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Controlling the perovskite morphology and defects at the buried perovskite-substrate interface is challenging for inverted perovskite solar cells. In this work, we report an amphiphilic molecular hole transporter, (2-(4-(bis(4-methoxyphenyl)amino)phenyl)-1-cyanovinyl)phosphonic acid, that features a multifunctional cyanovinyl phosphonic acid group and forms a superwetting underlayer for perovskite deposition, which enables high-quality perovskite films with minimized defects at the buried interface. The resulting perovskite film has a photoluminescence quantum yield of 17% and a Shockley-Read-Hall lifetime of nearly 7 microseconds and achieved a certified power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 25.4% with an open-circuit voltage of 1.21 volts and a fill factor of 84.7%. In addition, 1–square centimeter cells and 10–square centimeter minimodules show PCEs of 23.4 and 22.0%, respectively. Encapsulated modules exhibited high stability under both operational and damp heat test conditions.

A pre-embedding mixed A-cation halide strategy is developed to eliminate the residual unstable PbI2 and lattice strain near the buried interface of the perovskite layer for the stability improvement of formamidinium-based perovskite solar cells.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted much attention due to their low-cost fabrication and high power conversion efficiency (PCE). However, the long-term stability issues of PSCs remain a significant bottleneck impeding their commercialization. Inverted PSCs with a p-i-n architecture are being actively researched due to their concurrent good stability and decent efficiency. In particular, the PCE of inverted PSCs has improved significantly in recent years and is now almost approaching that of n-i-p PSCs. This review summarizes recent progress in the development of high-efficiency inverted PSCs, including the development of perovskite compositions, fabrication methods, and counter electrode materials (CEMs). Notably, we highlight the development of charge transport materials (CTMs) and the effects of defect passivation strategies on the performance of inverted PSCs. Finally, we discuss the remaining issues and perspectives of high-efficiency inverted PSCs.

Additive engineering, dimensionality engineering, doping engineering and quantum dot technology can effectively improve the efficiency and stability of the most eye-catching all-inorganic CsPbI3 based PSCs.

Herein, we report the use of pyridine anchoring group functionalized poly(triarylamine) (p-PY) as a hole transport layer at buried interfaces between the ITO and formamidinium–cesium perovskite layer to enhance the efficiency and stability of inverted PSCs.

Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) has been widely used in clinical practice as a first-line treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the current therapeutic effect of TACE is far from satisfactory and thus requires further improvement. TACE combined with multifunctional magnetic particles may be a promising approach for the treatment of HCC. In this study, we designed a new magnetic drug carrier system consisting of micron-sized iron powder, barium ferrite (BaFe12O19), and carbon-coated iron nanocrystals (CCINs). CCINs possess properties, such as high drug loading and sustained release. BaFe12O19 could attract both CCINs and iron powder to form larger clusters after magnetization. Altogether, the triple therapeutic effects of chemotherapeutic enhancement, embolization, and thermal ablation could be realized herein. Further experiments indicate that the system has a high drug-loading capacity, good controlled-release effect, and no significant cytotoxicity. Under the action of a medium-frequency magnetic induction device, the magnetic induction temperature could reach 43 °C in one min while the maximum temperature of 70.8 °C could be reached in 2.5 hours. Overall, this new carrier system displayed excellent antitumor effects in a mouse model. Our findings demonstrate the great application prospects of this system in TACE for HCC.

Besides barrier functions, skin possesses multiple sentiences to external stimuli (e.g., temperature, force, and humidity) for human-outside interaction. Thus, skincare should be taken very seriously, especially by patients with sensory disorders. However, currently available skin-mimicking devices are always limited by so much insufficient response functions and nontunable interface behaviors so as not to realize precise health monitoring and self-defense against injury. Herein, a bioinspired cutaneous receptor-perceptual system (CRPS) patch is presented, integrating hybrid pH indicators and triboelectric nanogenerators into biointerface film-adhesives that are fabricated through facile layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly of amide and Schiff-base linkages between alginate grafted with N-hydroxysuccinimide ester (AN), tannic acid (TA), and polyethylenimine (PEI). This CRPS patch is adhered robustly to the soft-curved skin surface without failure via "molecular suturing," and amino acid enables its benign peel-on-demand from tissue interfaces. Postdamage self-healing brings it without surgical reoperation, avoiding extra cost, pain, as well as infection risks. Significantly, CRPS patches as artificial chemo/mechanoreceptors can remotely visualize skin physiological status by pH-induced chromism using smartphones and prevent skin contact injury by tactility-driven self-powered electrical signals. Overall, the LBL-based strategy to create controllably biointerface-adhesive CRPS patches will usher in a new era of the mobihealth care platform supporting smart diagnosis and self-protection.

Background The members of the cell division cycle-associated (CDCA) gene family are significant regulators of cell proliferation known to play key roles in various cancers. However, the function of CDCA genes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unclear. The aim of this research was to clarify the roles of CDCA family members in HCC using bioinformatics analysis tools. Methods We studied data on the mRNA and protein expression of CDCA genes and survival in patients with HCC using the Oncomine, UALCAN, HPA, CCLE, LinkedOmics, cBioPortal, and Metascape databases. Results Significant overexpression of all CDCA members was found in HCC tissues. The expression levels of CDCAs were related to the tumor stage, and high expression levels were correlated with a low survival rate in patients with HCC. Also, we observed a high mutation rate (45%) of CDCAs in the HCC samples, which manifested as deep deletion, amplification, or increased mRNA expression. In the correlation analysis, we found that any 2 CDCA members were significantly positively correlated with each other. Cycle-related genes including AHCTF1, AKT1, BIRC5, CENPF, CENPL, and CENPQ were closely associated with CDCA gene alterations. Conclusions The findings of this study indicate that CDCAs may be potential therapeutic targets and prognostic indicators for patients with HCC.

Defect-induced charge carrier recombination at the interfaces between perovskite and adjacent charge transport layers restricts further improvements in the device performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Defect passivation at these interfaces can reduce trap states and inhibit the induced nonradiative recombination. Herein, we report a double-sided interfacial passivation via simply evaporating potassium chloride (DIP-KCl) at both the hole transport layer (HTL)/perovskite and perovskite/electron transport layer (ETL) interfaces in inverted planar PSCs. We demonstrate that the bottom KCl layer at the HTL/perovskite interface not only reduces the interfacial defects and improves the interfacial contact, but also leads to increased perovskite crystallinity, while the top KCl layer at the perovskite/ETL interface efficiently passivates the perovskite top surface defects and facilitates electron extraction at this interface. Thus, suppressed nonradiative recombination and faster charge extraction at both interfaces close to the perovskite layer can be achieved by using our DIP-KCl strategy. As a result, inverted PSCs based on DIP-KCl present an increased efficiency from 17.1% to 19.2% and enhanced stability, retaining over 90% of their initial efficiency after aging at maximum power point tracking for 1000 h. This work provides a simple and efficient way for defect passivation to further increase the efficiency and stability of PSCs.

The electron transport layer (ETL) plays a critical role in charge extraction and perovskite thin film growth in planar n–i–p heterojunction perovskite solar cells. Herein, we modulated the nucleation and growth rate of CsPbI3 crystals by using a Mo doping strategy to synthesize high-quality SnO2 crystals as an ETL nano-film in n–i–p heterojunction perovskite solar cells. We revealed that such a nano-film with low surface energy and high roughness induced by Mo doping provides seed-like nucleation sites for CsPbI3 inorganic perovskite growth, leading to improved perovskite film morphology. The charge extraction at the ETL/perovskite interface is also enhanced due to the improved energy level alignment. As a result, a high power conversion efficiency of 17.41% can be achieved under one sun irradiation for a planar n–i–p heterojunction structured CsPbI3 solar cell by using this novel Mo–SnO2 ETL. This work provides a simple pathway to simultaneously modulate CsPbI3 inorganic perovskite crystallization and interfacial charge extraction in planar heterojunction perovskite devices.

Peptides found in marine life have various specific activities due to their special growth environment, and there is increasing interest in the isolation and concentration of these biofunctional compounds. In this study, the protein hydrolysate of the marine worm Urechis unicinctus was prepared by enzymolysis and enriched by using mesoporous materials of silica MCM-41 and SBA-15 and carbon CMK-3. The differences in pore structures and elemental composition of these materials lead to differences in surface area and hydrophobicity. The adsorption capacities of peptides were 459.5 mg g-1, 431.3 mg g-1, and 626.3 mg g-1 for MCM-41, SBA-15 and CMK-3, respectively. Adsorption kinetics studies showed that the pseudo-second-order model fit the adsorption process better, where both external mass transfer and intraparticle diffusion affected the adsorption, while the Langmuir model better fit the adsorption of peptides on MCM-41 and SBA-15 and the Freundlich model was more suitable for CMK-3. Aqueous acetonitrile (ACN, 50/50, v/v) yielded the most extracted peptides. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry of the extracted peptides showed that the three mesoporous materials, especially the CMK-3, gave good enrichment results. This study demonstrates the great potential of mesoporous materials in the enrichment of marine biofunctional peptides.

The booming growth of organic-inorganic hybrid lead halide perovskite solar cells have made this promising photovoltaic technology to leap towards commercialization. One of the most important issues for the evolution from research to practical application of this technology is to achieve high-throughput manufacturing of large-scale perovskite solar modules. In particular, realization of scalable fabrication of large-area perovskite films is one of the essential steps. During the past ten years, a great number of approaches have been developed to deposit high quality perovskite films, to which additives are introduced during the fabrication process of perovskite layers in terms of the perovskite grain growth control, defect reduction, stability enhancement, etc. Herein, we first review the recent progress on additives during the fabrication of large area perovskite films for large scale perovskite solar cells and modules. We then focus on a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the roles of additives for perovskite grain growth control, defects reduction, and stability enhancement. Further advancement of the scalable fabrication of high-quality perovskite films and solar cells using additives to further develop large area, stable perovskite solar cells are discussed.

Zinc (Zn) is an essential micronutrient for most organisms including humans, and Zn deficiency is widespread in human populations, particularly in underdeveloped regions. Cereals such as rice (Oryza sativa) are the major dietary source of Zn for most people. However, the molecular mechanism underlying Zn uptake in rice is still not fully understood. Here, we report that a member of the ZIP (ZRT, IRT-like protein) family, OsZIP9, contributes to Zn uptake in rice. It was expressed in the epidermal and exodermal cells of lateral roots, localized in the plasma membrane and induced during Zn deficiency. Yeast-expressed OsZIP9 showed much higher Zn influx transport activity than other rice ZIP proteins in a wide range of Zn concentrations. OsZIP9 knockout rice plants showed a significant reduction in growth at low Zn concentrations, but could be rescued by a high Zn supply. Compared with the wild type, accumulation of Zn in root, shoot and grain was much lower in knockout lines, particularly with a low supply of Zn under both hydroponic and paddy soil conditions. OsZIP9 also showed Co uptake activity. Natural variation of OsZIP9 expression level is highly associated with Zn content in milled grain among rice varieties in the germplasm collection. Taken together, these results show that OsZIP9 is an important influx transporter responsible for the take up of Zn and Co from external media into root cells.

All-inorganic halide perovskites are promising materials for optoelectronic applications. The surface or interface structure of the perovskites plays a crucial role in determining the optoelectronic conversion efficiency, as well as the material stability. A thorough understanding of surface atomic structures of the inorganic perovskites and their contributions to their optoelectronic properties and stability is lacking. Here we show a scanning tunneling microscopy investigation on the atomic and electronic structure of CsPbBr3 perovskite. Two different surface structures with a stripe and an armchair domain are identified, which originates from a complex interplay between Cs cations and Br anions. Our findings are further supported and correlated with density functional theory calculations and photoemission spectroscopy measurements. The stability evaluation of photovoltaic devices indicates a higher stability for CsPbBr3 in comparison with MAPbBr3, which is closely related to the low volatility of Cs from the perovskite surface.

Lead-free double perovskite materials have attracted much interest for optoelectronic applications due to their nontoxicity and high stability. In this work, centimetre-sized Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals were successfully grown using methylammonium bromide (MABr) as the flux by a top-seeded solution growth (TSSG) method. The low-temperature crystal structure of Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals was determined and refined. To investigate the interface problems between Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals and electrodes, the optical band gap, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) measurements were performed on Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals. More importantly, we investigated the photodetectors based on Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals with different contact electrodes (Au, Ag, and Al). It is found that a good Ohmic contact with Ag electrodes enables excellent photo-response behaviors. Furthermore, we studied the photodetectors based on Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals using Ag electrodes under room and low temperature conditions, which underwent phase transition. Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystal photodetectors show clear differences at room and low temperatures, which is caused by the work function changes of Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals induced by the reversible phase transition. These attractive properties may enable opportunities to apply emerging double perovskite single-crystalline materials for high-performance optoelectronic devices.

Hybrid chemical vapor deposition (HCVD) has been employed in the fabrication of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and modules (PSMs), and it shows strong promise for upscalable fabrication. The conventional HCVD process needs a relatively long processing time (e.g., several hours) and the fabricated PSCs often exhibit salient hysteresis, which impedes utilization of this technology for mass production. Herein, we demonstrate a rapid HCVD (RHCVD) fabrication process for PSCs using a rapid thermal process, which not only significantly reduces the deposition time to less than 10 min, but also effectively suppresses hysteresis. This markedly reduced deposition time is comparable to that of solution-coating processes. Furthermore, the shorter processing time inside the furnace reduces the exposure time of the glass/ITO/SnO2 substrates under vacuum, which helps maintain the high quality of the SnO2 electron-transport layer and results in a lower density of gap states. Finally, PSMs with a designated area of 22.4 cm2 fabricated via RHCVD achieved an efficiency of 12.3%, and maintained 90% of the initial value after operation under continuous light illumination for over 800 h.

Gravitropism is an important strategy for the adaptation of plants to the changing environment. Previous reports indicated that Ca

With the increased power density of gallium nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), effective cooling is required to eliminate the self-heating effect. Incorporating diamond into GaN HEMT is an alternative way to dissipate the heat generated from the active region. In this review, the four main approaches for the integration of diamond and GaN are briefly reviewed, including bonding the GaN wafer and diamond wafer together, depositing diamond as a heat-dissipation layer on the GaN epitaxial layer or HEMTs, and the epitaxial growth of GaN on the diamond substrate. Due to the large lattice mismatch and thermal mismatch, as well as the crystal structure differences between diamond and GaN, all above works face some problems and challenges. Moreover, the review is focused on the state-of-art of polycrystalline or nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) passivation layers on the topside of GaN HEMTs, including the nucleation and growth of the diamond on GaN HEMTs, structure and interface analysis, and thermal characterization, as well as electrical performance of GaN HEMTs after diamond film growth. Upon comparing three different nucleation methods of diamond on GaN, electrostatic seeding is the most commonly used pretreatment method to enhance the nucleation density. NCDs are usually grown at lower temperatures (600–800 °C) on GaN HEMTs, and the methods of “gate after growth” and selective area growth are emphasized. The influence of interface quality on the heat dissipation of capped diamond on GaN is analyzed. We consider that effectively reducing the thermal boundary resistance, improving the regional quality at the interface, and optimizing the stress–strain state are needed to improve the heat-spreading performance and stability of GaN HEMTs. NCD-capped GaN HEMTs exhibit more than a 20% lower operating temperature, and the current density is also improved, which shows good application potential. Furthermore, the existing problems and challenges have also been discussed. The nucleation and growth characteristics of diamond itself and the integration of diamond and GaN HEMT are discussed together, which can more completely explain the thermal diffusion effect of diamond for GaN HEMT and the corresponding technical problems.

Despite significant improvements in photo-electricity conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) over the past several years, this emerging photovoltaic technology is still years away from large-scale commercial application. In this review, important research progresses on PSCs’ ‘golden triangle’ parameters of efficiency, stability, and cost in literatures were objectively analyzed. We focused on their key bottlenecks and distinct contradictions hindering their fast commercialization. We also proposed the most urgent directions requiring intensive research and development input in the coming years to speed up the commercialization process of PSCs.

To compare the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy plus regorafenib versus regorafenib only in patients with pretreated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Immunotherapy plus regorafenib or regorafenib alone was analyzed in patients with advanced HCC with documented tumor progression on front-line therapy. Progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), disease control rate (DCR), and treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) were assessed.Of the 125 patients enrolled in this study, 50 patients received combination (pCOM) treatment as front-line treatment, and 60 patients received monotherapy (pMONO) as front-line treatment. In the pCOM cohort, median OS was significantly longer with for patients regorafenib plus immunotherapy than regorafenib alone treatment (15.0 vs. 2.0 months; P = 0.035). The DCR numerically increased in the regorafenib plus immunotherapy treatment in both cohorts (40.6 % vs. 22.2 %, 72.7 % vs. 54.7 %, respectively). There were no differences in PFS with regorafenib according to whether or not regorafenib was combined with immunotherapy in the pCOM and pMONO cohorts (PFS, P = 0.17, P = 0.91, respectively). Regarding the number of TRAEs occurred, regorafenib plus immunotherapy group was comparable to regorafenib group in the pCOM cohort (65.6 % vs. 72.2 %). In the pMONO cohort, TRAEs occurred in fewer patients receiving regorafenib than regorafenib plus immunotherapy (69.8 % vs. 95.5 %).Immunotherapy plus regorafenib may significantly improve clinical outcomes and have a manageable safety profile compared with regorafenib monotherapy in advanced HCC after front-line therapy failure. The efficacy of combination therapy needs to be validated in prospective studies with large samples.

A series of challenging issues such as field-driven spectral drift for the CsPbClxBr3–x system and mixed phases in quasi-two-dimensional structures still exist when devising blue-emitting perovskites. In this Letter, the CsPbBr3 quantum-dot (QD) system is proposed to overcome these challenges. However, to date, the CsPbBr3 QD films with tunable colors from green to blue still cannot be achieved using existing methods. Herein, a simple one-step spin-coating route incorporated with efficient ligand passivation is developed to realize this goal. The size restriction of CsPbBr3 QDs is enabled by a diammonium ligand, propane-1,3-diammonium bromide (PDAB). A mixed-ligand system of phenethylammonium bromide (PEAB) with PDAB is further explored to enhance their optical performance. The CsPbBr3 QDs experience a second growth process upon controlled air exposure, which is utilized to realize their size control and emission wavelength tunability. The CsPbBr3 QD-based devices exhibit no spectral drift in electroluminescence under voltage bias.

Excessive cadmium (Cd) accumulation in rice poses a potential threat to human health. Rice varieties vary in their Cd content, which depends mainly on root-to-shoot translocation of Cd. However, cultivars accumulating high Cd in the natural population have not been completely investigated. In this study, we analyzed the variation in Cd accumulation in a diverse panel of 529 rice cultivars. Only a small proportion (11 of 529) showed extremely high root-to-shoot Cd transfer rates, and in seven of these cultivars this was caused by two known OsHMA3 alleles. Using quantitative trait loci mapping, we identified a new OsHMA3 allele that was associated with high Cd accumulation in three of the remaining cultivars. Using heterologous expression in yeast and comparative analysis among different rice cultivars, we observed that this new allele was weak at both the transcriptional and protein levels compared with the functional OsHMA3 genotypes. The weak Cd transport activity was further demonstrated to be caused by a Gly to Arg substitution at position 512. Our study comprehensively analyzed the variation in root-to-shoot Cd translocation rates in cultivated rice and identified a new OsHMA3 allele that caused high Cd accumulation in a few rice cultivars., Variations in root-to-shoot Cd translocation rates in 529 rice cultivars were investigated and a new OsHMA3 non-functional allele that resulted in high Cd accumulation in a few rice cultivars was identified.

Carbon electrode-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with low-cost and long-term stability have been recognized as a competitive candidate toward future practical applications. However, energy leve...

It remains impossible to accurately assess the prognosis after thermal ablation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Our aim was to build a nomogram to predict the survival rate of HCC patients after thermal ablation. We developed and validated a nomogram using data of 959 HCC patients after thermal ablation from two centers. Harrell’s concordance index (C-index), calibration plot and Decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to measure the performance of the nomogram, and we compared it with the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system and a previous nomogram. Six variables including age, serum albumin, operation method, risk area, tumor number and early recurrence were selected to construct the nomogram. In the training cohort, internal validation cohort, and external validation cohort, the nomogram all had a higher C-index to predict survival rate than both the BCLC staging system and the previous nomogram (0.736, 0.558 and 0.698, respectively; 0.763, 0.621 and 0.740, respectively; and 0.825, 0.551 and 0.737, respectively). Calibration plots showed a high degree of consistency between prediction and actual observation. Decision curve analysis (DCA) presented that compared with BCLC system and the previous nomogram, our nomogram had the highest net benefit. In all three cohorts, the nomogram could accurately divide patients into three subgroups according to predicted survival risk. A nomogram was developed and validated to predict survival of HCC patients who underwent thermal ablation, which is helpful for prognostic prediction and individual surveillance in clinical practice.

Gravitropism plays a critical role in the growth and development of plants. Previous reports proposed that the disruption of the actin cytoskeleton resulted in enhanced gravitropism; however, the mechanism underlying these phenomena is still unclear. In the present study, real-time observation on the effect of Latrunculin B (Lat B), a depolymerizing agent of microfilament cytoskeleton, on gravitropism of the primary root of Arabidopsis was undertaken using a vertical stage microscope. The results indicated that Lat B treatment prevented the growth of root, and the growth rates of upper and lower flanks of the horizontally placed root were asymmetrically inhibited. The growth of the lower flank was influenced by Lat B more seriously, resulting in an increased differential growth rate between the upper and lower flanks of the root. Further analysis indicated that Lat B affected cell growth mainly in the transition and elongation zones. Briefly, the current data revealed that Lat B treatment inhibited cell elongation, especially the cells in the lower flanks of the transition and elongation zones, which finally manifested as the facilitation of gravitropic curvature of the primary root.

Manually annotating a data set for scene text detection is extremely time-consuming. In this paper, we propose a new semi-automatic annotation model to produce tight polygonal annotations for text instances in scene images, based on the input of manually annotated text center lines. Our approach first generates multiple candidate boundaries, which share the same input center line. Then, by training a fastidious content recognizer, optimal boundary selection is performed. The bounded text region, which achieves the smallest recognition loss, is selected as the tightest of the text. As this optimal boundary estimation is guided by semantic recognition, our method is called Semantic Boundary Estimation. Experiment results show that only half clicks compared to manually annotated polygon, are input to annotate center line, and precise polygon text region annotation is automatically produced. A high recall of more than 95% at IoU > 0.5 and 80% at IoU > 0.7 is achieved, demonstrating the high agreement with the original ground truth. In addition, using the generated annotations on benchmarks, such as Total-Text, CTW1500 and ICDAR2015, to train state-of-the-art detectors can achieve similar performance to those trained with manual annotations. This further verifies the good annotation performance. A annotation toolkit based on the proposed model is available at CenterlineAnnotation.