Dendrimer Modification Strategy Based on the Understanding of the Photovoltaic Mechanism of a Perovskite Device under Full Sun and Indoor Light.

The wide-band-gap inorganic CsPbI2Br perovskite material provides a highly matched absorption range with the indoor light spectrum and is expected to be used in the fabrication of highly efficient indoor photovoltaic cells (IPVs) and self-powered low-power Internet of Things (IoT) sensors. However, the defects that cause nonradiative recombination and ion migration are assumed to form leakage loss channels, resulting in a severe impact on the open-circuit voltage (VOC) and the fill factor (FF) of IPVs. Herein, we introduce poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers with multiple passivation sites to fully repair the leakage channels in the devices, taking into account the characteristics of IPVs that are extremely sensitive to nonradiative recombination and shunt resistance. The as-optimized IPVs demonstrate a promising PCE of 35.71% under a fluorescent light source (1000 lux), with VOC increased from 0.99 to 1.06 V and FF improved from 75.21 to 84.39%. The present work provides insight into the photovoltaic mechanism of perovskites under full sun and indoor light, which provides guidance for perovskite photovoltaic technology with industrialization prospects.

FA cation replenishment-induced second growth of printed MA-free perovskites for efficient solar cells and modules.

Printing is one industrially compatible scalable method for the preparation of perovskite thin films but suffers from a low nucleation rate that causes an inferior crystal quality. In this work, we applied a slot-die coating method to deposit a MA-free perovskite thin film with a subsequently introduced FA+ replenishment to induce a second growth and prepare a FA-rich film. As a result, the inverted perovskite mini-module reached an efficiency of 17.56% with an aperture area of 60.84 cm2.

MiR-34a-5p promotes autophagy and apoptosis of ovarian granulosa cells via the Hippo-YAP signaling pathway by targeting LEF1 in chicken.

Follicular atresia is a natural physiological phenomenon in poultry reproduction. It is well known that follicular atresia is caused by both autophagy and apoptosis of granulosa cells. In current experiment, we evaluated the function of miR-34a-5p on autophagy and apoptosis in chicken follicular atresia. First, the follicular atresia model of chicken was successfully constructed by subcutaneous injection of tamoxifen (TMX), and found the expression of miR-34a-5p in the atresia follicles obviously increased. Then, we confirmed that miR-34a-5p accelerates autophagy and apoptosis of chicken granulose cells in vitro, and miR-34a-5p could induce apoptosis by mediating autophagy. Mechanistically, lymphoid enhancer binding factor 1 (LEF1) was deemed as a target gene for miR-34a-5p. On the contrary, LEF1 overexpression attenuated the autophagy and apoptosis of chicken granular cells. In addition, it was confirmed that the miR-34a-5p/LEF1 axis plays a regulatory role in chicken granulosa cells by mediating the Hippo-YAP signaling pathway. Taken together, this study demonstrated that miR-34a-5p contributes to autophagy and apoptosis of chicken follicular granulosa cells by targeting LEF1 to mediate the Hippo-YAP signaling pathway.

Br Vacancy Defects Healed Perovskite Indoor Photovoltaic Modules with Certified Power Conversion Efficiency Exceeding 36.

Indoor photovoltaics (IPVs) are expected to power the Internet of Things ecosystem, which is attracting ever-increasing attention as part of the rapidly developing distributed communications and electronics technology. The power conversion efficiency of IPVs strongly depends on the match between typical indoor light spectra and the band gap of the light absorbing layer. Therefore, band-gap tunable materials, such as metal-halide perovskites, are specifically promising candidates for approaching the indoor illumination efficiency limit of ∼56%. However, perovskite materials with ideal band gap for indoor application generally contain high bromine (Br) contents, causing inferior open-circuit voltage (VOC ). By fabricating a series of wide-bandgap perovskites (Cs0.17 FA0.83 PbI3- x Brx , 0.6 ≤ x ≤ 1.6) with varying Br contents and related band gaps, it is found that, the high Br vacancy (VBr ) defect density is a significant reason that leading to large VOC deficits apart from the well-accepted halide segregation. The introduction of I-rich alkali metal small-molecule compounds is demonstrated to suppress the VBr and increase the VOC of perovskite IPVs up to 1.05 V under 1000 lux light-emitting diode illumination, one of the highest VOC values reported so far. More importantly, the modules are sent for independent certification and have gained a record efficiency of 36.36%.

miR-10a-5p inhibits chicken granulosa cells proliferation and Progesterone(P4) synthesis by targeting MAPRE1 to suppress CDK2.

The proliferation and steroid hormone synthesis of granulosa cells (GCs) are essential for ovarian follicle growth and ovulation, which are necessary to support the normal function of the follicle. Numerous studies suggest that miRNAs play key roles in this process. In this study, we report a novel role for miR-10a-5p that inhibits ovarian GCs proliferation and progesterone (P4) synthesis in chicken. Specifically, we found that miR-10a-5p significantly decreased the P4 secretion by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and western blot. Moreover, we observed that miR-10a-5p can inhibit the proliferation of chicken GCs through the investigation of cell proliferation gene expression, cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8), cell cycle progression, and 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay. Then we screened a target gene MAPRE1 of miR-10a-5p, which can promote P4 synthesis and proliferation of GCs. To explore how miR-10a-5p affects cell cycle by MAPRE1, we investigated the interaction between MAPRE1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) by Co-Immunoprecipitation (Co-IP), and then we found that MAPRE1 can form a complex with CDK2. In addition, miR-10a-5p was found to inhibit CDK2 expression by repressing the expression of MAPRE1. Overall, our results indicate that miR-10a-5p regulates the proliferation and P4 synthesis of chicken GCs by targeting MAPRE1 to suppress CDK2.

Effects of Small Peptide Supplementation on Growth Performance, Intestinal Barrier of Laying Hens During the Brooding and Growing Periods.

The growing period is a critical period for growth and development in laying hens. During this period, chicks grow rapidly, but are accompanied by unstable digestive function, incomplete organ development, and high mortality. Small peptide, a feed additive, which has been proved to promote intestinal development and immunity in poultry. In order to elucidate the effects of small peptides on growth performance, immunity, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal health of growing laying hens, a total of 900 Tianfu green shell laying hens (1-day-old) were randomly divided into 5 treatments with 6 replicates of 30 birds each in this 18-week trial. Dietary treatments included a corn-soybean meal-based diet supplemented with 0 g/kg, 1.5 g/kg, 3.0 g/kg, 4.5 g/kg and 6.0 g/kg small peptide, respectively. The results showed that the supplementation of small peptides significantly increased growth rate (P<0.05) in laying hens, as well as elevated the serum immunoglobulins (P<0.05) and antioxidant indices (P<0.05), however, it decreased inflammation parameters (P<0.05). The supplementation of small peptides enhanced the intestinal function by promoting gut development (P<0.05) and improving gut integrity (P<0.05), barrier function (P<0.05) and the diversity of gut microbiota (P<0.05) in the growing hens. The best performance was recorded among the hens fed 4.5 g/kg level of small peptide. Taken together, these results showed that small peptide supplementation could improve the economic value of growing hens by promoting growth rate, disease resistance, and the optimal amount of addition for Tianfu green shell laying hens was 4.5 g/kg.

Evaluation of therapeutic effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation on bone metastasis pain and its influence on immune function of patients.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to observe the effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) on bone metastasis pain, anxiety and immune function in cancer patients. METHODS: A total of 127 patients with bone metastasis pain from malignant tumors were treated with TEAS or drugs. The TEAS group comprised of 62 patients, while the drug control group comprised of 65 patients. The differences in general indexes, baseline pain and anxiety between these two groups were not statistically significant. RESULTS: Compared with those before treatment, the visual analog scale (VAS) scores of patients in the TEAS group and drug control group decreased after treatment, and the differences were statistically significant. The degrees of pain relief after treatment were similar between the two groups. Anxiety improved in both the TEAS group and drug control group, and the difference between these two groups was not statistically significant. The differences in immune indexes, B cell and CD8 between the TEAS group and drug control group were statistically significant. TEAS treatment could improve the declining trend of CD8 in patients. CONCLUSIONS: TEAS treatment and drug treatment can effectively alleviate mild to moderate pain in patients, and the efficacy of these two groups is similar. The treatment for moderate and severe pain needs to be combined with drug treatment to achieve a control effect. TEAS can improve the anxiety and immune function of patients, and prevent the decrease in B cells and CD8 in patients treated with drugs alone.