Development and Validation of a New Prognostic Model for Predicting Survival Outcomes in Patients with Acute-onchronic Liver Failure

Background and Aims:Early determination of prognosis in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure(ACLF)is crucial for optimizing treatment options and liver allocation.This study aimed to identify risk factors associated with ACLF and to develop new prognostic models that accurately predict patient outcomes.Methods:We retrospectively selected 1,952 hospitalized patients diagnosed with ACLF between January 2010 and June 2018.This cohort was used to develop new prognostic scores,which were subsequently validated in external groups.Results:The study included 1,386 ACLF patients and identified six independent predictors of 28-day mortality through multivariate analysis(all p<0.05).The new score,based on a multivariate regression model,demonstrated superior predictive accuracy for both 28-day and 90-day mortalities,with Areas under the ROC curves of 0.863 and 0.853,respectively(all p<0.05).This score can be used to stratify the risk of mortality among ACLF patients with ACLF,showing a significant difference in survival between patients categorized by the cut-off value(log-rank(Mantel-Cox)χ^(2)=487.574 and 606.441,p=0.000).Additionally,the new model exhibited good robustness in two external cohorts.Conclusions:This study presents a refined prognostic model,the Model for end-stage liver disease-complication score,which accurately predicts short-term mortality in ACLF patients.This model offers a new perspective and tool for improved clinical decision-making and short-term prognostic assessment in ACLF patients.

Novel soft robotic finger model driven by electrohydrodynamic(EHD)pump

1Introduction In the field of robotic-human interactions,soft robotics offers enhanced safety and adaptability.A major challenge in this area is the integration of soft actuators with pump systems,which often increases the system volume and complexity.This study presents the development and testing of a robotic finger powered by electrohydrodynamic(EHD)pumps.By leveraging the electric field-induced flow of dielectric fluids.

Large-scale synthesis of single-source, thermally stable, and dual-emissive Mn-doped Zn-Cu-ln-S nanocrystals for bright white light-emitting diodes

The global demand for resource sustainability is growing. Thus, the development of single-source, environment-friendly colloidal semiconductor nanocrystal （NC） phosphors with broadband emission spectra is highly desirable for use as color converters in white light-emitting diodes （WLEDs）. We report herein the gram-scale synthesis of single-source, cadmium-free, dual-emissive Mn-doped Zn-Cu-In-S NCs （d-dots） by a simple, non-injection, low-cost, one-pot approach. This synthesis method led to the formation of NCs with continuously varying compositions in a radial direction because each precursor had a different reactivity. Consequently, the d-dots exhibited two emission bands, one that could be attributed to Mn emission and a second that could be ascribed to the band edge of the Zn-Cu-In-S NCs. The emission peaks assigned to band edge were tunable by modifying the particle size and composition. The prepared d-dots also exhibited the characteristic zero self-absorption, a quantum yield of 46%, and good thermal stability. Combining a commercial blue light-emitting diode （LED） chip with optimized d-dots as color converters gave a high color rendering index of up to 90, Commission Internationale de l＇eclairage color coordinates of （0.332, 0.321）, and a correlated color temperature of 5,680 K. These results suggest that cadmium-free, thermally stable, single-phase d-dot phosphors have potential applications in WLEDs.

Immune dysfunction leads to mortality and organ injury in patients with COVID-19 in China:insights from ERS-COVID-19 study

Dear Editor,A series of novel coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)since the end of 2019 is ongoing and triggering a global public health crisis.The estimated case fatality rate is approximately 3.4%in China.However,some patients experience dyspnea within 1 week and develop rapidly to organ injury and even death within 2 weeks after dyspnea.1 In addition,early organ injury could lead to higher risks of mortality.Thus,early identification of patients at risk of organ injury and death is crucial,which saves the patients from classified and invasive treatment,improving clinical outcome and prognosis.The human immune system plays significant roles in the resistance of foreign pathogens and the progress of pneumonia.Recent studies have mentioned that T cells were decreased in COVID-19 patients,excessive activated immune response was caused by pathogenic Th1 cells,and inflammatory CD14+CD16+monocytes may connect to pulmonary immunopathology,leading to deleterious clinical manifestations and even acute mortality after SARS-CoV-2 infections.2 SARS-CoV-2 might damage lymphocytes,especially T lymphocytes,and the immune system was impaired during the period of disease to cause tissue injury.

Alleviating the crosstalk effect via a fine-moulded light-blocking matrix for colour-converted micro-LED display with a 122% NTSC gamut

One of the major challenges when fabricating high gamut colour-converted micro-light-emitting diodes(LEDs)displays is severe crosstalk effect among adjacent pixels because of the wide view-angle feature of micro-LED chips.In this study,potential factors that contribute to the crosstalk effect were systematically simulated.We observed that precisely filling the space between each micro-LED chip with a light blocking matrix(LBM)can be a promising solution to alleviate this risk.After careful investigations,a press-assisted moulding technique was demonstrated to be an effective approach of fabricating the LBM.Nevertheless,experimental observations further revealed that residual black LBM on the surface of micro-LEDs severely reduces the brightness,thereby compromising the display performance.This problem was successfully addressed by employing a plasma etching technique to efficiently extract the trapped light.Eventually,a top-emitting blue micro-LED-based backlight fine-moulded with a black LBM was developed and combined with red and green quantum dot colour-conversion layers for full-colour display.The colour gamut of our manufactured display prototype can cover as high as 122%that of the National Television Standards Committee.