Establishment of an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line (INNDSUi004-A) from a patient with Congenital Nemaline Myopathy.

We used a non-integrated reprogramming approach to establish a human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) line (INNDSUi004-A) from the skin fibroblasts of a 13-year-old female individual with Congenital Nemaline Myopath. The cells obtained have typical characteristics of embryonic stem cells, show expression of specific pluripotency markers, and can differentiate into three germ layers in vitro. This iPSC cell line has the genetic information of the patient and is a good model for studying disease mechanisms and developing novel therapies.

Advances in the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into vascular cells.

Blood vessels constitute a closed pipe system distributed throughout the body, transporting blood from the heart to other organs and delivering metabolic waste products back to the lungs and kidneys. Changes in blood vessels are related to many disorders like stroke, myocardial infarction, aneurysm, and diabetes, which are important causes of death worldwide. Translational research for new approaches to disease modeling and effective treatment is needed due to the huge socio-economic burden on healthcare systems. Although mice or rats have been widely used, applying data from animal studies to human-specific vascular physiology and pathology is difficult. The rise of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provides a reliable in vitro resource for disease modeling, regenerative medicine, and drug discovery because they carry all human genetic information and have the ability to directionally differentiate into any type of human cells. This review summarizes the latest progress from the establishment of iPSCs, the strategies for differentiating iPSCs into vascular cells, and the in vivo transplantation of these vascular derivatives. It also introduces the application of these technologies in disease modeling, drug screening, and regenerative medicine. Additionally, the application of high-tech tools, such as omics analysis and high-throughput sequencing, in this field is reviewed.

Establishment of an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line (INNDSUi005-A) from a healthy female Chinese Han.

We obtained skin fibroblasts from a 34-year-old healthy woman and established a human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) line (INDSUi005-A) using a non-integrated reprogramming approach. The obtained cells have typical characteristics of embryonic stem cells, can express specific pluripotency markers and have the ability to differentiate into three germ layers in vitro. This iPSC cell line can be used as an in vitro model for studying disease mechanisms and developing novel therapies.

Flexible solar cells based on foldable silicon wafers with blunted edges.

Flexible solar cells have a lot of market potential for application in photovoltaics integrated into buildings and wearable electronics because they are lightweight, shockproof and self-powered. Silicon solar cells have been successfully used in large power plants. However, despite the efforts made for more than 50 years, there has been no notable progress in the development of flexible silicon solar cells because of their rigidity1-4. Here we provide a strategy for fabricating large-scale, foldable silicon wafers and manufacturing flexible solar cells. A textured crystalline silicon wafer always starts to crack at the sharp channels between surface pyramids in the marginal region of the wafer. This fact enabled us to improve the flexibility of silicon wafers by blunting the pyramidal structure in the marginal regions. This edge-blunting technique enables commercial production of large-scale (>240 cm2), high-efficiency (>24%) silicon solar cells that can be rolled similarly to a sheet of paper. The cells retain 100% of their power conversion efficiency after 1,000 side-to-side bending cycles. After being assembled into large (>10,000 cm2) flexible modules, these cells retain 99.62% of their power after thermal cycling between -70 °C and 85 °C for 120 h. Furthermore, they retain 96.03% of their power after 20 min of exposure to air flow when attached to a soft gasbag, which models wind blowing during a violent storm.

Supplementation of exogenous phytohormones for enhancing the removal of sulfamethoxazole and the simultaneous accumulation of lipid by Chlorella vulgaris.

In this study, the phytohormone gibberellins (GAs) were used to enhance sulfamethoxazole (SMX) removal and lipid accumulation in the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris. At the concentration of 50 mg/L GAs, the SMX removal achieved by C. vulgaris was 91.8 % while the lipid productivity of microalga was at 11.05 mg/L d-1, which were much higher than that without GAs (3.5 % for SMX removal and 0.52 mg/L d-1 for lipid productivity). Supplementation of GAs enhanced the expression of antioxidase-related genes in C. vulgaris as a direct response towards the toxicity of SMX. In addition, GAs increased lipid production of C. vulgaris by up-regulating the expression of genes related to carbon cycle of microalgal cells. In summary, exogenous GAs promoted the stress tolerance and lipid accumulation of microalgae at the same time, which is conducive to improving the economic benefits of microalgae-based antibiotics removal as well as biofuel production potential.

Fully Textured, Production-Line Compatible Monolithic Perovskite/Silicon Tandem Solar Cells Approaching 29% Efficiency.

Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells are promising avenues for achieving high-performance photovoltaics with low costs. However, the highest certified efficiency of perovskite/silicon tandem devices based on economically matured silicon heterojunction technology (SHJ) with fully textured wafer is only 25.2% due to incompatibility between the limitation of fabrication technology which is not compatible with the production-line silicon wafer. Here, a molecular-level nanotechnology is developed by designing NiOx /2PACz ([2-(9H-carbazol-9-yl) ethyl]phosphonic acid) as an ultrathin hybrid hole transport layer (HTL) above indium tin oxide (ITO) recombination junction, to serve as a vital pivot for achieving a conformal deposition of high-quality perovskite layer on top. The NiOx interlayer facilitates a uniform self-assembly of 2PACz molecules onto the fully textured surface, thus avoiding direct contact between ITO and perovskite top-cell for a minimal shunt loss. As a result of such interfacial engineering, the fully textured perovskite/silicon tandem cells obtain a certified efficiency of 28.84% on a 1.2-cm2 masked area, which is the highest performance to date based on the fully textured, production-line compatible SHJ. This work advances commercially promising photovoltaics with high performance and low costs by adopting a meticulously designed HTL/perovskite interface.

Preparation of Activated Carbon-Based Solid Sulfonic Acid and Its Catalytic Performance in Biodiesel Preparation.

With activated carbon as raw material, AC-Ph-SO3H was prepared after oxidation with nitric acid, modification with halogenated benzene and sulfonation with concentrated sulfuric acid. After modified by 10% bromobenzene with toluene as a solvent for 5 h, followed sulfonation with concentrated sulfuric acid at 150°C, the -SO3H content of prepared AC-Ph-SO3H was 0.64 mmol/g. Acid content test, infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy detection proved that the surface of AC-Ph-SO3H was successfully grafted with -SO3H group. When used as a catalyst for the methylation of palmitate acid, the catalytic performance of AC-Ph-SO3H was explored. When the reaction time was 6 h, the amount of catalyst acid accounted for 2.5 wt% of palmitic acid, and the molar ratio of methanol/palmitic acid was 40, the esterification rate of palmitic acid was 95.2% and the yield of methyl palmitate was 94.2%, which was much better than those of its precursors AC, AC-O, and AC-Ph (both about 4.5%). AC-Ph-SO3H exhibited certain stability in the esterification reaction system and the conversion rate of palmitic acid was still above 80% after three reuses.

One-Step Formation of Low Work-Function, Transparent and Conductive MgFx Oy Electron Extraction for Silicon Solar Cells.

The development of high-performance dopant-free silicon solar cells is severely bottlenecked by opaque electron selective contact. In this paper, high transmittance (80.5% on glass) and low work function (2.92 eV) lithium fluoride (LiFx )/MgFx Oy electron contact stack by tailoring the composition of MgFx Oy hybrid film is reported. This hybrid structure exhibits a high conductivity (2978.4 S cm-1 ) and a low contact resistivity (2.0 mΩ cm2 ). The element profile of LiFx /MgFx Oy contact is measured and the reaction kinetics is analyzed. As a proof-of-concept, this electron selective contact is applied for dopant-free silicon solar cells. An impressive efficiency of 21.3% is achieved on dopant-free monofacial solar cell with molybdenum oxide (MoOx )/zinc-doped indium oxide (IZO) hole contact. An efficiency bifaciality of 71% is obtained for dopant-free bifacial solar cell with full-area LiFx /MgFx Oy /ITO (tin-doped indium oxide) transparent electron contact. It is the highest efficiency bifaciality so far for dopant-free bifacial solar cells to the best knowledge. Both cell configurations with LiFx /MgFx Oy contacts show excellent environment stability. The cell efficiency maintains more than 95% of its initial value after keeping in air for 1500 h. This work provides a new idea to achieve transparent electron contact, showing a great potential for high-efficiency and low-cost optoelectronic devices.

Sulfuric Acid Immobilized on Activated Carbon Aminated with Ethylenediamine: An Efficient Reusable Catalyst for the Synthesis of Acetals (Ketals).

Through the amination of oxidized activated carbon with ethylenediamine and then the adsorption of sulfuric acid, a strong carbon-based solid acid catalyst with hydrogen sulfate (denoted as AC-N-SO4H) was prepared, of which the surface acid density was 0.85 mmol/g. The acetalization of benzaldehyde with ethylene glycol catalyzed by AC-N-SO4H was investigated. The optimized catalyst dosage accounted for 5 wt.% of the benzaldehyde mass, and the molar ratio of glycol to benzaldehyde was 1.75. After reacting such mixture at 80 °C for 5 h, the benzaldehyde was almost quantitatively converted into acetal; the conversion yield was up to 99.4%, and no byproduct was detected. It is surprising that the catalyst could be easily recovered and reused ten times without significant deactivation, with the conversion yield remaining above 99%. The catalyst also exhibited good substrate suitability for the acetalization of aliphatic aldehydes and the ketalization of ketones with different 1,2-diols.

Progress and Future Prospects of Wide-Bandgap Metal-Compound-Based Passivating Contacts for Silicon Solar Cells.

Advanced doped-silicon-layer-based passivating contacts have boosted the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of single-junction crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells to over 26%. However, the inevitable parasitic light absorption of the doped silicon layers impedes further PCE improvement. To this end, alternative passivating contacts based on wide-bandgap metal compounds (so-called dopant-free passivating contacts (DFPCs)) have attracted great attention, thanks to their potential merits in terms of parasitic absorption loss, ease-of-deposition, and cost. Intensive research activity has surrounded this topic with significant progress made in recent years. Various electron-selective and hole-selective contacts based on metal compounds have been successfully developed, and a champion PCE of 23.5% has been achieved for a c-Si solar cell with a MoOx -based hole-selective contact. In this work, the fundamentals and development status of DFPCs are reviewed and the challenges and potential solutions for enhancing the carrier selectivity of DFPCs are discussed. Based on comprehensive and in-depth analysis and simulations, the improvement strategies and future prospects for DFPCs design and device implementation are pointed out. By tuning the carrier concentration of the metal compound and the work function of the capping transparent electrode, high PCEs over 26% can be achieved for c-Si solar cells with DFPCs.

Process-Aid Solid Engineering Triggers Delicately Modulation of Y-Series Non-Fullerene Acceptor for Efficient Organic Solar Cells.

Volatile solids with symmetric π-backbone are intensively implemented on manipulating the nanomorphology for improving the operability and stability of organic solar cells. However, due to the isotropic stacking, the announced solids with symmetric geometry cannot modify the microscopic phase separation and component distribution collaboratively, which will constrain the promotion of exciton splitting and charge collection efficiency. Inspired by the superiorities of asymmetric configuration, a novel process-aid solid (PAS) engineering is proposed. By coupling with BTP core unit in Y-series molecule, an asymmetric, volatile 1,3-dibromo-5-chlorobenzene solid can induce the anisotropic dipole direction, elevated dipole moment, and interlaminar interaction spontaneously. Due to the synergetic effects on the favorable phase separation and desired component distribution, the PAS-treated devices feature the evident improvement of exciton splitting, charge transport, and collection, accompanied by the suppressed trap-assisted recombination. Consequently, an impressive fill factor of 80.2% with maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.5% in the PAS-treated device is achieved. More strikingly, the PAS-treated devices demonstrate a promising thickness-tolerance character, where a record PCE of 17.0% is yielded in PAS devices with a 300 nm thickness photoactive layer, which represents the highest PCE for thick-film organic solar cells.

Engineering transition metal catalysts for large-current-density water splitting.

Electrochemical water splitting plays a crucial role in transferring electricity to hydrogen fuel and appropriate electrocatalysts are crucial to satisfy the strict industrial demand. However, the successfully developed non-noble metal catalysts have a small tested range and the current density is usually less than 100 mA cm-2, which is still far away from the practical application standards. Aiming to provide guidance for the fabrication of more advanced electrocatalysts with a large current density, we herein systematically summarize the recent progress achieved in the field of cost-efficient and large-current-density electrocatalyst design. Beginning by illustrating the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) mechanisms, we elaborate on the concurrent issues of non-noble metal catalysts that are required to be addressed. In view of large-current-density operating conditions, some distinctive features with regard to good electrical conductivity, high intrinsic activity, rich active sites, and porous architecture are also summarized. Next, some representative large-current-density electrocatalysts are classified. Finally, we discuss the challenges associated with large-current-density water electrolysis and future pathways in the hope of guiding the future development of more efficient non-noble-metal catalysts to boost large-scale hydrogen production with less electricity consumption.

Centimetre-scale perovskite solar cells with fill factors of more than 86 per cent.

Owing to rapid development in their efficiency1 and stability2, perovskite solar cells are at the forefront of emerging photovoltaic technologies. State-of-the-art cells exhibit voltage losses3-8 approaching the theoretical minimum and near-unity internal quantum efficiency9-13, but conversion efficiencies are limited by the fill factor (<83%, below the Shockley-Queisser limit of approximately 90%). This limitation results from non-ideal charge transport between the perovskite absorber and the cell's electrodes5,8,13-16. Reducing the electrical series resistance of charge transport layers is therefore crucial for improving efficiency. Here we introduce a reverse-doping process to fabricate nitrogen-doped titanium oxide electron transport layers with outstanding charge transport performance. By incorporating this charge transport material into perovskite solar cells, we demonstrate 1-cm2 cells with fill factors of >86%, and an average fill factor of 85.3%. We also report a certified steady-state efficiency of 22.6% for a 1-cm2 cell (23.33% ± 0.58% from a reverse current-voltage scan).

Linking Chromosomal Silencing With Xist Expression From Autosomal Integrated Transgenes.

Xist is the master regulator of X-Chromosome Inactivation (XCI), the mammalian dosage compensation mechanism that silences one of the two X chromosomes in a female cell. XCI is established during early embryonic development. Xist transgene (Tg) integrated into an autosome can induce transcriptional silencing of flanking genes; however, the effect and mechanism of Xist RNA on autosomal sequence silencing remain elusive. In this study, we investigate an autosomal integration of Xist Tg that is compatible with mouse viability but causes male sterility in homozygous transgenic mice. We observed ectopic Xist expression in the transgenic male cells along with a transcriptional reduction of genes clustered in four segments on the mouse chromosome 1 (Chr 1). RNA/DNA Fluorescent in situ Hybridization (FISH) and chromosome painting confirmed that Xist Tg is associated with chromosome 1. To determine the spreading mechanism of autosomal silencing induced by Xist Tg on Chr 1, we analyzed the positions of the transcriptionally repressed chromosomal sequences relative to the Xist Tg location inside the cell nucleus. Our results show that the transcriptionally repressed chromosomal segments are closely proximal to Xist Tg in the three-dimensional nucleus space. Our findings therefore support a model that Xist directs and maintains long-range transcriptional silencing facilitated by the three-dimensional chromosome organization.

The B56α subunit of PP2A is necessary for mesenchymal stem cell commitment to adipocyte.

Adipose tissue plays a major role in maintaining organismal metabolic equilibrium. Control over the fate decision from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to adipocyte differentiation involves coordinated command of phosphorylation. Protein phosphatase 2A plays an important role in Wnt pathway and adipocyte development, yet how PP2A complexes actively respond to adipocyte differentiation signals and acquire specificity in the face of the promiscuous activity of its catalytic subunit remains unknown. Here, we report the PP2A phosphatase B subunit B56α is specifically induced during adipocyte differentiation and mediates PP2A to dephosphorylate GSK3ß, thereby blocking Wnt activity and driving adipocyte differentiation. Using an inducible B56α knock-out mouse, we further demonstrate that B56α is essential for gonadal adipose tissue development in vivo and required for the fate decision of adipocytes over osteoblasts. Moreover, we show B56α expression is driven by the adipocyte transcription factor PPARγ thereby establishing a novel link between PPARγ signaling and Wnt blockade. Overall, our results reveal B56α is a necessary part of the machinery dictating the transition from pre-adipocyte to mature adipocyte and provide fundamental insights into how PP2A complex specifically and actively regulates unique signaling pathway in biology.

Solution-Doped Polysilicon Passivating Contacts for Silicon Solar Cells.

In this work, we present a simple and efficient solution-doping process for preparing high-quality polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si)-based passivating contacts. Commercial phosphorus or boron-doping solutions are spin-coated on crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers that feature SiO2/poly-Si layers; the doping process is then activated by thermal annealing at high temperatures in a nitrogen atmosphere. With optimized n- and p-type solution doping and thermal annealing, n- and p-type poly-Si passivating contacts featuring simultaneously a low contact recombination parameter (J0c) of 2.4 and 12 fA/cm2 and a low contact resistivity (ρc) of 29 and 20 mΩ·cm2 are achieved, respectively. Taking advantage of the single-sided nature of these solution-doping processes, c-Si solar cells with poly-Si passivating contacts of opposite polarity on the respective wafer surfaces are fabricated using a simple coannealing process, achieving the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.5% on a planar substrate. Overall, the solution-doping method is demonstrated to be a simple and promising alternative to gas/ion implantation doping for poly-Si passivating-contact manufacturing.

Nanoscale localized contacts for high fill factors in polymer-passivated perovskite solar cells.

Polymer passivation layers can improve the open-circuit voltage of perovskite solar cells when inserted at the perovskite-charge transport layer interfaces. Unfortunately, many such layers are poor conductors, leading to a trade-off between passivation quality (voltage) and series resistance (fill factor, FF). Here, we introduce a nanopatterned electron transport layer that overcomes this trade-off by modifying the spatial distribution of the passivation layer to form nanoscale localized charge transport pathways through an otherwise passivated interface, thereby providing both effective passivation and excellent charge extraction. By combining the nanopatterned electron transport layer with a dopant-free hole transport layer, we achieved a certified power conversion efficiency of 21.6% for a 1-square-centimeter cell with FF of 0.839, and demonstrate an encapsulated cell that retains ~91.7% of its initial efficiency after 1000 hours of damp heat exposure.

An investigation on power loss of an out-to-in body wireless radio frequency link.

BACKGROUND: Implantable medical sensors for monitoring and transmitting physiological signals like blood glucose, blood oxygen, electrocardiogram, and endoscopic video present a new way for health care and disease prevention. Nevertheless, the signals transmitted by implantable sensors undergo significant attenuation as they propagate through various biological tissue layers. OBJECTIVE: This paper mainly aims to investigate the power loss of an out-to-in body wireless radio frequency link at 2.45 GHz. METHODS: Two simulation models including the single-layer human tissue model and three-layer human tissue model were established, applying the finite element method (FEM). Two experiments using physiological saline and excised porcine tissue were conducted to measure the power loss of a wireless radio frequency link at 2.45 GHz. Various communication distances and implantation depths were investigated in our study. RESULTS: The results from our measurements show that each 2 cm increase in implantation depth will result in an additional power loss of about 10 dB. The largest difference in values obtained from the measurements and the simulations is within 4 dB, which indicates that the experiments are in good agreement with the simulations. CONCLUSIONS: These results are significant for the estimate of how electromagnetic energy changes after propagating through human tissues, which can be used as a reference for the link budget of transceivers or other implantable medical devices.

A ball-milling synthesis of N-graphyne with controllable nitrogen doping sites for efficient electrocatalytic oxygen evolution and supercapacitors.

Low-cost and efficient multifunctional electrodes play an important part in promoting the practical application of energy conversion and storage. Herein, we report the facile synthesis of N-graphyne, with a novel structure, by one-step ball milling of CaC2 and pyrazine. The accurate doping of nitrogen atoms at the controllable sites of the molecular skeleton of γ-graphyne was achieved using the nitrogenous precursor (pyrazine) as a reactant. Various techniques were adopted for the investigation of the composition, structure, and morphology of the obtained samples. The electrochemical measurements demonstrated that N-graphyne can serve as an excellent electrode material for both electrocatalysis and supercapacitors. As an electrocatalyst, N-graphyne exhibited an overpotential of 280 mV at 100 mA cm-2 and a Tafel slope of 122 mV dec-1 for the oxygen evolution reaction with highly stable morphology and electrocatalytic performance. As a supercapacitor electrode, N-graphyne showed a maximum capacitance of 235 F g-1 at 1 A g-1, and capacitance retention of 87% after 3000 cycles. The superior electrochemical performance of N-graphyne is due to the nitrogen heteroatomic defects, large electrochemical active surface areas and fast electron migration. Our studies provide a facile synthesis of novel N-graphyne with controllable doping sites and promote its potential applications in electrocatalysis and supercapacitors.

A Highly Conductive Titanium Oxynitride Electron-Selective Contact for Efficient Photovoltaic Devices.

High-quality carrier-selective contacts with suitable electronic properties are a prerequisite for photovoltaic devices with high power conversion efficiency (PCE). In this work, an efficient electron-selective contact, titanium oxynitride (TiOx Ny ), is developed for crystalline silicon (c-Si) and organic photovoltaic devices. Atomic-layer-deposited TiOx Ny is demonstrated to be highly conductive with a proper work function (4.3 eV) and a wide bandgap (3.4 eV). Thin TiOx Ny films simultaneously provide a moderate surface passivation and enable a low contact resistivity on c-Si surfaces. By implementation of an optimal TiOx Ny -based contact, a state-of-the-art PCE of 22.3% is achieved for a c-Si solar cell featuring a full-area dopant-free electron-selective contact. Simultaneously, conductive TiOx Ny is proven to be an efficient electron-transport layer for organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. A remarkably high PCE of 17.02% is achieved for an OPV device with an electron-transport TiOx Ny layer, which is superior to conventional ZnO-based devices with a PCE of 16.10%. Atomic-layer-deposited TiOx Ny ETL on a large area with a high uniformity may help accelerate the commercialization of emerging solar technologies.