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The spatial shifts and vulnerability assessments of ecological niches for trees will offer fresh perspectives for sustainable development and preservation of forests, particularly within the framework of rapid climate change. Betula luminifera is a fast-growing native timber plantation species in China, but the natural resources have been severely damaged. Here, a comprehensive habitat suitability model (including ten niche-based GIS modeling algorithms) was developed that integrates three types of environmental factors, namely, climatic, soil, and ultraviolet variables, to assess the species contemporary and future distribution of suitable habitats across China. Our results suggest that the habitats of B. luminifera generally occur in subtropical areas (about 1.52 × 106 km2). However, the growth of B. luminifera is profoundly shaped by the nuances of its local environment, the most reasonable niche spaces are only 1.15 × 106 km2 when limiting ecological factors (soil and ultraviolet) are considered, generally considered as the core production region. Furthermore, it is anticipated that species-suitable habitats will decrease by 10 and 8% with climate change in the 2050s and 2070s, respectively. Our study provided a clear understanding of species-suitable habitat distribution and identified the reasons why other niche spaces are unsuitable in the future, which can warn against artificial cultivation and conservation planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All-inorganic perovskite CsPbI3 is widely recognized as a promising material for photovoltaic applications in single-junction or tandem solar cells. However, the spontaneous phase transition of CsPbI3 remains a crucial obstacle to commercialization. In this study, we propose a surface engineering approach using a tetra-n-butylammonium hexafluorophosphate (TBAPF6) ionic liquid to prevent the perovskite-to-non-perovskite phase transition induced by moisture. The experimental results demonstrate that by chemically bonding excess lead iodide (PbI2) with a tetrabutylammonium cation (TBA+), a low-dimensional stable and hydrophobic material called [TBA]PbI3 was achieved, which effectively enhances the stability of the CsPbI3 perovskite structure. Furthermore, we found that the hexafluorophosphate anion (PF6−) can effectively passivate surface iodine vacancies and interact with uncoordinated Pb2+. Consequently, the CsPbI3-based perovskite solar cells (C-PSCs) employing the TBAPF6 treatment achieved an impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.47%. Moreover, the unencapsulated devices retained more than 70% of their initial PCE after being stored in ambient air for 168 hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An atmospheric‐pressure spatial atomic layer deposition system is used to rapidly deposit 60 nm zinc–aluminum oxide (Zn–AlOx) thin‐film‐encapsulation layers directly on perovskite solar cells at 130 °C without damaging the temperature‐sensitive perovskite and organic materials. Varying the Zn/Al ratio has a significant impact on the structural properties of the films and their moisture barrier performance. The Zn–AlOx films have higher refractive indexes, lower concentrations of OH─ groups, and lower water–vapor transmission rates (WVTR) than AlOx films without zinc. However, as the Zn/Al ratio increases beyond 0.21, excess Zn atoms segregate, leading to an increase in the number of available hydroxyl groups on the surface of the deposited film and a slight increase in the WVTR. The stability of the p–i–n formamidinium methylammonium lead iodide solar cells under standard ISOS‐D‐3 testing conditions (65 °C and 85% relative humidity) is significantly enhanced by the thin encapsulation layers. The layers with a Zn/Al ratio of 0.21 result in a seven‐fold increase the time required for the cells to degrade to 80% of their original efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ceria nanoparticles (CeO2NPs) exhibit great potential in cardiovascular disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease due to its excellent antioxidant capacity. However, the profitable effect of CeO2NPs on many diseases is almost all attributed to the regulation of ROS. Apart from the general antioxidant function, there seems to be no more distinct mechanism to reflect its unique multi-disease improvement effect. Here, we for the first time reveal a new discovery of CeO2NPs in mimicking nitric oxide synthase (NOS) by catalyzing L-arginine (L-Arg) to produce nitric oxide (NO) or the derivatives. NOS-like activity of CeO2NPs is original and associated with multiple factors like substrate concentration, pH, temperature and time, etc. where oxygen vacancy ratio plays a more critical role. Meanwhile, NOS-like activity of CeO2NPs successfully elevates NO secretion in endothelial cells and macrophages without expanding eNOS/iNOS expression. Importantly, NOS-like activity of CeO2NPs and the responsive endogenous NO promote the re-distribution of blood lipids and stabilize eNOS expression but suppress iNOS, thus collectively alleviate the accumulation of vascular plaque. Altogether, we provide a new angle of view to survey the outstanding potential of CeO2NPs, apart from the inevitable antioxidant capacity, the covert but possible and more critical NOS-like enzymatic activity is more noteworthy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the three ⁃ dimensional morphological characteristics of the upper airway in children and adolescents with skeletal class Ⅲ malformation and to explore the relationship between craniofacial struc⁃ ture and upper airway morphology. Methods Ninety cases of malocclusion aged 3⁃18 years were collected. In addi⁃ tion, 45 cases of type I and type Ⅲ were classified into three age groups with 15 cases in each group: 3⁃6 years old, 7⁃ 12 years old and 13⁃18 years old. CBCT was taken, and the scanning data of CBCT were reconstructed by the third⁃par⁃ ty software Invivo 5. The volume, minimum cross⁃sectional area, height and the ratio of sagittal diameter to transverse di⁃ ameter at the minimum cross⁃sectional area of each segment of the upper airway were measured. The difference of the upper airway between skeletal class I and skeletal class Ⅲ in each age group was analyzed and compared by group t test. Results No significant differences in the upper airway indexes were noted between skeletal class I and skeletal class Ⅲ(P > 0.05) in the 3⁃6 years old group. In the 7⁃12 years old group, the total volume of skeletal class Ⅲ upper airway (16.25 ± 3.69 cm3), nasopharyngeal segment (2.39 ± 0.90 cm3), and palatopharyngeal segment (5.24 ± 1.14 cm3) were reduced compared with the total volume of the skeletal class I upper airway (20.98 ± 6.25 cm3) , nasopharyngeal segment (4.21 ± 1.09 cm3), and palatopharyngeal segment (8.18 ± 2.02 cm3), respectively, the differences were statisti⁃ cally significant (tVtotal＝2.526, tVnose＝4.999, tVpalate＝4.908, P < 0.05). In the 13⁃18 years old group, only nasopharyngeal segment volume (3.83 ± 0.90 cm3) was reduced in skeletal type I (4.69 ± 1.34 cm3); the difference was statistically sig⁃ nificant (t＝2.053, P < 0.05). Conclusion Age is an important factor affecting the morphology and structure of upper airway in skeletal Ⅲ malocclusion.

Organolead halide perovskite photocathodes have shown great potential for photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution due to their excellent solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency. However, the poor stability of perovskite in the aqueous environment and the low HER performance of the catalyst in alkaline conditions have impeded their practical application. Herein, highly efficient, and stable polymer-integrated perovskite photocathodes are fabricated and coupled with Au–Pt–Ni bimetallic catalyst that has ultralow overpotential for HER in both acidic and alkaline conditions. The polymer-integrated photocathode has a high HER photocurrent density (∼−20 mA cm−2), high onset potential (∼0.95 V), and HC-STH (half-cell solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency) of 10.11%. The polymer-integrated perovskite photocathodes show stability values of T80 ∼ 70 h (in H2SO4) and T80 ∼ 78 h (in KOH), greatly improving the reported lifetime of such devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]