Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship Model to Predict Antioxidant Effects of the Peptide Fraction Extracted from a Co-Culture System of Chlorella pyrenoidosa and Yarrowia lipolytica.

In this study, the antioxidant components in co-culture of Chlorella pyrenoidosa and Yarrowia lipolytica (3:1 ratio) were confirmed as trypsin-hydrolyzed peptides (EHPs). The EHPs were composed of 836 different peptides with molecular weights ranging from 639 to 3531 Da and were mainly composed of hydrophobic amino acids (48.1%). These peptides showed remarkable protective effects against oxidative stress in HepG2, which may be attributed to their structures. Furthermore, the mRNA and protein levels of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) were significantly lower in the peptide-treated group than in the control group, suggesting that the antioxidant enzyme-coding genes were not activated. The EC50 value of three peptides in the EHPs were in the order of AGYSPIGFVR (0.04 ± 0.002 mg/mL) > VLDELTLAR (0.09 ± 0.001 mg/mL) > LFDPVYLFDQG (0.41 ± 0.03 mg/mL); these results agreed with the prediction of the model (R2 > 0.9, Q2 > 0.5). Thus, EHPs show potential as potent new antioxidant agents.

Conjugated Phosphonic Acids Enable Robust Hole Transport Layers for Efficient and Intrinsically Stable Perovskite Solar Cells.

High efficiency and long-term stability are the prerequisites for the commercialization of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, inadequate and non-uniform doping of hole transport layers (HTLs) still limits the efficiency improvements, while the intrinsic instability of HTLs caused by ion migration and accumulation is difficult to be addressed by external encapsulation. Here it is shown that the addition of a conjugated phosphonic acid (CPA) to the Spiro-OMeTAD benchmark HTL can greatly enhance the device efficiency and intrinsic stability. Featuring an optimal diprotic-acid structure, indolo(3,2-b)carbazole-5,11-diylbis(butane-4,1-diyl) bis(phosphonic acid) (BCZ) is developed to promote morphological uniformity and mitigate ion migration across both perovskite/HTL and HTL/Ag interfaces, leading to superior charge conductivity, reinforced ion immobilization, and remarkable film stability. The dramatically improved interfacial charge collection endows BCZ-based n-i-p PSCs with a champion power conversion efficiency of 24.51%. More encouragingly, the BCZ-based devices demonstrate remarkable stability under harsh environmental conditions by retaining 90% of initial efficiency after 3000 h in air storage. This work paves the way for further developing robust organic HTLs for optoelectronic devices.

Fluorinated Naphthalene Diimides as Buried Electron Transport Materials Achieve Over 23% Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells.

Naphthalene diimides (NDI) are widely serving as the skeleton to construct electron transport materials (ETMs) for optoelectronic devices. However, most of the reported NDI-based ETMs suffer from poor interfaces with the perovskite which deteriorates the carrier extraction and device stability. Here, a representative design concept for editing the peripheral groups of NDI molecules to achieve multifunctional properties is introduced. The resulting molecule 2,7-bis(2,2,3,3,4,4,4-heptafluorobutyl)benzo[lmn][3,8]phenanthroline-1,3,6,8(2H,7H)-tetraone (NDI-C4F) incorporated with hydrophobic fluorine units contributes to the prevention of excessive molecular aggregation, the improvement of surface wettability and the formation of strong chemical coordination with perovskite precursors. All these features favor retarding the perovskite crystallization and achieving superior buried interfaces, which subsequently promote charge collection and improve the structural compatibility between perovskite and ETMs. The corresponding PSCs based on low-temperature processed NDI-C4F yield a record efficiency of 23.21%, which is the highest reported value for organic ETMs in n-i-p PSCs. More encouragingly, the unencapsulated devices with NDI-C4F demonstrate extraordinary stability by retaining over 90% of their initial PCEs after 2600 h in air. This work provides an alternative molecular strategy to engineer the buried interfaces and can trigger further development of organic ETMs toward reliable PSCs.

Unveiling and Modulating the Interfacial Reaction at the Metal-Hole Conductor Heterojunction toward Reliable Perovskite Solar Cells.

Interfaces between functional layers in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are of paramount importance in determining their efficiency and stability, but the interaction and stability of metal-hole conductor (HC) interfaces have received less attention. Here, we discover an intriguing transient behavior in devices which induces a profound efficiency fluctuation from 9 to 20% during the initial performance testing. Air exposure (e.g., oxygen and moisture) can significantly accelerate this nonequilibrium process and simultaneously enhance the device maximal efficiency. Structural analysis reveals that the chemical reaction between Ag and HC occurred during the metal deposition by thermal evaporation, leading to the formation of an insulating barrier layer at their interfaces, which results in a high charge-transport barrier and poor device performance. Accordingly, we propose a metal diffusion-associated barrier evolution mechanism to understand the metal/HC interfaces. To mitigate these detrimental effects, we strategically develop an interlayer strategy by introducing an ultrathin layer of molybdenum oxide (MoO3) between Ag and HC, which is found to effectively suppress the interfacial reaction, yielding highly reliable PSCs with instant high efficiency. This work provides new insights into understanding the metal-organic interfaces, and the developed interlayer strategy can be generally applicable to engineer other interfaces in realizing efficient and stable contacts.

Halides-Enhanced Buried Interfaces for Stable and Extremely Low-Voltage-Deficit Perovskite Solar Cells.

The perovskite buried interfaces have demonstrated pivotal roles in determining both the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs); however, challenges remain in understanding and managing the interfaces due to their non-exposed feature. Here, we proposed a versatile strategy of pre-grafted halides to strengthen the SnO2 -perovskite buried interface by precisely manipulating perovskite defects and carrier dynamics through alteration of halide electronegativity (χ), thereby resulting in both favorable perovskite crystallization and minimized interfacial carrier losses. Specifically, the implementation of fluoride with the highest χ induces the strongest binding affinity to uncoordinated SnO2  defects and perovskite cations, leading to retarded perovskite crystallization and high-quality perovskite films with reduced residual stress. These improved properties enable champion efficiencies of 24.2% (the control: 20.5%) and 22.1% (the control: 18.7%) in rigid and flexible devices with extremely low voltage deficit down to 386 mV, all of which are among the highest reported values for PSCs with a similar device architecture. In addition, the resulting devices exhibit marked improvements in the device longevity under various stressors of humidity (>5000 h), light (1000 h), heat (180 h), and bending test (10 000 times). This method provides an effective way to improve the quality of buried interfaces toward high-performance PSCs.

Efficacy of acupuncture for hypertension in the elderly: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Hypertension has now developed into a major public health problem worldwide. Under the existing antihypertensive drug treatment paradigm, problems such as decreasing drug resistance and increasing drug side effects can occur for elderly patients. Acupuncture, a core technique in the non-pharmacological treatment of Chinese medicine, plays an important role in the treatment of elevated blood pressure. Objective: This study aimed to systematically evaluate the effect of acupuncture alone or in combination with antihypertensive drugs on the efficiency of reducing blood pressure and controlling blood pressure in elderly patients with hypertension. Methods: Articles of randomized controlled trials of acupuncture for hypertension in the elderly published before November 2022 were searched in 7 databases. The methodological quality of the literature was evaluated using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool. The primary outcome was the efficiency rate of blood pressure reduction, and the secondary outcome was the change in blood pressure after treatment. Results: This study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 12 randomized controlled trials with a total of 1,466 subjects. Among the primary outcome-efficiency rate, acupuncture-only treatment (RR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.03-1.20, P < 0.01) and acupuncture combined with antihypertensive drug treatment (RR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.06-1.31, P < 0.01) were significantly different compared with drugs-only treatment. Among the secondary outcomes, SBP (MD: -4.85, 95% CI: -10.39 to -0.69, P = 0.09) and DBP (MD: -1.45, 95% CI: -5.35 to 2.45, P = 0.47) show no significant difference between acupuncture-only treatment and drug-only treatment. Compared to drugs-only treatment, acupuncture plus drugs has more significant efficiency in lowering SBP (MD: -9.81, 95% CI: -13.56 to -6.06, P < 0.01) and DBP (MD: -7.04, 95% CI: -10.83 to -3.24, P < 0.01). Conclusion: For elderly patients with hypertension, acupuncture-only treatment has the same efficiency and antihypertensive effect compared to drug therapy and acupuncture plus drugs outperforms drugs-only treatment. If the patients receive therapy with less frequency per week and longer duration, there will be a more obvious antihypertensive effect. Due to the methodological defects in the included study and the limited sample size of this paper, more well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed for verification. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022376407, PROSPERO (CRD42022376407).

Effect of mindfulness on anxiety and depression in insomnia patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: As a common clinical symptom, insomnia has a high incidence of combined mental illness and it is also a risk factor for the development of depression, anxiety and suicide. As a new concept in the field of health in recent years, mindfulness therapy can improve insomnia, anxiety and depression, which is a new way to solve such diseases. Objective: This study aims to systematically evaluate the effects of mindfulness compared with conventional treatment on scores of the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) in people with insomnia and anxiety-depressive symptoms. Methods: Articles published before October 2022 were searched from seven databases and included in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate mindfulness therapy. The assessment tool of Cochrane bias risk was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the literature. The main outcome indicators were HAMD and HAMA scores, and the secondary outcome indicators were SDS and SAS scores. Results: Ten randomized controlled trials including 1,058 subjects were systematically evaluated and meta-analyzed in this study. In the main outcome indicators, there was a significant difference between mindfulness therapy and conventional treatment in reducing HAMD score (MD: -3.67, 95% CI: -5.22-2.11, p < 0.01) and HAMA score (MD: -3.23, 95% CI: -3.90-2.57, p < 0.01). In the secondary outcome indicators, mindfulness therapy also showed a significant difference in reducing SDS scores (MD: -6.49, 95% CI: -6.86-6.11, p < 0.01) and SAS scores (MD: -7.97, 95% CI: -9.68-6.27, p < 0.01) compared with conventional treatment. Conclusion: For the people with insomnia, anxiety and depression, the use of conventional treatment with the addition of 4-12 weeks of mindfulness treatment can significantly improve anxiety and depression symptoms of patients. This is a new diagnosis and treatment idea recommended for insomniacs with or without anxiety and depression symptoms. Due to the methodological defects in the included study and the limited sample size of this paper, more well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed for verification.