Organic-inorganic halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have achieved amazing progress in terms of power conversion efficiency (PCE), rising from 3.8% to over 23.3%. Owing to perovskites' low ...nucleation and crystallization activation energy (56.6-97.3 kJ mol
−1
), a range of low temperature and large-scale solution fabrication processes have been actively investigated for potential commercialization. Although many excellent research institutes and enterprises have emerged to advance commercialization of PSCs, the performance of devices which have large areas still lag much farther behind those of smaller lab scales. The performances of PSCs are predominantly determined by the quality of the perovskite film, which in turn, is controlled by the fabrication process. A comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the nucleation and growth process during perovskite crystallization is imperative for the further advancement of large-scale manufacturing of high quality perovskite films. This review summarizes recent advances in the commercialization of the PSCs market, and critically reviews promising large-scale solution manufacturing methods combined with their physical properties and relevant challenges with the crystallization thermodynamics and kinetics of perovskites. The hurdles and challenges of commercialization and possible approaches and solutions are discussed.
Perovskite large-scale solution manufacturing methods combined with relevant crystallization thermodynamics and kinetics, as well as challenges including stability, toxicity, and module cost issues towards commercialization are reviewed.
•Environmental regulations can improve energy-environment efficiency of firms.•Environmental policies have asymmetric impact on heterogeneous firms.•End treatment and source control are important ...channels for improving efficiency.•Impact of different policy tools on energy-environment efficiency is heterogeneous.•Micro evidence for evaluating the effect of environmental regulation is provided.
Energy-environment efficiency can be used as a means of control to change the mode of economic development by considering the pollution reduction factor. Taking China as an example, this study uses a nonradial superefficiency data envelopment analysis method to measure microlevel energy-environment efficiency and investigates the relationship between environmental regulation and efficiency. The findings show that for every 1% increase in environmental regulation, firms’ energy-environment efficiency increases by approximately 0.04% and that environmental regulations have a greater impact on pollution-intensive firms and private firms compared to other types of firms. A median effect model shows that end treatment and source control are important channels through which environmental regulation can improve firms’ energy-environment efficiency. In addition, the influence of different environmental regulation policy tools on firm energy-environment efficiency is heterogeneous. With every 1% increase in a command-and-control and market-based incentive policy, energy-environment efficiency increases by 0.01–0.02%, while the effect of public participation policy tools is not significant. This study provides not only new micro empirical evidence for evaluating the effect of environmental regulation but also a reference for applying and coordinating different types of environmental policy tools.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Since approximate a century ago, many hybrid crops have been continually developed by crossing two inbred varieties. Owing to heterosis (hybrid vigor) in plants, these hybrids often have superior ...agricultural performances in yield or disease resistance succeeding their inbred parental lines. Several classical hypotheses have been proposed to explain the genetic causes of heterosis. During recent years, many new genetics and genomics strategies have been developed and used for the identifications of heterotic genes in plants. Heterotic effects of the heterotic loci and molecular functions of the heterotic genes are being investigated in many plants such as rice, maize, sorghum, Arabidopsis and tomato. More and more data and knowledge coming from the molecular studies of heterotic loci and genes will serve as a valuable resource for hybrid breeding by molecular design in future. This review aims to address recent advances in our understanding of the genetic and molecular mechanisms of heterosis in plants. The remaining scientific questions on the molecular basis of heterosis and the potential applications in breeding are also proposed and discussed.
Heterosis, or hybrid vigor, refers to the phenomenon that hybrids show superior performance over their parents. Although it has been widely exploited in crop breeding, little is known about the underlying mechanism. Recent progresses on genetic and molecular basis of heterosis are summarized in this review for a better understanding.
Full text
Available for:
FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Ovarian cancer (OC) is the seventh most common malignancy worldwide and the most lethal gynaecological malignancy. We aimed to explore global geographical patterns and temporal trends from 1973 to ...2015 for 41 countries in OC incidence and especially to analyse the birth cohort effect to gain further insight into the underlying causal factors of OC and identify countries with increasing risk of OC.
OC data were drawn from the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents databases and online databases published by governments. The joinpoint regression model was applied to detect changes in OC trends. The age-period-cohort model was applied to explore age and birth cohort effects.
The age-standardized rate of OC incidence ranged from 3.0 to 11.4 per 100,000 women worldwide in 2012. The highest age-standardized rate was observed in Central and Eastern Europe, with 11.4 per 100,000 women in 2012. For the most recent 10-year period, the increasing trends were mainly observed in Central and South America, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. The largest significant increase was observed in Brazil, with an average annual percentage change of 4.4%. For recent birth cohorts, cohort-specific increases in risk were pronounced in Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand.
Disparities in the incidence and risk of OC persist worldwide. The increased risk of birth cohort in OC incidence was observed for most countries in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Central and South America. The reason for the increasing OC risk for recent birth cohorts in these countries should be investigated with further epidemiology studies.
Full text
Available for:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Organic cathode materials have attracted extensive attention because of their diverse structures, facile synthesis, and environmental friendliness. However, they often suffer from insufficient ...cycling stability caused by the dissolution problem, poor rate performance, and low voltages. An in situ electropolymerization method was developed to stabilize and enhance organic cathodes for lithium batteries. 4,4′,4′′‐Tris(carbazol‐9‐yl)‐triphenylamine (TCTA) was employed because carbazole groups can be polymerized under an electric field and they may serve as high‐voltage redox‐active centers. The electropolymerized TCTA electrodes demonstrated excellent electrochemical performance with a high discharge voltage of 3.95 V, ultrafast rate capability of 20 A g−1, and a long cycle life of 5000 cycles. Our findings provide a new strategy to address the dissolution issue and they explore the molecular design of organic electrode materials for use in rechargeable batteries.
An in situ electropolymerization method was developed to enhance the performance of organic cathodes. 4,4′,4′′‐Tris(carbazol‐9‐yl)‐triphenylamine (TCTA) was employed because carbazole groups can be polymerized under an electric field and they may serve as high‐voltage redox‐active centers. Ultrafast rate performance (20 A g−1), long cycle life (5000 cycles), and high voltage (3.95 V) were demonstrated.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
It is very significant to understand the formation of perovskite crystals from the precursor solution and construct high-quality films to achieve highly efficient perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here, ...we have revealed a colloidal strategy to prepare compact monolayer perovskite films by controlling the size of colloidal clusters in the perovskite precursor. Under the action of the coordination interaction, the introduction of CH3NH3Cl (MACl) into the standard perovskite precursor significantly increases the size of colloidal clusters. Meanwhile, N-dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is further employed to stabilize the characteristics of the colloidal clusters and improve the reproducibility of the anti-solvent method. The large colloidal clusters can be orderly arranged on the substrate by spin-coating to form intermediate phase monolayer films, which grow to form large grains with an average size of 3 μm. Due to the much lower trap-state density and higher crystallinity of the monolayer perovskite films, a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.14% has been achieved. This study sheds light on the conversion mechanism of perovskite crystals from the colloidal precursor to solid films, and paves the way for further improvement of high-quality perovskite films that can lead to high performance devices.
Topographical cues provided by micropatterns on material surfaces have been demonstrated to control multiple cell functions. However, the majority of currently studied micropatterns fail to ...recapitulate the key characteristics of an osteon, which is the structural unit of natural cortical bone. Thus, in the present study, a micropatterned polycaprolactone (PCL) surface comprising a series of concentric circular microgrooves was fabricated by combining photolithography with the melt-casting method to mimic the concentric structure of an osteon in a two-dimensional setting. By culturing mouse mesenchymal stem cells (mMSCs) and osteoclast progenitor cells (RAW264.7 cells) on the osteon-like concentric microgrooved surface, the effects of this micropatterned surface on the osteogenesis of mMSCs and the osteoclastogenesis of RAW264.7 cells were systematically investigated. Osteoclastogenic differentiation was significantly inhibited in RAW264.7 cells on the fabricated osteon-like concentric microgrooved surface compared to that on the parallel linear microgrooved and flat surfaces, as indicated by the downregulated expression of key osteoclast-specific function genes (TRAP, CATK and MMP9), the lower activity of TRAP and less formation of TRAP-positive multinucleated giant osteoclasts. Further investigation indicated that RANK-NFκB signaling may have been involved in mediating the inhibited osteoclastogenesis of RAW264.7 cells by the osteon-like concentric microgrooved surface. In addition, the osteon-like concentric microgrooved surface greatly modulated the osteoclastogenic-related paracrine secretion of mMSCs (RANKL, M-CSF and OPG), despite its small effect on the osteogenesis of mMSCs. This secretory profile was found to be able to effectively inhibit osteoclastogenesis in RAW264.7 cells, confirming the enhanced osteoclastogenesis inhibitory functions of mMSCs on the osteon-like concentric microgrooved surface. Our findings demonstrate the importance of the microgroove orientation and arrangement in affecting cellular behaviors and highlight the potential benefits of incorporating osteon-like concentric microgrooved patterns on the surface of scaffolds for bone repair.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Abstract
Microbiota-host interactions play critical roles in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression, however, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we uncover that
Fusobacterium nucleatum
(
F. ...nucleatum
) induces a dramatic decline of m
6
A modifications in CRC cells and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tissues by downregulation of an m
6
A methyltransferase METTL3, contributing to inducation of CRC aggressiveness. Mechanistically, we characterized forkhead box D3 (FOXD3) as a transcription factor for METTL3.
F. nucleatum
activates YAP signaling, inhibits FOXD3 expression, and subsequently reduces METTL3 transcription. Downregulation of METTL3 promotes its target kinesin family member 26B (KIF26B) expression by reducing its m
6
A levels and diminishing YTHDF2-dependent mRNA degradation, which contributes to
F. nucleatum
-induced CRC metastasis. Moreover, METTL3 expression is negatively correlated with
F. nucleatum
and KIF26B levels in CRC tissues. A high expression of KIF26B is also significantly correlated with a shorter survival time of CRC patients. Together, our findings provide insights into modulating human m
6
A epitranscriptome by gut microbiota, and its significance in CRC progression.
•Public environmental concerns inhibit the market entry of polluting enterprises.•Public environmental concerns affect enterprise entry with heterogeneity.•Environmental regulation, investment and ...innovation are internal mechanisms.•Public environmental concerns can reduce the emission intensity of new enterprises.•Public environmental concern can encourage new enterprises to layout boundary.
When constructing a multigovernance environment system, it is important to systematically study the impact of the public’s environmental concern on the behavior of polluting firms. In relation to the market entry of polluting firms, this paper explores whether public concern for the environment can effectively reduce the likelihood of such firms entering the market to achieve control of pollution emissions at the source. Benchmark analysis shows that an increase in public environmental concern can inhibit the market entry of polluting firms in the region. Heterogeneity analysis shows that public environmental concerns exert a stronger effect on preventing the market entry of nonstate-owned firms and firms in developed regions than on other firm types. Mechanism analysis shows that improving the severity of environmental regulations, encouraging firms to make greater investments in environmental protection, and inducing firms to pursue additional environmental R&D innovation are effective mechanisms by which public environmental concern restrains the market entry of polluting firms in the region. Expansion analysis demonstrates that public concern about the environment can lessen the pollution emission intensity of new firms and promote certain new firms to carry out boundary layout. This research offers a scientific basis and policy reference that can serve to guide the public in actively participating in environmental governance.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Curcumin is a polyphenolic compound with potent chemopreventive and anti-cancer efficacy.
To explore the potential anti-metastasis efficacy of curcumin in breast cancer stem-like cells (BCSCs), which ...are increasingly considered to be the origin of the recurrence and metastasis of breast cancer.
A CCK8 assay was performed to evaluate cell viability, and a colony formation assay was conducted to determine cell proliferation in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 adherent cells. Transwell and wound healing assays were used to detect the effect of curcumin on cell migration and invasion in MDA-MB-231 cells. Mammospheres were cultured with serum free medium (SFM) for three generations and the BCSC surface marker CD44+CD24−/low subpopulation was measured by flow cytometry. Mammosphere formation and differentiation abilities were determined after cell treatment with curcumin. Then, a reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay was conducted to detect the relative mRNA level of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) marker genes and western blot analysis was performed to determine the protein expression of stem cell genes in mammospheres treated with curcumin.
Curcumin exhibited anti-proliferative and colony formation inhibiting activities in both the MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines. It also suppressed the migration and invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells. The CD44+CD24−/low subpopulation was larger in mammospheres when MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 adherent cells were cultured with SFM. Further studies revealed that curcumin inhibited mammosphere formation and differentiation abilities. Moreover, curcumin down-regulated the mRNA expression of Vimentin, Fibronectin, and β-catenin, and up-regulated E-cadherin mRNA expression levels. Western blot analysis demonstrated that curcumin decreased the protein expression of stem cell genes including Oct4, Nanog and Sox2.
The results of the present study suggest that the inhibitor effects of curcumin on breast cancer cells may be related to resistance to cancer stem-like characters and the EMT process. These data indicate that curcumin could function as a type of anti-metastasis agent for breast cancer.
Display omitted
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
PDF
