Counterion docking: a general approach to reducing energetic disorder in doped polymeric semiconductors.

Molecular doping plays an important role in controlling the carrier concentration of organic semiconductors. However, the introduction of dopant counterions often results in increased energetic disorder and traps due to the molecular packing disruption and Coulomb potential wells. To date, no general strategy has been proposed to reduce the counterion-induced structural and energetic disorder. Here, we demonstrate the critical role of non-covalent interactions (NCIs) between counterions and polymers. Employing a computer-aided approach, we identified the optimal counterions and discovered that NCIs determine their docking positions, which significantly affect the counterion-induced energetic disorder. With the optimal counterions, we successfully reduced the energetic disorder to levels even lower than that of the undoped polymer. As a result, we achieved a high n-doped electrical conductivity of over 200 S cm-1 and an eight-fold increase in the thermoelectric power factor. We found that the NCIs have substantial effects on doping efficiency, polymer backbone planarity, and Coulomb potential landscape. Our work not only provides a general strategy for identifying the most suitable counterions but also deepens our understanding of the counterion effects on doped polymeric semiconductors.

Ovarian PERK/NRF2/CX43/StAR/progesterone pathway activation mediates female reproductive dysfunction induced by cold exposure.

Ambient air temperature is a key factor affecting human health. Female reproductive disorders are representative health risk events under low temperature. However, the mechanism involving in cold-induced female reproductive disorders remains largely unknown. Female mice were intermittently exposed to cold conditions (4 °C) to address the health risk of low temperature on female reproductive system. Primary granulosa cells (GCs) were prepared and cultured under low temperature (35 °C) or exposed to ß3-adrenoreceptor agonist, isoproterenol, to mimic the condition of cold exposure. Western-blot, RT-PCR, co-IP, ELISA, pharmacological inhibition or siRNA-mediated knockdown of target gene were performed to investigate the possible role of hormones, gap conjunction proteins, and ER stress sensor protein in regulating female reproductive disorders under cold exposure. Cold exposure induced estrous cycle disorder and follicular dysplasia in female mice, accompanying with abnormal upregulation of progesterone and its synthetic rate-limiting enzyme, StAR, in the ovarian granulosa cells. Under the same conditions, an increase in connexin 43 (CX43) expressions in the GCs was also observed, which contributed to elevated progesterone levels in the ovary. Moreover, ER stress sensor protein, PERK, was activated in the ovarian GCs after cold exposure, leading to the upregulation of downstream NRF2-dependent CX43 transcription and aberrant increase in progesterone synthesis. Most importantly, blocking PERK expression in vivo significantly inhibited NRF2/CX43/StAR/progesterone pathway activation in the ovary and efficiently rescued the prolongation of estrous cycle and the increase in follicular atresia of the female mice induced by cold stress. We have elucidated the mechanism of ovarian PERK/NRF2/CX43/StAR/progesterone pathway activation in mediating female reproductive disorder under cold exposure. Targeting PERK might be helpful for maintaining female reproductive health under cold conditions.

Continuous production of ultratough semiconducting polymer fibers with high electronic performance.

Conjugated polymers have demonstrated promising optoelectronic properties, but their brittleness and poor mechanical characteristics have hindered their fabrication into durable fibers and textiles. Here, we report a universal approach to continuously producing highly strong, ultratough conjugated polymer fibers using a flow-enhanced crystallization (FLEX) method. These fibers exhibit one order of magnitude higher tensile strength (>200 megapascals) and toughness (>80 megajoules per cubic meter) than traditional semiconducting polymer fibers and films, outperforming many synthetic fibers, ready for scalable production. These fibers also exhibit unique strain-enhanced electronic properties and exceptional performance when used as stretchable conductors, thermoelectrics, transistors, and sensors. This work not only highlights the influence of fluid mechanical effects on the crystallization and mechanical properties of conjugated polymers but also opens up exciting possibilities for integrating these functional fibers into wearable electronics.

Evolutionary law and regulatory technology of roof migration on gob-side entry retaining.

In order to study the evolutionary law of roof migration on Gob-Side Entry Retaining, this paper takes the gob-side entry retaining in the comprehensive mining face of the Ningtiaota coal mine as the engineering background, and analyzes the evolutionary law of the overlying rock layer on the roof at different locations during the roadway stay and the stress distribution around the roadway through numerical simulation software, which shows that there is a concentration of stress inside the Flexible formwork concrete wall, and therefore the maximum settlement of the roof on the side of Flexible formwork concrete wall is 35.35 mm, due to the existence of "arch-shaped" decompression area from the working face. Therefore, the maximum settlement of the roof slab on the side of flexible formwork concrete wall was 35.35 mm. Due to the existence of "arch-shaped" decompression area on the roof and floor of roadway, the settlement of the roof slab on both sides of the roadway gradually increased when it was from - 20 to 10 m away from the working face, and the central position had the following pattern of firstly decreasing and then gradually increasing, and then exceeding the top of the roadway. After decreasing and then gradually increasing, after 10 m ahead of the working face, the two sides of the roadway roof subsidence law and the central part of the roadway to maintain the same; the use of cutting the top of the flexible mold concrete wall support technology as a means of controlling the top of the roof along the empty roadway subsidence, the analysis shows that the roof after roof cutting of the amount of subsidence have been reduced, the maximum difference in the rate of change of the displacement is 0.011%, and the maximum difference in the amount of subsidence of 4.98 mm; through the field monitoring data analysis of the pressure of mining The peak value of the influence curve of the working face is located at 19 m of the working face, 9 m of the lagging working face and 19 m of the roadway outside the working face are less affected by the additional mining stress field, comparing the fracture brokenness of the roadway roof before and after the roof cutting, the fracture area in the uncut section is much larger than that in the section of the roof cutting.

Characteristics of surrounding rock damage and control technology of a facing-mining excavating roadway in north Shaanxi mining area.

In a coal mine in the northern region of Shaanxi Province, China, a facing-mining excavating roadway exists, which is intended to be retained for subsequent working face safety services. This paper investigates the deformation and damage characteristics of the surrounding rock in different stages using FLAC 3D numerical simulation, taking the facing-mining excavating roadway of this coal mine as the research context. At 20 m ahead of the working face, a discontinuous plastic zone appears in the surrounding rock of the roadway, a phenomenon attributed to the varying hardness of the lithologyand termed 'plastic zone jumping.' The numerical simulation results have been were verified using drill hole peeping. Real-time monitoring of the roadway's stability is conducted on-site, showing that the roadway is significantly affected by mining at the 50 m point ahead of the working face. Based on the numerical simulation and on-site monitoring results, the support strength was increased at 50 m from the working face along the roadway, and a new support scheme was adopted. In the lagging section of the roadway, where mining pressure is strongly evident, differentiated reinforcement using anchor rods, anchor ropes, and W steel belts has been employed, resulting in a satisfactory on-site effect.