Special Staining of the Liquid-Based Cytopathology Test in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid for Diagnosis of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis with Nonneutropenic Patients

In recent years, various biomarkers have been gradually applied on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid for the diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). The objective of this study is to assess the value of the liquid-based cytopathology test (LCT) for improving the identification of IPA in BAL fluid from possible IPA patients, following special staining with periodic acid-Schiff staining (PAS) or Grocott’s methenamine silver (GMS). A total of 47 consecutive possible IPA patients who underwent bronchoscopy with BAL fluid from January 2017 to December 2018 were included. 45 people had a pair of BAL fluid specimens and 2 patients had two BAL fluid specimens. The 49 pairs of BAL fluid specimens were processed for culture, tuberculosis acid fast staining smear, direct microbial smear, and LCT with special staining (PAS and GMS), respectively. Then, we compared the sensitivity and specificity of PAS and GMS in BAL fluid in high-risk patients. Among 47 possible IPA patients, 25 patients had proven/probable IPA, and 11 patients had other invasive fungal diseases. The sensitivity of GMS was higher than that of PAS (92.11% versus 81.58%; P=0.175). The specificity of GMS was 81.82%, which was higher than that of PAS (81.82% versus 72.73%; P=0.611). The negative predictive value (NPV) for PAS and GMS were 53.33% and 75.00%, respectively. The positive predictive value (PPV) for PAS and GMS were 91.18% and 94.59%, respectively. This study showed that special staining of LCT in BAL fluid may be a novel method for the diagnosis of IPA, and the GMS of LCT had higher sensitivity and specificity, which was superior to PAS

Detrital Zircon U-Pb Ages in the East China Seas: Implications for Provenance Analysis and Sediment Budgeting

Linking marine sinks to potential terrestrial sources is one of most intriguing but challenging aspects of sediment source-to-sink studies. In this study, we analyzed 23 zircon samples (3271 filtered best ages) from surface sediments of the east China seas (ECSs) that cover a large portion of the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea to part of the northeastern South China Sea. The results of U-Pb age distributions exhibit variable signatures in different seas. The Bohai Sea is characterized by 4 age populations at 203–286 Ma, 383–481 Ma, 1830–1940 Ma and 2480–2548 Ma, whereas the southern Yellow Sea and the East China Sea are featured by 5 age populations at 176–223 Ma, 383–481 Ma, 732–830 Ma, 1830–1940 Ma and 2480–2548 Ma. We propose that the presence or absence of the population of 732–830 Ma in the Yangtze Craton (YC) and the North China Craton (NCC) is a possible geochronological signature to distinguish zircon grains derived from the two source regions. Furthermore, on the basis of multidimensional scaling (MDS), U-Pb ages in the sediments of the Bohai Sea, East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait could be correspondently linked to those of the Yellow River, the Yangtze River and Taiwan rivers. The good linkages support the view that U-Pb age distributions of detrital zircons in the margin seas are mainly controlled by fluvial discharges, and ultimately, by the tectonic history of the corresponding source regions. Using a sediment forward mixing model, we obtained the relative sediment contributions and spatial variations of five most important river discharges in the region. The mixing results suggest that the major rivers in the region, i.e., the Yangtze and the Yellow Rivers, are the dominant sediment contributors to the continental margin, and their mixing coefficients could be used to infer relative sediment budgeting. In addition, spatial variations in mixing coefficient in the East China Sea indicate that sediment mixing and partitioning processes in the marine depositional environment have played a part role in propagating the provenance signals as a result of interaction of oceanic currents and tides. The combined method between provenance analysis and mixing modeling provides a feasible way to appreciate sediment budgeting in the geological past

Exploring intermolecular singlet fission in pyrene-fused azaacenes film

Singlet fission (SF), a process that involves the conversion of one singlet exciton (S1) into a pair of triplet excitons (T1), holds great technological promise for photovoltaics. Typical SF materials necessitate that the singlet energy (ES1) be at least twice that of the triplet energy (ET1) or that, equivalently, ESd1 be less than twice the singlet−triplet energy splitting (ΔES1−T1). Based on these design principles, we have developed a series of linearly arranged pyrene-fused azaacenes with varying conjugation lengths, featuring four, five, and six aromatic rings. These molecules exhibit distinct excited-state dynamics in both solution and films. With increasing conjugation length, the ES1 values decrease correspondingly from 2.51 to 2.09 eV. Time-resolved spectroscopy and quantum chemistry calculations reveal that ΔES1−T1 increases from 0.38 to 1.13 eV, which is attributed to the increasing molecular frontier orbital overlaps. These systematic trends result in an intersystem crossing in the short-conjugated backbone (four aromatic rings). Conversely, the long-conjugated backbone of six aromatic rings exhibits an ultrafast intermolecular SF process. These findings regarding this newest addition to the collection of SF materials provide guidance on the construction of molecules for desired optoelectronic properties.Ministry of Education (MOE)National Research Foundation (NRF)Submitted/Accepted versionThis research/project was supported by the Ministry of Education under its AcRF Tier 2 grants (MOE-2019-T2-1-006, MOE-2019-T2-1-097, and MOE-T2EP50120-0004) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore under its NRF Investigatorship (NRF-NRFI2018-04). Q.Z. thanks the funding support from the City University of Hong Kong (9380117, 7005620, and 7020040) and the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, P. R. China. D.J. acknowledges funding from the Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi (2022JQ-062)

Codependent failure mechanisms between cathode and anode in solid state lithium metal batteries: mediated by uneven ion flux

An in depth understanding of the degradation mechanisms is a prerequisite for developing the next generation all solid state lithium metal battery ASSLMB technology. Herein, synchrotron X ray computed tomography SXCT together with other probing tools and simulation method were employed to rediscover the decaying mechanisms of LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 NCM Li6PS5Cl LPSCl Li ASSLMB. It reveals that the detachment and isolation of NCM particles cause the current focusing on the remaining active regions of cathode. The extent of Li stripping and the likelihood of Li plating into LPSCl facing the active NCM particles becomes higher. Besides, the homogeneity of Li stripping plating is improved by homogenizing the electrochemical reactions at the cathode side by LiZr2 PO4 3 LZP coating. These results suggest a codependent failure mechanism between cathode and anode that is mediated by uneven Li ion flux. This work contributes to a holistic understanding of the degradation mechanisms in ASSLMBs and opens new opportunities for their further optimization and developmen

Process Reliability of Abrasive Water Jet to Cut Shapes of the Titanium Alloy Ti-6Al-4V

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