Exploring Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma and Polygalae Radix in Alzheimer's: Network pharmacology and molecular docking analysis.

Explore Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma (ATR) and Polygalae Radix (PR) mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease (AD) treatment through network pharmacology. ATR-PR was investigated in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database, Batman, and Traditional Chinese Medicines Integrated Database (TCMID) to gather information on its chemical components and target proteins. Target genes associated with AD were retrieved from the GeneCards and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) databases. The integration of these datasets with potential targets facilitated the construction of an AD and ATR-PR protein-protein interaction (PPI) network using the STRING database. The resulting network identified the core active ingredients and main targets of ATR-PR in AD treatment. Cluster analysis of the PPI network was performed using Cytoscape 3.7.1. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were conducted using the Metascape database. Molecular docking simulations revealed potential interactions between the main active ingredients and core targets. Our analysis identified 8 putative components and 455 targets of ATR-PR. We systematically searched for 1306 genes associated with AD, conducted Venn diagram analysis resulting in 156 common targets, and constructed a PPI network with 57 key targets. GO functional analysis highlighted the primary biological processes associated with oxidative stress. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed the involvement of 64 signaling pathways, with the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway playing a key role. Molecular docking analysis indicated a high affinity between the potential targets of ATR-PR and the main compounds of AD. This study sheds light on the complex network of interactions involving ATR-PR in the context of AD. The identified targets, pathways, and interactions provide a foundation for understanding the potential therapeutic mechanisms. The involvement of oxidative stress-related processes and the crucial role of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway suggest avenues for targeted therapeutic interventions in Alzheimer's disease treatment. Our proposition of the combined use of ATR-PR has emerged as a potential treatment strategy for AD, supported by a network pharmacology approach. This framework provides a robust foundation for future clinical applications and experimental research in the pursuit of effective Alzheimer's disease treatments.

Organic metal chalcogenide-assisted metabolic molecular diagnosis of central precocious puberty.

Metabolic analysis in biofluids based on laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS), featuring rapidity, simplicity, small sample volume and high throughput, is expected to be a powerful diagnostic tool. Nevertheless, the signals of most metabolic biomarkers obtained by matrix-assisted LDI-MS are too limited to achieve a highly accurate diagnosis due to serious background interference. To address this issue, nanomaterials have been frequently adopted in LDI-MS as substrates. However, the "trial and error" approach still dominates the development of new substrates. Therefore, rational design of novel LDI-MS substrates showing high desorption/ionization efficiency and no background interference is extremely desired. Herein, four few-layered organic metal chalcogenides (OMCs) were precisely designed and for the first time investigated as substrates in LDI-MS, which allowed a favorable internal energy and charge transfer by changing the functional groups of organic ligands and metal nodes. As a result, the optimized OMC-assisted platform satisfyingly enhanced the mass signal by ≈10 000 fold in detecting typical metabolites and successfully detected different saccharides. In addition, a high accuracy diagnosis of central precocious puberty (CPP) with potential biomarkers of 12 metabolites was realized. This work is not only expected to provide a universal detection tool for large-scale clinical diagnosis, but also provides an idea for the design and selection of LDI-MS substrates.

A reactive matrix for in situ chemical derivatisation and specific detection of cis-diol compounds by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry.

Analysis of cis-diol compounds is essential, because they play important roles in cosmetics, food, pharmaceuticals, and living organisms. Herein, we describe the development of a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) method to analyse cis-diol compounds. In this method, a 6-borono-1-methylquinoline-1-ium (BMQI) reactive matrix was designed for in situ derivatisation of cis-diol compounds based on the boronate affinity interaction between boronic acid and cis-diol groups. Compared to traditional commercial matrices and other boronic acid reagents, BMQI can significantly accelerate the desorption/ionisation process, improve reproducibility, exhibit free background interference, and enhance signal intensity in the analysis of various cis-diol compounds even for amounts as low as 1 nmol. The BMQI-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) was successfully applied to the rapid screening and identification of sugar alcohols in different sugar-free foods. This work provides an alternative method to the LDI-MS analysis of cis-diol-containing molecules, and the method can be extended to other food samples and biofluids.

Construction of Covalent Organic Framework Capsule-Based Nanoreactor for Sensitive Glucose Detection.

Enzyme immobilization is critical to boosting its application in various areas. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are ideal hosts for enzyme immobilization due to their porous and predesignable structures. Nevertheless, the construction of COFs-based enzyme immobilization systems with high activity via existing immobilization methods (including covalent linkages and channel entrapment) remains a considerable challenge. Herein, a versatile approach was introduced to encapsulate enzymes within hollow COF capsule (named enzyme@COF) using metal-organic frameworks (including ZPF-1(C8H11N4O4.5Zn), ZIF-8(C8H10N4Zn), and ZIF-90(C8H6N4O2Zn)) as sacrificial templates. The obtained porous COF capsule could not only facilitate the efficient mass transfer of enzymatic reactions but also protect enzymes against the incompatible conditions, resulting in enhanced activity and stability of the encapsulated enzymes. Moreover, this approach offered an opportunity to spatially organize multienzymes in COF capsule to construct enzyme cascade system. For instance, glucose oxidase (GOx) and cytochrome c (Cyt c) were coencapsulated within COF capsule to construct GOx-Cyt c cascade. The integration of GOx and Cyt c within COF capsule achieved ∼1.6-fold improvement in catalytic activity than that of free enzymes and the resultant GOx-Cyt c@COF was successfully adopted as a nanoreactor for the sensitive determination of glucose in serum. This work provided a new insight into the design of COFs-based enzyme immobilization systems.

Recent Advances in Biomass-Based Materials for Oil Spill Cleanup.

Oil spill on sea surfaces, which mainly produced by the oil leakage accident happened on tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, has bring irreversible damage to marine environments and ecosystems. Among various spill oil handling methods, using sorbents to absorb and recover spill oils is a perspective method because they are cost-effective and enable a high recovery and without secondary pollution to the ecosystem. Currently, sorbents based on biomass materials have aroused extensively attention thanks to their features of inexpensive, abundant, biodegradable, and sustainable. Herein, we comprehensively review the state-of-the-art development of biomass-based sorbents for spill oil cleanup in the recent five years. After briefly introducing the background, the basic theory and material characteristics for the separation of oil from water and the adsorption of oils is also presented. Various modification methods for biomass materials are summarized in section three. Section four discusses the recent progress of biomass as oil sorbents for oil spill cleanup, in which the emphasis is placed on the oil sorption capacity and the separation efficiency. Finally, the challenge and future development directions is outlined.

Covalent organic framework film-based laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry for rapid and sensitive quantification of homocysteine in human serum.

RATIONALE: Homocysteine (hcy) is a metabolite in the human body and an important determinant of cardiovascular health. To assist in the assessment of human cardiovascular safety, a rapid and accurate quantitative analysis method must be developed. Laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) has been widely used in biological, chemical, and medical analyses due to its excellent characteristics of high throughput, low sample consumption, and high speed. Here, an LDI-MS method based on covalent organic framework (COF) film was developed for the rapid and sensitive determination of hcy in human serum using an isotope-labeled internal standard. METHODS: We tried to cultivate COFs on indium-tin oxide substrate at room temperature to form a thin film, which was used in LDI-MS. Compared with the traditional organic matrices, the COF film had a clean background and a high signal response for the detection of hcy. In addition, using COF film as the substrate, with a high signal intensity and a clean background, can be helpful to analyze a series of small molecules such as amino acids, bisphenols (Bps), estrogens, and drugs. We evaluated the limit of detection (LOD) and the reproducibility of this method. Finally, the calibration curve was constructed for the quantification of serum hcy using an isotope-labeled internal standard and was applied for the rapid determination of hcy in clinical human serum. RESULTS: COF film-assisted LDI-MS had a higher response signal and a cleaner background compared to four conventional organic matrices. The LOD of the method for hcy was 0.5 µmol/L, equivalent to 500 fmol. This method exhibited excellent performance for small-molecule compounds, including amino acids, Bps, drugs, and estrogens. The reproducibilities of this method for shot-to-shot and dot-to-dot were determined to be good. This method was applied for the rapid analysis of hcy in clinical human serum, showing good correlation with those obtained by hospital testing. CONCLUSION: The COF film-based LDI-MS method had simple sample preparation, short analysis time, clean background, and good reproducibility for hcy analysis. As an important indicator of human health, the detection of serum hcy is of great significance to human health.

Exploring the mechanism of Epimedii folium and notoginseng radix against vascular dementia based on network pharmacology and molecular docking analysis: pharmacological mechanisms of EH-PN for VD.

To explore the mechanism of Epimedii Folium (HF) and Notoginseng Radix (NR) intervention in vascular dementia (VD). This study used the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database to collect the active ingredients and potential drug targets of HF and NR, the Uniprot database to convert drug target names into gene names, GeneCards, Drugbank, Therapeutic Target Database, and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man database to collect the potential disease targets of VD, and then combined them with the drug targets to construct the HF-NR-VD protein-protein interaction (PPI) network by Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting (STRING). Cytoscape (version 3.7.1) was used to perform cluster analysis of the PPI network. Metascape database was used for Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. The potential interaction of the main components of the HF-NR couplet medicine with core disease targets was revealed by molecular docking simulations. There were 23 predicted active ingredients in HF and NR, and 109 common drug targets that may be involved in the treatment of VD. Through PPI network analysis, 30 proteins were identified as core proteins owing to their topological importance. GO functional analysis revealed that the primary biological processes were mainly related to inflammation, apoptosis, and the response to oxidative stress. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that TNF and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways may occupy the core status in the anti-VD system. Molecular docking results confirmed that the core targets of VD had a high affinity for the main compounds of the HF-NR couplet medicine. We demonstrated the multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway characteristics of HF-NR couplet medicine for the treatment of VD and provided a foundation for further clinical application and experimental research.

Research Progress on the Protective Effect of Brown Algae-Derived Polysaccharides on Metabolic Diseases and Intestinal Barrier Injury.

In the human body, the intestine is the largest digestive and immune organ, where nutrients are digested and absorbed, and this organ plays a key role in host immunity. In recent years, intestinal health issues have gained attention and many studies have shown that oxidative stress, inflammation, intestinal barrier damage, and an imbalance of intestinal microbiota may cause a range of intestinal diseases, as well as other problems. Brown algae polysaccharides, mainly including alginate, fucoidan, and laminaran, are food-derived natural products that have received wide attention from scholars owing to their good biological activity and low toxic side effects. It has been found that brown algae polysaccharides can repair intestinal physical, chemical, immune and biological barrier damage. Principally, this review describes the protective effects and mechanisms of brown algae-derived polysaccharides on intestinal health, as indicated by the ability of polysaccharides to maintain intestinal barrier integrity, inhibit lipid peroxidation-associated damage, and suppress inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, our review aims to provide new ideas on the prevention and treatment of intestinal diseases and act as a reference for the development of fucoidan as a functional product for intestinal protection.

Effectiveness and Safety of Iguratimod Monotherapy or Combined With Methotrexate in Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objectives: We aimed to estimate the effectiveness and safety of iguratimod (IGU) monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate (MTX) in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to provide an evidence-primarily-based foundation for clinical application. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of the meta-analysis using eight databases and two clinical trial websites searching for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from conception to 15 March 2022, based on outcomes of patients with RA treated with IGU. The evidence quality assessment of primary outcomes was evaluated by the GRADE tool, and RevMan 5.3 and StataMP 14.0 were used to perform this research. Results: A total of 4302 patients with RA from 38 RCTs was included in this research. Pooled results demonstrated as follows: 1) Compared with methotrexate (MTX) alone, IGU alone was superior in improving ACR20 and DAS28-ESR, while having no significant difference in ACR50 and ACR70 [ACR20: (RR 1.15, 95% CI 1.05-1.27, p = 0.004); ACR50: (RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.66-1.44, p = 0.88); ACR70: (RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.45-1.90, p = 0.83); DAS28-ESR: mean difference (MD) -0.15, 95% CI -0.27 to -0.03, p = 0.01]. 2) Compared with MTX alone, IGU + MTX was more effective in improving ACR20, ACR50, ACR70, and DAS28-ESR. [ACR20: (RR 1.24, 95% CI 1.14-1.35, p < 0.00001); ACR50: (RR 1.96, 95% CI 1.62-2.39, p <0.00001); ACR70: (RR 1.91, 95% CI 1.41-2.57, p < 0.0001)]; [DAS28-ESR: (MD) -1.43, 95% CI -1.73 to -1.12, p < 0.00001]. 3) Compared with MTX + leflunomide (LEF), ACR20, ACR50, ACR70, and DAS28-ESR of IGU + MTX had no significant difference [ACR20: (RR 1.06, 95% CI 0.94-1.19, p = 0.38); ACR50: (RR 1.10, 95% CI 0.66-1.84, p = 0.72); ACR70: (RR 1.20, 95% CI 0.45-3.20, p = 0.71); DAS28-ESR: (MD -0.02, 95% CI -0.13 to -0.10, p = 0.77)]. 4) Compared with MTX + hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), IGU + MTX was superior in improving DAS28-ESR (MD -2.16, 95% CI -2.53 to -1.79, p < 0.00001). 5) Compared with MTX + tripterygium glycosides (TGs), IGU + MTX was more effective in improving DAS28-ESR (MD -0.94, 95% CI -2.36 to 0.48, p = 0.19). 6) There were no significant differences in adverse events (AEs) between the groups of IGU vs. MTX (RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.71-1.31, p = 0.80), IGU + MTX vs. MTX (RR 1.10, 95% CI 0.90-1.35, p = 0.34), IGU + MTX vs. MTX + HCQ (RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.29-1.42, p = 0.27), and IGU + MTX vs. MTX + TGs (RR 0.75, 95% CI 0.28-2.02, p = 0.57). The incidence of AEs in the IGU + MTX group was lower than the MTX + LEF group (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.71-0.98, p = 0.03). Conclusion: Compared to the MTX alone subgroup, IGU alone offers clear advantages in improving ACR20 and DAS28-ESR, despite the insufficient evidence for DAS28-ESR findings. IGU + MTX shows clear benefits in improving ACR20, ACR50, ACR70, and DAS28-ESR scores compared to standard therapies. When the intervention (IGU alone or IGU + MTX) lasted for 52 weeks, it demonstrated superior efficacy in improving ACR20 of patients without prominent adverse events. Notably, IGU or IGU + MTX has apparent advantages in improving ACR20 of first-visit RA, and IGU + MTX has obvious advantages in improving DAS28-ESR of refractory RA. Furthermore, IGU + MTX does not increase the risk of leukopenia, but it can decrease the risk of liver function tests (LFTs), regardless of the age or the stage of RA. Clinical Trial Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/#recordDetails, identifier CRD42022295217.

Controllable Synthesis of Hollow Microtubular Covalent Organic Frameworks as an Enzyme-Immobilized Platform for Enhancing Catalytic Activity.

Despite great achievement that has been made in the synthesis of covalent organic frameworks (COFs), precise construction of COFs with well-defined nano/microstructures poses a rigorous challenge. Herein, we introduce a simple template-free strategy for controllable synthesis of hollow microtubular COFs. The obtained COFs show a spontaneous morphology transformation from a microfiber to a hollow microtubular structure when the concentrations of catalytic acid are regulated elaborately. Furthermore, the as-prepared COFs exhibit high crystallinity, well-defined hollow tubular morphology, and high surface areas (∼2600 m2/g). Taking the advantages of the unique morphological structure, the hollow microtubular COFs can serve as an ideal host material for enzymes. The resultant biocomposites show high catalytic performance and can be successfully applied to rapid and high-efficiency proteolysis of proteins. This work blazes a trail for controllable synthesis of the hollow microtubular COFs through a template-free process and expands the application of COFs as a promising platform for enzyme immobilization.

Covalent Organic Framework Nanofilm-Based Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry for 5-Fluorouracil Analysis and Tissue Imaging.

Although matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) has become a ubiquitous and effective tool for macromolecules, direct analysis of small molecules by MALDI-MS using conventional organic matrices poses a challenge. Herein, a large-area, uniform, and stable covalent organic framework (COF) nanofilm prepared directly on indium-tin oxide (ITO) glass was first introduced as a substrate for LDI-MS, which showed enhanced sensitivity, no background interference, and high reproducibility in the analysis of diverse small molecules. Taking into account all these merits, an attractive approach of COF nanofilm-based LDI-MS was developed to quantitatively evaluate the pharmacokinetics of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in mouse plasma. A good linear relationship (10-20,000 ng/mL) and a low limit of detection (LOD) for 5-FU (∼100 pg/mL) were achieved. In view of the fact that the COF nanofilm was uniform and without the requirement of additional matrix spraying, it was further extended for LDI-MS imaging (LDI-MSI) to visualize the spatial distribution of 5-FU in mouse liver at different interval times after intravenous and intragastric administrations. The results indicated that the decay of 5-FU in mouse liver obtained with the COF nanofilm-based LDI-MSI was consistent with the tendency of 5-FU pharmacokinetics. This work not only offers an alternative solution for LDI-MS/MSI analysis of small molecules but also extends the application fields of COF nanofilm in MS research.

Nanoscale Covalent Organic Frameworks with Donor-Acceptor Structures as Highly Efficient Light-Responsive Oxidase-like Mimics for Colorimetric Detection of Glutathione.

Although organic artificial enzymes have been reported as biomimetic oxidation catalysts and are widely used for colorimetric biosensors, developing organic artificial enzymes with high enzymatic activity is still a challenge. Two-dimensional (2D) covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have shown superior potential in biocatalysts because of their periodic π-π arrays, tunable pore size and structure, large surface area, and thermal stability. The interconnection of electron acceptor and donor building blocks in the 2D conjugated COF skeleton can lead to narrower band gaps and efficient charge separation and transportation and thus is helpful to improve catalytic activity. Herein, a donor-acceptor 2D COF was synthesized using tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)pyrene (Py) as an electron donor and thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-2,5-dicarbaldehyde (TT) as an electron acceptor. Under visible light irradiation, the donor-acceptor 2D COF exhibited superior enzymatic catalytic activity, which could catalyze the oxidation of chromogenic substrates such as 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) by the formation of superoxide radicals and holes. Based on the above property, the photoactivated donor-acceptor 2D COF with enzyme-like catalytic properties was designed as a robust colorimetric probe for cheap, highly sensitive, and rapid colorimetric detection of glutathione (GSH); the corresponding linear range of GSH was 0.4-60 µM, and the limit of detection was 0.225 µM. This study not only presents the construction of COF-based light-activated nanozymes for environmentally friendly colorimetric detection of GSH but also provides a smart strategy for improving nanozyme activity.

Genomic-Wide Identification and Characterization of the Uridine Diphosphate Glycosyltransferase Family in Eucommia ulmoides Oliver.

Eucommia ulmoides Oliver is a woody plant with great economic and medicinal value. Its dried bark has a long history of use as a traditional medicinal material in East Asia, which led to many glycosides, such as aucubin, geniposide, hyperoside, astragalin, and pinoresinol diglucoside, being recognized as pharmacologically active ingredients. Uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferases (UGTs) catalyze a glycosyl-transferring reaction from the donor molecule uridine-5'-diphosphate-glucose (UDPG) to the substrate, which plays an important role in many biological processes, such as plant growth and development, secondary metabolism, and environmental adaptation. In order to explore the biosynthetic pathways of glycosides in E. ulmoides, 91 putative EuUGT genes were identified throughout the complete genome of E. ulmoides through function annotation and an UDPGT domain search. Phylogenetic analysis categorized them into 14 groups. We also performed GO annotations on all the EuUGTs to gain insights into their functions in E. ulmoides. In addition, transcriptomic analysis indicated that most EuUGTs showed different expression patterns across diverse organs and various growing seasons. By protein-protein interaction predication, a biosynthetic routine of flavonoids and their glycosides was also proposed. Undoubtedly, these results will help in future research into the biosynthetic pathways of glycoside compounds in E. ulmoides.

Two-dimensional guanidinium-based covalent organic nanosheets for controllable recognition and specific enrichment of global/multi-phosphopeptides.

Highly specific capture of phosphopeptides, especially multi-phosphopeptides, from complex biological samples is critical for comprehensive phosphoproteomic analysis, but it still poses great challenges due to the lack of affinity material with ideal enrichment efficiency. Here, two-dimensional (2D) covalent organic framework (COFs) nanosheets was applied for selective separation of phosphopeptides for the first time. Particularly, by incorporating guanidinium units, the 2D guanidinium-based COF nanosheets (denoted as TpTGCl CONs) exhibited controllable and specific enrichment performance towards global/multi-phosphopeptides. TpTGCl CONs was easy to prepare and showed large surface area, low steric hindrance, abundant accessible interaction sites and high chemical stability. Taking these merits together, TpTGCl CONs exhibited excellent efficiency for phosphopeptide enrichment, such as low detection limits (0.05 fmol µL-1 for global phosphopeptides and 0.1 fmol µL-1 for multi-phosphopeptides), high selectivity (1:5000 of molar ratios of ß-casein/BSA for both global and multi-phosphopeptides), high adsorption capacity (100 mg g-1 for global phosphopeptides and 50 mg g-1 for multi-phosphopeptides). Furthermore, TpTGCl CONs could be reused due to the high chemical stability. In addition, TpTGCl CONs were successfully applied to controllable and specific capture of endogenous global/multi-phosphopeptides from human serum and human saliva, indicating its good potential in rapid and sensitive detection of biomarkers from biological fluid. Finally, rat liver protein digest was used to confirm the high specificity of TpTGCl CONs towards multi-phosphopeptides and demonstrated its potential as an ideal enrichment probe for comprehensive phosphoproteomic analysis.

Room-temperature controllable synthesis of hierarchically flower-like hollow covalent organic frameworks for brain natriuretic peptide enrichment.

A facile strategy was introduced for room-temperature controllable synthesis of hierarchically flower-like hollow COFs (FHF-COFs). Furthermore, the universality for synthesis of the HFH-COFs was validated by altering the building units. Inspired by the unique morphology, extremely large surface area and good chemical stability, HFH-COFs could serve as an attractive adsorption probe by loading with gold nanoparticles and be applied to enrichment of brain natriuretic peptide from human serum. This work opens up a whole new approach for controllable synthesis of the HFH-COFs at room temperature and expands the application of COFs as a promising enrichment probe for complex biological samples.

Efficient Gradient Potential Top Electron Transport Structures Achieved by Combining an Oxide Family for Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells with High Efficiency and Stability.

Although inverted (p-i-n) structure perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have achieved high efficiency by commonly using fullerenes or their derivatives as electron transport layers (ETLs), the device stability and cost of fullerene materials are still of great concern. Herein, we demonstrate inorganic top ETLs simply composed from a family of metal oxides including In2O3 and its derivative of Sn:In2O3 with a gradient potential structure. For inverted PSCs, the typical film formation process of In2O3 will damage or degrade perovskite materials underneath; thus, we report a low temperature synthesis approach for obtaining In2O3 and Sn:In2O3 nanoparticles that can form effective top ETLs without any post-treatment. The one-family oxide-based top ETL features with the enhanced built-in potential, high electron extraction, and low interfacial recombination, offering a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.65% in PSCs constructed from oxide-only carrier (both hole and electron) transport layers (CTLs), which is the highest efficiency in oxide-only CTL-based inverted PSCs to the best of our knowledge. Equally important, the inverted PSCs based on the Sn:In2O3/In2O3 ETL show the excellent operational stability and remain 90% of the initial value of PCE over 2000 h. Consequently, this work contributes to the robust strategy of all oxide-only CTLs in developing rigid and flexible PSCs for practical photovoltaic applications.

Systematical review of interactions between microplastics and microorganisms in the soil environment.

Terrestrial ecosystems are widely contaminated by microplastics due to extensive usage and poor handling of plastic materials, but the subsequent fate and remediate strategy of these pollutants are far from fully understood. In soil environments, microplastics pose a potential threat to the survival, growth, and reproduction of soil microbiota that in turn threaten the biodiversity, function, and services of terrestrial ecosystems. Meanwhile, microorganisms are sensitive to microplastics due to the adaptability to changes in substrates and soil properties. Through the metabolic and mineralization processes, microorganisms are also crucial participator to the plastic biodegradation. In this review, we present current knowledges and research results of interactions between microplastics and microorganisms (both fungi and bacteria) in soil environments and mainly discuss the following: (1) effects of microplastics on microbial habitats via changes in soil physical, chemical, and biological properties; (2) effects of microplastics on soil microbial communities and functions; and (3) soil microbial-mediated plastic degradation with the likely mechanisms and potential remediation strategies. We aim to analyze the mechanisms driving these interactions and subsequent ecological effects, propose future directives for the study of microplastic in soils, and provide valuable information on the plastic bioremediation in contaminated soils.

Hybrid 3D Nanostructure-Based Hole Transport Layer for Highly Efficient Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells.

In this study, we demonstrate a new hybrid three-dimensional (3D) nanostructure system as an efficient hole transport layer (HTL) by a facile design of a low-temperature solution process. It is realized by integrating high-conductive chromium-doped CuGaO2 nanoplates synthesized with choline chloride (denoted as Cr/CuGaO2-CC) into ultrasmall NiOx nanoparticles. First, we propose to incorporate a Cr-doped strategy under hydrothermal synthesis conditions together with controllable intermediates and surfactants' assistance to synthesize fine-sized Cr/CuGaO2-CC nanoplates. Subsequently, these two-dimensional (2D) nanoplates serve as the expressway for improving hole transportation/extraction properties. Meanwhile, the ultrasmall-sized NiOx nanoparticles are employed to modify the surface for achieving unique surface properties. The HTL formed from the designed hybrid 3D-nanostructured system exhibits the advantages of smooth and full-covered surface, remarkable charge collection efficiency, energy level alignment between the electrode and perovskite layer, and the promotion of perovskite crystal growth. Consequently, nearly 20% of power conversion efficiency with negligible hysteresis is achieved in inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs). This work not only demonstrates the potential applications of a 3D-nanostructured Cr/CuGaO2-CC/NiOx hybrid HTL in PSCs but also provides a fundamental insight into the design of hybrid material systems by manipulating electric behavior and morphology structure for achieving high-performance photovoltaic devices.

Efficient and Stable Red Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes with Operational Stability >300 h.

The long-term operational stability of perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs), especially red PeLEDs with only several hours typically, has always faced great challenges. Stable ß-CsPbI3 nanocrystals (NCs) are demonstrated for highly efficient and stable red-emitting PeLEDs through incorporation of poly(maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecene) (PMA) in synthesizing the NCs. The PMA can chemically interact with PbI2 in the precursors via the coupling effect between O groups in PMA and Pb2+ to favor crystallization of stable ß-CsPbI3 NCs. Meanwhile, the cross-linked PMA significantly reduces the PbCs anti-site defect on the surface of the ß-CsPbI3 NCs. Benefiting from the improved crystal phase quality, the photoluminescence quantum yield for ß-CsPbI3 NCs films remarkably increases from 34% to 89%. The corresponding red-emitting PeLEDs achieves a high external quantum efficiency of 17.8% and superior operational stability with the lifetime, the time to half the initial electroluminescence intensity (T50 ) reaching 317 h at a constant current density of 30 mA cm-2 .

Age of Acquisition of Mandarin Modulates Cortical Thickness in High-Proficient Cantonese-Mandarin Bidialectals.

Previous studies showed that the onset age of second language acquisition (AoA-L2) can modulate brain structure of bilinguals. However, the underlying mechanism of anatomical plasticity induced by AoA-L2 is still a question in debate. In order to explore the issue, we recruited two groups of native Cantonese-Mandarin speakers, the early group began to speak in Mandarin at about 3.5 and the late group at about 6.5 years old. In addition, the early group had earlier experience in reading Chinese characters than the late group did. Through estimating the cortical thickness (CT), we found that (1) compared with the late group, the early group had thicker CT in the lateral occipital region, left middle temporal gyrus, and left parahippocampal region, which are all involved in visuospatial processing, probably reflecting the effect induced by the earlier or later experiences in processing the characters of Chinese for the two groups; and (2) compared with the late group, the early group had thicker CT in left superior parietal region, which is believed to be involved in language switching, maybe for the early group had the earlier experience in switching back and forth between Cantonese and Mandarin and therefore recruited the executive control network earlier. Our findings revealed the effects of the AoA-L2 in oral language acquisition as well as in written language acquisition as the main determinants of bilingual language structural representation in human brain.