Van der Waals junctions hold significant potentials for various applications in multifunctional and low-power electronics and optoelectronics. The multistep device fabrication process usually introduces lattice mismatch and defects at the junction interfaces, which deteriorate device performance. Here the layer engineering synthesis of van der Waals homojunctions consisting of 2H-MoTe2 with asymmetric thickness to eliminate heterogenous interfaces and thus obtain clean interfaces is reported. Experimental results confirm that the homostructure nature gives rise to the formation of pristine van der Waals junctions, avoiding chemical disorders and defects. The ability to tune the energy bands of 2H-MoTe2 continuously through layer engineering enables the creation of adjustable built-in electric field at the homojunction boundaries, which leads to the achievement of self-powered photodetection based on the obtained 2H-MoTe2 films. Furthermore, the successful integration of 2H-MoTe2 homojunctions into an image sensor with 10 × 10 pixels, brings about zero-power consumption and near-infrared imaging functions. The pristine van der Waals homojunctions and effective integration strategies shed new insights into the development of large-scale application for two-dimensional materials in advanced electronics and optoelectronics.

UNASSIGNED: After strict COVID-19-related restrictions were lifted, health systems globally were overwhelmed. Much has been discussed about how health systems could better prepare for future pandemics; however, primary health care (PHC) has been largely ignored.
UNASSIGNED: We aimed to investigate what combined policies PHC could apply to strengthen the health care system via a bottom-up approach, so as to better respond to a public health emergency.
UNASSIGNED: We developed a system dynamics model to replicate Shanghai\'s response when COVID-19-related restrictions were lifted. We then simulated an alternative PHC-based integrated health system and tested the following three interventions: first contact in PHC with telemedicine services, recommendation to secondary care, and return to PHC for recovery.
UNASSIGNED: The simulation results showed that each selected intervention could alleviate hospital overwhelm. Increasing the rate of first contact in PHC with telemedicine increased hospital bed availability by 6% to 12% and reduced the cumulative number of deaths by 35%. More precise recommendations had a limited impact on hospital overwhelm (<1%), but the simulation results showed that underrecommendation (rate: 80%) would result in a 19% increase in cumulative deaths. Increasing the rate of return to PHC from 5% to 20% improved hospital bed availability by 6% to 16% and reduced the cumulative number of deaths by 46%. Moreover, combining all 3 interventions had a multiplier effect; bed availability increased by 683%, and the cumulative number of deaths dropped by 75%.
UNASSIGNED: Rather than focusing on the allocation of medical resources in secondary care, we determined that an optimal PHC-based integrated strategy would be to have a 60% rate of first contact in PHC, a 110% recommendation rate, and a 20% rate of return to PHC. This could increase health system resilience during public health emergencies.

Flexible supercapacitors (FSCs) with high electrochemical and mechanical performance are inevitably necessary for the fabrication of integrated wearable systems. Conducting polymers with intrinsic conductivity and flexibility are ideal active materials for FSCs. However, they suffer from poor cycling stability due to huge volume variations during operation cycles. Two-dimensional (2D) materials play a critical role in FSCs, but restacking and aggregation limit their practical application. Nanocomposites of conducting polymers and 2D materials can mitigate the above-mentioned drawbacks. This review presents the recent progress of those nanocomposites for FSCs. It aims to provide insights into the assembling strategies of the macroscopic structures of those nanocomposites, such as 1D fibers, 2D films, and 3D aerogels/hydrogels, as well as the fabrication methods to convert these macroscopic structures to FSCs with different device configurations. The practical applications of FSCs based on those nanocomposites in integrated self-powered sensing systems and future perspectives are also discussed.

Integrating solar energy into rechargeable battery systems represents a significant advancement towards sustainable energy storage solutions. Herein, we propose a win-win solution to reduce the shuttle effect of polysulfide and improve the photocorrosion stability of CdS, thereby enhancing the energy conversion efficiency of rGO/CdS-based photorechargeable integrated lithium-sulfur batteries (PRLSBs). Experimental results show that CdS can effectively anchor polysulfide under sunlight irradiation for 20 minutes. Under a high current density (1 C), the discharge-specific capacity of the PRLSBs increased to 971.30 mAh g-1, which is 113.3 % enhancement compared to that of under dark condition (857.49 mAh g-1). Remarkably, without an electrical power supply, the PRLSBs can maintain a 21 hours discharge process following merely 1.5 hours of light irradiation, achieving a breakthrough solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency of up to 5.04 %. Ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and in situ Raman analysis corroborate the effectiveness of this complementary weakness approach in bolstering redox kinetics and curtailing polysulfide dissolution in PRLSBs. This work showcases a feasible strategy to develop PRLSBs with potential dual-functional metal sulfide photoelectrodes, which will be of great interest in future-oriented off-grid photocell systems.

UNASSIGNED: A lack of coordinated care leads to multiple adverse effects for older adults with multimorbidity, including high treatment burdens, adverse health outcomes, reduplicated healthcare service utilization, and catastrophic healthcare expenditure. To foster healthy aging, person-centered integrated care that is responsive to older adults has been proposed by the World Health Organization. The objective of this study was to identify factors that impact the successful implementation of integrated care for older adults with multimorbidity in China.
UNASSIGNED: From July 2022 to May 2023, 33 healthcare providers and managers involved in the delivery and management of healthcare services for older adults with multimorbidity were recruited from Zhejiang Province, China using purposeful and maximum variation sampling methods. Semi-structured, face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted by the same interviewer in the participants\' native Chinese language until data saturation was reached. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze the data, and then, themes were mapped onto six dimensions using the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care to allow for a comprehensive view of the study\'s findings.
UNASSIGNED: Eleven themes were generated as facilitators and barriers to integrated care for older adults with multimorbidity in China. These themes include (1) clinical integration: patient-centered care, (2) professional integration: interdisciplinary teams and training, (3) organizational integration: resources and accessibility, (4) system integration: community and funds, incentives, and health insurance, (5) functional integration: electronic health record systems, workforce, and guidelines, and (6) normative integration: shared mission.
UNASSIGNED: Guided by the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care, various factors at both micro, meso, and macro levels that impact the implementation of integrated care for older adults with multimorbidity in the Chinese context have been identified in this study. The strategies for future interventions and policies should focus on promoting facilitators and addressing barriers.

Integrated periodic structure reference materials are crucial for calibration in optical instruments and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), yet they face limitations concerning a restricted measurement range, a single pattern type, and a single calibration parameter. In this study, we address these challenges by developing integrated periodic structure reference materials with an expanded measurement range, diverse pattern types, and multiple calibration parameters through a combination of photolithography and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching process. These reference materials facilitate high-efficiency and multi-value calibration, finding applications in the calibration of optical instruments and micro-CT systems. The simulations were conducted using MATLAB (R2022b) to examine the structure-morphology changes during the single-step ICP etching process. The variation rules governing line widths, periods, etching depths, and side wall verticality in integrated periodic structure reference materials were thoroughly evaluated. Linewidths were accurately extracted utilizing an advanced image processing algorithm, while average period values were determined through the precise Fast Fourier Transform method. The experimental results demonstrate that the relative errors of line widths do not exceed 17.5%, and the relative errors of periods do not exceed 1.5%. Furthermore, precise control of the etching depth was achieved, ranging from 30 to 60 μm for grids with line widths 2-20 μm. The side wall verticality exhibited remarkable consistency with an angle of 90° ± 0.8°, and its relative error was found to be less than 0.9%.

The harmonic movable tooth drive system integrated with shape memory alloys has a small size and a large output torque. Its dynamics performance is the key factor for evaluating the drive system. Here, for the drive system, based on its structure and working principle, the coupled dynamics equations are deduced. Using the equations, changes of the natural frequencies of the drive system during the operation are investigated. Effects of the system parameters and SMA wires phase change process on the natural frequencies are analyzed. The nonlinear resonant frequencies of the drive system and its amplitude-frequency relationship are studied. Results show that natural frequencies of the drive system change periodically which is caused by SMA phase transformation during operation. The eccentricity, movable tooth radius, the wave generator radius and SMA wire length have also important effects on the natural frequencies of the drive system. The nonlinear resonant frequencies are smaller than linear resonant frequencies. In the design of the drive system, the coupled nonlinear effects of the temperature, phase change, stress and strain of the SMA wires, and the system parameters of the movable tooth drive system should be considered. In this paper, the coupled nonlinear dynamics model of the harmonic movable tooth drive system integrated with shape memory alloys is proposed in which the coupled effects of the temperature, phase change, stress and strain of the SMA, and the system parameters of the movable tooth drive system are considered.

Microfluidic separation of particles and cells is crucial to lab-on-a-chip applications in the fields of science, engineering, and industry. The continuous-flow separation methods can be classified as active or passive depending on whether the force involved in the process is externally imposed or internally induced. The majority of current separations have been realized using only one of the active or passive methods. Such a single-mode process is usually limited to one-parameter separation, which often becomes less effective or even ineffective when dealing with real samples because of their inherent heterogeneity. Integrating two or more separation methods of either type has been demonstrated to offer several advantages like improved specificity, resolution, and throughput. This article reviews the recent advances of such multimode particle and cell separations in microfluidic devices, including the serial-mode prefocused separation, serial-mode multistage separation, and parallel-mode force-tuned separation.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to investigate the alterations of serum proteomic and metabolomic profiles in Chinese patients with severe and active Graves\' Orbitopathy (GO).
METHODS: Thirty patients with GO and 30 healthy volunteers were enrolled. The serum concentrations of FT3, FT4, T3, T4, and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were analyzed, after which TMT labeling-based proteomics and untargeted metabolomics were performed. Metabo- Analyst and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) was used for integrated network analysis. A nomogram was established based on the model to explore the disease prediction ability of the identified feature metabolites.
RESULTS: One hundred thirteen proteins (19 up-regulated and 94 down-regulated) and 75 metabolites (20 increased and 55 decreased) were significantly altered in GO compared to the control group. By combining the lasso regression, IPA network, and protein-metabolite-disease sub-networks, we extracted feature proteins (CPS1, GP1BA, and COL6A1) and feature metabolites (glycine, glycerol 3-phosphate, and estrone sulfate). The logistic regression analysis revealed that the full model with the prediction factors and three identified feature metabolites had better prediction performance for GO compared to the baseline model. The ROC curve also indicated better prediction performance (AUC = 0.933 vs. 0.789).
CONCLUSIONS: A new biomarker cluster combined with three blood metabolites with high statistical power can be used to discriminate patients with GO. These findings provide further insights into the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and potential therapeutic targets for this disease.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has created a huge challenge to global health systems. Experience in fighting the epidemic shows that the development of a rapid and sensitive POCT diagnostic platform for SARS-CoV-2 that can be deployed in situ is crucial to contain the outbreak. Here, we have developed a portable microdroplet detection platform that integrated temperature controller and micro-stirring for high-throughput and ultrafast COVID-19 diagnosis. Such a device uses a p-n junction (PN junction) as the temperature controller to adjust the temperature in a single microdroplet independently and precisely, ensuring the amplification of reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP). Meanwhile, the platform incorporates an ultrasonic micro-stirring unit, greatly increasing the interaction between RT-LAMP molecules and accelerating the amplification. The results show good linearity over a wide linear range (1 to 105 copies/μL) and low LOD (0.48 copy/μL). Our method reports in only 6.1 min for high-viral load samples, and combines with sample preparation, the total detection process could be done within 30 min. Such a portable and fully integrated microdroplet molecular diagnostic platform is a promising tool for point-of-care diagnosis of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in resource-limited settings.