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Despite the great progress of flexible perovskite solar cells (f-PSCs), it still faces several challenges during the homogeneous fabrication of high-quality perovskite thin films, and overcoming the insufficient exciton dissociation. To the ends, we rationally design the two-dimensional (2D) perovskite based on pyridine heterocyclic ring as the organic interlayer. Through regulating its dipole moment by attaching the ammounium cation on different positions of the pyridine ring, we succeed to realize the ferroelectricity of the 2D perovskite. We uncover that incorporation of the ferroelectric 2D material into 3D perovskite induces an increased built-in electric field (BEF), which enhances the exciton dissociation efficiency and suppresses the nonradiative recombination in the device. Moreover, the 2D seeds could assist the 3D crystallization process by forming more homogeneous and highly-oriented perovskite crystals, and releasing the tensile stress in the film. As a result, an impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE) over 23% has been achieved by the 2D/3D based f-PSCs with outstanding ambient stability. Moreover, the ferroelectric 2D perovskite shows piezoelectricity as well, which intrigues an upshifted band-bending at the ITO/perovskite interface and decreased hole transport barriers. The device thus presents higher PCE under tensile-stresses, which opens new possibilities for developing highly-efficient f-PSCs.

The non-preheating film casting method was used to fabricate a phase controllable and uniform quasi-2D perovskite film with the highest light utilization efficiency (LUE = 4.01%) for semitransparent quasi-2D perovskite solar cells.

Tumor microenvironment (TME) (e.g., stromal cells) has been closely related to the pathological process of colorectal cancer (CRC). In TME, tumor-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are the main stromal cells. The studies have showed that CAFs promoted tumor growth and metastasis in CRC and led to poor prognosis. Mounting evidence indicates that CAFs-mediated exosomes regulate the pathological process of neighboring tumor cells through the transmission of miRNAs. In our study, we aimed to explore the function of CAFs-derived exosome miR-181b-3p in CRC. First, the expression of miR-181b-3p in CRC was found to be up-regulated and its expression was dramatically up-regulated in CRC cells after co-incubation of CAFs-mediated exosomes with CRC cells. Then, it was found that the CAFs-derived exosomes were markedly enhanced the proliferation and migration of the CRC cells, and substantially reduced apoptosis. To elucidate the influence of CAFs-derived exosome miR-181b-3p on CRC, we overexpressed and knocked down the miR-181b-3p expression in CAFs, respectively. It was found that miR-181b-3p significantly increased the proliferation and migration of CRC cells. Furthermore, we conducted in vivo experiments. Finally, we demonstrated that CAF-derived exosome miR-181b-3p regulated sorting nexin 2 (SNX2) expression in CRC cells by bioinformatics prediction combined with luciferase reporter assay. Further cellular and animal experiments jointly elucidated that miR-181b-3p promoted the pathological process of CRC by SNX2 expression. In brief, our results demonstrated that CAFs-derived exosome miR-181b-3p promoted the pathogenesis of CRC by regulating SNX2 expression, which provides a novel idea for CRC treatment.

Inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been extensively studied by reason of their negligible hysteresis effect, easy fabrication, flexible PSCs and good stability. The certified photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) achieved 23.5% owing to the formed lead−sulfur (Pb−S) bonds through the surface sulfidation process of perovskite film, which gradually approaches the performance of traditional upright structure PSCs and indicates their industrial application potential. However, the fabricated devices are severely affected by moisture, high temperature and ultraviolet light due to the application of organic materials. Depending on nitrogen, cost of protection may increase, especially for the industrial production in the future. In addition, the inverted PSCs are found with a series of issues compared with the traditional upright PSCs, such as nonradiative recombination of carriers, inferior stability and costly charge transport materials. Thus, the development of inverted PSCs is systematically reviewed in this paper. The design and fabrication of charge transport materials and perovskite materials, enhancement strategies (e.g., interface modification and doping) and the development of all−inorganic inverted devices are discussed to present the indicator for development of efficient and stable inverted PSCs.

As the third generation of new thin-film solar cells, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted much attention for their excellent photovoltaic performance. Today, PSCs have reported the highest photovoltaic conversion efficiency (PCE) of 25.5%, which is an encouraging value, very close to the highest PCE of the most widely used silicon-based solar cells. However, scholars have found that PSCs have problems of being easily decomposed under ultraviolet (UV) light, poor stability, energy level mismatch and severe hysteresis, which greatly limit their industrialization. As unique materials, quantum dots (QDs) have many excellent properties and have been widely used in PSCs to address the issues mentioned above. In this article, we describe the application of various QDs as additives in different layers of PSCs, as luminescent down-shifting materials, and directly as electron transport layers (ETL), light-absorbing layers and hole transport layers (HTL). The addition of QDs optimizes the energy level arrangement within the device, expands the range of light utilization, passivates defects on the surface of the perovskite film and promotes electron and hole transport, resulting in significant improvements in both PCE and stability. We summarize in detail the role of QDs in PSCs, analyze the perspective and associated issues of QDs in PSCs, and finally offer our insights into the future direction of development.

A Z-scheme system In2S3/WO3 heterojunction was fabricated via a mild hydrothermal method and further applied for photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TCH) and Rhodamine B (Rh B) under visible light irradiation. The morphological structure, chemical composition and optical properties were studied by XRD, SEM, HRTEM and UV-visible absorption spectra. The results revealed that In2S3/WO3 hierarchical structures were successfully constructed, and the prepared In2S3/WO3 photocatalysts exhibited enhanced visible-light absorption compared to pure WO3 nanorods, which are essential to improve the photocatalytic performance. The degradation rate of TCH using the In2S3(40 wt%)/WO3 heterostructure (WI40) photocatalyst was about 212 times and 22 times as high as that for pure WO3 and pure In2S3, respectively. The degradation rate of Rh B with the WI40 photocatalyst was about 56 times the efficiency of pure WO3 and 7.6 times that of pure In2S3. The results of the surface photovoltage (SPV), transient photovoltage (TPV) and reactive oxidation species (ROS) scavenger experiments indicated that the Z-scheme system of In2S3/WO3 is favorable for photoexcited charge transfer at the contact interface of In2S3 and WO3, which benefits the charge separation efficiency and depresses the recombination of photoexcited charge, resulting in favorable photocatalytic pollutant degradation efficiency under visible light irradiation.

The tungsten oxide (WO x ) thin films have been deposited by a novel hot filament oxidation-sublimation process and applied in the dopant-free heterojunction solar cells as the hole selective contacts. The oxygen flow ratio plays a significant role during the deposition process. With increasing the oxygen flow ratio from 1.7% to 6.7%, the morphology of WO x films changes from small cauliflower-like particles to large cluster accumulation, and the ratio of W6+ increases from 76.1% to 91.4% with the ratio of W5+ decreasing from 23.9% to 8.6%. The work function of WO x can be tailored in a range of 5.5–6.1 eV by increasing the oxygen flow ratio. Its optical band gap maintains above 3.2 eV with the conductivity of about 10−5 S·cm−1. We have applied the WO x films in dopant-free silicon heterojunction solar cells as the hole selective contact layer by replacing the p-type amorphous silicon layer. By taking advantage of the highly transparent WO x layer, a high photon-current density of 39.6 mA·cm−2 was achieved with the oxygen flow ratio of 1.7%. It is interesting to find that the optimum cell conversion efficiencies of 14.9% were obtained with the oxygen flow ratio of 1.7% and the thickness of 10–20 nm for the deposition of WO x layer. This work proves the feasibility and good potential of Hot-Wire CVD prepared WO x hole selective contact for efficient dopant-free silicon heterojunction solar cells.

Inorganic halide perovskite CsPbI2Br has attracted tremendous attentions in the photovoltaic fields in view of its improved ambient phase stability and reasonable band gap (1.91eV). Traditional one-step solution-processed CsPbI2Br absorbers, however, usually suffer from poor morphology, low crystallinity and thin thickness, which impede further promotion of device performance. Herein, an anti-solvent assisted multi-step deposition strategy for high-quality CsPbI2Br film is demonstrated, wherein different anti-solvents are first introduced in the PbI2 precursor filming processes to construct porous PbI2(DMSO) films. Then CsBr solution intercalates into the porous PbI2(DMSO) film by multi-step deposition, effectively facilitating the close contact of reactants and complete annealing reaction. CsBr drops and porosity degree of PbI2(DMSO) film are found to control the final morphology and phase composition of the perovskite film. Utilizing green ethanol (EtOH) treated PbI2 film with high porosity and randomized orientation, highly pure-phase and full-coverage CsPbI2Br films with high thickness, large grain sizes and high crystallinity are obtained after optimizing CsBr drops. Finally, carbon-based all-inorganic planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with absorbers prepared through above methods achieve a champion efficiency of 10.21%, which is a record value for the CsPbI2Br PSCs without hole transport layer. More importantly, the unencapsulated all-inorganic CsPbI2Br device shows a promising long-term stability with no obvious efficiency degradation when exposed in ambient atmosphere with 15–30% relative humidity (RH) at room temperature for 44 days.

In this work, we present a new design for the development of quantum dot sensitized solar cells with a CuSe/CuxS substrate on F-doped tin oxide as the counter electrode. The best performing CuSe/Cu0.78S counter electrode notably achieves a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 5.70% with a significant improvement in the JSC for the CdS/CdSe co-sensitized solar cells, superior to a cell with CuSe (4.80%) or Cu0.78S (4.11%) as the counter electrodes. Two types of reverse barriers, including a positive reverse barrier and negative reverse barrier, at the interface between the CuxS and CuSe are investigated using solid-state measurements from a dark current–voltage test. The transient photovoltage responses and Kelvin probe measurements further demonstrate reduction of the positive reverse barrier between the CuSe and CuxS interface with increasing Cu/S ratios of CuxS (x = 0.52–0.78), which is beneficial to the electron transfer from CuxS to CuSe. The electrochemical catalytic activity and stability of the CuSe/CuxS counter electrodes are verified with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, tafel polarization and cyclic voltammetry results, which suggest that CuSe/CuxS counter electrodes have promising applications in solar cells.

Transparent conductive coating (TCO) used as front contact layer in MoO x /n-Si heterojunction solar cells should feature excellent electrical properties, low optical absorption and high work function simultaneously. In this study, tin-doped indium oxide (ITO), titanium-doped indium oxide (ITiO) and zinc-doped indium oxide (IZO) deposited as front contact layer at room temperature by sputtering were evaluated. The open-circuit voltage is hardly affected by the work function of TCO film. The IZO front contact with Wf=5.22 eV enables to highest V oc of 606 mV. Meanwhile, high mobility and transmittance also boost the short-circuit current density to 33.04 mA/cm2. A cell efficiency of 12.2% has been achieved by applying IZO front contact and has high potential to obtain better electrical properties by introducing back surface field structure.

A Z-scheme system In

Background Surgery remains the mainstay of colorectal cancer (CRC) and substantially reduces cancer-related morbidity and mortality. Frailty is defined as a biological syndrome, reflecting a state of impaired homeostatic reserve and predisposing to rehospitalisations and deaths in older individuals. Preoperative assessment for frailty is critically important in risk stratification and clinical decision-making. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to quantitatively summarise the effect of frailty on postoperative outcomes in geriatric patients receiving surgery for CRC. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, Cochrane and EMBASE from inception to 30 April 2020. Fully published articles reporting risk estimate(s) of frailty on postoperative complication(s), readmission and/or mortality in patients aged ≥65 years who received surgery for CRC were eligible for qualitative and quantitative analyses. Results Across 10 articles of 9 unique studies (n = 69332) that were eventually included in the systematic review and meta-analysis, overall prevalence of frailty was 23.0% (95% CI: 11–43%, I2 = 100%). Odds ratios (ORs) on overall and severe postoperative complications were respectively increased by 2.36- (95% CI: 1.66–3.35, P Conclusions In the studies reviewed, frailty appeared to be associated with increased risks for postoperative complications, readmission and mortality during 12 months in patients aged ≥65 years who received surgery for CRC. Nevertheless, no significant association between frailty and 30-day/inpatient mortality was observed.

An approach to controlling morphology and size is presented through the combination of laser-induced nucleation and polymer additives. Here, we apply the technique of non-photochemical laser-induced nucleation to irradiate a supersaturated solution (S = 1.15) of cesium chloride (CsCl). The solution immediately responds to laser exposure, and spherical crystallites are produced along the laser pathway. The crystals gradually grow into snowflake-like crystals with different sizes. In this report, two types of acidic polymers including polyepoxysuccinic acid (PESA) and polyaspartic acid (PASA) were individually added in supersaturated CsCl solution to shape its crystalline morphology; we found that a particular property of this control from PESA is uniformity in modification of crystal sizes. Additionally, we observed that both PESA and PASA were able to decrease crystal growth velocity and the quantity of crystals after laser irradiation. With the effect of more than 0.2 wt % PESA in solution, spherical crystallites were initially induced by laser; after that, crystal growth velocities and sizes became slower and smaller with increase in mass fraction of PESA, which led to identical crystal sizes. With the effect of more than 5 wt % PESA, the resulting crystalline morphology obtained by laser was flower-like crystals, whilst cuboid-shaped crystals could be obtained by spontaneous nucleation. Classical nucleation theory, crystal growth rate, and additives as large-size impurities were discussed to analyze the underlying mechanism of the change in morphology.

The inverted type-I CdS-CdSe core-shell structure quantum dots (QDs) (denoted as CdS-CdSe QDs) applied in QDs sensitized solar cells (QDSCs) has attracted wide attention and researches due to its special photoelectric properties. But this post synthesis ligand-assisted (PSLA) technique need to assemble the previously prepared QDs onto the photoanode, leads to the low loadings of QDs and poor photoelectric performances of solar cells. Hence, we elaborately combine the PSLA technique and successive ionic layer absorption and reaction (SILAR) method to assemble the QDs onto the photoanode to improve the loadings of QDs and photoelectric properties of solar cells. The anatase TiO2 nanowires (NWs) electrode deposited with CdS-CdSe core-shell QDs and CdSe QDs (denoted as CdS-CdSe/CdSe QDs) was successfully prepared by combining the post synthesis ligand-assisted technique and SILAR method. The surface photovoltage (SPV), the transient photovoltage (TPV) and transient photocurrent (TPC) techniques were applied to systematically study the dynamics of charge separation and transfer. These measurements demonstrate that CdS-CdSe/CdSe QDs sensitized TiO2 NWs photoelectrodes exhibits favorable separation efficiency due to the increase of sunlight utilization. With the polysulfide electrolyte, the maximum photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) with the enhanced short circuit current (Jsc) of 17.76 mA/cm−2 for the CdS-CdSe/CdSe QDs and the Jsc of 11.4 mA/cm−2 for pure CdS-CdSe QDs were obtained under illumination at 100 mW/cm2. To enhance the PCE, the TiO2 NWs was optimized by N-doped and the optimized PCE of 3.13% with 18.22 mA/cm2 of Jsc was achieved for the QDSCs deposited with CdS-CdSe/CdSe QDs.

The growth of anatase TiO2 nanowires (NWs) on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates through hydrothermal reaction has attracted wide attention and research, especially in the case of the solar cells. Actually, the built-in electric field at the anatase TiO2 NWs/FTO interface leads to the photoexcited holes transfer to FTO conductive substrates because the Fermi energy of anatase TiO2 NWs film is higher than that of FTO substrates. Yet efficient transport of photoexcited electron to the FTO conductive substrates is desirable. Hence, the built-in electric field at the pure TiO2 NWs/FTO interface has prevented anatase TiO2 NWs-based solar cells from achieving a higher photoelectric performance. In this work, we elaborately design and construct the N-doped anatase TiO2 NWs/FTO interface with the desirable orientations from FTO toward N-doped anatase TiO2 NWs, which favors the photoexcited electron transfer to the FTO conductive substrates. The surface photovoltage (SPV) and Kelvin probe measurements demos...

The photoexcited electrons transfer dynamics at the TiO2 film/fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) interface of anatase TiO2 nanowire arrays (NWAs) and QD-sensitized TiO2 NWAs films have been studied by using surface photovoltage (SPV) and transient photovoltage (TPV) techniques. Various SPV and TPV responses were obtained when the laser beam was incident from the front side illumination and back side illumination. Based on the work function values of anatase TiO2 NWAs and FTO, the results indicate that diffusion is the major way for the separation and transfer of the photoexcited charge in the both anatase TiO2 NWAs and QD-sensitized TiO2 NWAs films under front side illumination. And the photoexcited charge were separated by drift under the built-in electric field at the TiO2 film/FTO interface for anatase TiO2 NWAs and QD-sensitized TiO2 NWAs films under back side illumination. In addition, under back side illumination the built-in electric field and band structure of CdS/CdSe QDs and anatase TiO2 NWAs lead to the separation and transfer of the photoexcited charge for CdS/CdSe QDs sensitized TiO2 NWAs/FTO film. As the intensity of illumination increases, the effect of built-in electric field on the separation and transfer of the photoexcited charge in the QD-sensitized TiO2 NWAs film decreases.

Anatase TiO2 nanowire (NW) films modified with inverted type-I CdS/CdSe core/shell structure QDs have been successfully prepared by the post synthesis ligand-assisted technique. Surface photovoltage (SPV), transient photovoltage (TPV) and transient photocurrent (TPC) measurements demonstrate that CdS/CdSe core/shell structure QD-sensitized TiO2 NWs electrodes favor photoexicited electron injection and charge transfer due to the special photo-electronic features of CdS/CdSe core/shell structure QDs. With a polysulfide electrolyte, the maximum conversion efficiency was 2.18% for CdS/CdSe QDs with the CdSe shell being 4.4 nanometers thick; a PCE of 0.07% for CdS QDs and a PCE of 0.63% for CdSe QDs were obtained under illumination at 100 mW cm−2. The results reveal that the CdS/CdSe core/shell structure QDs sensitized TiO2 NW electrodes have promising applications in solar cells.

The giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) exhibits sex dimorphism between the male and female individuals. To date, the molecular mechanism governing gonadal development was unclear, and limited data were available on the gonad transcriptome of M. rosenbergii. Here, we conducted comprehensive gonadal transcriptomic analysis of female (ZW), super female (WW), and male (ZZ) M. rosenbergii for gene discovery. A total of 70.33 gigabases (Gb) of sequences were generated. There were 115,338 unigenes assembled with a mean size of 1196 base pair (bp) and N50 of 2195 bp. Alignment against the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) non-redundant nucleotide/protein sequence database (NR and NT), the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database, SwissProt database, Protein family (Pfam), Gene ontology (GO), and the eukaryotic orthologous group (KOG) database, 36,282 unigenes were annotated at least in one database. Comparative transcriptome analysis observed that 10,641, 16,903, and 3393 genes were significantly differentially expressed in ZW vs. ZZ, WW vs. ZZ, and WW vs. ZW samples, respectively. Enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) resulted in 268, 153, and 42 significantly enriched GO terms, respectively, and a total of 56 significantly enriched KEGG pathways. Additionally, 23 putative sex-related genes, including Gtsf1, IR, HSP21, MRPINK, Mrr, and other potentially promising candidate genes were identified. Moreover, 56,241 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were identified. Our findings provide a valuable archive for further functional analyses of sex-related genes and future discoveries of underlying molecular mechanisms of gonadal development and sex determination.

Compared to cow milk, buffalo milk contains more protein, fat, and vitamin. Buffalo milk is an ideal food in human life. Sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1), an important transcription factor, regulates the expression and activity of enzyme and protein involved in milk fat synthesis to influence on the synthesis and secretion of triglyceride in mammary epithelial cells. In the present study, we successfully isolated buffalo mammary epithelial cell by using enzymatic digestion, and then described the growth characteristics and expression characteristics of mammary epithelial cells. Moreover, we cloned the SREBP1 gene from total RNA isolated from milk fat globule and analyzed the function of the SREBP1 gene. After infected with shRNA-SREBP1 lentiviral particle and treated with fatty acid, the expression trend of ACACA, FABP3, FAS, SCD, ERK1, ERK2, PPARy, and Insigl genes was consistent with the expression trend of SREBP1 gene. These results suggested that SREBP1 gene is a central transcription factor in regulating milk fat synthesis and SREBP1 gene may act on ERK1/ERK2 signaling pathway to regulate the expression of PPARy gene. The current study will provide a theoretical basis for further reveal the molecular mechanism of milk fat synthesis in buffalo mammary epithelial cells. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: This study aim to separate and analysis characterization of mammary epithelial cell in buffalo. Compared to cow milk, buffalo milk contains more protein, fat, and vitamin. Buffalo milk is an ideal food in human life. This study will provide a theoretical basis for further research on the molecular mechanism of milk fat synthesis in buffalo mammary epithelial cells.

There are many paths of recombination at the TiO2/CdS/electrolyte interface. It is important to reduce the recombination rate of charges to improve the photoelectric properties of quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSCs). In this paper, the TiO2 nanowire arrays (TiO2 NRAs) has been modified with Al-treated TiO2 layer by sol-gel method to construct the Al-treated TiO2/TiO2 NRAs heterojunctions. The analysis results reveal that the Fermi level of the TiO2 has changed after being modified by Al-treated TiO2 layer, which could form the interface electric field. The SPV, TPV and the TPC are applied to analyze the mechanism of photogenerated charge recombination. Due to the interface electric field, the SPV indicates that the separation efficiency of charge is improved; the TPV shows that the recombination of the photogenerated electrons with holes would be suppressed; and the TPC illustrates that the recombination of the photogenerated electrons with holes and electrolyte is reduced. And, the lifetime of the photo-generated electrons is prolonged. Consequently, the QDSCs based on TiO2 NRAs photoelectrodes modified by the Al-treated TiO2 layer exhibit a maximal solar energy conversion efficiency of 2.58 %, which is 45 % higher than that of the TiO2 NRAs photoelectrode. Finally, our method of modifying photoanode exhibits a route to restrain the charge recombination and prolong the lifetime of photo-generated electrons, which shows a tremendous potential for the photoelectrochemical fields.

In this work, the ternary hybrid photocatalyst composed of ZnO nanorods with BiOI and Pt NPs (denoted as Pt@BiOI/ZnO) was fabricated by a simple three-step method. The as-prepared samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectrometry (DRS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which proved the strong interaction has occurred among the Pt, BiOI and ZnO. The phenol degradation test showed that the Pt@BiOI/ZnO ternary hybrid composite exhibited the maximum photodegradation efficiency of phenol (99.9%) under UV irradiation within 30 min compared to Pt/BiOI, BiOI/ZnO binary composites as well as Pt/ZnO. Additionally, the transient photovoltage (TPV), steady-state PL spectra and time-resolved PL spectra were used to investigate the possible mechanism for photocatalytic performance. Our results elaborated that the enhanced photocatalytic activity was mainly attributed to the synergetic effect of Pt/ZnO and BiOI/ZnO interfaces. Conversely, the interfacial interaction of Pt/BiOI is little contribution, indicating that the effective interfaces design is very important for the degradation of phenol in the preparation process of ternary hybrid photocatalyst. These findings will contribute to developing high efficiency photocatalysts for application in environmental remediation.

Anatase TiO

The giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) exhibits sex dimorphism between the male and female individuals. To date, the molecular mechanism governing gonadal development was unclear, and limited data were available on the gonad transcriptome of M. rosenbergii. Here, we conducted comprehensive gonadal transcriptomic analysis of female (ZW), super female (WW), and male (ZZ) M. rosenbergii for gene discovery. A total of 70.33 gigabases (Gb) of sequences were generated. There were 115,338 unigenes assembled with a mean size of 1196 base pair (bp) and N50 of 2195 bp. Alignment against the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) non-redundant nucleotide/protein sequence database (NR and NT), the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database, SwissProt database, Protein family (Pfam), Gene ontology (GO), and the eukaryotic orthologous group (KOG) database, 36,282 unigenes were annotated at least in one database. Comparative transcriptome analysis observed that 10,641, 16,903, and 3393 genes were significantly differentially expressed in ZW vs. ZZ, WW vs. ZZ, and WW vs. ZW samples, respectively. Enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) resulted in 268, 153, and 42 significantly enriched GO terms, respectively, and a total of 56 significantly enriched KEGG pathways. Additionally, 23 putative sex-related genes, including Gtsf1, IR, HSP21, MRPINK, Mrr, and other potentially promising candidate genes were identified. Moreover, 56,241 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were identified. Our findings provide a valuable archive for further functional analyses of sex-related genes and future discoveries of underlying molecular mechanisms of gonadal development and sex determination.

We report molecular cloning and initial functional characterization of a novel member of the low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) gene family. The cDNA was isolated from a human osteoblast cDNA library and encoded a 1,615 amino acids protein designated as LR3. It has, in the extracellular region, a cluster of three LDLR ligand binding repeats at a juxtamembrane position and four EGF precursor homology domains separated by YWTD spacer repeats. The entire ectodomain shares the same modular organization with the middle portion of the extracellular regions of two LDLR family members, LDLR-related protein (LRP), and gp330/megalin. LR3 mRNA was expressed in most of the adult and fetal tissues examined. The highest expression level was seen in aorta. In human osteosarcoma cells examined, LR3 mRNA was highly enriched in TE85 cells, moderately expressed in MG63 cells and primary human osteoblasts, and undetectable in SaOS-2 cells. NIH 3T3 cells transfected with either full length LR3 or its ectodomain showed significantly increased proliferation, whereas transfection of intracellular domain had no proliferative effect. We predict that LR3 is a multi-functional protein with potential mitogenic activity.