Selective Laser Melting of the Porous Ta Scaffold with Mg-Doped Calcium Phosphate Coating for Orthopedic Applications.

Addressing the repair of large-scale bone defects has become a hot research topic within the field of orthopedics. This study assessed the feasibility and effectiveness of using porous tantalum scaffolds to treat such defects. These scaffolds, manufactured using the selective laser melting (SLM) technology, possessed biomechanical properties compatible with natural bone tissue. To enhance the osteogenesis bioactivity of these porous Ta scaffolds, we applied calcium phosphate (CaP) and magnesium-doped calcium phosphate (Mg-CaP) coatings to the surface of SLM Ta scaffolds through a hydrothermal method. These degradable coatings released calcium and magnesium ions, demonstrating osteogenic bioactivity. Experimental results indicated that the Mg-CaP group exhibited biocompatibility comparable to that of the Ta group in vivo and in vitro. In terms of osteogenesis, both the CaP group and the Mg-CaP group showed improved outcomes compared to the control group, with the Mg-CaP group demonstrating superior performance. Therefore, both CaP and magnesium-CaP coatings can significantly enhance the osseointegration of three-dimensional-printed porous Ta, thereby increasing the surface bioactivity. Overall, the present study introduces an innovative approach for the biofunctionalization of SLM porous Ta, aiming to enhance its suitability as a bone implant material.

[Bone/cartilage immunomodulating hydrogels: construction strategies and applications].

Objective: To review the research progress in the construction strategy and application of bone/cartilage immunomodulating hydrogels. Methods: The literature related to bone/cartilage immunomodulating hydrogels at home and abroad in recent years was reviewed and summarized from the immune response mechanism of different immune cells, the construction strategy of immunomodulating hydrogels, and their practical applications. Results: According to the immune response mechanism of different immune cells, the biological materials with immunoregulatory effect is designed, which can regulate the immune response of the body and thus promote the regeneration of bone/cartilage tissue. Immunomodulating hydrogels have good biocompatibility, adjustability, and multifunctionality. By regulating the physical and chemical properties of hydrogel and loading factors or cells, the immune system of the body can be purposively regulated, thus forming an immune microenvironment conducive to osteochondral regeneration. Conclusion: Immunomodulating hydrogels can promote osteochondral repair by affecting the immunomodulation process of host organs or cells. It has shown a wide application prospect in the repair of osteochondral defects. However, more data support from basic and clinical experiments is needed for this material to further advance its clinical translation process.

MRI-based machine learning models predict the malignant biological behavior of meningioma.

BACKGROUND: The WHO grade and Ki-67 index are independent indices used to evaluate the malignant biological behavior of meningioma. This study aims to develop MRI-based machine learning models to predict the malignant biological behavior of meningioma from the perspective of the WHO grade, Ki-67 index, and their combination. METHODS: This multicenter, retrospective study included 313 meningioma patients, of which 70 were classified as high-grade (WHO II/III) and 243 as low-grade (WHO I). The Ki-67 expression was classified into low-expression (n = 216) and high-expression (n = 97) groups with a threshold of 5%. Among them, there were 128 patients with malignant biological behavior whose WHO grade or Ki-67 index increased either or both. Data from Center A and B are were utilized for model development, while data from Center C and D were used for external validation. Radiomic features were extracted from the maximum cross-sectional area (2D) region of Interest (ROI) and the whole tumor volume (3D) ROI using different paraments from the T1, T2-weighted, and T1 contrast-enhanced sequences (T1CE), followed by five independent feature selections and eight classifiers. 240 prediction models were constructed to predict the WHO grade, Ki-67 index and their combination respectively. Models were evaluated by cross-validation in training set (n = 224). Suitable models were chosen by comparing the cross-validation (CV) area under the curves (AUC) and their relative standard deviations (RSD). Clinical and radiological features were collected and analyzed; meaningful features were combined with radiomic features to establish the clinical-radiological-radiomic (CRR) models. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate those models in validation set. Radiomic models and CRR models were compared by Delong test. RESULTS: 1218 and 1781 radiomic features were extracted from 2D ROI and 3D ROI of each sequence. The selected grade, Ki-67 index and their combination radiomic models were T1CE-2D-LASSO-LR, T1CE-3D-LASSO-NB, and T1CE-2D-LASSO-LR, with cross-validated AUCs on the training set were 0.857, 0.798, and 0.888, the RSDs were 0.06, 0.09, and 0.05, the validation set AUCs were 0.829, 0.752, and 0.904, respectively. Heterogeneous enhancement was found to be associated with high grade and Ki-67 status, while surrounding invasion was associated with the high grade status, peritumoral edema and cerebrospinal fluid space surrounding tumor were correlated with the high Ki-67 status. The Delong test showed that these significant radiological features did not significantly improve the predictive performance. The AUCs for CRR models predicting grade, Ki-67 index, and their combination in the validation set were 0.821, 0.753, and 0.906, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that MRI-based machine learning models could effectively predict the grade, Ki-67 index of meningioma. Models considering these two indices might be valuable for improving the predictive sensitivity and comprehensiveness of prediction of malignant biological behavior of meningioma.

The Retrieval and Effect of Core Parameters for Near-Field Inter-Body Coupling Communication.

The potential of the Internet of Body (IoB) to support healthcare systems in the future lies in its ability to enable proactive wellness screening through the early detection and prevention of diseases. One promising technology for facilitating IoB applications is near-field inter-body coupling communication (NF-IBCC), which features lower power consumption and higher data security when compared to conventional radio frequency (RF) communication. However, designing efficient transceivers requires a profound understanding of the channel characteristics of NF-IBCC, which remain unclear due to significant differences in the magnitude and passband characteristics of existing research. In response to this problem, this paper clarifies the physical mechanisms of the differences in the magnitude and passband characteristics of NF-IBCC channel characteristics in existing research work through the core parameters that determine the gain of the NF-IBCC system. The core parameters of NF-IBCC are extracted through the combination of transfer functions, finite element simulations, and physical experiments. The core parameters include the inter-body coupling capacitance (CH), the load impedance (ZL), and the capacitance (Cair), coupled by two floating transceiver grounds. The results illustrate that CH, and particularly Cair, primarily determine the gain magnitude. Moreover, ZL mainly determines the passband characteristics of the NF-IBCC system gain. Based on these findings, we propose a simplified equivalent circuit model containing only core parameters, which can accurately capture the gain characteristics of the NF-IBCC system and help to concisely describe the channel characteristics of the system. This work lays a theoretical foundation for developing efficient and reliable NF-IBCC systems that can support IoB for early disease detection and prevention in healthcare applications. The potential benefits of IoB and NF-IBCC technology can, thus, be fully realized by developing optimized transceiver designs based on a comprehensive understanding of the channel characteristics.

Effect of the uronic acid composition of alginate in alginate/collagen hybrid hydrogel on chondrocyte behavior.

Introduction: Developing a culture system that can effectively maintain chondrocyte phenotype and functionalization is a promising strategy for cartilage repair. Methods: An alginate/collagen (ALG/COL) hybrid hydrogel using different guluronate/mannuronate acid ratio (G/M ratio) of alginates (a G/M ratio of 64/36 and a G/M ratio of 34/66) with collagen was developed. The effects of G/M ratios on the properties of hydrogels and their effects on the chondrocytes behaviors were evaluated. Results: The results showed that the mechanical stiffness of the hydrogel was significantly affected by the G/M ratios of alginate. Chondrocytes cultured on Mid-G/M hydrogels exhibited better viability and phenotype preservation. Moreover, RT-qPCR analysis showed that the expression of cartilage-specific genes, including SOX9, COL2, and aggrecan was increased while the expression of RAC and ROCK1 was decreased in chondrocytes cultured on Mid-G/M hydrogels. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated that Mid-G/M hydrogels provided suitable matrix conditions for cultivating chondrocytes and may be useful in cartilage tissue engineering. More importantly, the results indicated the importance of taking alginate G/M ratios into account when designing alginate-based composite materials for cartilage tissue engineering.

Progress, Challenge, and Perspective of Fabricating Cellulose.

Cellulose as the most abundant biopolymers on Earth, presents appealing performance in mechanical properties, thermal management, and versatile functionalization. Developing fabrication methods to design functional materials and open new application areas. However, cellulose is hard to be dissolved or melt due to its recalcitrant property. Herein, the recent progress of fabricating cellulose is summarized. First, the unique hierarchical structure of cellulose is fully investigated and the resulted processability is analysed in directions of down to nanocellulose, dissolution, and thermoplastic processing. Then, the reported fabrication methods are summarized in three aspects: (1) self-assembly from nano/micro cellulose suspensions, especially the formation of cellulose nanocrystals; (2) dissolution-regeneration-drying, covering spinning and solvent infusion processing; and (3) thermoplastic processing, focusing on the setup and the morphology changes of the prepared products. In each aspect, the flowchart of the fabrication method, the mechanism, fabricated products, and effects of processing parameters are explored. Finally, this review provides a perspective on the further direction of fabricating cellulose, especially the challenges toward mass production.

Assessing the rainfall infiltration on FOS via a new NSRM for a case study at high rock slope stability.

Assessing the stability characteristics of high rock slope under rainfall via theoretical research, numerical simulation, and field monitoring is of great implications for safety construction in open-pit mine engineering. Thus, based on the Hoke-Brown criterion, instantaneous internal friction angle and cohesion of high-slope rock mass under high stress conditions were deduced, and a nonlinear strength reduction method for high rock slope was established. The safety factors of the open-pit mine were calculated by COMSOL Multiphysics, which considering the high rock southwest slope and detected rainfall in Dagushan Open-pit Mine, China. The results showed that high rock slope stability could be more accurately analyzed by the proposed method due to its full consideration of slope stress state effect compared with the equivalent Mohr- Coulomb method. When the slope is low, the difference between the calculation results of the equivalent Mohr- Coulomb method and the proposed method is small, but with the increase of the slope height, the difference between the two calculation results gradually increases. When the transient saturated is formed in the slope surface layer and gradually increases, the reduction rate of the factor of safety (FOS) gradually increases. When the total rainfall is the same, the effect of short-term heavy rainfall on slope stability is less than that of long-term ordinary rainfall. The results obtained form this work provided important insights into the stability of high rock slope and rainfall infiltration in open-pit mine, and the safety factor is crucial for guiding the mining process design.

Molecular Insights into the Structure and Property Variation of the Pressure-Induced Solid Electrolyte Interphase on a Lithium Metal Anode.

Solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) is regarded as the key to developing stable and long-cycling lithium metal batteries (LMBs). The inevitable stress caused by the Li-metal anode expansion/contraction and the battery encapsulation is crucial to the SEI growth and properties. Herein, we perform reactive force field (ReaxFF) molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the structure and property variation of the pressure-induced SEI. The pressure boosts the SEI structure delamination and reduces the porosity based on the quantitative analysis of the charge spectrum and porous structure, which contributes to the formation of a thin and dense SEI. Meanwhile, the phase diagram combined with the pressure and salt concentration effects is established to obtain the proper trade-off between SEI mechanical and transport properties, demonstrating that the Li+ diffusion coefficients of the pressure-induced SEI can be improved by the high salt concentration when Young's modulus increases at the same time. The findings not only provide molecular insights into the SEI structure variation but also offer guidance and directions for optimizing the pressure-induced SEI property toward high-performance LMBs.

Freestanding Graphene Fabric Film for Flexible Infrared Camouflage.

Graphene films, fabricated by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, have exhibited superiorities in high crystallinity, thickness controllability, and large-scale uniformity. However, most synthesized graphene films are substrate-dependent, and usually fragile for practical application. Herein, a freestanding graphene film is prepared based on the CVD route. By using the etchable fabric substrate, a large-scale papyraceous freestanding graphene fabric film (FS-GFF) is obtained. The electrical conductivity of FS-GFF can be modulated from 50 to 2800 Ω sq-1 by tailoring the graphene layer thickness. Moreover, the FS-GFF can be further attached to various shaped objects by a simple rewetting manipulation with negligible changes of electric conductivity. Based on the advanced fabric structure, excellent electrical property, and high infrared emissivity, the FS-GFF is thus assembled into a flexible device with tunable infrared emissivity, which can achieve the adaptive camouflage ability in complicated backgrounds. This work provides an infusive insight into the fabrication of large-scale freestanding graphene fabric films, while promoting the exploration on the flexible infrared camouflage textiles.

Scalable Manufacture of High-Performance Battery Electrodes Enabled by a Template-Free Method.

Ion transport kinetics is identified as the major challenge of thick electrode design for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries. The introduction of vertically-oriented structure pores, which provide fast transport pathways for Li+ , can maximize the rate-performance of electrodes while holding a high energy density. To overcome the harsh manufacturing requirements of traditional template-based methods for the oriented-pore electrodes, a template-free strategy is developed to meet the large-scale fabrication demand, in which controllable oriented microchannels are facilely constructed by vertically aggregated bubbles generated from thermal decomposition. The proposed method is demonstrated to be applicable for different active materials and compatible with industrial roll-to-roll manufacturing. The oriented-pore electrodes exhibit a seven times higher capacity at 5C rate and show double the power density relative to the state of the art while maintaining a high level of energy density. The balance between the ion transport kinetics through the channels and in the matrix manifests an optimal design of the electrode structures, enabling the desired superior performance of the electrodes toward practical applications.

[Preparation and Release Properties of Helicobacter pylori Recombinant Protein PLGA Microspheres and PLGA-Chitosan Microspheres].

OBJECTIVE: To preparethe poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) microspheres and PLGA-chitosan microspheres containing Helicobacter pylori recombinant protein, namely the BIB protein, and to explore their optimal preparation parameters and in vitro release performance in gastric and intestinal fluids. METHODS: Double emulsions (water-in-oil-in-water, or W1/O/W2) solvent evaporation method was used to prepare the BIB-PLGA microspheres and the BIB-PLGA-chitosan microspheres. Univariate analysis was done to study the impact of the water-to-oil ratio (W1/O), PLGA mass fraction and PVA concentration on the morphology, particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), encapsulation efficiency (EE), and drug loading (DL) so as to identify the optimal parameters. Bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay was used to determine the protein concentration and the release efficiency of BIB. RESULTS: The optimal preparation parameters identified in the study were as follows: W1/O at 1∶2, PLGA mass fraction at 5%, and PVA mass fraction at 0.2%. The BIB-PLGA microspheres were found to be (2.11±0.08) µm in particle size, 0.35±0.18 in PDI, (78.20±1.73)% in EE and (10.58±0.23)% in DL. The BIB-PLGA-chitosan microspheres were (2.28±0.52) µm in particle size, 0.39±0.54 in PDI, and (78.87±1.30)% and (15.50±0.25)% in EE and DL, respectively. Both BIB-PLGA microspheres and BIB-PLGA-chitosan microspheres showed slow-release property in gastric and intestinal fluids in vitro, with BIB-PLGA-chitosan microspheres showing better slow-release performance. CONCLUSION: The BIB-PLGA microspheres and BIB-PLGA-chitosan microspheres prepared with the double emulsions solvent evaporation method showed high DL and EE, controllable particle sizes, dispersive appearance, and slow-release property in gastric and intestinal fluids in vitro.

Characteristics of Ground-Glass Nodules Detected by Low-Dose Computed Tomography as a Regular Health Examination Among Chinese Hospital Employees and Their Parents.

INTRODUCTION: Annual LDCT has been offered as a regular examination among many unit staff in China. Along with the wide application of LDCT, more and more ground-glass nodules were found. We focused on characteristics and relationship of ground-glass nodules detected by LDCT as a regular health examination among Chinese hospital employees and their parents. METHODS: We recorded LDCT-detected ground-glass nodules (GGNs) in the hospital employees and parents between 2019 and 2020. Clinical information, including age, gender, smoking status was collected and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 5,574 employees and 2,686 employs' parents ≥60 years in Xiangya hospital performed annual physical examination. In total, LDCT incidentally detected ground-glass nodules 392 (24.78%, 392/1,582) in hospital employees and 254 in parents (10.80%, 254/2,352). The GGN-detection rate was significantly greater in employee group than parent group and more non-smokers in former (P <0.001). The detection rate was significantly greater in female than male both in employees group and parents group, and the proportion of female was bigger in employees group (P <0.001). There were more pure-GGNs both in employees group and parents group. There were less participants with solitary GGN in employee group than parent group (P = 0.033). Besides, there were more large GGNs (≥10 mm) (P <0.001), LU-RADS 4 GGNs (P <0.001) and LU-RADS 4B GGNs (P = 0.003), LU-RADS 4C-5 GGNs (P = 0.001) in parent group than employee group. There were 36 employee-parent pairs (27.07%) both had GGNs among 133 pairs who both performed LDCT. GGNs in employees were smaller and lower-grade than their parents (P < 0.001, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Among the employees and parents who had ground glass nodules, 1/4 of them both detected GGNs. Although the detection rate of GGNs in the parent group was lower than that in the employee group, the grade of nodules was significantly higher. All these suggest that the occurrence and development of ground glass nodules may be related to genetic factors.

Molecular Understanding of Electrochemical-Mechanical Responses in Carbon-Coated Silicon Nanotubes during Lithiation.

Carbon-coated silicon nanotube (SiNT@CNT) anodes show tremendous potential in high-performance lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Unfortunately, to realize the commercial application, it is still required to further optimize the structural design for better durability and safety. Here, the electrochemical and mechanical evolution in lithiated SiNT@CNT nanohybrids are investigated using large-scale atomistic simulations. More importantly, the lithiation responses of SiNW@CNT nanohybrids are also investigated in the same simulation conditions as references. The simulations quantitatively reveal that the inner hole of the SiNT alleviates the compressive stress concentration between a-LixSi and C phases, resulting in the SiNT@CNT having a higher Li capacity and faster lithiation rate than SiNW@CNT. The contact mode significantly regulates the stress distribution at the inner hole surface, further affecting the morphological evolution and structural stability. The inner hole of bare SiNT shows good structural stability due to no stress concentration, while that of concentric SiNT@CNT undergoes dramatic shrinkage due to compressive stress concentration, and that of eccentric SiNT@CNT is deformed due to the mismatch of stress distribution. These findings not only enrich the atomic understanding of the electrochemical-mechanical coupled mechanism in lithiated SiNT@CNT nanohybrids but also provide feasible solutions to optimize the charging strategy and tune the nanostructure of SiNT-based electrode materials.

Interlayer of PMMA Doped with Au Nanoparticles for High-Performance Tandem Photodetectors: A Solution to Suppress Dark Current and Maintain High Photocurrent.

Currently, colloidal quantum dots (CQDs)-based photodetectors are widely investigated due to their low cost and easy integration with optoelectronic devices. The requirements for a high-performance photodetector are a low dark current and a high photocurrent. Normally, photodetectors with a low dark current also possess a low photocurrent, or photodetectors with reduced dark current possess a reduced photocurrent, resulting in low detectivity. In this paper, a solution to suppress dark current and maintain a high photocurrent, i.e., use of poly(methyl methacrylate) doped with Au nanoparticles (NPs) (i.e., PMMA:Au) as an interlayer for enhanced-performance tandem photodetectors, is presented. Our experimental data showed that the dark current through the tandem photodetector ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PbS:CsSnBr3/ZnO/PMMA:Au/CuSeN/PbS:CsSnBr3/ZnO/Ag is suppressed significantly; meanwhile, a high photocurrent is maintained after a PMMA:Au interlayer has been inserted between two subdetectors. The inserted PMMA:Au interlayer acts as storage nodes for electrons, reducing the dark current through the device; meanwhile, the photocurrent can be enhanced under illumination. As a result, the specific detectivity of the tandem photodetector with 35 nm PMMA:Au interlayer was enhanced significantly from 5.01 × 1012 to 2.7 × 1015 Jones under 300 µW/cm2 532 nm illumination at a low voltage of -1 V as compared to the device without a PMMA:Au interlayer. Further, the physical mechanism of enhanced performance is discussed in detail.

MicroRNA-608 promotes apoptosis via BRD4 downregulation in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

The prognosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains poor even among patients with the same Tumor-Node-Metastasis stage. Thus, it is necessary to identify biomarkers that can accurately predict outcomes. There is accumulating evidence suggesting that microRNA (miR) expression influences overall survival (OS) time in patients with PDAC, via the regulation of tumor suppressor genes and oncogene expression. Specifically, miR-608 expression is hypothesized to regulate PDAC progression via the downregulation of bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) expression and the promotion of cell apoptosis. The present study aimed to investigate this theory. Thus, whole genome expression microarray analysis was performed on three patient samples with OS time >30 months, and compared with three samples with <12 months, in order to identify differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs), via EdgeR analysis. A total of 591 DEMs were identified that exhibited a fold change >1, including 390 upregulated and 201 downregulated genes. Subsequently, 10 DEMs were identified using quantitative PCR in a different population of 68 tissues, collected from patients with PDAC. Notably, a high level of miRNA-608 expression was associated with longer OS times (P<0.05). Bioinformatics analysis was then performed to predict the molecular mechanism underlying the regulation of cell apoptosis by miRNA-608, and a dual-luciferase assay determined that overexpression of mimics in the Panc-1 and Bxpc-3 pancreatic cancer cell lines increased levels of apoptosis compared with the control. Additionally, high miRNA-608 expression decreased the protein level of BRD4. A luciferase reporting assay was used to elucidate whether miRNA-608 may directly inhibit the expression of BRD4 by binding to the 3'-untranslated region of its mRNA in the same cell lines. A subsequent rescue experiment indicated that the upregulation of BRD4 may reverse the apoptosis-promoting effect induced by miRNA-608. In summary, the present study revealed that miRNA-608 promotes apoptosis in PDAC via the negative regulation of BRD4. The results of the present study provide a theoretical basis that may improve the prediction of prognosis in patients with PDAC, and also indicate an opportunity to develop individualized treatment and investigate novel therapeutics that target these mechanisms.

Ultra-sensitive solution-processed broadband photodetectors based on vertical field-effect transistor.

In the past few decades, great attention has been paid to the development of IV-VI semiconductor colloidal quantum dots, such as PbSe, PbS and PbSSe, in infrared (IR) photodetectors due to their high photosensitivity, solution-processing and low cost fabrication. IR photodetectors based on field-effect transistors (FETs) showed high detectivity since the transconductance can magnify the drain-source current under certain applied gate voltages. However, traditional lateral FETs usually suffer from low photosensitivity and slow responsivity, which restricts their widespread commercial applications. In this work, therefore, novel vertical FET (VFET) based photodetectors are presented, in which the active layer is sandwiched between porous source electrode and planar drain electrode, resulting to ultrashort channel length. In this way, enhanced photoresponsivity and specific detectivity of 291 A W-1 and 1.84 × 1014 Jones, respectively, can be obtained at low drain-source voltage (V DS) of -1 V and gate voltage (V g) of -2 V under 100 µW cm-2 illumination intensity, which was better than that of the traditional lateral FET based photodetectors. Therefore, it is promising to fabricate broadband photodetectors with high performance and good stability by this easy approach.

[Study on Dynamic Changes of Human Papillomavirus 16 E5 Gene in the Occurrence of Cervical Cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the dynamic changes of human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 E5 gene in the development of cervical cancer and the significance of E5 mRNA in early screening of cervical cancer. METHODS: Paraffin specimens of cervical lesions were collected from 49 cases (HPV positive) during September 2015 to December 2017 According to the standard of FIGO, all cervical lesions were diagnosed as: 13 cases of cervicitis, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia disorders (CIN) Ⅰ in 5 cases, CIN Ⅱ in 18 cases, CIN Ⅲ in 5 cases, 8 cases of cervical cancer. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to detect the integrity of E5 gene and the mRNA expression levels of E5, E6 and E 7in cervical tissues. RESULTS: All the 49 cases showed positive HPV16 infection. E5 genetic integrity in CINⅠwas higher than that in cervical inflammation, CIN Ⅱand cervical cancer (P < 0.05), which was also higher than that in CIN Ⅲ, but without statistically significance (P>0.05). The mRNA levels of E5, E6, E7 were the highest in CIN Ⅲ. Compared with E6 and E7, E5 presented superior expression in all types of cervical lesions (P < 0.05), while E 6and E7 mRNA expressions only increased in CIN Ⅲ and cervical cancer. CONCLUSION: In the patients with HPV16 infection, the integrity of E5 gene in cervical tissues may be related to the occurrence and development of cervical diseases. E5 gene is expected to be the target gene for early screening of cervical cancer.

High-performance solution-processed colloidal quantum dots-based tandem broadband photodetectors with dielectric interlayer.

Recently, great attention has been paid to IV-VI colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) for their high photosensitivity, solution processability and low cost. Also, metal halide perovskites are very promising materials to realize the high-performance solution-processed visible-light photodetectors due to their cost-effective manufacturing, tunable absorption and photoluminescence in whole visible spectrum. In this paper, we present solution-processed CQDs-based tandem broadband photodetectors with low dark-current and high-sensitivity by inserting dielectric Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) interlayer between two sub-detectors. Our experimental data showed that the tandem broadband photodetector ITO/PEDOT:PSS/CsPbBr3:PbS0.4Se0.6/ZnO/PVK/CsPbBr3:PbS0.4Se0.6/ZnO/Au showed a maximum specific detectivity of 6.8 × 1013 Jones with a responsivity of 27 A W-1 under 57.8 µW cm-2 980 nm illumination. The device performance can be further enhanced by inserting a 50 nm dielectric PMMA layer between the two sub-photodetectors. As the result, the tandem photodetector ITO/PEDOT:PSS/CsPbBr3:PbS0.4Se0.6/ZnO/PMMA(50 nm)/PVK/CsPbBr3:PbS0.4Se0.6/ZnO/Au exhibits a maximum specific detectivity of 1.32 × 1014 Jones with a responsivity of 27.72 A W-1 under 57.8 µW cm-2 of 980 nm laser. Further, the physical mechanisms for the enhanced performance are discussed in detail.

Comparable Investigation of Characteristics for Implant Intra-Body Communication Based on Galvanic and Capacitive Coupling.

Implanted devices have important applications in biomedical monitoring, diagnosis and treatment, where intra-body communication (IBC) has a decent prospect in wireless implant communication technology by using the conductive properties of the human body to transmit a signal. Most of the investigations on implant IBC are focused on galvanic coupling type. Capacitive coupling IBC device seems hard to implant, because the ground electrode of it seemingly has to be exposed to air. Zhang et al. previously proposed an implantable capacitive coupling electrode, which can be totally implanted into the human body [1], but it lacks an overall characteristic investigation. In this paper, a comparable investigation of characteristics for implant intra-body communication based on galvanic and capacitive coupling is conducted. The human arm models are established by finite element method. Meanwhile, aiming to improve the accuracy of the model, electrode polarization impedance (EPI) is incorporated into the model, and the influences of electrode polarization impedance on simulation results are also analyzed. Subsequently, the corresponding measurements using porcine are conducted. We confirm good capacitive coupling communication performances can be achieved. Moreover, some important conclusions have been included by contrastive analysis, which can be used to optimize implant intra-body communication devices performance and provide some hints for practical IBC design. The conclusions also indicate that the implant IBC has promising prospect in healthcare and other related fields.

Effect of Stone-Wales Defect on Mechanical Properties of Gr/epoxy Nanocomposites.

Due to its superior mechanical properties, graphene (Gr) has the potential to achieve high performance polymer-based nanocomposites. Previous studies have proved that defects in the Gr sheets could greatly reduce the mechanical properties of Gr, while the Stone-Wales (SW) defect was found to enhance the interfacial mechanical strength between Gr and epoxy. However, the combined effects of defects on the overall mechanical properties of Gr/epoxy nanocomposites have not been well understood. In this paper, the effect of the SW defect on the mechanical properties of Gr/epoxy nanocomposites was systematically investigated by using molecular dynamic simulations. The simulation results showed that the SW defect would degrade the mechanical properties of nanocomposites, including the Young's modulus and in-plane shear modulus. Surprisingly, the transverse shear modulus could be remarkably enhanced with the existence of SW. The reinforcing mechanisms were mainly due to two aspects: (1) the SW defect could increase the surface roughness of the Gr, preventing the slippage between Gr and epoxy during the transverse shea; and (2) the nanocomposite with defective Gr enables a higher interaction energy than that with perfect graphene. Additionally, the effects of temperature, the dispersion and volume fraction of Gr were also investigated.