Study.

Mg3Bi2-vSbv (0 ≤ v ≤ 2) is a class of promising thermoelectric materials that have a high thermoelectric performance around room temperatures, whereas their thermoelectric properties under pressures and temperatures are still illusive. In this study, we examined the influence of pressure, temperature, and carrier concentration on the thermoelectric properties of Mg3Bi2-vSbv using first-principle calculations accompanied with Boltzmann transport equations method. There is a decrease in the lattice thermal conductivity of Mg3Sb2 (i.e., v = 2) with increasing pressure. For a general Mg3Bi2-vSbv system, power factors are more effectively improved by n-type doping where electrons are the primary carriers over holes in n-type doping, and can be further enhanced by applied pressure. The figure of merit (zT) exhibits a positive correlation with temperature. A high zT value of 1.53 can be achieved by synergistically tuning the temperature, pressure, and carrier concentration in Mg3Sb2. This study offers valuable insights into the tailoring and optimization of the thermoelectric properties of Mg3Bi2-vSbv.

Calf circumference change and all-cause mortality among community-dwelling Chinese older people.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have described an association between single time point calf circumference (CC) and mortality. Evidence of associations between CC change and mortality is lacking. We aimed to determine the relationship between the CC change over time and all-cause mortality. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 906 participants in the 2014-2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). Restricted cubic splines were used to analyze associations between the relative CC change (exposure) and all-cause mortality (primary outcome). When there was evidence of non-linearity, a piecewise Cox regression model was next fitted, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, health behaviours, health status and baseline CC. RESULTS: The mean (SD) age was 83.8 (12.2) years old, and 50.2% (455/906) of participants were male. We observed a U-shaped association between the relative CC change (%) and all-cause mortality (P for non-linearity <0.001). Participants with stable CC over time had the lowest risk of death. After adjusting for covariates, when CC decreased over time, the hazard ratio per 10% higher in CC change was 1.32 (1.01-1.69). When CC increased over time, the hazard ratio per 10% higher in CC change was 1.35 (1.10-1.66). CONCLUSION: Stable CC over time was associated with the lowest mortality risk. Our findings indicate the practical significance of monitoring CC change in older adult.

Transradial catheter ablation of left accessory pathway in patient with severe chest deformity.

A 45-year-old woman with severe chest deformity and great vessel tortuosity successfully underwent left accessory pathway ablation of atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia via right transradial arterial access. Transradial catheter ablation of left accessory pathway was safe and efficacious without complications. When transfemoral or transseptal access was impossible, transradial access was a good alternative route.

Improvement of alkali metal ion batteries via interlayer engineering of anodes: from graphite to graphene.

Interlayer engineering of graphite anodes in alkali metal ion (M = Li, Na, and K) batteries is carried out based on the first-principles calculations. By increasing the interlayer spacing of graphite, the specific capacity of Li or Na does not increase while that of K increases continuously (from 279 mA h g-1 at the equilibrium interlayer spacing to 1396 mA h g-1 at the interlayer spacing of 20.0 Å). As the interlayer spacing increases, the electrostatic potential of graphite becomes smoother, and the ability to buffer the electrostatic potential fluctuation becomes poorer in M ions. These two effects jointly lead to minima of the diffusion barrier of M ions on graphite (0.01-0.05 eV), instead of strictly monotonous declines with the increasing interlayer spacing. To perform the interlayer engineering of anode candidates more efficiently, a set of high-throughput programs has been developed and can be easily applied to other systems. Our research has guiding significance for achieving the optimal effect in interlayer engineering experimentally.

Hydroxo Iron(III) Sites in a Metal-Organic Framework: Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer and Catalytic Oxidation of Alcohol with Molecular Oxygen.

Metalloenzymes are powerful biocatalysts that can catalyze particular chemical reactions with high activity, selectivity, and specificity under mild conditions. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) composed of metal ions or metal clusters and organic ligands with defined cavities have the potential to impart enzyme-like catalytic activity and mimic metalloenzymes. Here, a new metal-organic framework implanted with hydroxo iron(III) sites with the structural and reactivity characteristics of iron-containing lipoxygenases is reported. Similar to lipoxygenases, the hydrogen atoms and electrons of the substrate can transfer to the hydroxo iron(III) sites, showing typical proton-coupled electron transfer behavior. In the reactivity mimicking biology system, similar to alcohol oxidase, the material also catalyses the oxidation of alcohol into aldehyde by using O2 with a high yield and 100% selectivity under mild conditions, without the use of a radical cocatalyst or photoexcitation. These results provide strong evidence for the high structural fidelity of enzymatically active sites in MOF materials, verifying that MOFs provide an ideal platform for designing biomimetic heterogeneous catalysts with high conversion efficiency and product selectivity.

FAM83D, a microtubule-associated protein, promotes tumor growth and progression of human gastric cancer.

FAM83D, a microtubule-associated protein (MAP), is overexpressed in diverse types of human cancer. The expression and critical role of FAM83D in human gastric cancer (GC), however, remains largely unknown. Here, we conducted molecular, cellular and clinical analyses to evaluate the functional link of FAM83D to GC. FAM83D expression was elevated in gastric tumors, and its expression strongly correlated with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. In addition, over-expression of FAM83D in GC cell lines enhanced cell proliferation, cycle progression, migration, invasion, as well as tumor growth and metastatic dissemination in vivo. Furthermore, FAM83D exhibited a strong cell cycle correlated expression. The knockdown of FAM83D inhibited the regrowth of microtubules in GC cells. FAM83D was co-immunoprecipitated with HMMR, TPX2, and AURKA, a set of drivers of mitosis progression. Taken together, our results demonstrate FAM83D as an important player in the development of human gastric cancer, and as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of cancer.