Photoelectric Properties of DSSCs Sensitized by Phloxine B and Bromophenol Blue

Phloxine B and bromophenol blue as the sensitizers of dye-sensitized solar cells were investigated via UV-Vis spectra, FT-IR spectra, fluorescence spectra, and current-voltage characteristics. The frontier molecular orbital, vibration analysis, and the first hyperpolarizability were calculated with DFT/6-31G(d). The dipole moment, light harvesting efficiency (LHE), and larger absolute value of driving force of electron injection (ΔGinject) were also discussed. The calculated results were compared with the experimental results of phloxine B and bromophenol blue. It was found that, compared with bromophenol blue, bigger dipole moment of phloxine B results in larger open circuit voltage (Voc) according to the correlation between dipole moment and Voc. At the same time, for configuration of phloxine B, it has higher LHE and ΔGinject, which are helpful to enhance the abilities of absorbing sunlight and electron injection. Therefore, higher LHE and ΔGinject for phloxine B produced a larger value of Jsc

Consecutive Inertia Drift of Autonomous RC Car via Primitive-based Planning and Data-driven Control

Inertia drift is an aggressive transitional driving maneuver, which is challenging due to the high nonlinearity of the system and the stringent requirement on control and planning performance. This paper presents a solution for the consecutive inertia drift of an autonomous RC car based on primitive-based planning and data-driven control. The planner generates complex paths via the concatenation of path segments called primitives, and the controller eases the burden on feedback by interpolating between multiple real trajectories with different initial conditions into one near-feasible reference trajectory. The proposed strategy is capable of drifting through various paths containing consecutive turns, which is validated in both simulation and reality.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, to appear to IROS 202

Young minds, deeper insights: a recap of the BMAS Summer School 2023, ranging from basic research to clinical implications of bone marrow adipose tissue

Bone marrow adiposity (BMA) is a rapidly growing yet very young research field that is receiving worldwide attention based on its intimate relationship with skeletal and metabolic diseases, as well as hematology and cancer. Moreover, increasing numbers of young scientists and students are currently and actively working on BMA within their research projects. These developments led to the foundation of the International Bone Marrow Adiposity Society (BMAS), with the goal to promote BMA knowledge worldwide, and to train new generations of researchers interested in studying this field. Among the many initiatives supported by BMAS, there is the BMAS Summer School, inaugurated in 2021 and now at its second edition. The aim of the BMAS Summer School 2023 was to educate and train students by disseminating the latest advancement on BMA. Moreover, Summer School 2023 provided suggestions on how to write grants, deal with negative results in science, and start a laboratory, along with illustrations of alternative paths to academia. The event was animated by constructive and interactive discussions between early-career researchers and more senior scientists. In this report, we highlight key moments and lessons learned from the event

Treatment of vulval condyloma with a combination of paiteling and cryotherapy, and its effect on late recurrence

Purpose: To study the clinical effectiveness of a combination of Paiteling and cryotherapy in the treatment of vulval condyloma acuminatum (VCA), and its effect on late recurrence. Methods: Eighty-six VCA patients were chosen as research subjects, and were randomized into group A and group B. Group A patients were treated with combination of Paiteling and cryotherapy, while group B patients received cryotherapy only. The clinical effects of the two treatment methods on VCA were evaluated by measuring area of damaged skin, levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP), as well as degree of recurrence of VCA in the two groups, before and after treatment. Results: Total clinical treatment effectiveness in group A was significantly higher compared with group B (p < 0.05). After treatment, the area of damaged skin, and levels of IL-6 and CRP were markedly lower in group A than in group B (p < 0.001). After 6 months of treatment, disease control was higher in group A than in group B (p < 0.05). There was also a lower incidence of adverse reactions in group A than in group B (p < 0.05). Conclusion: These results indicate that the combination of Paiteling and cryotherapy is more effective than cryotherapy alone in improving treatment effectiveness and reducing late recurrence of VCA. Therefore, the combined treatment has potentials clinical application in the management of VCA

Platelet-Rich Plasma Promotes the Proliferation of Human Muscle Derived Progenitor Cells and Maintains Their Stemness

Human muscle-derived progenitor cells (hMDPCs) offer great promise for muscle cell-based regenerative medicine; however, prolonged ex-vivo expansion using animal sera is necessary to acquire sufficient cells for transplantation. Due to the risks associated with the use of animal sera, the development of a strategy for the ex vivo expansion of hMDPCs is required. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of using platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for the ex-vivo expansion of hMDPCs. Pre-plated MDPCs, myoendothelial cells, and pericytes are three populations of hMDPCs that we isolated by the modified pre-plate technique and Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS), respectively. Pooled allogeneic human PRP was obtained from a local blood bank, and the effect that thrombin-activated PRP-releasate supplemented media had on the ex-vivo expansion of the hMDPCs was tested against FBS supplemented media, both in vitro and in vivo. PRP significantly enhanced short and long-term cell proliferation, with or without FBS supplementation. Antibody-neutralization of PDGF significantly blocked the mitogenic/proliferative effects that PRP had on the hMDPCs. A more stable and sustained expression of markers associated with stemness, and a decreased expression of lineage specific markers was observed in the PRP-expanded cells when compared with the FBS-expanded cells. The in vitro osteogenic, chondrogenic, and myogenic differentiation capacities of the hMDPCs were not altered when expanded in media supplemented with PRP. All populations of hMDPCs that were expanded in PRP supplemented media retained their ability to regenerate myofibers in vivo. Our data demonstrated that PRP promoted the proliferation and maintained the multi-differentiation capacities of the hMDPCs during ex-vivo expansion by maintaining the cells in an undifferentiated state. Moreover, PDGF appears to be a key contributing factor to the beneficial effect that PRP has on the proliferation of hMDPCs. © 2013 Li et al

Research on the degradation behaviors of wood pulp cellulose in ionic liquids

Utilizing phosphate-based ionic liquids (ILs) solvents for dissolving cellulose to prepare cellulose fibers has attracted much attention for its convenience, high yield, stability and sustainability. However, the degradation behavior during dissolving of cellulose in ILs, which is an important factor for fabricating cellulose fiber, is still unclear. In this work, the degradation of wood pulped cellulose (WPC) in three kinds of phosphate-based ILs: 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dimethyl phosphate ([Emim]DMP), 1-ethyl-3methylimidazolium diethyl phosphate ([Emim]DEP) and 1-butyl-3-ethylimidazolium diethyl phosphate ([Beim]DEP), were systematically investigated at different dissolution temperatures and dissolution times. The results indicated that the degradation degree of WPC in three ILs follows the order of [Emim]DEP > [Beim]DEP > [Emim]DMP, which is consistent with interaction results obtained by quantum chemical calculation, and degradation degree increases follows the rising of dissolution temperature and the accumulation of dissolution time. Moreover, no reducing sugar (RS) was found in any recycled ILs even when the degree of polymerization (DP) of regenerated cellulose (RC) decreased by 30.4%. In addition, according to the Fourier transform infrared and X-ray diffraction data, the results further proved that the crystallization type of RC changed from type I to type II. Here, preferable dissolving parameters and experiments data of multiple conditions are provided, which may provide practical reference and guidance for both scientific research and industrial.(c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Screening Ionic Liquids by the COSMO-RS Method for the Preparation of Antibacterial Cellulose Fibers

The application of natural antibacterial agents seems to be one of the popular research topics in the field of antibacterial materials due to their unique properties such as good biocompatibility and biodegradability. In this work, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethylphosphate ([Emim]DEP) with a better ability to dissolve three natural antibacterial agents (thymol, quercetin, and aloe-emodin) was screened out from 195 kinds of ILs formed by 13 cations and 15 anions using the conductor-like screening model for real solvents method. The antibacterial cellulose fibers were prepared using cellulose and three natural antibacterial agents as raw materials and [Emim]DEP as the solvent. The results indicated that three natural antibacterial agents are successfully added into the corresponding antibacterial cellulose fibers according to the Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis data. The scanning electron microscopy results suggested that the antibacterial cellulose fibers have smooth and uniform surfaces. Moreover, the thymol/cellulose antibacterial fibers (TCFs) could inhibit more than 92.3% of E. coli and 90.2% of S. aureus when the content of thymol is 25 wt % and the breaking strength and breaking elongation of the TCFs are up to 580 MPa and 13.8%, respectively. In addition, after 15 times of standard washing in water, the TCFs still have more than 75% antibacterial activities against E. coli and S. aureus