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COVID‐19 has been a global concern for 3 years, however, consecutive plasma protein changes in the disease course are currently unclear. Setting the mortality within 28 days of admission as the main clinical outcome, plasma samples were collected from patients in discovery and independent validation groups at different time points during the disease course. The whole patients were divided into death and survival groups according to their clinical outcomes. Proteomics and pathway/network analyses were used to find the differentially expressed proteins and pathways. Then, we used machine learning to develop a protein classifier which can predict the clinical outcomes of the patients with COVID‐19 and help identify the high‐risk patients. Finally, a classifier including C‐reactive protein, extracellular matrix protein 1, insulin‐like growth factor‐binding protein complex acid labile subunit, E3 ubiquitin‐protein ligase HECW1 and phosphatidylcholine‐sterol acyltransferase was determined. The prediction value of the model was verified with an independent patient cohort. This novel model can realize early prediction of 28‐day mortality of patients with COVID‐19, with the area under curve 0.88 in discovery group and 0.80 in validation group, superior to 4C mortality and E‐CURB65 scores. In total, this work revealed a potential protein classifier which can assist in predicting the outcomes of COVID‐19 patients and providing new diagnostic directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike common photovoltaic (PV) cells whose performance has been anchored, the merits for the cells made of ferroelectric crystals, due to the non‐centrosymmetric structure, provide possibility to further enhance the efficiency by dual external manipulations through increasing the internal electric field strength and the dielectric screening effect, based on anomalous photovoltaic (APV) arisen by the external poling and giant dielectric constant variation through temperature‐controlled ferro‐paraelectric phase transition. In this study, a synergistic effect achieving a 67% improvement in power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the n‐i‐p configuration solar cell by ferroelectric polarization and high dielectricity is observed, taking c‐axis‐aligned single‐crystalline ferroelectric SbSI nanorods as the active layer. The opposite poling effects are revealed leading to asymmetric characteristics in the n‐i‐p configuration. The enhancements of Jsc induced by inherent giant εSbSI$\left(\epsilon\right)_{\text{SbSI}}$ variation imply strong dielectric screening facilities to lower carrier cross section captured by charged defects, uniformly suppressing various recombination mechanisms, understood by the Langevin model. Therefore, solar cells employing n‐i‐p structured ferroelectric thin films as absorbing layers hold promising potential for achieving defect‐tolerance high performance through rational design, external polarization, and dielectric property control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inducing early apoptosis in alveolar macrophages is one of the strategies influenza A virus (IAV) evolved to subvert host immunity. Correspondingly, the host mitochondrial protein nucleotide‐binding oligomerization domain‐like receptor (NLR)X1 is reported to interact with virus polymerase basic protein 1‐frame 2 (PB1‐F2) accessory protein to counteract virus‐induced apoptosis. Herein, we report that one of the F‐box proteins, FBXO6, promotes proteasomal degradation of NLRX1, and thus facilitates IAV‐induced alveolar macrophages apoptosis and modulates both macrophage survival and type I interferon (IFN) signaling. We observed that FBXO6‐deficient mice infected with IAV exhibited decreased pulmonary viral replication, alleviated inflammatory‐associated pulmonary dysfunction, and less mortality. Analysis of the lungs of IAV‐infected mice revealed markedly reduced leukocyte recruitment but enhanced production of type I IFN in Fbxo6−/− mice. Furthermore, increased type I IFN production and decreased viral replication were recapitulated in FBXO6 knockdown macrophages and associated with reduced apoptosis. Through gain‐ and loss‐of‐function studies, we found lung resident macrophages but not bone marrow‐derived macrophages play a key role in the differences FBXO6 signaling pathway brings in the antiviral immune response. In further investigation, we identified that FBXO6 interacted with and promoted the proteasomal degradation of NLRX1. Together, our results demonstrate that FBXO6 negatively regulates immunity against IAV infection by enhancing the degradation of NLRX1 and thus impairs the survival of alveolar macrophages and antiviral immunity of the host. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel kind of highly efficient photoanode was constructed with a SbSI/WO3 heterostructurefabricated through two hydrothermal reactions followed by an iodination reaction (WO3 → Sb2S3/WO3 → SbSI/WO3). After optimizing the solvent [carbon disulfide (CS2)] for SbI3, the SbSI(CS2)/WO3 photoanode shows high-density single-crystalline SbSI nanorods growing along the polar [001] direction on WO3 nanoplates, resulting in excellent photocurrent performance (∼2.1 mA cm−2@1.23 V vs. RHE) and an improved photostability. It is evidenced that the higher crystallinity of SbSI has a positive effect on the photostability of the constructed SbSI/WO3 photoanodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the separation efficiency of photogenerated electron–hole pairs and the conductivity of electrons to photoanode substrates are critical to achieve high‐performance photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Here, a SnS2/H‐TiO2/Ti heterojunction photoanode was fabricated with SnS2 nanosheets vertically grown on hydrogen‐treated TiO2 (H‐TiO2) nanotube arrays on a Ti substrate. It showed a significantly enhanced photocurrent of 4.0 mA cm−2 at 1.4 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode) under AM 1.5 G illumination, 70 times higher than that of SnS2/TiO2/Ti. Kelvin probe force microscopy measurements indicated that photogenerated electrons could be easily transported through the SnS2/H‐TiO2 interface but not through the SnS2/TiO2 interface. Through hydrogen treatment, defects were created in H‐TiO2 nanotubes to convert type I junctions to type II with SnS2 nanosheets. As a result, a high efficiency of electron–hole separation at the SnS2/H‐TiO2 interface and a high electron conductivity in H‐TiO2 nanotubes were achieved and improved PEC performance. These findings show an effective route towards high‐performance photoelectrodes for water splitting. Exactly your type: A type II heterojunctioned photoanode based on SnS2 nanosheets/hydrogenated TiO2 nanotube arrays (SnS2/H‐TiO2/Ti) shows a significantly enhanced photocurrent of 4.0 mA cm−2 at 1.4 V (vs. RHE), 70 times higher than a type I heterojunctioned photoanode of SnS2 nanosheets/TiO2 nanotube arrays (SnS2/TiO2/Ti). Hydrogenation creates defects in TiO2 nanotubes, improves their electrical conductivity and converts their junctions with SnS2 nanosheets from type I to type II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]