Temporal patterns of organ dysfunction in COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit: A group-based multitrajectory modeling analysis.

BACKGROUND: The course of organ dysfunction (OD) in Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients is unknown. Herein, we analyze the temporal patterns of OD in intensive care unit-admitted COVID-19 patients. METHODS: Sequential organ failure assessment scores were evaluated daily within 2 weeks of admission to determine the temporal trajectory of OD using group-based multitrajectory modeling (GBMTM). RESULTS: A total of 392 patients were enrolled with a 28-day mortality rate of 53.6%. GBMTM identified four distinct trajectories. Group 1 (mild OD, n = 64), with a median APACHE II score of 13 (IQR 9-21), had an early resolution of OD and a low mortality rate. Group 2 (moderate OD, n = 140), with a median APACHE II score of 18 (IQR 13-22), had a 28-day mortality rate of 30.0%. Group 3 (severe OD, n = 117), with a median APACHR II score of 20 (IQR 13-27), had a deterioration trend of respiratory dysfunction and a 28-day mortality rate of 69.2%. Group 4 (extremely severe OD, n = 71), with a median APACHE II score of 20 (IQR 17-27), had a significant and sustained OD affecting all organ systems and a 28-day mortality rate of 97.2%. CONCLUSIONS: Four distinct trajectories of OD were identified, and respiratory dysfunction trajectory could predict nonpulmonary OD trajectories and patient prognosis.

Determination of trace morphine and its metabolites in mouse urine using a TpBD functionalized bivalve magnetic nano-adsorbent.

In this study, a new type of covalent organic framework (TpBD) functionalized bivalved magnetic microsphere (TpBD-DS MNS) adsorbent was applied for the enrichment and detection of trace morphine and its metabolites in mouse urine. The main factors affecting the efficiency of magnetic solid phase extraction were optimized, and the optimal MSPE conditions were obtained. Combined with the UPLC-MS/MS technique, a new method for determining trace morphine and its metabolites in urine was established. The detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) limits for morphine and its metabolites ranged from 0.16 pg mL-1 to 0.53 pg mL-1 and 0.26 pg mL-1 to 1.25 pg mL-1, respectively. The recovery of the methods ranged from 87.4-97.3%, and the RSD was less than 5%. By employing this methodology, we successfully obtained the temporal change curve of morphine and its metabolites in mouse urine through collection and measurement post intravenous administration of morphine. This approach not only presents a novel means for investigating pharmacokinetics and drug monitoring but also demonstrates significant potential in the fields of forensic toxicology and drug abuse surveillance.

The significance of an immunohistochemical marker-based panel in assisting the diagnosis of parathyroid carcinoma.

PURPOSE: Parathyroid carcinoma (PC) is an endocrine malignancy with a poor prognosis. However, the diagnosis of PC is still a difficult problem. A model with immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of 5 biomarkers has been reported from limited samples for the differential diagnosis of PC. In the present study, a series of IHC markers was applied in relatively large samples to optimize the diagnostic model for PC. METHODS: In this study, 44 patients with PC, 6 patients with atypical parathyroid tumors and 57 patients with parathyroid adenomas were included. IHC staining for parafibromin, Ki-67, galectin-3, protein-encoding gene product 9.5 (PGP9.5), E-cadherin, and enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples. The effects of clinical characteristics, surgical procedure, and IHC staining results of tumor tissues on the diagnosis and prognosis of PC were evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS: A logistic regression model with IHC results of parafibromin, Ki-67, and E-cadherin was created to differentiate PC with an area under the curve of 0.843. Cox proportional hazards analysis showed that negative parafibromin staining (hazard ratio: 3.26, 95% confidence interval: 1.28-8.34, P = 0.013) was related to the recurrence of PC. CONCLUSION: An IHC panel of parafibromin, Ki-67 and E-cadherin may help to distinguish PC from parathyroid neoplasms. Among the 6 IHC markers and clinical features examined, the risk factor related to PC recurrence was parafibromin staining loss.

Corrigendum: Risk perceptions and changes in tobacco use in relation to Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic: A qualitative study on adolescent tobacco users in Hong Kong.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.18332/tid/167479.].

Farnesoid X Receptor Protects Murine Lung against IL-6-promoted Ferroptosis Induced by Polyriboinosinic-Polyribocytidylic Acid.

Various infections trigger a storm of proinflammatory cytokines in which IL-6 acts as a major contributor and leads to diffuse alveolar damage in patients. However, the metabolic regulatory mechanisms of IL-6 in lung injury remain unclear. Polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic acid [poly(I:C)] activates pattern recognition receptors involved in viral sensing and is widely used in alternative animal models of RNA virus-infected lung injury. In this study, intratracheal instillation of poly(I:C) with or without an IL-6-neutralizing antibody model was combined with metabonomics, transcriptomics, and so forth to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms of IL-6-exacerbated lung injury. We found that poly(I:C) increased the IL-6 concentration, and the upregulated IL-6 further induced lung ferroptosis, especially in alveolar epithelial type II cells. Meanwhile, lung regeneration was impaired. Mechanistically, metabolomic analysis showed that poly(I:C) significantly decreased glycolytic metabolites and increased bile acid intermediate metabolites that inhibited the bile acid nuclear receptor farnesoid X receptor (FXR), which could be reversed by IL-6-neutralizing antibody. In the ferroptosis microenvironment, IL-6 receptor monoclonal antibody tocilizumab increased FXR expression and subsequently increased the Yes-associated protein (YAP) concentration by enhancing PKM2 in A549 cells. FXR agonist GW4064 and liquiritin, a potential natural herbal ingredient as an FXR regulator, significantly attenuated lung tissue inflammation and ferroptosis while promoting pulmonary regeneration. Together, the findings of the present study provide the evidence that IL-6 promotes ferroptosis and impairs regeneration of alveolar epithelial type II cells during poly(I:C)-induced murine lung injury by regulating the FXR-PKM2-YAP axis. Targeting FXR represents a promising therapeutic strategy for IL-6-associated inflammatory lung injury.

Blockade of the lncRNA-DOT1L-LAMP5 axis enhances autophagy and promotes degradation of MLL fusion proteins.

BACKGROUND: Mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL) fusion gene caused by chromosomal rearrangement is a dominant oncogenic driver in leukemia. Due to having diverse MLL rearrangements and complex characteristics, MLL leukemia treated by currently available strategies is frequently associated with a poor outcome. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify novel therapeutic targets for hematological malignancies with MLL rearrangements. METHODS: qRT-PCR, western blot, and spearman correction analysis were used to validate the regulation of LAMP5-AS1 on LAMP5 expression. In vitro and in vivo experiments were conducted to assess the functional relevance of LAMP5-AS1 in MLL leukemia cell survival. We utilized chromatin isolation by RNA purification (ChIRP) assay, RNA pull-down assay, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and immunofluorescence to elucidate the relationship among LAMP5-AS1, DOT1L, and the LAMP5 locus. Autophagy regulation by LAMP5-AS1 was evaluated through LC3B puncta, autolysosome observation via transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and mRFP-GFP-LC3 puncta in autophagic flux. RESULTS: The study shows the crucial role of LAMP5-AS1 in promoting MLL leukemia cell survival. LAMP5-AS1 acts as a novel autophagic suppressor, safeguarding MLL fusion proteins from autophagic degradation. Knocking down LAMP5-AS1 significantly induced apoptosis in MLL leukemia cell lines and primary cells and extended the survival of mice in vivo. Mechanistically, LAMP5-AS1 recruits the H3K79 histone methyltransferase DOT1L to LAMP5 locus, directly activating LAMP5 expression. Importantly, blockade of LAMP5-AS1-LAMP5 axis can represses MLL fusion proteins by enhancing their degradation. CONCLUSIONS: The findings underscore the significance of LAMP5-AS1 in MLL leukemia progression through the regulation of the autophagy pathway. Additionally, this study unveils the novel lncRNA-DOT1L-LAMP5 axis as promising therapeutic targets for degrading MLL fusion proteins.

Binary All-polymer Solar Cells with a Perhalogenated-Thiophene-Based Solid Additive Surpass 18 % Efficiency.

Morphological control of all-polymer blends is quintessential yet challenging in fabricating high-performance organic solar cells. Recently, solid additives (SAs) have been approved to be capable in tuning the morphology of polymer: small-molecule blends improving the performance and stability of devices. Herein, three perhalogenated thiophenes, which are 3,4-dibromo-2,5-diiodothiophene (SA-T1), 2,5-dibromo-3,4-diiodothiophene (SA-T2), and 2,3-dibromo-4,5-diiodothiophene (SA-T3), were adopted as SAs to optimize the performance of all-polymer organic solar cells (APSCs). For the blend of PM6 and PY-IT, benefitting from the intermolecular interactions between perhalogenated thiophenes and polymers, the molecular packing properties could be finely regulated after introducing these SAs. In situ UV/Vis measurement revealed that these SAs could assist morphological character evolution in the all-polymer blend, leading to their optimal morphologies. Compared to the as-cast device of PM6 : PY-IT, all SA-treated binary devices displayed enhanced power conversion efficiencies of 17.4-18.3 % with obviously elevated short-circuit current densities and fill factors. To our knowledge, the PCE of 18.3 % for SA-T1-treated binary ranks the highest among all binary APSCs to date. Meanwhile, the universality of SA-T1 in other all-polymer blends is demonstrated with unanimously improved device performance. This work provide a new pathway in realizing high-performance APSCs.

Industrializable and pH-tolerant electropositive imidazolium chloride polymer for high-efficiency removal of perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids from aqueous solution.

In recent years, various materials have been used to adsorb and remove perfluoroalkyl compounds from water. However, most of these materials have limited applications due to their high cost, complex synthesis, inadequate selectivity and sensitivity, and, even worse, the possibility of introducing secondary pollution. Here, under mild conditions, we prepared an inexpensive imidazolium chloride and nitrogen-rich polymer (TAGX-Cl) with a high cationic loading rate and a high yield (>82%). The adsorbent exhibits excellent pH tolerance (pH=1-9) and achieves nearly 99.9% removal of nine perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) within 120 min. Experimental data and theoretical simulations confirmed that synergistic electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonds, and P-π interactions control the adsorptive ability of TAGX-Cl. This work provides a practical strategy for PFCAs removal.

Design and Fabrication of a 3D-Printed Microfluidic Immunoarray for Ultrasensitive Multiplexed Protein Detection.

Microfluidic technology has revolutionized device fabrication by merging principles of fluid dynamics with technologies from chemistry, physics, biology, material science, and microelectronics. Microfluidic systems manipulate small volumes of fluids to perform automated tasks with applications ranging from chemical syntheses to biomedical diagnostics. The advent of low-cost 3D printers has revolutionized the development of microfluidic systems. For measuring molecules, 3D printing offers cost-effective, time, and ease-of-designing benefits. In this paper, we present a comprehensive tutorial for design, optimization, and validation for creating a 3D-printed microfluidic immunoarray for ultrasensitive detection of multiple protein biomarkers. The target is the development of a point of care array to determine five protein biomarkers for aggressive cancers. The design phase involves defining dimensions of microchannels, reagent chambers, detection wells, and optimizing parameters and detection methods. In this study, the physical design of the array underwent multiple iterations to optimize key features, such as developing open detection wells for uniform signal distribution and a flap for covering wells during the assay. Then, full signal optimization for sensitivity and limit of detection (LOD) was performed, and calibration plots were generated to assess linear dynamic ranges and LODs. Varying characteristics among biomarkers highlighted the need for tailored assay conditions. Spike-recovery studies confirmed the assay's accuracy. Overall, this paper showcases the methodology, rigor, and innovation involved in designing a 3D-printed microfluidic immunoarray. Optimized parameters, calibration equations, and sensitivity and accuracy data contribute valuable metrics for future applications in biomarker analyses.

Realization of High-Performance Self-Powered Polarized Photodetection with Large Temperature Window in a 2D Polar Perovskite.

Polarization photodetection taking advantage of the anisotropy of 2D materials shines brilliantly in optoelectronic fields owing to differentiating optical information. However, the previously reported polarization detections are mostly dependent on external power sources, which is not conducive to device integration and energy conservation. Herein, a 2D polar perovskite (CBA)2 CsPb2 Br7 (CCPB, CBA = 4-chlorobenzyllamine) has been successfully synthesized, which shows anticipated bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE) with an open-circuited photovoltage up to ≈0.2 V. Devices based on CCPB monomorph fulfill a fascinating self-powered polarized photodetection with a large polarization ratio of 2.7 at room temperature. Moreover, CCPB features a high phase-transition temperature (≈475 K) which prompts such self-powered polarized photodetection in a large temperature window of device operation, since BPVE generated by spontaneous polarization can only exist in the polar structure prior to the phase transition. Further computational investigation reveals the introduction of CBA+ with a large dipole moment contributes to quite large polarization (17.5 µC cm-2 ) and further super high phase transition temperature of CCPB. This study will promote the application of 2D perovskite materials for self-powered polarized photodetection in high-temperature conditions.

A COM-B analysis of facilitators of and barriers to smoking cessation among Chinese smokers: A qualitative study.

INTRODUCTION: Smoking prevalence remains high in China with a low cessation motivation level, despite the government's tobacco control efforts. There is a lack of research specifically examining perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors related to smoking cessation in this region, particularly from a theory-based deductive perspective. Utilizing the COM-B (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation-Behavior) model as a theoretical framework, this study aimed to identify facilitators and barriers to smoking cessation among Chinese smokers. METHODS: The study employed semi-structured individual interviews with 40 participants. Each interview spanned approximately 30 minutes. The participants, constituting both current and former smokers, were all aged ≥18 years (n=40). Interview data were then examined using a directed content analysis approach. RESULTS: Analysis revealed three interrelated themes. Capability: Smokers face challenges when resisting peer pressure and dealing with life after quitting. They also lack knowledge about smoking, quitting techniques, and withdrawal symptoms. Opportunity: Changing societal attitudes towards smoking create opportunities for quitting, but these are hindered by inadequate cessation services and a lack of family support. Motivation: Smokers' motivation to quit is mainly driven by health concerns. Resistance to quitting often stems from the belief that smoking is a personal choice or just a habit. Excessive emphasis on willpower may hinder motivation to quit. CONCLUSIONS: To enhance smoking cessation efforts in China, three key aspects should be considered: capability, opportunity, and motivation. Publicity and educational campaigns should target common misconceptions about smoking as a personal freedom, correct the overemphasis on willpower, and widely promote available cessation services. A crucial aspect is shifting societal norms to foster anti-smoking sentiments. Effective strategies may involve using real-life stories to illustrate smoking's health consequences, disseminating information about cessation services in maternity centers, enhancing services through mobile health initiatives, and empowering families to support smokers in their quit attempts.

Pioneering Two-Dimensional Perovskites Featuring Four-Layer Organic Spacers for Polarization-Sensitive Photodetection.

Hybrid perovskites have great potential in photovoltaics and photodetection. Specially, two-dimensional (2D) hybrid perovskites have been discovered to show distinctive applications in polarization-sensitive photodetection due to their intrinsic anisotropy. Herein, we designed a new type of 2D perovskite by introducing bifunctional alkylammonium as an organic spacer, (ß-Ala)4PbBr4 (1, where ß-Ala+ is 3-aminopropanoic), which has four organic spacers in adjacent inorganic layers and adjacent organic layers are linked by hydrogen bonding. The pioneering structure with four organic spacers enables an intrinsic high strong anisotropy, facilitating polarization-sensitive detection. The analysis of the crystal structure and optical properties further elucidates the natural anisotropic properties of 1. Strikingly, 1 has a strong optical dichroism (αc/αb ≈ 7.4 in 405 nm), and the polarization-sensitive detector on single crystals of 1 exhibits a large polarization ratio (Imax/Imin ≈ 2.0). This result highlights that the employment of bifunctional cations is efficient to explore new type 2D perovskites for potentially high-performance polarization-sensitive detection.

Cyst fluid glycoproteins accurately distinguishing malignancies of pancreatic cystic neoplasm.

Pancreatic cystic neoplasms (PCNs) are recognized as precursor lesions of pancreatic cancer, with a marked increase in prevalence. Early detection of malignant PCNs is crucial for improving prognosis; however, current diagnostic methods are insufficient for accurately identifying malignant PCNs. Here, we utilized mass spectrometry (MS)-based glycosite- and glycoform-specific glycoproteomics, combined with proteomics, to explore potential cyst fluid diagnostic biomarkers for PCN. The glycoproteomic and proteomic landscape of pancreatic cyst fluid samples from PCN patients was comprehensively investigated, and its characteristics during the malignant transformation of PCN were analyzed. Under the criteria of screening specific cyst fluid biomarkers for the diagnosis of PCN, a group of cyst fluid glycoprotein biomarkers was identified. Through parallel reaction monitoring (PRM)-based targeted glycoproteomic analysis, we validated these chosen glycoprotein biomarkers in a second cohort, ultimately confirming N-glycosylated PHKB (Asn-935, H5N2F0S0; Asn-935, H4N4F0S0; Asn-935, H5N4F0S0), CEACAM5 (Asn-197, H5N4F0S0) and ATP6V0A4 (Asn-367, H6N4F0S0) as promising diagnostic biomarkers for distinguishing malignant PCNs. These glycoprotein biomarkers exhibited robust performance, with an area under the curve ranging from 0.771 to 0.948. In conclusion, we successfully established and conducted MS-based glycoproteomic analysis to identify novel cyst fluid glycoprotein biomarkers for PCN. These findings hold significant clinical implications, providing valuable insights for PCN decision-making, and potentially offering therapeutic targets for PCN treatment.

Glycosylation-Engineered Platelet Membrane-Coated Interleukin 10 Nanoparticles for Targeted Inhibition of Vascular Restenosis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to improve the immune compatibility and targeting abilities of IL10 nanoparticles coated with platelet membrane (IL10-PNPs) by glycosylation engineering in order to effectively reduce restenosis after vascular injury. Materials and Methods: In this study, we removed sialic acids and added α (1,2)-fucose and α (1,3)-fucose to platelet membrane glycoprotein, thus engineering the glycosylation of IL10-PNPs (IL10-GE-PNPs). In vitro and in vivo experiments were conducted to evaluate the targeting and regulatory effects of IL10-GE-PNPs on macrophage polarization, as well as the influence of IL10-GE-PNPs on the phenotypic transformation, proliferation, and migration of smooth muscle cells, and its potential in promoting the repair function of endothelial cells within an inflammatory environment. In order to assess the distribution of IL10-GE-PNP in different organs, in vivo imaging experiments were conducted. Results: IL10-GE-PNPs were successfully constructed and demonstrated to effectively target and regulate macrophage polarization in both in vitro and in vivo settings. This regulation resulted in reduced proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cells and promoted the repair of endothelial cells in an inflammatory environment. Consequently, restenosis after vascular injury was reduced. Furthermore, the deposition of IL10-GE-PNPs in the liver and spleen was significantly reduced compared to IL10-PNPs. Conclusion: IL10-GE-PNPs emerged as a promising candidate for targeting vascular injury and exhibited potential as an innovative drug delivery system for suppressing vascular restenosis. The engineered glycosylation of IL10-PNPs improved their immune compatibility and targeting abilities, making them an excellent therapeutic option.

Single-layer perceptron artificial visual system for orientation detection.

Orientation detection is an essential function of the visual system. In our previous works, we have proposed a new orientation detection mechanism based on local orientation-selective neurons. We assume that there are neurons solely responsible for orientation detection, with each neuron dedicated to detecting a specific local orientation. The global orientation is inferred from the local orientation information. Based on this mechanism, we propose an artificial visual system (AVS) by utilizing a single-layer of McCulloch-Pitts neurons to realize these local orientation-sensitive neurons and a layer of sum pooling to realize global orientation detection neurons. We demonstrate that such a single-layer perceptron artificial visual system (AVS) is capable of detecting global orientation by identifying the orientation with the largest number of activated orientation-selective neurons as the global orientation. To evaluate the effectiveness of this single-layer perceptron AVS, we perform computer simulations. The results show that the AVS works perfectly for global orientation detection, aligning with the majority of physiological experiments and models. Moreover, we compare the performance of the single-layer perceptron AVS with that of a traditional convolutional neural network (CNN) on orientation detection tasks. We find that the single-layer perceptron AVS outperforms CNN in various aspects, including identification accuracy, noise resistance, computational and learning cost, hardware implementation feasibility, and biological plausibility.

Follicular lymphoma evolves with a surmountable dependency on acquired glycosylation motifs in the B-cell receptor.

ABSTRACT: An early event in the genesis of follicular lymphoma (FL) is the acquisition of new glycosylation motifs in the B-cell receptor (BCR) due to gene rearrangement and/or somatic hypermutation. These N-linked glycosylation motifs (N-motifs) contain mannose-terminated glycans and can interact with lectins in the tumor microenvironment, activating the tumor BCR pathway. N-motifs are stable during FL evolution, suggesting that FL tumor cells are dependent on them for their survival. Here, we investigated the dynamics and potential impact of N-motif prevalence in FL at the single-cell level across distinct tumor sites and over time in 17 patients. Although most patients had acquired at least 1 N-motif as an early event, we also found (1) cases without N-motifs in the heavy or light chains at any tumor site or time point and (2) cases with discordant N-motif patterns across different tumor sites. Inferring phylogenetic trees of the patients with discordant patterns, we observed that both N-motif-positive and N-motif-negative tumor subclones could be selected and expanded during tumor evolution. Comparing N-motif-positive with N-motif-negative tumor cells within a patient revealed higher expression of genes involved in the BCR pathway and inflammatory response, whereas tumor cells without N-motifs had higher activity of pathways involved in energy metabolism. In conclusion, although acquired N-motifs likely support FL pathogenesis through antigen-independent BCR signaling in most patients with FL, N-motif-negative tumor cells can also be selected and expanded and may depend more heavily on altered metabolism for competitive survival.

Proposal for Observing Yang-Lee Criticality in Rydberg Atomic Arrays.

Yang-Lee edge singularities (YLES) are the edges of the partition function zeros of an interacting spin model in the space of complex control parameters. They play an important role in understanding non-Hermitian phase transitions in many-body physics, as well as characterizing the corresponding nonunitary criticality. Even though such partition function zeroes have been measured in dynamical experiments where time acts as the imaginary control field, experimentally demonstrating such YLES criticality with a physical imaginary field has remained elusive due to the difficulty of physically realizing non-Hermitian many-body models. We provide a protocol for observing the YLES by detecting kinked dynamical magnetization responses due to broken PT symmetry, thus enabling the physical probing of nonunitary phase transitions in nonequilibrium settings. In particular, scaling analyses based on our nonunitary time evolution circuit with matrix product states accurately recover the exponents uniquely associated with the corresponding nonunitary CFT. We provide an explicit proposal for observing YLES criticality in Floquet quenched Rydberg atomic arrays with laser-induced loss, which paves the way towards a universal platform for simulating non-Hermitian many-body dynamical phenomena.

Direct measurement of engineered cancer mutations and their transcriptional phenotypes in single cells.

Genome sequencing studies have identified numerous cancer mutations across a wide spectrum of tumor types, but determining the phenotypic consequence of these mutations remains a challenge. Here, we developed a high-throughput, multiplexed single-cell technology called TISCC-seq to engineer predesignated mutations in cells using CRISPR base editors, directly delineate their genotype among individual cells and determine each mutation's transcriptional phenotype. Long-read sequencing of the target gene's transcript identifies the engineered mutations, and the transcriptome profile from the same set of cells is simultaneously analyzed by short-read sequencing. Through integration, we determine the mutations' genotype and expression phenotype at single-cell resolution. Using cell lines, we engineer and evaluate the impact of >100 TP53 mutations on gene expression. Based on the single-cell gene expression, we classify the mutations as having a functionally significant phenotype.

Terminally Chlorinated and Thiophene-linked Acceptor-Donor-Acceptor Structured 3D Acceptors with Versatile Processability for High-efficiency Organic Solar Cells.

To exploit the potential of our newly developed three-dimensional (3D) dimerized acceptors, a series of chlorinated 3D acceptors (namely CH8-3/4/5) were reported by precisely tuning the position of chlorine (Cl) atom. The introduction of Cl atom in central unit affects the molecular conformation. Whereas, by replacing fluorinated terminal groups (CH8-3) with chlorinated terminal groups (CH8-4 and CH8-5), the red-shift absorption and enhanced crystallization are achieved. Benefiting from these, all devices received promising power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) over 16 % as well as decent thermal/photo-stabilities. Among them, PM6:CH8-4 based device yielded a best PCE of 17.58 %. Besides, the 3D merits with multi alkyl chains enable their versatile processability during the device preparation. Impressive PCEs of 17.27 % and 16.23 % could be achieved for non-halogen solvent processable devices prepared in glovebox and ambient, respectively. 2.88 cm2 modules also obtained PCEs over 13 % via spin-coating and blade-coating methods, respectively. These results are among the best performance of dimerized acceptors. The decent performance of CH8-4 on small-area devices, modules and non-halogen solvent-processed devices highlights the versatile processing capability of our 3D acceptors, as well as their potential applications in the future.

Risk perceptions and changes in tobacco use in relation to Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic: A qualitative study on adolescent tobacco users in Hong Kong.

INTRODUCTION: Tobacco use is associated with an increased risk of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, severe COVID-19 outcomes requiring intensive care, and mortality. We investigated the perceived risk of and changes in cigarette, e-cigarette (EC) and heated tobacco product (HTP) use in relation to COVID-19 in Hong Kong adolescent tobacco users. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured telephone interviews from January to April 2021 and in February 2022 on 40 adolescents (65% boys, Secondary school grades 2-6) who participated in our previous smoking surveys and were using cigarettes, ECs or HTPs before the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020. RESULTS: Adolescents generally perceived higher risks of contracting and having more severe COVID-19 from using cigarettes than ECs/HTPs, but they had limited knowledge of COVID-19 risks from EC/HTP use, particularly. Both increased and reduced consumption were found in tobacco, with EC use being the less affected product. Changes also included switching to ECs for convenience and lower cost and shifting from smoking cigarettes outside to mainly at home or in hidden areas. COVID-related policies, fear of infection, non-COVID-related health concerns, less social opportunities and pocket money, and limited access to tobacco products were barriers to tobacco use. In contrast, greater freedom at home versus school and negative emotions due to social distancing were facilitators. Family/peer influence had mixed impacts. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent tobacco users perceived lower COVID risks associated with HTPs and ECs than cigarettes, and various changes in tobacco use were found amid the pandemic in Hong Kong. COVID-19 and related social changes may both facilitate or deter adolescent tobacco use.