Boron Trioxide-Assisted Post-Annealing Enables Vertical Oriented Recrystallization of SbSe Thin Film for High-Efficiency Solar Cells.

Crystallization process is critical for enhancing the crystallinity, regulating the crystal orientation of polycrystalline thin films, as well as repairing defects within the films. For quasi-1D SbSe photovoltaic materials, the preparation of SbSe thin films still faces great challenges in adjusting orientation and defect properties, which limits the device performance. In this study, a novel post-treatment strategy is developed that uses a low melting point BO coating layer as a flux to drive the recrystallization of SbSe, thereby regulating the micro-orientation of thermal evaporation-derived SbSe films and optimizing their electrical properties.

Grain-Boundary Elimination via Liquid Medium Annealing toward High-Efficiency SbSe Solar Cells.

Suppression of charge recombination caused by unfavorable grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystalline thin films is essential for improving the optoelectronic performance of semiconductor devices. For emerging antimony selenide (SbSe) materials, the unique quasi-1D structure intensifies the dependence of GB properties on the grain size and orientation, which also increases the impact of defects related to grain structure on device performance. However, these characteristics pose significant challenges in the preparation of thin films.

Development and validation of an interpretable machine learning model for predicting the risk of distant metastasis in papillary thyroid cancer: a multicenter study.

Background: The survival rate of patients with distant metastasis (DM) of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is significantly reduced. It is of great significance to find an effective method for early prediction of the risk of DM for formulating individualized diagnosis and treatment plans and improving prognosis. Previous studies have significant limitations, and it is still necessary to develop new models for predicting the risk of DM of PTC.

Causal association between COVID-19 vaccination and thrombosis-related biomarkers/thrombosis/ischemic stroke: Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Observational studies about the association between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination and thrombosis/ischemic stroke are inconsistent. The aim of this study is to assess the causality between COVID-19 vaccination and thrombosis-related biomarkers/thrombosis/ischemic stroke using mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.

Methods: A two-sample MR analysis using publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) data was conducted.

One-Step Hydrothermal Deposition of AgSbSSe Thin Films for Solar Cell Applications.

AgSbSSe is a promising light-harvesting material for thin film solar cells, characterized by nontoxicity, high chemical stability, and excellent optoelectronic properties. However, the complex chemical composition of AgSbSSe poses significant challenges to thin film preparation, giving rise to an intensive dependence on multi-step preparation methods. Herein, a hydrothermal method is developed for depositing AgSbSSe films and achieves one-step preparation of this kind of thin film materials for the first time.

Temperature-Gradient Solution Deposition Amends Unfavorable Band Structure of Sb(S,Se) Film for Highly Efficient Solar Cells.

Band structure of a semiconducting film critically determines the charge separation and transport efficiency. In antimony selenosulfide (Sb(S,Se)) solar cells, the hydrothermal method has achieved control of band gap width of Sb(S,Se) thin film through tuning the atomic ratio of S/Se, resulting in an efficiency breakthrough towards 10 %. However, the obtained band structure exhibits an unfavorable gradient distribution in terms of carrier transport, which seriously impedes the device efficiency improvement.

Biomarker Identification and Risk Prediction Model Development for Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma Lung Metastasis Based on Primary Lesion Proteomics.

Purpose: The rising global high incidence of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) has led to a significant increase in patients presenting with lung metastasis of DTC (LMDTC). This population poses a significant challenge in clinical practice, necessitating the urgent development of effective risk stratification methods and predictive tools for lung metastasis.

Experimental Design: Through proteomic analysis of large samples of primary lesion and dual validation employing parallel reaction monitoring and IHC, we identified eight hub proteins as potential biomarkers.

Rapid molecular identification of Rana dybowskii by species-specific primers.

Oviductus Ranae is the dried oviduct from Rana dybowskii, a forest frog species with medicinal, tonic, and cosmetic properties. Due to the high price and resource shortage, counterfeit varieties of Oviductus Ranae often appear in the market. However, traditional identification methods cannot accurately differentiate between Oviductus Ranae and its adulterants.

Microglial activation in the lateral amygdala promotes anxiety-like behaviors in mice with chronic moderate noise exposure.

Background: Long-term non-traumatic noise exposure, such as heavy traffic noise, can elicit emotional disorders in humans. However, the underlying neural substrate is still poorly understood.

Methods: We exposed mice to moderate white noise for 28 days to induce anxiety-like behaviors, measured by open-field, elevated plus maze, and light-dark box tests.

Dissociable contributions of the hippocampus and orbitofrontal cortex to representing task space in a social context.

The hippocampus (HC) and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) jointly encode a map-like representation of a task space to guide behavior. It remains unclear how the OFC and HC interact in encoding this map-like representation, though previous studies indicated that both regions have different functions. We acquired the functional magnetic resonance imaging data under a social navigation task in which participants interacted with characters in a two-dimensional "social space.

Characterization of Anxiety-Like Behaviors and Neural Circuitry following Chronic Moderate Noise Exposure in Mice.

Background: Commonly encountered nontraumatic, moderate noise is increasingly implicated in anxiety; however, the neural substrates underlying this process remain unclear.

Objectives: We investigated the neural circuit mechanism through which chronic exposure to moderate-level noise causes anxiety-like behaviors.

Methods: Mice were exposed to chronic, moderate white noise [85 decibel (dB) sound pressure level (SPL)], 4 h/d for 4 wk to induce anxiety-like behaviors, which were assessed by open field, elevated plus maze, light-dark box, and social interaction tests.

Green light induces antinociception via visual-somatosensory circuits.

Light has been shown to relieve pain, but the underlying neural mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we show that low-intensity (200 lux) green light treatment exerts antinociceptive effects through a neural circuit from the visual cortex projecting to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in mice. Specifically, viral tracing, in vivo two-photon calcium imaging, and fiber photometry recordings show that green light activated glutamatergic projections from the medial part of the secondary visual cortex (V2M) to GABAergic neurons in the ACC, which drives inhibition of local glutamatergic neurons (V2M→ACC).

A neural circuit for gastric motility disorders driven by gastric dilation in mice.

Introduction: Symptoms of gastric motility disorders are common clinical manifestations of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs), and are triggered and exacerbated by stress, but the neural pathways underpinning them remain unclear.

Methods: We set-up a mouse model by gastric dilation (GD) in which the gastric dynamics were assessed by installing strain gauges on the surface of the stomach. The neural pathway associated with gastric motility disorders was investigated by behavioral tests, electrophysiology, neural circuit tracing, and optogenetics and chemogenetics involving projections of the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) from the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) to acetylcholine (ChAT) neurons in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV).

Endogenous hydrogen sulfide promotes human preimplantation embryonic development by regulating metabolism-related gene expression.

Hydrogen sulfide (HS) as an endogenous gaseous signaling molecule had been proved to play a vital role in gametes physiology, covering meiosis, maturation and aging. However, little is known about HS involvement in embryonic development. The present study explored the positive effect of HS on human early embryonic development.

Early-life inflammation promotes depressive symptoms in adolescence via microglial engulfment of dendritic spines.

Early-life inflammation increases the risk for depression in later life. Here, we demonstrate how early-life inflammation causes adolescent depressive-like symptoms: by altering the long-term neuronal spine engulfment capacity of microglia. For mice exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation via the Toll-like receptor 4/NF-κB signaling pathway at postnatal day (P) 14, ongoing longitudinal imaging of the living brain revealed that later stress (delivered during adolescence on P45) increases the extent of microglial engulfment around anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) glutamatergic neuronal (ACC) spines.

Synthesis and Mechanism of High Structural Stability of Nickel-Rich Cathode Materials by Adjusting Li-Excess.

It has been a long-term challenge to improve the phase stability of Ni-rich LiNiMnCoO ( ≥ 0.6) transition metal (TM) oxides for large-scale applications. Herein, a new structure engineering strategy is utilized to optimize the structural arrangement of Li(NiMnCo)O (NMC88) with a different Li-excess content.

Ultrastructural observation of mesophyll cells and temporal expression profiles of the genes involved in transitory starch metabolism in flag leaves of wheat after anthesis.

Transitory starch in cereal plant leaves is synthesized during the day and remobilized at night to provide a carbon source for growth and grain filling, but its mechanistic basis is still poorly understood. The objective of this study is to explore the regulatory mechanism for starch biosynthesis and degradation in plant source organs. Using transmission electron microscopy, we observed that during the day after anthesis, starch granules in mesophyll cells of wheat flag leaves accumulated in chloroplasts and the number of starch granules gradually decreased with wheat leaf growth.

Increasing the starch content and grain weight of common wheat by overexpression of the cytosolic AGPase large subunit gene.

ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) catalyzes the first committed step of starch synthesis. AGPase is a heterotetramer composed of two large subunits and two small subunits, has cytosolic and plastidial isoforms, and is detected mainly in the cytosol of endosperm in cereal crops. To investigate the effects of AGPase cytosolic large subunit gene (LSU I) on starch biosynthesis in higher plant, in this study, a TaLSU I gene from wheat was overexpressed under the control of an endosperm-specific promoter in a wheat cultivar (Yumai 34).

Proteomic analysis of leaves and roots of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under copper-stress conditions.

Proteomic studies were performed to identify the protein species involved in copper (Cu) stress responses in common wheat. Two-week-old wheat seedlings were exposed to 100 μM CuSO4 treatment for 3 days. Growth of shoots and roots was markedly inhibited and lipid peroxidation was greatly increased.

Salicylic acid increases the contents of glutathione and ascorbate and temporally regulates the related gene expression in salt-stressed wheat seedlings.

Exogenous salicylic acid (SA) significantly improved abiotic tolerance in higher plants, and ascorbate (ASA) and glutathione (GSH) play important roles in abiotic tolerance. In this study, SA (0.5mM) markedly increased the contents of ASA and GSH in SA-treated plants during salt stress (250mM NaCl).

Comprehensive analysis of the transcription of starch synthesis genes and the transcription factor RSR1 in wheat (Triticum aestivum) endosperm.

The cDNA sequences of 26 starch synthesis genes were identified in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and their transcript levels were measured using quantitative real-time RT-PCR to assess the function of individual genes and the regulatory mechanism in wheat endosperm. The expression patterns of 26 genes in wheat endosperm were classified into three groups.

Proteomics reveals the effects of salicylic acid on growth and tolerance to subsequent drought stress in wheat.

Pretreatment with 0.5 mM salicylic acid (SA) for 3 days significantly enhanced the growth and tolerance to subsequent drought stress (PEG-6000, 15%) in wheat seedlings, manifesting as increased shoot and root dry weights, and decreased lipid peroxidation. Total proteins from wheat leaves exposed to (i) 0.