Identification and functional analysis of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and metabolites response to mowing in hulless barley (Hordeum vulgare L. var. nudum hook. f.).

BACKGROUND: Hulless barley (Hordeum vulgare L. var. nudum Hook. f.) is a significant cereal crop and a substantial source of forage for livestock. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and metabolites play crucial roles in the nutrient accumulation and regeneration of hulless barley plants following mowing. The study aimed to identify differentially expressed lncRNAs and metabolites in hulless barley plants by analyzing transcriptomic and metabolomic datasets at 2 h, 24 h, and 72 h following mowing. RESULTS: The study revealed that 190, 90, and 438 lncRNA genes were differentially expressed at the 2 h, 24 h, and 72 h time points compared to the non-mowing control. We identified 14 lncRNA genes-11 downregulated and 3 upregulated-showing consistently significant differential expression across all time points after mowing. These differentially expressed lncRNAs target genes involved in critical processes such as cytokinin signaling, cell wall degradation, storage protein accumulation, and biomass increase. In addition, we identified ten differentially expressed metabolites targeting diverse metabolic pathways, including plant hormones, alkaloids, and flavonoids, before and after mowing at various time points. Endogenous hormone analysis revealed that cytokinin most likely played a crucial role in the regeneration of hulless barley after mowing. CONCLUSIONS: This study created a comprehensive dataset of lncRNAs, metabolites, and hormones in hulless barley after mowing, revealing valuable insights into the functional characteristics of lncRNAs, metabolites, and hormones in regulating plant regeneration. The results indicated that cytokinin plays a significant role in facilitating the regeneration process of hulless barley after mowing. This comprehensive dataset is an invaluable resource for better understanding the complex mechanisms that underlie plant regeneration, with significant implications for crop improvement.

Diagnosing and grading gastric atrophy and intestinal metaplasia using semi-supervised deep learning on pathological images: development and validation study.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with gastric atrophy and intestinal metaplasia (IM) were at risk for gastric cancer, necessitating an accurate risk assessment. We aimed to establish and validate a diagnostic approach for gastric biopsy specimens using deep learning and OLGA/OLGIM for individual gastric cancer risk classification. METHODS: In this study, we prospectively enrolled 545 patients suspected of atrophic gastritis during endoscopy from 13 tertiary hospitals between December 22, 2017, to September 25, 2020, with a total of 2725 whole-slide images (WSIs). Patients were randomly divided into a training set (n = 349), an internal validation set (n = 87), and an external validation set (n = 109). Sixty patients from the external validation set were randomly selected and divided into two groups for an observer study, one with the assistance of algorithm results and the other without. We proposed a semi-supervised deep learning algorithm to diagnose and grade IM and atrophy, and we compared it with the assessments of 10 pathologists. The model's performance was evaluated based on the area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, and weighted kappa value. RESULTS: The algorithm, named GasMIL, was established and demonstrated encouraging performance in diagnosing IM (AUC 0.884, 95% CI 0.862-0.902) and atrophy (AUC 0.877, 95% CI 0.855-0.897) in the external test set. In the observer study, GasMIL achieved an 80% sensitivity, 85% specificity, a weighted kappa value of 0.61, and an AUC of 0.953, surpassing the performance of all ten pathologists in diagnosing atrophy. Among the 10 pathologists, GasMIL's AUC ranked second in OLGA (0.729, 95% CI 0.625-0.833) and fifth in OLGIM (0.792, 95% CI 0.688-0.896). With the assistance of GasMIL, pathologists demonstrated improved AUC (p = 0.013), sensitivity (p = 0.014), and weighted kappa (p = 0.016) in diagnosing IM, and improved specificity (p = 0.007) in diagnosing atrophy compared to pathologists working alone. CONCLUSION: GasMIL shows the best overall performance in diagnosing IM and atrophy when compared to pathologists, significantly enhancing their diagnostic capabilities.

High-Performance Pomegranate-Like CuF2 Cathode Derived from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries.

With the large-scale application of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), a huge amount of spent LIBs will be generated each year and how to realize their recycling and reuse in a clean and effective way poses a challenge to the society. In this work, using the electrolyte of spent LIBs as solvent, we in situ fluorinate the conductive three-dimensional porous copper foam by a facile solvent-thermal method and then coating it with a cross-linked sodium alginate (SA) layer. Benefiting from the solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) that accommodating the volume change of internal CuF2 core and SA layer that inhibiting the dissolution of CuF2, the synthesized CuF2@void@SEI@SA cathode with a pomegranate-like structure (yolk-shell) exhibits a large reversible capacity of ~535 mAh g-1 at 0.05 A g-1 and superb cycling stability. This work conforms to the development concept of green environmental protection and comprehensively realizes the unity of environmental, social and economic benefits.

Heteropoly Blue/Carbon Nanotubes Nanocomposites as High-Performance Photothermal Conversion Materials.

To realize the direct and full use of the widely distributed solar energy, developing novel materials with superb photothermal conversion capability is essential. Although heteropoly blue has intrinsic outstanding solar absorption and photothermal conversion properties, its spectral absorption in the infrared region is weak. Here, composites of heteropoly blue and carbon nanotubes (HPB/CNTs) are synthesized depending on electrostatic interactions by facile microwave sonication and freeze-drying. The doped CNTs can dramatically improve the spectral absorption performance of HPB ontology in the infrared region. As a result, the light absorption of the optimized HPB/CNTs (20 %) reaches more than 95 % in the range of 200-2400 nm, showing promising prospects as high-performance photothermal conversion material in the applications of solar desalination and wastewater treatment.

A Miniature Eight-Port Antenna Array Based on Split-Ring Resonators for 5G Sub-6 GHz Handset Applications.

In this article, a miniature eight-port multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna array is proposed for fifth-generation (5G) sub-6 GHz handset applications. The individual antenna element comprises a radiator shaped like the Chinese character "" (phonetically represented as "Wang") and three split-ring resonators (SRR) on the metal frame. The size of the individual antenna element is only 6.8 × 7 × 1 mm3 (47.6 mm3). The proposed antenna element has a -10 dB impedance bandwidth of 1.7 GHz (from 3.3 GHz to 5 GHz) that can cover 5G New Radio (NR) sub-6 GHz bands N77 (3.3-4.2 GHz), N78 (3.3-3.8 GHz), and N79 (4.4-5 GHz). The evolution design, the current distribution, the effects of single-handed holding, and the analysis of the parameters are deduced to study the approach used to design the featured antenna. The measured total efficiencies are from 40% to 80%, the isolation is better than 12 dB, the calculated envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) is less than 0.12, and the calculated channel capacity (CC) ranges from 35 to 38 bps/Hz. The presented antenna array is a good alternative to 5G mobile handsets with wideband operation, a metal frame, and minimized spacing.

Recovery of heavy metals from industrial wastewater using bioelectrochemical system inoculated with novel Castellaniella species.

Water pollution is a global issue that has drastically increased in recent years due to rapid industrial development. Different technologies have been designed for the removal of pollutants from wastewater. However, most of these techniques are expensive, generate new waste, and focus solely on metal removal instead of metal recovery. In this study, novel facultative exoelectrogenic strains designated Castellaniella sp. A5, Castellaniella sp. B3, and Castellaniella sp. A3 were isolated from a microbial fuel cell (MFC). These isolates were utilized as pure and mixed culture inoculums in a bioelectrochemical system (BES) to produce bioelectricity and treat simulated industrial wastewater. A single-chamber MFC inoculated with the mixed culture attained the highest electricity generation (i.e., 320 mW/m2 power density and 3.19 A/m2 current density), chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency (91.15 ± 0.05%), and coulombic efficiency (54.81 ± 4.18%). In addition, the BES containing biofilms of the mixed culture achieved the highest Cu, Cr, and Cd removal efficiencies of 99.89 ± 0.07%, 99.59 ± 0.53%, and 99.91 ± 0.04%, respectively. The Cr6+ and Cu2+ in the simulated industrial wastewater were recovered via microbial electrochemical reduction as Cr3+ and Cu0, respectively. However, Cd2+ precipitated as Cd (OH)2 or CdCO3 on the surface of the cathodes. These results suggest that a mixed culture inoculum of Castellaniella sp. A5, Castellaniella sp. B3, and Castellaniella sp. A3 has great potential as a biocatalyst in BES for heavy metals recovery from industrial wastewater.

Effect of DRD4 Receptor -616 C/G Polymorphism on Thalamic GABA Levels in Pediatric Patients With Primary Nocturnal Enuresis.

BACKGROUND: The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) promoter (-616; rs747302) is associated with abnormalities of the thalamus in children suffering from primary nocturnal enuresis (PNE). PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of DRD4 -616 C/G SNP on thalamic gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels in PNE children. STUDY TYPE: Prospective, observational. SUBJECTS: One hundred and seventy-six children with PNE and 161 healthy control children. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: 3 T, three-dimensional T1-weighted turbo field echo sequence and MEscher-Garwood Point RESolved Spectroscopy (MEGA-PRESS) MRS sequence. ASSESSMENT: The MEGA-PRESS MRS sequence was used to measure thalamic GABA spectra. The thalamic GABA+ level was calculated using the Gannet 3.0 software package for each participant. A questionnaire was used to determine arousal from sleep (AS) scores. STATISTICAL TESTS: Comparisons of the AS scores and thalamic GABA+ levels were performed using the Mann-Whitney U test between C-allele carriers and GG homozygotes in the PNE and control groups. Spearman correlation analysis was performed to determine the association between AS scores and thalamic GABA levels in PNE children. RESULTS: Thalamic GABA levels in the PNE group were significantly higher than those in the healthy control group (0.178 (0.169-0.186) vs. 0.154 (0.146-0.164), Z = 8.526, Pcorrected < 0.001). The GABA levels in C-allele carriers were significantly higher than those in GG homozygotes in both the PNE and control groups (0.184 (0.181-0.193) vs. 0.170 (0.165-0.177), Z = 8.683, Pcorrected < 0.001; 0.166 (0.156-0.170) vs. 0.147 (0.141-0.152), Z = 9.445, Pcorrected < 0.001). GABA levels in the thalamus were also significantly and positively correlated with AS scores in C-allele carriers in the PNE group (r = 0.747, P < 0.05). DATA CONCLUSION: DRD4 -616 C allele may be associated with increased thalamic GABA+ levels, especially in C-allele carrying PNE children. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 3.

Recent Advances in Phenylboronic Acid-Based Gels with Potential for Self-Regulated Drug Delivery.

Glucose-sensitive drug platforms are highly attractive in the field of self-regulated drug delivery. Drug carriers based on boronic acid (BA), especially phenylboronic acid (PBA), have been designed for glucose-sensitive self-regulated insulin delivery. The PBA-functionalized gels have attracted more interest in recent years. The cross-linked three-dimensional (3D) structure endows the glucose-sensitive gels with great physicochemical properties. The PBA-based platforms with cross-linked structures have found promising applications in self-regulated drug delivery systems. This article summarizes some recent attempts at the developments of PBA-mediated glucose-sensitive gels for self-regulated drug delivery. The PBA-based glucose-sensitive gels, including hydrogels, microgels, and nanogels, are expected to significantly promote the development of smart self-regulated drug delivery systems for diabetes therapy.

When the poor excel: Poverty facilitates procedural learning.

Recent research has shown that poverty directly impeded cognitive functions because the poor could be easily distracted by monetary concerns. We argue that this effect may be limited to functions relying on working memory. For functions that rely on proceduralized processes however, monetary concerns elicited by reminding of financial demands would be conducive rather than harmful. Our results supported this hypothesis by showing that participants with lower income reached the learning criterion of the information-integration categorization task faster than their more affluent counterparts after reminding of financial demands.

Action orientation overcomes the ego depletion effect.

It has been consistently demonstrated that initial exertion of self-control had negative influence on people's performance on subsequent self-control tasks. This phenomenon is referred to as the ego depletion effect. Based on action control theory, the current research investigated whether the ego depletion effect could be moderated by individuals' action versus state orientation. Our results showed that only state-oriented individuals exhibited ego depletion. For individuals with action orientation, however, their performance was not influenced by initial exertion of self-control. The beneficial effect of action orientation against ego depletion in our experiment results from its facilitation for adapting to the depleting task.

Escalate shamefully, de-escalate angrily or gratefully: the influence of discrete emotions on escalation of commitment.

Decision makers often tend to escalate their commitment when faced with a dilemma of whether to continue a losing course of action. Researchers recently began to investigate the influence of discrete emotions on this decision tendency. However, this work has mainly focused on negative emotions and rarely considered positive emotions, to say nothing of comparing the effects of both of them simultaneously. The current study addresses this need by presenting the results of three experiments that examined the effects of four emotions of both positive and negative valences in escalation situations. Experiment 1 investigated the relationships of three trait emotions (hope, shame, and anger) and escalation of commitment. Experiments 2 and 3 examined the effects of three induced emotions (anger, shame, and gratitude) on escalation of commitment in a student sample and an employee sample, respectively. The results revealed that the effects of discrete emotions in escalation situations are mainly due to their associated differences on the appraisal dimension of responsibility that is related to escalation situations rather than their valence. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Glycoprotein Non-metastatic Melanoma Protein B (GPNMB) Protects Against Neuroinflammation and Neuronal Loss in Pilocarpine-induced Epilepsy via the Regulation of Microglial Polarization.

Epilepsy is a progressive neurodegenerative disease highlighted by recurrent seizures, neuroinflammation, and the loss of neurons. Microglial dysfunction is commonly found in epileptic foci and contributes to neuroinflammation in the initiation and progression of epilepsy. Glycoprotein non-metastatic melanoma protein B (GPNMB), a transmembrane glycoprotein, has been involved in the microglial activation and neuroinflammation response. The present study investigated the functional significance of GPNMB in epilepsy. A proven model of epilepsy was established by intraperitoneal injection of pilocarpine to male Sprague Dawley rats. Lentivirus vectors carrying GPNMB or GPNMB short hairpin RNA (shGPNMB) were injected into the hippocampus to induce overexpression or knockdown of GPNMB. GPNMB expression was significantly upregulated and overexpression of GPNMB in the hippocampus reduced seizure activity and neuronal loss after status epilepticus (SE). We here focused on the effects of GPNMB deficiency on neuronal injury and microglia polarization 28 days after SE. GPNMB knockdown accelerated neuronal damage in the hippocampus, evidenced by increased neuron loss and neuronal cell apoptosis. Following GPNMB knockdown, M1 polarization (iNOS) and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-1ß, and TNF-α were increased, and M2 polarization (Arg1) and secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4, IL-10, and TGF-ß were decreased. BV2 cells were used to further confirm the regulatory role of GPNMB in modulating phenotypic transformations and inflammatory cytokine expressions in microglia. In conclusion, these results indicated that GPNMB suppressed epilepsy through repression of hippocampal neuroinflammation, suggesting that GPNMB might be considered the potential neurotherapeutic target for epilepsy management and play a protective role against epilepsy by modulating the polarization of microglia.

Mechanisms of adaptive resistance in Phytobacter sp. X4 to antimony stress under anaerobic conditions.

Sb(III) oxidation by microorganisms plays a key role in the geochemical cycling of antimony and is effective for bioremediation. A previously discovered novel Sb(III)-oxidizing bacteria, Phytobacter sp. X4, was used to elucidate the response patterns of extracellular polypeptides (EPS), antioxidant system, electron transfer and functional genes to Sb(III) under anaerobic conditions. The toxicity of Sb(III) was mitigated by increasing Sb(III) oxidation capacity, and the EPS regulated the content of each component by sensing the concentration of Sb(III). High Sb(III) concentrations induced significant secretion of proteins and polysaccharides of EPS, and polysaccharides were more important. Functional groups including hydroxyl, carboxyl and amino groups on the cell surface adsorbed Sb(III) to block its entry. Hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen peroxide were involved in anaerobic Sb(III) oxidation, as revealed by changes in the antioxidant system and electron spin resonance (EPR) techniques. qPCR confirmed that proteins concerning nitrate and antimony transfer, antimony resistance and antioxidant system were regulated by Sb(III) concentration, and the synergistic cooperation of multiple proteins conferred high antimony resistance to X4. The adaptive antimony resistance mechanism of Phytobacter sp. X4 under anaerobic conditions was revealed, which also provides a reference value for bioremediation method of antimony contamination in anaerobic environment.

A Dual-Band 8-Antenna Array Design for 5G/WiFi 5 Metal-Frame Smartphone Applications.

This paper presents a dual-band 8-port multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna specifically designed for fifth-generation (5G) smartphones, featuring two open-slot metal frames. To enhance impedance matching and improve isolation between adjacent antenna elements, each antenna element employed a coupling feed. All simulation results in this paper come from Ansys HFSS. The operational frequency bands of the proposed antenna spanned 3.36-4.2 GHz for the lower band and 4.37-5.95 GHz for the higher band, covering 5G New Radio (NR) bands N78 (3.4-3.6 GHz) and N79 (4.4-4.9 GHz), as well as WiFi 5 (5.15-5.85 GHz). Notably, the antenna demonstrated outstanding isolation exceeding 16.5 dB within the specified operating bands. The exceptional performance positions the proposed antenna as a promising candidate for integration into 5G metal-frame smartphones.

Oxytocin pathway gene variation and corticostriatal resting-state functional connectivity.

Genetic variations in single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within oxytocin pathway genes have been linked to social behavior and neurodevelopmental conditions. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these associations remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the relationship between variations of 10 SNPs in oxytocin pathway genes and resting-state functional connectivity among 55 independent components using a large sample from the UK Biobank (N ≈ 30,000). Our findings revealed that individuals with the GG genotype at rs4813627 within the oxytocin structural gene (OXT) exhibited weaker resting-state functional connectivity in the corticostriatal circuit compared to those with the GA/AA genotypes. Empirical evidence has linked the GG genotype at OXT rs4813627 with a behavioral tendency of insensitivity to others. These results inform the neural mechanisms by which oxytocin-related genetic factors can influence social behavior.

The impact of discharge readiness on post-traumatic growth in patients after thyroid cancer surgery: the mediating role of sickness-related stigma.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between post-traumatic growth, morbidity stigma and readiness for discharge in post-operative thyroid cancer patients. Methods: 422 post-operative thyroid cancer patients from three tertiary care hospitals in Hunan and Tianjin were surveyed using the General Information Questionnaire, the Post-traumatic Growth Scale, the Readiness for Discharge Scale, and the Social Influence Scale. Results: Discharge readiness positively predicted the level of post-traumatic growth in thyroid cancer patients (P < 0.01), and morbidity stigma negatively predicted post-traumatic growth (P < 0.01), with morbidity stigma playing a mediated role between discharge readiness and post-traumatic growth. Conclusions: Readiness for discharge can positively predict post-traumatic growth, and morbidity stigma plays a mediating role between readiness for discharge and post-traumatic growth. It is suggested that clinical and nursing staff should strengthen patients' discharge readiness guidance and education, help patients and their families establish an effective feedback mechanism for disease condition and psychological cognitive condition, focus on reducing patients' sense of shame, and improve patients' physical and mental health.

Investigation on the mechanism of androsta-4,6,8,14-tetraene-3,11,16-trione against acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Steroids are potential anti-leukemia agents, and Epigynum auritum is a Yunnan folk medicine with high levels of androsterone, pregnane, and steroid derivatives. However, the underlying therapeutic mechanism of androsta-4,6,8,14-tetraene-3,11,16-trione (ATT), an androsterone isolated from Epigynum auritum, is not yet clear. This study aimed to explore the anti-leukemia mechanism of ATT using molecular biology, network pharmacology, and molecular docking technology. The cell viability results showed that ATT had an anti-proliferation effect in acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells (CEM/C1, MOLT-4, Jurkat, BALL-1, Nalm-6, and RS4;11). Further studies showed that ATT reduced the mitochondrial membrane potential in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines (BALL-1, Nalm-6, and RS4;11) and induced cell cycle arrest in MOLT-4 and BALL-1. ATT induced BALL-1 cell apoptosis by activating Caspase 3/7 activity and causing DNA fragmentation. Network pharmacology results suggested that ATT exerts its anti-leukemia activity via the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. In addition, molecular docking analysis showed that ATT had high scores in docking with PTGS2, NR3C1, and AR. Western blotting results showed that ATT reduced the relative protein level of P-PI3K and P-Akt, thereby increasing the relative level of pro-apoptosis protein Bax and reducing the relative level of anti-apoptosis protein Bcl-2, the apoptosis downstream protein pro-caspase3, and cell proliferation-related proteins (P-GSK3B and CyclinD1). In conclusion, these results demonstrated that ATT could be a potential candidate drug with apoptosis-induction and cell cycle arrest effects for further investigation in acute lymphoblastic leukemia therapy.

Age-dependent effects of oxytocin in brain regions enriched with oxytocin receptors.

Although intranasal oxytocin administration to tap into central functions is the most commonly used non-invasive means for exploring oxytocin's role in human cognition and behavior, the way by which intranasal oxytocin acts on the brain is not yet fully understood. Recent research suggests that brain regions densely populated with oxytocin receptors may play a central role in intranasal oxytocin's action mechanisms in the brain. In particular, intranasal oxytocin may act directly on (subcortical) regions rich in oxytocin receptors via binding to these receptors while only indirectly affecting other (cortical) regions via their neural connections to oxytocin receptor-enriched regions. Aligned with this notion, the current study adopted a novel approach to test 1) whether the connections between oxytocin receptor-enriched regions (i.e., the thalamus, pallidum, caudate nucleus, putamen, and olfactory bulbs) and other regions in the brain were responsive to intranasal oxytocin administration, and 2) whether oxytocin-induced effects varied as a function of age. Forty-six young (24.96 ± 3.06 years) and 44 older (69.89 ± 2.99 years) participants were randomized, in a double-blind procedure, to self-administer either intranasal oxytocin or placebo before resting-state fMRI. Results supported age-dependency in the effects of intranasal oxytocin administration on connectivity between oxytocin receptor-enriched regions and other regions in the brain. Specifically, compared to placebo, oxytocin decreased both connectivity density and connectivity strength of the thalamus for young participants while it increased connectivity density and connectivity strength of the caudate for older participants. These findings inform the mechanisms underlying the effects of exogenous oxytocin on brain function and highlight the importance of age in these processes.

Effects of chain lengths and backbone chirality on the bone-targeting ability of poly(glutamic acid)s.

Anionic synthetic polypeptides are promising candidates as standalone bone-targeting drug carriers. Nevertheless, the structure-property relationship of the bone-targeting ability of polypeptides remains largely unexplored. Herein we report the optimization of the in vitro and in vivo bone-targeting ability of poly(glutamic acid)s (PGAs) by altering their chain lengths and backbone chirality. PGA 100-mers exhibited higher hydroxyapatite affinity in vitro, but their rapid macrophage clearance limited their targeting ability. Shorter PGA was therefore favored in terms of in vivo bone targeting. Meanwhile, the backbone chirality showed less significant impact on the in vitro and in vivo targeting behavior. This study highlights the modulation of structural parameters on the bone-targeting performance of anionic polypeptides, shedding light on the future design of polypeptide-based carriers.

Band Engineering Through Pb-Doping of Nanocrystal Building Blocks to Enhance Thermoelectric Performance in Cu3SbSe4.

Developing cost-effective and high-performance thermoelectric (TE) materials to assemble efficient TE devices presents a multitude of challenges and opportunities. Cu3SbSe4 is a promising p-type TE material based on relatively earth abundant elements. However, the challenge lies in its poor electrical conductivity. Herein, an efficient and scalable solution-based approach is developed to synthesize high-quality Cu3SbSe4 nanocrystals doped with Pb at the Sb site. After ligand displacement and annealing treatments, the dried powders are consolidated into dense pellets, and their TE properties are investigated. Pb doping effectively increases the charge carrier concentration, resulting in a significant increase in electrical conductivity, while the Seebeck coefficients remain consistently high. The calculated band structure shows that Pb doping induces band convergence, thereby increasing the effective mass. Furthermore, the large ionic radius of Pb2+ results in the generation of additional point and plane defects and interphases, dramatically enhancing phonon scattering, which significantly decreases the lattice thermal conductivity at high temperatures. Overall, a maximum figure of merit (zTmax) ≈ 0.85 at 653 K is obtained in Cu3Sb0.97Pb0.03Se4. This represents a 1.6-fold increase compared to the undoped sample and exceeds most doped Cu3SbSe4-based materials produced by solid-state, demonstrating advantages of versatility and cost-effectiveness using a solution-based technology.