Functionalized two-dimensional iron boride compounds as novel electrode materials in Li-ion batteries.

MBenes, a class of two-dimensional metal borides, have emerged as a cutting-edge research frontier and a hotspot for electrode materials in ion batteries. This work presents a systematic investigation of the performance of two-dimensional iron boride (FeB) as an electrode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), utilizing first-principles calculations. The results indicate that FeB exhibits remarkable structural stability and excellent conductivity, making it an extremely promising electrode material for LIBs. FeB has the capability to adsorb a monolayer of Li atoms, and exhibits a maximum theoretical capacity of 364 mA h g-1, a high average open circuit voltage (OCV) of 1.08 V, and a low diffusion barrier energy of 0.24 eV. Through the investigation of electrochemical properties of functionalized FeB, it has been discovered that surface functionalization exerts a positive impact on lithium storage. Theoretical lithium storage capacities of FeBT (T = F, O and S) are 538 mA h g-1, 555 mA h g-1 and 476 mA h g-1, respectively. However, the introduction of F and O functional groups significantly reduces diffusion barriers to 0.081 eV and 0.036 eV, respectively, while the introduction of the S functional group markedly decreases the average OCV to approximately 0.25 V. These interesting findings suggest that FeB has great potential in the future development of LIBs.

The impact of a previous tubal ectopic pregnancy on live birth and perinatal outcomes in vitrified-warmed cycles.

RESEARCH QUESTION: Does a previous history of naturally conceived tubal ectopic pregnancy (TEP) affect subsequent pregnancy and perinatal outcomes when a freeze-all policy is applied? DESIGN: A large retrospective study was performed involving women who had undergone their first frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles, using vitrified-warmed embryos, from January 2013 to April 2018 at a tertiary care centre. Participants were divided into two groups: a study group consisting of women with a history of TEP preceding IVF, and a control group consisting of women without an initial TEP. The live birth rate (LBR) and perinatal outcomes were evaluated via a propensity score matching method. RESULTS: A total of 23,270 women were included for potential analysis and finally 2168 pairs of women were generated for comparison after propensity score matching. The LBR in the study group was similar to that in the control group (45.7% versus 44.0%, P = 0.259). No differences were noted regarding rates of ectopic pregnancy (5.4% versus 4.1%, P = 0.122), miscarriage (11.5% versus 13.5%, P = 0.158) or intrauterine implantation (35.8% versus 35.8%, P = 0.974) between the groups. Regarding birth outcomes, the mean gestational age and birthweight and the incidences of preterm birth and low birthweight were comparable between the groups for both singletons and twins. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated that a prior history of TEP was not associated with adverse reproductive and perinatal outcomes in subsequent FET cycles. With the increasing utilization of FET globally, these results are important as they can help guide physicians during patient counselling.

Letrozole-induced frozen embryo transfer cycles are associated with a lower risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy among women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Observational retrospective data suggest that an artificial cycle frozen embryo transfer may be associated with a higher risk of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy than a natural cycle frozen embryo transfer among women with regular ovulatory cycles. The corpus luteum, which is not present in the artificial frozen cycles, is at least partly responsible for this poor obstetrical outcome. However, an artificial cycle is the most frequently used regimen for women with polycystic ovary syndrome undergoing frozen embryo transfer. Whether the risk of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy could be mitigated by employing physiological frozen embryo transfer protocols that lead to the development of a corpus luteum in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the impact of letrozole use during frozen embryo transfer cycles on obstetrical and perinatal outcomes of singleton and twin pregnancies compared with artificial frozen cycles among women with polycystic ovary syndrome. STUDY DESIGN: This retrospective cohort study involved women with polycystic ovary syndrome who had undergone artificial frozen cycles or letrozole-stimulated frozen cycles during the period from 2010 to 2018 at a tertiary care center. The primary outcome was the incidence of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to control for the relevant confounders. RESULTS: A total of 2427 women with polycystic ovary syndrome were included in the final analysis. Of these women, 1168 underwent artificial cycles and 1259 underwent letrozole treatment, of which 25% of women treated with letrozole alone and 75% of women receiving letrozole combined with gonadotropins. After controlling for maternal characteristics and treatment variables, no significant difference was noticed regarding gestational diabetes mellitus, abnormal placentation, and preterm premature rupture of membranes between groups in both singleton and twin pregnancies. For birth outcomes, the prevalence rates of preterm birth, perinatal death, and birthweight outcomes were all comparable between groups in both singletons and twins. However, singleton pregnancies resulting from letrozole-stimulated cycles had a lower risk of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy than those conceived by artificial cycles (adjusted odds ratio, 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.40-0.98). Furthermore, a decreased risk of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy was seen among women with twin deliveries resulting from letrozole-stimulated cycles vs artificial cycles (adjusted odds ratio, 0.52; 95% confidence interval, 0.30-0.87). In addition, the cesarean delivery rate was significantly lower for singletons but not for twins in the letrozole group compared with pregnancies from the artificial cycle group (adjusted odds ratio, 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.50-0.78, and adjusted odds ratio, 1.20; 95% confidence interval, 0.65-2.23, respectively). CONCLUSION: In women with polycystic ovary syndrome undergoing frozen embryo transfer, letrozole use for endometrial preparation was associated with a lower risk of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy than artificial cycles for endometrial preparation. Our findings provided a foundation that the increased risk of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy associated with frozen embryo transfer might be mitigated by utilizing physiological endometrial preparation protocols that lead to the development of a corpus luteum, such as a mild ovarian stimulation cycle for oligo- or anovulatory women.

Super color purity green organic light-emitting diodes with ZrO2/zircone nanolaminates as a distributed Bragg reflector deposited by atomic layer deposition.

ZrO2/zircone nanolaminate thin films fabricated by atomic layer deposition were used for a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) in green organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). It is found that the novel ZrO2/zircone DBR structure significantly improves the light purity of green OLEDs without interfering with intrinsic electroluminescence properties. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the EL spectral band for the green OLEDs decreases with respect to increasing the ZrO2/zircone pairs. The FWHMs of OLEDs with 0, 2, 4, and 6 pairs of ZrO2/zircone layers are 72 nm, 48 nm, 24 nm, and 12 nm, respectively. A super-narrow FWHM of 12 nm is achieved by using six pairs of the DBR structure. The EQE is increased from 10.7% to 16.1% with four pairs of ZrO2/zircone layers.

Low threshold simultaneous multi-wavelength amplified spontaneous emission modulated by the lithium fluoride/Ag layers.

This paper describes a multi-wavelength amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) with multilayer stacked active planar waveguides. A modulating layer of Ag is applied to make a good confinement of ASE in one active layer, while a lithium fluoride layer is inserted between the active layer and the modulating layer to avoid fluorescence quenching and confine the pump energy in one waveguide. Under optical pumping, ASE at 503 and 662 nm corresponding to the respective active layer are simultaneously observed, with extremely low thresholds at ~37.2 and ~39.7 KW/cm2.

In vitro digestibility of starch and protein in cooked wheat and oat whole flours: A comparative study.

Whole grains have garnered significant attention in the food industry due to their retained abundant nutrients when compared to refined grains. However, limited knowledge exists regarding the digestive behavior of starch and protein. This study compared the physicochemical properties and in vitro starch and protein digestibility of cooked whole wheat flour (WF) and naked oat flour (NOF), and evaluated the impact of endogenous components (protein, lipid, ß-glucan, and polyphenol) on the physicochemical properties and digestibility of WF and NOF. The result indicated that the final hydrolysis rate of WF samples (starch: 23.2 %∼46.3 %; protein: 23.1 %∼63.0 %) was lower than that of NOF samples (starch: 32.1 %∼61.0 %; protein: 32.3 %∼63.6 %). The removal of different endogenous components led to improved digestibility of starch and protein in both WF and NOF. This study contributes to the understanding of the starch and protein digestibility of whole grains, consequently facilitating the development of whole grain products.

Association of infertility cause with perinatal outcomes in a freeze-all policy: an analysis including 10,151 singleton newborns.

BACKGROUND: In vitro fertilization-conceived babies, even singletons, are at a higher risk of poor birth outcomes such as low birthweight and preterm birth than naturally conceived counterparts. It remains unclear as to what extent these adverse outcomes are attributed to the underlying causes of infertility. Evidence on this topic is scarce and has mainly focused on fresh embryo transfer cycles. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effect of infertility cause on perinatal outcomes when a freeze-all strategy is applied. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a retrospective cohort study involving singleton live births born to women who had undergone frozen-thawed embryo transfer during the period from January 2014 to December 2019 at a single center. Subjects were categorized into 7 groups as follows according to the sole cause of infertility: tubal disorder, polycystic ovary syndrome, diminished ovarian reserve, uterine factor infertility, endometriosis, male factor, and unexplained infertility. The perinatal outcomes evaluated were as follows: birthweight, newborn gender, gestational age, preterm birth, low birthweight, small for gestational age, large for gestational age, and macrosomia. Multivariable regression analyses were introduced to control for several important confounders, with unexplained infertility as a reference group. RESULTS: A total of 10,151 women were included for the final analysis. The most common maternal infertility diagnosis of the entire cohort was tubal disorder (42.5%), followed by diminished ovarian reserve (9.5%), endometriosis (9.4%), polycystic ovary syndrome (5.7%), and uterine factor infertility (1.6%). Male factor infertility was present in 19.8% of cycles, and infertility was diagnosed as unexplained in 11.4% of cycles. In the unadjusted analyses, the prevalence of low birthweight (odds ratio, 2.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.24-3.38) and preterm birth (odds ratio, 1.97; 95% confidence interval, 1.33-2.92) was higher among singletons in the polycystic ovary syndrome group than in those from the unexplained infertility group. However, these differences were no longer significant after correction for parental characteristics, treatment variables, and pregnancy complications (adjusted odds ratio, 1.50; 95% confidence interval, 0.98-2.28 for preterm birth; adjusted odds ratio, 1.70; 95% confidence interval, 0.99-2.91 for low birthweight). The risks of preterm birth (adjusted odds ratio, 2.66; 95% confidence interval, 1.53-4.63) and low birthweight (adjusted odds ratio, 3.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.79-6.90) with uterine factor infertility were significantly increased vs the reference group in both unadjusted and adjusted analyses. In addition, the perinatal outcomes in women with other infertility causes were comparable with unexplained infertility in terms of the rates of preterm birth, low birthweight, small for gestational age, large for gestational age, and macrosomia. CONCLUSION: With the exception of uterine factor infertility, other infertility causes do not seem to compromise perinatal outcomes when compared with unexplained infertility in a freeze-all approach. With the ever-increasing use of frozen-thawed embryo transfer globally, our data hold relevant clinical implications, as they can guide physicians in patient counseling.

Comparable Pregnancy Loss and Neonatal Birthweights in Frozen Embryo Transfer Cycles Using Vitrified Embryos from Progestin-Primed Ovarian Stimulation and GnRH Analogue Protocols: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: The potential correlation between progestin-primed ovarian stimulation (PPOS) and the risk of compromised embryo competence still lacks sound evidence. Methods: A large retrospective cohort study was used to compare the incidence of pregnancy loss and neonatal birthweights in frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycles using embryos from PPOS and GnRH analogue protocols. Propensity matched scores were used to balance the baseline confounders. Results: A total of 5744 matched cycles with positive hCG test were included to compare the pregnancy outcomes. The incidence of pregnancy loss was similar between PPOS and GnRH analogue groups (19.2% vs. 18.4%, RR 1.02 (0.97, 1.06), p > 0.05). The neonatal birthweights were comparable between two groups, respectively, for singleton births (3337.0 ± 494.4 g vs. 3346.0 ± 515.5 g) and in twin births (2496.8 ± 429.2 g vs. 2533.2 ± 424.2 g) (p > 0.05). Conclusions: The similar incidence of pregnancy loss and neonatal birthweights in FET cycles using embryos from PPOS provided us with a more complete picture about the safety of PPOS.

Optically trapped room temperature polariton condensate in an organic semiconductor.

The strong nonlinearities of exciton-polariton condensates in lattices make them suitable candidates for neuromorphic computing and physical simulations of complex problems. So far, all room temperature polariton condensate lattices have been achieved by nanoimprinting microcavities, which by nature lacks the crucial tunability required for realistic reconfigurable simulators. Here, we report the observation of a quantised oscillating nonlinear quantum fluid in 1D and 2D potentials in an organic microcavity at room temperature, achieved by an on-the-fly fully tuneable optical approach. Remarkably, the condensate is delocalised from the excitation region by macroscopic distances, leading both to longer coherence and a threshold one order of magnitude lower than that with a conventional Gaussian excitation profile. We observe different mode selection behaviour compared to inorganic materials, which highlights the anomalous scaling of blueshift with pump intensity and the presence of sizeable energy-relaxation mechanisms. Our work is a major step towards a fully tuneable polariton simulator at room temperature.

Inter-Annual Variability of Area-Scaled Gaseous Carbon Emissions from Wetland Soils in the Liaohe Delta, China.

Global management of wetlands to suppress greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, facilitate carbon (C) sequestration, and reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations while simultaneously promoting agricultural gains is paramount. However, studies that relate variability in CO2 and CH4 emissions at large spatial scales are limited. We investigated three-year emissions of soil CO2 and CH4 from the primary wetland types of the Liaohe Delta, China, by focusing on a total wetland area of 3287 km2. One percent is Suaeda salsa, 24% is Phragmites australis, and 75% is rice. While S. salsa wetlands are under somewhat natural tidal influence, P. australis and rice are managed hydrologically for paper and food, respectively. Total C emissions from CO2 and CH4 from these wetland soils were 2.9 Tg C/year, ranging from 2.5 to 3.3 Tg C/year depending on the year assessed. Primary emissions were from CO2 (~98%). Photosynthetic uptake of CO2 would mitigate most of the soil CO2 emissions, but CH4 emissions would persist. Overall, CH4 fluxes were high when soil temperatures were >18°C and pore water salinity <18 PSU. CH4 emissions from rice habitat alone in the Liaohe Delta represent 0.2% of CH4 carbon emissions globally from rice. With such a large area and interannual sensitivity in soil GHG fluxes, management practices in the Delta and similar wetlands around the world have the potential not only to influence local C budgeting, but also to influence global biogeochemical cycling.

Thin film encapsulation for organic light-emitting diodes using inorganic/organic hybrid layers by atomic layer deposition.

A hybrid nanolaminates consisting of Al2O3/ZrO2/alucone (aluminum alkoxides with carbon-containing backbones) grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) were reported for an encapsulation of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The electrical Ca test in this study was designed to measure the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of nanolaminates. We found that moisture barrier performance was improved with the increasing of the number of dyads (Al2O3/ZrO2/alucone) and the WVTR reached 8.5 × 10(-5) g/m(2)/day at 25°C, relative humidity (RH) 85%. The half lifetime of a green OLED with the initial luminance of 1,500 cd/m(2) reached 350 h using three pairs of the Al2O3 (15 nm)/ZrO2 (15 nm)/alucone (80 nm) as encapsulation layers.