Investigating the Effects of Chemical Gradients on Performance and Reliability within Perovskite Solar Cells with TOF‐SIMS

Time‐of‐flight secondary‐ion mass spectrometry (TOF‐SIMS), a powerful analytical technique sensitive to all components of perovskite solar cell (PSC) materials, can differentiate between the various organic species within a PSC absorber or a complete device stack. The ability to probe chemical gradients through the depth of a device (both organic and inorganic), with down to 100 nm lateral resolution, can lead to unique insights into the relationships between chemistry in the absorber bulk, at grain boundaries, and at interfaces as well as how they relate to changes in performance and/or stability. In this review, the technique is described; then, from the literature, several examples of how TOF‐SIMS have been used to provide unique insight into PSC absorbers and devices are covered. Finally, the common artifacts that can be introduced if the data are improperly collected, as well as methods to mitigate these artifacts are discussed.     

Double the Capacity of Manganese Spinel for Lithium‐Ion Storage by Suppression of Cooperative Jahn–Teller Distortion

The relatively low capacity and capacity fade of spinel LiMn₂O₄ (LMO) limit its application as a cathode material for lithium‐ion batteries. Extending the potential window of LMO below 3 V to access double capacity would be fantastic but hard to be realized, as it will lead to fast capacity loss due to the serious Jahn–Teller distortion. Here using experiments combined with extensive ab initio calculations, it is proved that there is a cooperative effect among individual Jahn–Teller distortions of Mn³⁺O₆ octahedrons in LMO, named as cooperative Jahn–Teller distortion (CJTD) in the text, which is the difficulty to access the capacity beyond one lithium intercalation. It is further proposed that the cationic disordering (excess Li at Mn sites and Li/Mn exchange) can intrinsically suppress the CJTD of Mn³⁺O₆ octahedrons. The cationic disordering can break the symmetry of Mn³⁺ arrangements to disrupt the correlation of distortions arising from individual JT centers and prevent the Mn³⁺? O bonds distorting along one direction. Interestingly, with the suppressed CJTD, the original octahedral vacancies in spinel LMO are activated and can serve as extra Li‐ion storage sites to access the double capacity with good reversible cycling stability in microsized LMO.     

孑遗濒危植物矮扁桃叶绿体全基因组特征分析及亲缘关系鉴定

对第三纪孑遗濒危植物矮扁桃（Amygdalus nana）叶绿体全基因组进行结构特征分析,并探究其与近缘物种之间的系统进化关系。利用Illumina HiSeq Xten测序技术获取叶绿体全基因组序列,对其进行组装、注释和特征分析。结果表明：①矮扁桃叶绿体全基因组总长度为158 596 bp,其中LSC长度为86 771 bp,SSC长度为19 037 bp,2个IRs均为26 394 bp,为环状四分体结构。共注释130个基因,包括85个PCGs、37个tRNA和8个rRNA。②对6种植物进行IR边界区扩张和收缩分析,发现在4个边界区的基因类型和基因分布情况存在一定差异,并且亲缘关系越紧密差异程度越小。③在矮扁桃叶绿体全基因组中共预测了71个SSRs位点。④系统发育分析结果显示,在扁桃亚属中,矮扁桃在亲缘关系上与蒙古扁桃更近,而与长柄扁桃和榆叶梅的亲缘关系稍远。本研究对矮扁桃叶绿体全基因组进行了深度剖析,并且涉及大量被子植物的叶绿体全基因组资料,为桃属植物之间的进化关系和植物鉴定提供参考依据。     

胰腺癌患者血清CEA、CA242、CA199水平变化及联合诊断的ROC曲线分析

目的:探讨胰腺癌患者血清癌胚抗原(CEA)、糖类抗原242(CA242)、糖类抗原199(CA199)水平变化,并分析上述指标对胰腺癌的联合诊断价值,为胰腺癌的临床诊断提供参考。方法:选择2014年2月至2018年2月我院收治的186例胰腺癌患者(胰腺癌组)、89例胰腺炎患者(胰腺炎组)作为研究对象,并取同期来我院检查的268例健康人作为对照组。比较三组受试者的血清CEA、CA242、CA199水平变化,对比分析血清CEA、CA242、CA199的单一以及联合诊断的准确度、特异度以及灵敏度,并绘制ROC曲线以分析上述指标的诊断价值。结果:三组受试者血清CEA、CA242、CA199水平差异具有统计学意义(P<0.05)。且胰腺炎组和胰腺癌组的血清CEA、CA242、CA199水平明显高于对照组,胰腺癌组患者的血清CEA、CA242、CA199水平明显高于胰腺炎组,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。ROC曲线结果显示,CEA诊断价值最大,CA199诊断价值最小。CEA是胰腺癌单项肿瘤标志物中敏感度最高的,为85.48%;特异度最高的为CA242(96.72%);三项肿瘤标志物联合诊断的准确度增加至92.27%,敏感度增加至95.16%,特异度相比略有下降。结论:与单一肿瘤标记物诊断胰腺癌相比,CEA、CA242、CA199联合诊断的敏感度和准确度均明显升高,可以明显改善胰腺癌的漏诊率,提高患者的生存率,具有较好的临床应用价值。     

伤椎置钉联合短节段内固定与单纯短节段固定治疗胸腰椎爆裂性骨折的比较研究

目的:比较伤椎置钉联合短节段内固定与单纯短节段固定治疗胸腰椎爆裂性骨折的临床疗效、固定效果及其对患者炎症反应和脊髓损伤的影响。方法:选取2014年3月到2016年12月期间我院收治的胸腰椎爆裂性骨折患者94例,根据手术方法的不同将患者分为伤椎置钉组(40例)和短节段内固定组(44例)。短节段内固定组患者采用单纯后路短节段椎弓根螺钉内固定进行治疗,伤椎置钉组采用伤椎置钉联合后路短节段椎弓根螺钉内固定进行治疗。比较两组患者的手术时间、术中出血量、住院时间、伤椎前沿高度比、Cobb’s角、伤椎椎体楔形变角、视觉模拟评分(VAS)和Oswestry功能障碍指数(ODI),炎性因子指标、脊髓损伤指标及术后并发症。结果:伤椎置钉组的手术时间长于短节段内固定组(P<0.05),术后6个月、术后12个月伤椎置钉组的伤椎前沿高度比明显高于短节段内固定组,Cobb’s角、伤椎椎体楔形变角明显低于短节段内固定组(P<0.05),术前、术后1周、术后6个月、术后12个月两组患者的VAS评分和ODI比较差异无统计学意义(P>0.05),术后3 d两组患者血清中IL-1β、IL-6、IL-8、TNF-α和pNF-H、NSE、S100β、GFAP水平比较差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05)。随访期间两组患者均未出现严重并发症。结论:伤椎置钉联合后路短节段椎弓根螺钉内固定可有效改善胸腰椎爆裂性骨折患者的椎体高度、Cobb’s角和伤椎椎体楔形变角,并且不会增加脊髓损伤和机体的炎症反应。     

单孔、两孔及三孔胸腔镜下早期非小细胞肺癌根治术的效果比较研究

目的:通过比较不同胸腔镜手术方式治疗早期非小细胞肺癌根治术术后的相关临床指标,为临床手术方式提供经验。方法:收集我院2017年1月～2019年12月收治的行肺癌根治术的早期非小细胞肺癌病例共100例,分别采用单孔胸腔镜(40例),两孔胸腔镜(32例)及三孔胸腔镜(28例)手术方式,比较三组手术术中及术后的相关指标。结果:单孔胸腔镜组术中出血量、术后引流量明显少于两孔胸腔镜组和三孔胸腔镜组(P0.05),而两孔胸腔镜组明显少于三孔胸腔镜组(P0.05);单孔胸腔镜组术后胸管留置时间和术后住院时间均短于两孔胸腔镜组和三孔胸腔镜组(P0.05),而两孔胸腔镜组明显短于三孔胸腔镜组(P0.05)。三组组内疼痛评分术后24h低于术后12h,术后48h低于术后24h,差异均有统计学意义(P0.05)。三组组间不同时间点疼痛评分比较发现,单孔胸腔镜组疼痛评分低于两孔胸腔镜组和三孔胸腔镜组(P0.05),而两孔胸腔镜组低于三孔胸腔镜组(P0.05)。三组清扫淋巴结数目、淋巴结站数和术后并发症发生率差异均无统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:单孔胸腔镜早期非小细胞肺癌根治术与两孔、三孔胸腔镜手术相比优势明显,且不会显著增加术后并发症,可作为临床首选。     

Could urinary ACE2 protein level help identify individuals susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and complication?

Science China Life Sciences -     

Desert breath—How fog promotes a novel type of soil biocenosis,forming the coastal Atacama Desert’s living skin

The Atacama Desert is the driest non‐polar desert on Earth, presenting precarious conditions for biological activity. In the arid coastal belt, life is restricted to areas with fog events that cause almost daily wet–dry cycles. In such an area, we discovered a hitherto unknown and unique ground covering biocenosis dominated by lichens, fungi, and algae attached to grit‐sized (~6 mm) quartz and granitoid stones. Comparable biocenosis forming a kind of a layer on top of soil and rock surfaces in general is summarized as cryptogamic ground covers (CGC) in literature. In contrast to known CGC from arid environments to which frequent cyclic wetting events are lethal, in the Atacama Desert every fog event is answered by photosynthetic activity of the soil community and thus considered as the desert's breath. Photosynthesis of the new CGC type is activated by the lowest amount of water known for such a community worldwide thus enabling the unique biocenosis to fulfill a variety of ecosystem services. In a considerable portion of the coastal Atacama Desert, it protects the soil from sporadically occurring splash erosion and contributes to the accumulation of soil carbon and nitrogen as well as soil formation through bio‐weathering. The structure and function of the new CGC type are discussed, and we suggest the name grit–crust. We conclude that this type of CGC can be expected in all non‐polar fog deserts of the world and may resemble the cryptogam communities that shaped ancient Earth. It may thus represent a relevant player in current and ancient biogeochemical cycling.