Biodegradable plastics fragments induce positive effects on the decomposition of soil organic matter.

The escalating accumulation of plastic waste in ecosystems poses a significant health concern to soil environment, yet the environmental effects of plastics remains largely unexplored. Biodegradable plastics could offer a viable alternative to conventional persistent plastics, but our understanding of their potential benefits or detrimental effects on the decomposition of plant debris by soil biomass is limited. In this study, we conducted a year-long field experiment to examine the environmental response and impact on plant debris decomposition in the presence of varying quantities of persistent versus biodegradable plastics. Our findings indicate that the decomposition rate decreased by 2.8-4.9% for persistent plastics, while it increased by 1.3-4.2% for biodegradable plastics. Persistent plastics primarily induced adverse effects, including a reduction in soil nutrients, microbial diversity, bioturbation, enzyme activity, easily decomposable carbon, and microbial biomass carbon in plant debris. In contrast, biodegradable plastics resulted in beneficial effects such as an increase in enzyme activity, microbial biomass carbon, and easily decomposable carbon. We also observed that the decomposition rate of plant residues and nutrient release are closely associated with changes in the organic carbon chemical structure induced by different plastic film fragments. A significant shift in alkoxy carbon content facilitated the release of nutrients and soluble carbon, while modifications in carboxyl and aromatic carbon content hindered their release. Overall, our study reveals over one year that biodegradable plastics primarily induce positive effects on the decomposition of soil organic matter.

The antioxidant Glycitin protects against intervertebral disc degeneration through antagonizing inflammation and oxidative stress in nucleus pulposus cells.

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is a kind of typical degenerative disorder of the skeletal muscle system caused by many factors including aging, abnormal mechanical stress and inflammatory responses. Glycitin is a natural isoflavone extracted from legumes. Previous studies have found that it is anti-inflammatory and promotes wound repair. However, the role of Glycitin in IVDD has not been elucidated. In the present research, we were surprised that Glycitin antagonized the NF-κB pathway activity. In addition, we also found that Glycitin alleviated TNF-α-induced metabolic disorders, extracellular matrix degradation, oxidative stress, inflammation responses, and mitochondrial damage. Furthermore, in in vivo experimental study, we discovered Glycitin attenuated IVDD. The results revealed that Glycitin alleviated the degenerative phenotype of IVDD. According to this research, Glycitin has anti-inflammatory properties that might exert a protective function in IVDD, suggesting a prospective therapeutic approach for IVDD.

Earthworm activity effectively mitigated the negative impact of microplastics on maize growth.

Microplastic pollution can have detrimental effects on soil environments and inhibit crop growth. Earthworms, known as soil engineers, promote crop growth, but their role and impact on the amelioration of microplastic-polluted soil is not yet clear. In this study, we investigated the impact and pathways of earthworm activity on microplastic-contaminated soil by introducing varying densities (without earthworm:0, low-density: 1, medium-density: 2, high-density: 5 ind column-1) of earthworms (epi-endogeic) into soil contaminated with two types of microplastics: polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride. Our results showed that earthworms all survived in soil polluted with two types of microplastics. Meanwhile, earthworm activity increased nutrient content and enzyme activity by 0.2-36.1% and 2.9-34.3%, respectively, and significantly increased soil microbial biomass and community diversity index. Earthworm activity also decreased antioxidant enzyme activity and promoted maize plant growth, including agronomic traits such as plant height, biomass, root length, and root surface area. Furthermore, the nutrient content of maize organs increased by 1.1-29.7%. Partial least squares models confirmed that earthworm activity alleviated the stress effect of microplastic pollution on plant growth by improving soil structure, fertility, and microbial abundance and diversity. The greatest effect on maize growth was observed with the improvement of soil physical-chemical properties. Our results suggest that medium densities of earthworms have the greatest soil improvement effect and provide an important basis for bioremediation of farmland contaminated by microplastics and promoting green and efficient development in agriculture.

The value of cardiac CT in the diagnosis of unroofed coronary sinus syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Unroofed coronary sinus syndrome (UCSS) is a rare cardiovascular malformation with nonspecific clinical manifestations that easily causes misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis. The aim of this study is to present the different features of UCSS by various CCT (cardiac CT) postprocessing techniques and evaluate the diagnostic advantages of CCT. METHODS: 9 UCSS patients who were diagnosed by imaging and undergone both CCT and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) were included in this study, and their CCT images were reviewed. The UCSS images were classified by multiplanar reformations, maximum intensity projection, volume rendering and cinematic rendering. The size of CS roof defect was also measured. RESULTS: Only 4 of 9 CCT confirmed UCSS patients were detected by TTE (4/9, 44.4%), the sensitivity of TTE was lower compared to CCT by Fisher's exact test (P < 0.05). UCSS was classified according to the Kirklin and Barratt Boyes's method, including 1 case was classified as type I, 4 cases as type II, 1 case as type III, 2 cases as type IV, 1 case as type V (variant type), and TTE was undiagnosed in all type III-V patients. Additionally, CCT showed 12 extra malformations in these patients, only 5 of them were found by TTE (5/12, 41.7%), and TTE missed all extracardiac malformations. The mean size of CS roof defect was 3.04 ± 1.57 cm. CONCLUSIONS: CCT with various postprocessing technologies has excellent value in diagnosing and differentiating subtypes of UCSS, measuring size of coronary sinus defect, describing accompanying cardiovascular abnormalities.

Earthworm inoculation and straw return decrease the phosphorus adsorption capacity of soils in the Loess region, China.

Loess Plateau is important for maize production in China. Therefore, a good understanding of soil phosphorus (P) behavior in the Loess region is crucial for optimizing fertilization in its agriculture systems. To date, research on factors influencing P adsorption/desorption has mainly focused on fertilization. Widespread application of straw return and increasing soil fauna in agricultural croplands inevitably affect soil P behavior either directly or indirectly in this area. However, less attention has been focused on these effects and their interactions. Here, a field plot experiment was performed based on a completely randomized design to investigate the response of P adsorption-desorption characteristics to the presence/absence of earthworms and straw return. Treatments included: (1) control without earthworms and straw (E0S0); (2) treatment with only earthworms (E1S0); (3) treatment with only straw (E0S1); (4) treatment with both earthworms and straw. The Langmuir model was superior to the Freundlich model in interpreting the P adsorption data and allowed better evaluation of the maximum P adsorption values. The maximal P adsorption, P adsorption affinity constant, and maximum buffer capacity in the earthworm and straw treatments were 2.4-8.3%, 8.3-13.9%, and 2.2-26.3% lower than those in E0S0. The readily desorbable P, standard P requirement, and degree of P saturation increased by 15.6-44.3%, 13.1-23.1%, and 4.4-16.5%, respectively, in earthworm and straw treatments. Additionally, earthworm inoculation and straw return treatments significantly increased total soil P, Olsen P, soil organic carbon, free Fe2O3, and CaCO3 contents and specific surface area of the soil. Redundancy analysis showed that soil organic carbon explained most (14.7%) of the total variation in P adsorption and desorption. These results show that combining earthworm inoculation with straw return can effectively reduce soil P adsorption capacity, increase its P desorption capacity, and thus, increase its available P content. These results provide a scientific basis for improving the utilization efficiency of soil P.

Suppressing Redox Shuttle with MXene-Modified Separators for Li-O2 Batteries.

Redox mediators (RMs) have been developed as efficient approaches to lower the charge polarization of Li-O2 batteries. However, the shuttle effect resulting from their soluble nature severely damages the battery performance, causing failure of the RM and anode corrosion. In this work, a chemical binding strategy based on a MXene-modified separator with a 3D porous hierarchical structure design was developed to suppress the I3- shutting in LiI-involved Li-O2 battery. As corroborated by experimental characterizations and theoretical calculations, the abundant -OH terminal groups on the MXene surface functioned as effective binding sites for suppressing the migration of I3-, while the 3D porous structure ensured the fast transfer of lithium ions. As a result, the Li-O2 battery with the MXene-modified separator showed no sign of redox shuttling compared with its counterparts in the full discharge/charge tests. In the meantime, the MXene-modified separator based-cell exhibited a stable cycle life up to 100 cycles, which is 3 times longer than the control samples. We believe that this work could provide insights into the development of separator modification for Li-O2 batteries with RMs.

Aerosol characterization in a city in central China plain and implications for emission control.

Extensive studies on aerosol chemistry have been carried out in megacities in China, however, aerosol characterization in Central China Plain (CCP) is limited. Here we conducted real-time measurements of fine particle composition with a time-of-flight aerosol chemical speciation monitor in Kaifeng, Henan province in October 2019. Our results showed that nitrate and organics constituted the major fraction of non-refractory PM2.5 for the entire study, on average accounting for 34% and 33%, respectively. However, aerosol composition was substantially different among four periods due to different meteorological conditions and chemical processing. For instance, nitrate presented the lowest contribution during the first period due to evaporative loss associated with high temperature (T), and then rapidly increased during polluted periods as a function of relative humidity (RH). Positive matrix factorization analysis showed the dominance of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in OA, and also the changes in OA composition under different T and RH levels. In addition, this study is unique with two periods of local emission controls. Back trajectory and coefficient of divergence analysis showed that air pollution in CCP was overall homogeneously distributed. As a result, the effectiveness of local emission controls in this region was strongly affected by meteorological conditions and regional transport. We found that one of the periods with emission control even showed the highest concentrations for the entire study. Our results point towards the limited effect of local emission controls in mitigating air pollution in CCP, and highlight the importance of joint emission controls under unfavorable meteorological conditions.

LINC00511/miRNA-143-3p Modulates Apoptosis and Malignant Phenotype of Bladder Carcinoma Cells via PCMT1.

Bladder cancer has easy recurrence characteristics, but its occurrence and development mechanism are still unclear. Non-coding RNA is a kind of RNA that exists widely and cannot be translated into proteins, which has played a key role in the regulation of biological functions of tumor cells. However, the regulation mechanism of non-coding RNA on bladder tumors is not fully understood. By microarray analysis and database analysis, we found that LINC00511 was significantly highly expressed in bladder cancer. The expressions of LINC00511, miR-143-3p, and PCMT in bladder cancer tissues and cells were detected by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The relationship between the expressions of miR-143-3p and PCMT1 and the clinicopathological parameters of the tumor was analyzed. The proliferation and invasion of bladder cancer cells were detected by MTT assay and Transwell assay. The expression levels of E-cadherin and vimentin in bladder cancer cells were detected by Western blot. Cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. In vivo, TCCSUP or SW780 cells were inoculated into BALB/c nude mice to detect tumor volume and weight. Bioinformatics and dual luciferase reporter gene were used to analyze the relationship between LINC00511 and miR-143-3p and its downstream target gene PCMT1. The results showed that LINC00511 could target miR-143-3p/PCMT1 to regulate the proliferation, migration, and apoptosis of bladder cancer TCCSUP or SW780 cells and promote the occurrence and development of bladder cancer.

Application of earthworm cast improves soil aggregation and aggregate-associated carbon stability in typical soils from Loess Plateau.

Earthworm casts exhibit remarkable fertility and have been widely used as an organic fertilizer. This study focused on the effects of earthworm cast application on soil aggregates and aggregate-associated carbon in typical soils from the Loess Plateau (China). Soil column experiments were conducted in the laboratory using cultivated loessial soil (CS), dark loessial soil (DS), and aeolian soil (AS). Application of earthworm casts significantly reduced the content of aggregates sized <0.5 mm but increased the content of water-stable aggregates. Compared to without-cast treatment, earthworm cast application increased the organic carbon content by 13.4-58.3%, 14.4-51.1%, 17.9-45.3%, 16.7-62.4%, 18.4-43.3%, and 19.8-62.9% in soil aggregate fractions of sizes <0.25, 0.25-0.5, 0.5-1, 1-2, 2-5, and >5 mm, respectively. The application of earthworm casts significantly increased heavy fraction organic carbon (HFOC), CaCO3, and exchangeable Ca contents in soil by 14.5-69.4%, 12.8-51.9%, and 33.3-63.2%, respectively. Compared with macroaggregates, microaggregates had higher CaCO3 contents but smaller light-fraction organic carbon (LFOC) to HFOC ratios, indicating that earthworm cast application improved the organic carbon stability more in microaggregates than macroaggregates. Comparison analysis of the three soils showed AS performed better in aggregation and aggregate-associated carbon stability than CS and DS after applying earthworm casts. The findings improve our understanding of the effects of earthworm cast application on soil aggregate distribution and aggregate-associated carbon stability, which will help improve the application efficiency of earthworm casts as an organic fertilizer in the Loess Plateau area.

High-Rate and Long-Life Intermediate-Temperature Na-NiCl2 Battery with Dual-Functional Ni-Carbon Composite Nanofiber Network.

Improved power and cycle performances are eagerly required in intermediate-temperature sodium-metal halide (Na-MH) batteries. The existence of the low conductivity NiCl2 layer and the growth of the Ni and the NaCl particles limit the broader application of Na-NiCl2 battery. Herein, nickel-carbon composite nanofiber (NCCN) networks are synthesized by a multisolution electrospinning method to construct a novel three-dimensional cathode for Na-NiCl2 battery. The battery with the NCCN-based cathode shows significant improvement in rate and cycle performance at 190 °C. A capacity twice that of a conventional electrode after 100 cycles and 80% of the initial capacity after 400 cycles are observed at a current of 57 mA g-1. The NCCN-based cathode normally works more than 350 cycles without obvious degradation at a high current of 338 mA g-1, that is, a rate of 2C. Furthermore, in situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy reveals faster electron and ion transport processes precisely on the charging and discharging processes of the NCCN-based cathode. It is found that the NCCNs can not only play the role of a continuous conductivity network but also limit the growth of grains. With the blocking effect of the carbon fibers, the volume expansions of Ni and NaCl grains are well restricted and their sizes were smaller than 500 nm and 7 µm after 50 cycles, respectively.

Benefits of ultra-fast-track anesthesia for children with congenital heart disease undergoing cardiac surgery.

BACKGROUND: To compare the outcomes of ultra-fast-track anesthesia (UFTA) and conventional anesthesia in cardiac surgery for children with congenital heart disease (CHD) and low birth weight. METHODS: One hundred and ninety-four CHD children, aged 6 months to 2 years, weighting 5 to 10 kg, were selected for this study. The 94 boys and 100 girls with the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status III and IV were randomly divided into two groups each consisting of 97 patients, and were subjected to ultra-fast-track and conventional anesthesia for cardiac surgery. For children in UFTA group, sevoflurane was stopped when cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) started and cis-atracurium was stopped at the beginning of rewarming, and remifentanil (0.3 µg/kg/mim) was then infused. Propofol and remifentanil were discontinued at skin closure. 10 min after surgery, extubation was performed in operating room. For children in conventional anesthesia group, anesthesia was given routinely and they were directly sent to ICU with a tracheal tube. Extubation time, ICU stay and hospital stay after operation were recorded. Sedation-agitation scores (SAS) were assessed and adverse reactions as well as other anesthesia -related events were recorded. RESULTS: The extubation time, ICU stay and hospital stay were significantly shorter in UFTA group (P < 0.05) and SAS at extubation was lower in UFTA group than in conventional anesthesia group, but similar in other time points. For both groups, no airway obstruction and other serious complications occurred, and incidence of other anesthesia -related events were low. CONCLUSIONS: UFTA shortens extubation time, ICU stay and hospital stay for children with CHD and does not increase SAS and incidence of adverse reactions.

[Effects of the Crop Rotation on Greenhouse Gases from Flooded Paddy Fields].

A field experiment was conducted at the Key Field Station for Monitoring Eco-environment of Purple Soil of the Ministry of Agriculture of China in the farm of Southwest University, Chongqing. The static chamber and gas chromatography method was used to study the effect of the cropping systems on greenhouse gases from rice-fallow (RF), rice-rapeseed rotation (RR), and rice-brussel mustard rotation (RV) cropland in situ for a year. An opaque chamber was used for CH4 and N2O observations and a transparent chamber was utilized for CO2 observations. The results show that the annual cumulative CH4 emissions from different crop rotations were (CH4, kg·hm-2) RF (422.87±27.1) > RR (132.05±23.11) > RV (50.91±3.83). The RV and RR were significantly lower than RF (P<0.05). The annual cumulative emissions of N2O[N2O, kg·hm-2] were RV (21.38±6.51) > RR (20.02±5.23) > RF (0.48±0.02). The RV and RR were significantly higher than RF (P<0.05). The annual net cumulative emissions of CO2 were (CO2, t·hm-2) RR (-55.43±5.04) > RV (-29.1±3.00) > RF (-14.08±1.81). The RV and RR were significantly higher than RF (P<0.05). At the time scale of 100 a, the integrated global warming potentials (GWP) of CH4, N2O, and CO2 were (CO2, t·hm-2)RR(-46.43) > RV(-22.01) > RF(-2.11), indicating that converting flooded paddy fields to paddy-upland crop rotation systems notably increases the potential increment of carbon sinks. Compared with RV, RR has a better effect, which suggests that rice-rapeseed rotation is the most effective measure for the escalation of carbon sinks of ecosystems in the southwestern area.

TRIP13 is a predictor for poor prognosis and regulates cell proliferation, migration and invasion in prostate cancer.

Thyroid hormone receptor interactor 13 (TRIP13) has been reported to be overexpressed in serval types of human cancers, and regulate tumor cell proliferation, migration and invasion. However, the role of TRIP13 in prostate cancer was still unclear. In our study, the correlation between TRIP13 expression and clinical parameters including prognosis was evaluated in 160 prostate cancer patients. Moreover, the MTT assay, cell migration and invasion assays were performed to assess the effect of TRIP13 on prostate cancer cell biological behaviour. In our results, the expression status of TRIP13 was observed to be elevated in prostate cancer tissue samples through analyzing microarray (GSE55945). Furthermore, mRNA and protein TRIP13 expression were confirmed to be overexpressed in prostate cancer tissue samples and cell lines. High-expression of TRIP13 was correlated with present lymph node involvement, distant metastasis, high Gleason score, levels of serum PSA and poor prognosis in prostate cancer patients. The gain-of-function and loss-of-function studies suggested that TRIP13 functioned as oncogene to regulate prostate cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion through controlling YWHAZ and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated genes. In conclusion, TRIP13 is correlated with clinical progression and poor prognosis, and serves as oncogene in prostate cancer.

[Mass Concentrations and Size Distributions of Water-soluble Inorganic Ions in Atmospheric Aerosols in Beibei District, Chongqing].

In order to study the concentration and distribution characteristics of water-soluble inorganic ions in aerosol particles of the Beibei district of Chongqing, aerosol samples were collected with an Andersen cascade impactor between March 2014 and February 2015. Water-soluble inorganic ions, including Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, F-, Cl-, NO3-, and SO42- were determined for different particle sizes (9.00, 5.80, 4.70, 3.30, 2.10, 1.10, 0.65, and 0.43 µm) using the ion chromatography method. Results showed that SO42-, NH4+, NO3-, Cl-, Na+, and K+ were mainly distributed in fine particles, while Mg2+, Ca2+, and F- were mainly present in coarse particles. SNA (SO42-, NH4+, and NO3-) exhibited clear unimodal distribution, with peaks in the droplet mode of 0.65-1.10 µm, mainly present in the form of (NH4)2SO4 and NH4NO3 in fine particles. The formation of SO42- is mainly attributed to in-cloud processes and partly to oxidation of SO2. Na+, Cl-, and Mg2+ exhibited bimodal distribution in coarse and fine particles; K+ was a single peak distribution in the range of 0.43-1.10 µm, while peaks of F- and Ca2+ concentrations were in coarse particles. Average annual concentrations of total water-soluble ions in PM2.1 and PM9.0 were (32.68±15.28) µg·m-3and (48.01±19.66) µg·m-3 over the observation period. Seasonal variations of PM2.1 and PM9.0concentrations decreased in the order of winter > spring > summer > autumn. This was the same for most ions, but a small number of ions (F-, Mg2+ and Ca2+) had a different pattern in the spring, summer, and winter. The SNA were the major components of water-soluble ions in PM2.1, and Ca2+ was the major component of water-soluble ions in PM9.0 besides SNA. The concentration of cations was significantly higher than that of anions' in PM2.1 and PM9.0, with a certain correlation between different ions. Emissions from motor vehicle exhaust, combustion processes, soil sources, and fugitive dust were the major sources of water-soluble ions in this area. The effect of air temperature on secondary ions is significant (P<0.05), but relative humidity and wind speed have no significant effect (P>0.05).

LncRNA TINCR is associated with clinical progression and serves as tumor suppressive role in prostate cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Terminal differentiation-induced non-coding RNA (TINCR) has been suggested to have aberrant expression in multiple human cancers, and functions as tumor suppressor or promoter in various types of human tumors depending on the specific cancer types. The expression status and biological function of TINCR in prostate cancer is still unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In our study, we detected TINCR expression in prostate cancer tissue samples and cell lines, and analyzed the association between TINCR expression and clinical parameters in 160 prostate cancer patients. Moreover, we conducted gain-of-function and loss-of-function studies in prostate cancer cell to explore the biological function and molecular mechanism of TINCR. RESULTS: In our results, low-expression TINCR was observed in prostate cancer, and correlated with advanced clinical T stage, lymph node involvement, distant metastasis, high Gleason score and poor prognosis in prostate cancer patients. Moreover, levels of TINCR expression were negatively associated with TRIP13 mRNA and protein expressions in prostate cancer tissues, and negatively regulated the TRIP13 mRNA and protein expressions in prostate cancer cell lines. TINCR inhibits prostate cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion via suppressing TRIP13 expression. CONCLUSION: TINCR plays a tumor suppressive role in regulating prostate cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion through modulating TRIP13 expression.

PCMT1 is an unfavorable predictor and functions as an oncogene in bladder cancer.

The role of protein l-isoaspartate (d-aspartate) O-methyltransferase (PCMT1) in human cancer was generally cognized. The clinical significance and biological function of PCMT1 in bladder cancer is still unknown. PCMT1 mRNA and protein expression levels in bladder cancer tissues and cell lines were detected by qRT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, or western blot. The correlation between PCMT1 expression and clinicopathological factors was analyzed through immunohistochemistry in 108 bladder cancer patients. Loss-of-function and gain-of-function studies were conducted to explore the biological function of PCMT1 in bladder cancer cell lines in regulating cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. In our results, we found that PCMT1 was overexpressed in bladder cancer tissues compared with normal urothelium tissues in microarray datasets (GSE3167). Then, we confirmed PCMT1 mRNA and protein expression were increased in bladder cancer tissues and cell lines compared with paired normal urothelium tissues and normal uroepithelial cell line. PCMT1 protein expression was obviously correlated with clinical stage, muscularis invasion, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis. Survival analysis showed that PCMT1 protein high-expression was an independent unfavorable prognostic factor for bladder cancer patients. The in vitro experiments showed PCMT1 regulated bladder cancer cells migration and invasion through modulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated genes expression including E-cadherin, vimentin, Snail and Slug, but had no effect on proliferation. In conclusion, PCMT1 is an unfavorable prognostic biomarker and involves in cells migration and invasion through regulating EMT-associated genes. © 2018 IUBMB Life, 70(4):291-299, 2018.

The Effect of UV-Ozone Treatment on the Performance of Plasmonic Organic Solar Cells.

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) solution was spin-coated on indium-tin oxide (ITO) glass substrates prior to spin-coating poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene- sulfonate) ( PEDOT: PSS) for the plasmonic solar cells. The sequence of spin-coating of Ag and UV-ozone treatment resulted in different device performance. For devices in which Ag NPs solution was spin-coated on ITO substrates before UV-ozone treatment, power conversion efficiency increased from 3.4% to 3.7%, while the power conversion efficiency decreased if Ag NPs solution was spin-coated after UV-ozone treatment. In both cases, the short-circuit current density increased, and the open-circuit voltage remained relatively constant. The variation of power conversion efficiency mainly depended on the changing of the fill factor, which is related to film morphology of the devices. AFM measurements of PEDOT: PSS films were taken to study the influence of film morphology on device performance.

Shifting the light emitting component from core to shell: an effective approach to improve the efficiency of light-emitting diodes based on multi-junction quantum materials.

Herein, using the light emitting component as the inner shell, we construct an advanced quantum-dot-quantum-well structure, ZnCdS/CdSe/CdZnSeS/ZnS, and use it for the fabrication of a light-emitting-diode. In comparison with the device containing conventional structured quantum dots, CdSe/CdZnSeS/ZnS, the advanced device possesses a superior performance in aspects of luminance, current efficiency, turn-on voltage and emitting wavelength tunability. Therefore, this paper indicates a promising strategy for the fabrication of light emitting devices based on quantum materials.

Efficient hybrid plasmonic polymer solar cells with Ag nanoparticle decorated TiO2 nanorods embedded in the active layer.

A hybrid plasmonic polymer solar cell, in which plasmonic metallic nanostructures (such as Ag, Au, and Pt nanoparticles) are embedded in the active layer, has been under intense scrutiny recently because it provides a promising new approach to enhance the efficiency of the device. We propose a brand new hybrid plasmonic nanostructure, which combines a plasmonic metallic nanostructure and one-dimensional semiconductor nanocrystals, to enhance the photocurrent of the device through a strong localized electric field and an enhanced charge transport channel. We demonstrate that when Ag nanoparticle decorated TiO2 nanorods were introduced into the active layer of polymer-fullerene based bulk heterojunction solar cells, the photocurrent significantly increased to 14.15 mA cm(-2) from 6.51 mA cm(-2) without a decrease in the open voltage; thus, the energy conversion efficiency was dramatically enhanced to 4.87% from 2.57%.