Side substitution on benzothiadiazole-based hole transporting materials with a D–A–D molecular configuration for efficient perovskite solar cells

Yang Jixin,Hu Weixia 한국물리학회 2023 Current Applied Physics Vol.45 No.-

A series of benzothiadiazole-based Donor-Acceptor-Donor (D-A-D) typed hole-transporting materials (HTMs) are designed through introducing electron-withdrawing fluorine group and electron-donating alkoxy group into the core of benzothiadiazole (BT). The energy level alignment, electronic properties, absorption, and hole transport properties of these materials are explored comprehensively using First-principle calculations. As compared with the reference molecule BT, three other substituted molecules have lower HOMO energy levels and lower reorganization energy. Especially, two fluorine substituted hole-transporting materials BT-1F and BT-2F possess planar molecular configuration, suitable energy level, indicating that fluorine substitution is beneficial to the increase of open circuit voltage of device. Moreover, the hole transporting mobility, solubility and stability of all designed molecules are also estimated, which are important items to determine the cost and performance in real application of solar cells. Calculated results show that hole mobility of monofluorinated molecule BT-1F displays relatively higher hole mobility owing to efficient intermolecular interactions. Therefore, molecule BT-1F is likely to be highly efficient HTMs because of its excellent hole mobility and solubility. The present work demonstrates that fluorination engineering on core acceptors in D-A-D typed HTMs is an effective strategy to tune the photovoltaic performance of perovskite solar cells.

Comparison of Three Magnetization Transfer Ratio Parameters for Assessment of Intestinal Fibrosis in Patients with Crohn’s Disease

Jixin Meng,SiYun Huang,CanHui Sun,Zhong-wei Zhang,Ren Mao,Yan-hong Yang,ShiTing Feng,ZiPing Li,XueHua Li 대한영상의학회 2020 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.21 No.3

Objective: To establish a novel standardized magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) parameter which considers the element of the normal bowel wall and to compare the efficacy of the MTR, normalized MTR, and standardized MTR in evaluating intestinal fibrosis in Crohn’s disease (CD). Materials and Methods: Abdominal magnetization transfer imaging from 20 consecutive CD patients were analyzed before performing elective operations. MTR parameters were calculated by delineating regions of interest in specified segments on MTR maps. Specimens with pathologically confirmed bowel fibrosis were classified into one of four severity grades. The correlation between MTR parameters and fibrosis score was tested by Spearman’s rank correlation. Differences in MTR, normalized MTR, and standardized MTR across diverse histologic fibrosis scores were analyzed using the independent sample t test or the MannWhitney U test. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was computed to test the efficacies of the MTR parameters in differentiating severe intestinal fibrosis from mild-to-moderate fibrosis. Results: Normalized (r = 0.700; p < 0.001) and standardized MTR (r = 0.695; p < 0.001) showed a strong correlation with bowel fibrosis scores, followed by MTR (r = 0.590; p < 0.001). Significant differences in MTR (t = -4.470; p < 0.001), normalized MTR (Z = -5.003; p < 0.001), and standardized MTR (Z = -5.133; p < 0.001) were found between mild-to-moderate and severe bowel fibrosis. Standardized MTR (AUC = 0.895; p < 0.001) had the highest accuracy in differentiating severe bowel fibrosis from mild-to-moderate bowel wall fibrosis, followed by normalized MTR (AUC = 0.885; p < 0.001) and MTR (AUC = 0.798; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Standardized MTR is slightly superior to MTR and normalized MTR and therefore may be an optimal parameter for evaluating the severity of intestinal fibrosis in CD.

A cyclic simulation approach for the generation of the non-stationary load histories of engineering vehicles

Jixin Wang,Jianhua Zhang,Yunlong Liang,Yonghai Yang 대한기계학회 2012 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.26 No.5

"The present paper focuses on the simulation of the non-stationary load histories of engineering vehicles for fatigue tests. For the first time, the characteristics of the service loads experienced by engineering vehicles are described. Then rainflow data-reduction contributing to reduce the testing time and extrapolation of each operating section to generate the unavailable extreme loads in a limit test are carried out. Finally, based on the simulated load history of each operating section using Markov chain Monte Carlo method (MCMC) and the corresponding simulation length generated by the Monte Carlo method, a cyclic simulation approach is proposed to generate nonstationary load histories, by which the cyclic characteristic can be reconstructed well. The results of comparison between the observed and simulated load histories show good agreement."

Gut-derived lipopolysaccharide promotes alcoholic hepatosteatosis and subsequent hepatocellular carcinoma by stimulating neutrophil extracellular traps through toll-like receptor 4

Yang Liu,Xin Zhang,Shuo Chen,Jiazhong Wang,Shuo Yu,Yiming Li,Meng Xu,Harouna Aboubacar,Junhui Li,Tao Shan,Jixin Wang,Gang Cao 대한간학회 2022 Clinical and Molecular Hepatology(대한간학회지) Vol.28 No.3

Background/Aims: Binge drinking leads to many disorders, including alcoholic hepatosteatosis, which is characterized by intrahepatic neutrophil infiltration and increases the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Molecular mechanisms may involve the migration of bacterial metabolites from the gut to the liver and the activation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Methods: Serum samples from both binge drinking and alcohol-avoiding patients were analyzed. Mouse models of chronic plus binge alcohol-induced hepatosteatosis and HCC models were used. Results: A marker of NETs formation, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), was significantly higher in alcoholic hepatosteatosis and HCC patients and mice than in controls. Intrahepatic inflammation markers and HCC-related cytokines were decreased in mice with reduced NET formation due to neutrophil elastase (NE) deletion, and liver-related symptoms of alcohol were also alleviated in NE knockout mice. Removal of intestinal bacteria with antibiotics led to decreases in markers of NETs formation and inflammatory cytokines upon chronic alcohol consumption, and development of alcoholic hepatosteatosis and HCC was also attenuated. These functions were restored upon supplementation with the bacterial product LPS. When mice lacking toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) received chronic alcohol feeding, intrahepatic markers of NETs formation decreased, and hepatosteatosis and HCC were alleviated. Conclusions: Formation of NETs following LPS stimulation of TLR4 upon chronic alcohol use leads to increased alcoholic steatosis and subsequent HCC.

Abnormal Brain Activity Changes in Patients with Migraine: A Short-Term Longitudinal Study

Ling Zha,Jixin Liu,Xuemei Yan,Wanghuan Dun,Jing Yang,Liyu Huang,Yuan Kai,Dahua Yu,Wei Qin,Tian Jie,Fanrong Liang 대한신경과학회 2014 Journal of Clinical Neurology Vol.10 No.3

Background and Purpose Whether or not migraine can cause cumulative brain alterationsdue to frequent migraine-related nociceptive input in patients is largely unclear. The aim of thisstudy was to characterize longitudinal changes in brain activity between repeated observationswithin a short time interval in a group of female migraine patients, using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Methods Nineteen patients and 20 healthy controls (HC) participated in the study. Regionalhomogeneity (ReHo) and functional interregional connectivity were assessed to determine thefocal and global features of brain dysfunction in migraine. The relationship between changes inheadache parameters and longitudinal brain alterations were also investigated. Results All patients reported that their headache activity increased over time. AbnormalReHo changes in the patient group relative to the HC were found in the putamen, orbitofrontalcortex, secondary somatosensory cortex, brainstem, and thalamus. Moreover, these brain regions exhibited longitudinal ReHo changes at the 6-week follow-up examination. These headache activity changes were accompanied by disproportionately dysfunctional connectivity inthe putamen in the migraine patients, as revealed by functional connectivity analysis, suggesting that the putamen plays an important role in integrating diverse information among othermigraine-related brain regions. Conclusions The results obtained in this study suggest that progressive brain aberrations in migraine progress as a result of increased headache attacks.

Image Color and Texture-based Modeling and Simulation of Ripeness Identification for Fresh Corn Ears

Huihui Wang,Yan Lv,Yonghai Sun,Xuejun Wang,Xueheng Tao,Jixin Yang 보안공학연구지원센터(IJSIP) 2013 International Journal of Signal Processing, Image Vol.6 No.6