Abstract
Bulk-heterojunction structured small-area organic solar cells are approaching 20% power conversion efficiency, but the blurred film-forming kinetics in the fabrication of large-area devices ...causes significant PCE loss and restrains the potential of commercialization. Such blurring came from insufficient knowledge of structural evolution during the film-forming process. Here, we concretize the evolution process with structures detailed to the submolecular level by comprehensive investigations of in-situ UV-vis spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscope, Grazing Incident Wide Angle X-ray Scattering, and molecular dynamic simulation. With such hierarchical structural knowledge, assembly-controlled film-forming kinetics is proposed to explain the whole picture. Such assembly is determined by molecule configuration and can be tuned via external conditions. Understanding this kinetics will contribute to screening large-area device fabrication conditions, and the detailed structural knowledge could inspire the future design of novel photovoltaic materials that are intrinsically excellent in large-area device fabrications.
While existing research has illuminated the environmental dangers and neurotoxic effects of MC-LR exposure, the molecular underpinnings of brain damage from environmentally-relevant MC-LR exposure ...remain elusive. Employing a comprehensive approach involving RNA sequencing, histopathological examination, and biochemical analyses, we discovered genes differentially expressed and enriched in the ferroptosis pathway. This finding was associated with mitochondrial structural impairment and downregulation of Gpx4 and Slc7a11 in mice brains subjected to low-dose MC-LR over 180 days. Mirroring these findings, we noted reduced cell viability and GSH/GSSH ratio, along with an increased ROS level, in HT-22, BV-2, and bEnd.3 cells following MC-LR exposure. Intriguingly, MC-LR also amplified phospho-Erk levels in both in vivo and in vitro settings, and the effects were mitigated by treatment with PD98059, an Erk inhibitor. Taken together, our findings implicate the activation of the Erk/MAPK signaling pathway in MC-LR-induced ferroptosis, shedding valuable light on the neurotoxic mechanisms of MC-LR. These insights could guide future strategies to prevent MC-induced neurodegenerative diseases.
Prime editing (PE), as a "search-and-replace" genome editing technology, has shown the attractive potential of versatile genome editing ability, which is, in principle, currently superior to other ...well-established genome-editing technologies in the all-in-one operation scope. However, essential technological solutions of PE technology, such as the improvement of genome editing efficiency, the inhibition of potential off-targets and intended edits accounting for unexpected side-effects, and the development of effective delivery systems, are necessary to broaden its application. Since the advent of PE, many optimizations have been performed on PE systems to improve their performance, resulting in bright prospects for application in many fields. This review briefly discusses the development of PE technology, including its functional principle, noteworthy barriers restraining its application, current efforts in technical optimization, and its application directions and potential risks. This review may provide a concise and informative insight into the burgeoning field of PE, highlight the exciting prospects for this powerful tool, and provide clues for questions that may propel the field forward.
We have used density functional theory calculations and mixed quantum/classical dynamics simulations to study the electronic structure and charge-transport properties of three representative ...mixed-stack charge-transfer crystals, DBTTF-TCNQ, DMQtT-F(4)TCNQ, and STB-F(4)TCNQ. The compounds are characterized by very small effective masses and modest electron-phonon couplings for both holes and electrons. The hole and electron transport characteristics are found to be very similar along the stacking directions; for example, in the DMQtT-F(4)TCNQ crystal, the hole and electron effective masses are as small as 0.20 and 0.26 m(0), respectively. This similarity arises from the fact that the electronic couplings of both hole and electron are controlled by the same superexchange mechanism. Remarkable ambipolar charge-transport properties are predicted for all three crystals. Our calculations thus provide strong indications that mixed-stack donor-acceptor materials represent a class of systems with high potential in organic electronics.
Our previous studies have demonstrated that stable microRNAs (miRNAs) in mammalian serum and plasma are actively secreted from tissues and cells and can serve as a novel class of biomarkers for ...diseases, and act as signaling molecules in intercellular communication. Here, we report the surprising finding that exogenous plant miRNAs are present in the sera and tissues of various animals and that these exogenous plant miRNAs are primarily acquired orally, through food intake. MIR168a is abundant in rice and is one of the most highly enriched exogenous plant miRNAs in the sera of Chinese subjects. Functional studies in vitro and in vivo demonstrated that MIR168a could bind to the human/mouse low-density lipoprotein receptor adapter protein 1 (LDLRAP1) mRNA, inhibit LDLRAP1 expression in liver, and consequently decrease LDL removal from mouse plasma. These findings demonstrate that exogenous plant miRNAs in food can regulate the expression of target genes in mammals.
The synthesis, structure, and properties of pyrene-based conformationally adaptive macrocycles are described. This new type of conformationally adaptive macrocycle was constructed through Perkin ...reaction, followed by imidization. By changing the condensation partner as the linking unit, a family of conjugated macrocycles with different sizes of the cavity was synthesized, which provide a simple and modular synthetic strategy towards the conformationally adaptive macrocycles. Furthermore, the macrocycles provide two well-defined conformations through flipping pyrene subunit, which were unambiguously determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The conformational interconversion barrier was determined by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. This new macrocycle also demonstrated unique properties, such as vapochromic behavior and aggregation emission enhancement effect. Furthermore, we have also investigated the effect of the linker on the shape and photophysical properties of the resulting macrocyclic products.
The conformationally adaptive macrocycles with two flipping aromatic pyrene walls have well-defined and their inter-transformations with obvious color changes could be induced by solvent vapors due to the low barriers. Display omitted
A comparison study of photovoltaic properties of an oligomer and a polymer based on the same backbone structure is conducted to show that high‐efficiency small molecules can be developed from ...breaking down polymers. The oligomer attains high‐efficiency as a result of the high‐degree molecular ordering and the excellent intrinsic phase separation with 6,6‐phenyl‐C71‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM).
Zooplankton provides bacteria with a complex microhabitat richen in organic and inorganic nutrients, and the bacteria community also changes the physiochemical conditions for zooplankton, where the ...symbiotic relationship between them plays an important role in the nutrient cycle. However, there are few studies on the effect of associated bacteria on the population dynamics of rotifers. In order to make clear their relationships, we reconstructed the associated bacterial community in
culture, and examined the life history and population growth parameters, and analyzed the diversity and community composition of the associated bacteria at different growth stages of
. The results showed that the addition of bacteria from natural water can promote the population growth and asexual reproduction of
, but has no significant effect on sexual reproduction, exhibited by the improvement of its life expectancy at hatching, net reproduction rates and intrinsic growth rate, no significant effects on the generation time and mixis ratio of offspring. It was found that the
-associated bacterial community was mainly composed of Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota, Cyanobacteria and Firmicutes. Through correlation network analysis, the members of Burkholderiales, Pseudomonadales, Micrococcales, Caulobacterales and Bifidobacteriales were the keystone taxa of
-associated bacteria. In addition, the relative abundance of some specific bacteria strains increased as the population density of
increased, such as
,
,
,
,
and
, and their relative abundance increased obviously during the slow and exponential phases of population growth. Meanwhile, the relative abundance of adverse taxa (such as
and Rickettsiales) decreased significantly with the increase in rotifer population density. In conclusion, the closely associated bacteria are not sufficient for the best growth of
, and external bacterioplankton is necessary. Furthermore, the function of keystone and rare taxa is necessary for further exploration. The investigation of the symbiotic relationship between zooplankton-associated bacterial and bacterioplankton communities will contribute to monitoring their roles in freshwater ecosystems, and regulate the population dynamics of the micro-food web.
Abstract To enable high performance of all solid-state batteries, a catholyte should demonstrate high ionic conductivity, good compressibility and oxidative stability. Here, a LaCl 3 -based Na + ...superionic conductor (Na 1 − x Zr x La 1 − x Cl 4 ) with high ionic conductivity of 2.9 × 10 −4 S cm −1 (30 °C), good compressibility and high oxidative potential (3.80 V vs . Na 2 Sn) is prepared via solid state reaction combining mechanochemical method. X-ray diffraction reveals a hexagonal structure ( P6 3 /m ) of Na 1 − x Zr x La 1 − x Cl 4 , with Na + ions forming a one-dimensional diffusion channel along the c- axis. First-principle calculations combining with X-ray absorption fine structure characterization etc. reveal that the ionic conductivity of Na 1 − x Zr x La 1 − x Cl 4 is mainly determined by the size of Na + -channels and the Na + /La 3+ mixing in the one-dimensional diffusion channels. When applied as a catholyte, the NaCrO 2 ||Na 0.7 Zr 0.3 La 0.7 Cl 4 ||Na 3 PS 4 ||Na 2 Sn all-solid-state batteries demonstrate an initial capacity of 114 mA h g −1 and 88% retention after 70 cycles at 0.3 C. In addition, a high capacity of 94 mA h g −1 can be maintained at 1 C current density.
Pinene is a monoterpene, that is used in the manufacture of fragrances, insecticide, fine chemicals, and renewable fuels. Production of pinene by metabolic-engineered microorganisms is a sustainable ...method. Purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria belong to photosynthetic chassis that are widely used to synthesize natural chemicals. To date, researches on the synthesis of pinene by purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria has not been reported, leaving the potential of purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria synthesizing pinene unexplored.
Rhodobacter sphaeroides strain was applied as a model and engineered to express the fusion protein of heterologous geranyl diphosphate synthase (GPPS) and pinene synthase (PS), hence achieving pinene production. The reaction condition of pinene production was optimized and 97.51 μg/L of pinene was yielded. Then, genes of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase, 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase and isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase were overexpressed, and the ribosome binding site of GPPS-PS mRNA was optimized, improving pinene titer to 539.84 μg/L.
In this paper, through heterologous expression of GPPS-PS, pinene was successfully produced in R. sphaeroides, and pinene production was greatly improved by optimizing the expression of key enzymes. This is the first report on pinene produce by purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria, which expands the availability of photosynthetic chassis for pinene production.
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