MXene‐Contacted Silicon Solar Cells with 11.5% Efficiency

MXene, a new class of 2D materials, has gained significant attention owing to its attractive electrical conductivity, tunable work function, and metallic nature for wide range of applications. Herein, delaminated few layered Ti₃C₂T_x MXene contacted Si solar cells with a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ≈11.5% under AM1.5G illumination are demonstrated. The formation of an Ohmic junction of the metallic MXene to n⁺‐Si surface efficiently extracts the photogenerated electrons from n⁺np⁺‐Si, decreases the contact resistance, and suppresses the charge carrier recombination, giving rise to excellent open‐circuit voltage and short‐circuit current density. The rapid thermal annealing process further improves the electrical contact between Ti₃C₂T_x MXene and n⁺‐Si surface by reducing sheet resistance, increasing electrical conductivity, and decreasing cell series resistance, thus leading to a remarkable improvement in fill factor and overall PCE. The work demonstrated here can be extended to other MXene compositions as potential electrodes for developing highly performing solar cells.     

冷冻胚胎移植周期中内膜形态及内膜厚度对妊娠结局的预测价值分析

目的:评价内膜厚度及内膜形态对于体外受精-胚胎移植中冷冻胚胎解冻复苏移植的临床妊娠结局的预测价值。方法:回顾性分析1521个冷冻胚胎解冻复苏移植周期,将患者按子宫内膜厚度分为4组,子宫内膜≤6 mm、6.1-8.0 mm、8.0-12 mm、12.0 mm,根据子宫内膜形态分为A型内膜、B型内膜、C型内膜。分别比较不同内膜厚度分组及不同内膜形态分组患者的年龄,移植胚胎数目、内膜准备方案构成比、移植胚胎类型(卵裂期胚胎、囊胚)构成比及各组间的临床妊娠率和活产率。采用ROC曲线分析子宫内膜厚度、形态对临床妊娠结局的预测价值。使用逐步回归分析内膜厚度、形态、年龄及移植胚胎类型与妊娠结局的相关性。结果:纳入1521个解冻复苏周期中按内膜厚度分为4组,各组周期数分别为96周期、454周期、893周期、78周期,各组间平均年龄分别为34.1±5.5岁、33.3±5.4岁、32.5±5.2岁、33.7±6.0岁(P0.05)。内膜厚度≤6 mm组临床妊娠率为31.3%,子宫内膜≤6mm、6.1-8.0 mm、8.0-12 mm、12.0 mm组临床妊娠率分别为48.5%、51.8%、47.4%(P0.05)。子宫内膜≤6 mm、6.1-8.0 mm、8.0-12 mm、12.0 mm组间活产率分别为18.8%、37.7%、44.6%、39.7%(P0.05)。A型、B型及C型内膜组周期数分别为920周期、189周期及412周期,三组间平均年龄分别为32.3±5.1、33.0±5.7、34.2±5.5岁(P0.05)。A型/B型及C型内膜组临床妊娠率分别为51.2%、46.6%及46.4%,三组间活产率分别为42.1%、36.0%及37.1%,三组间差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。子宫内膜厚度ROC曲线下面积为0.534(95%可信区间0.505-0.564),子宫内膜形态ROC曲线下面积为0.526(0.476-0.955)。逐步回归分析纳入内膜厚度、内膜形态、年龄、胚胎类型4个可变量,女方年龄(OR=0.929,P0.001),移植胚胎中囊胚比例(OR=1.595,P0.001)与临床妊娠率明显相关,内膜厚度(OR=1.054,P=0.05)及内膜形态(OR=0.864)与临床妊娠率无相关性。结论:虽然子宫内膜薄临床妊娠率下降,但是子宫内膜厚度与内膜形态不能够预测体外受精-胚胎移植解冻复苏周期临床妊娠率,患者年龄以及移植胚胎的发育潜能才是预测临床妊娠率的参考指标。     

A nuclear lamina‐chromatin‐Ran GTPase axis modulates nuclear import and DNA damage signaling

The Ran GTPase regulates nuclear import and export by controlling the assembly state of transport complexes. This involves the direct action of RanGTP, which is generated in the nucleus by the chromatin‐associated nucleotide exchange factor, RCC1. Ran interactions with RCC1 contribute to formation of a nuclear:cytoplasmic (N:C) Ran protein gradient in interphase cells. In previous work, we showed that the Ran protein gradient is disrupted in fibroblasts from Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) patients. The Ran gradient disruption in these cells is caused by nuclear membrane association of a mutant form of Lamin A, which induces a global reduction in heterochromatin marked with Histone H3K9me3 and Histone H3K27me3. Here, we have tested the hypothesis that heterochromatin controls the Ran gradient. Chemical inhibition and depletion of the histone methyltransferases (HMTs) G9a and GLP in normal human fibroblasts reduced heterochromatin levels and caused disruption of the Ran gradient, comparable to that observed previously in HGPS fibroblasts. HMT inhibition caused a defect in nuclear localization of TPR, a high molecular weight protein that, owing to its large size, displays a Ran‐dependent import defect in HGPS. We reasoned that pathways dependent on nuclear import of large proteins might be compromised in HGPS. We found that nuclear import of ATM requires the Ran gradient, and disruption of the Ran gradient in HGPS causes a defect in generating nuclear γ‐H2AX in response to ionizing radiation. Our data suggest a lamina–chromatin–Ran axis is important for nuclear transport regulation and contributes to the DNA damage response.     

Autotrophic Bacterial Community and Microbial CO2 Fixation Respond to Vegetation Restoration of Eroded Agricultural Land

Ecosystems - Vegetation restoration can dramatically affect soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N) pools and microbial communities. Yet, it is uncertain what effects of vegetation restoration have on...     

Semisynthesis of epoxy-pimarane diterpenoids from kirenol and their FXa inhibition activities

Kirenol is one of the biologically active diterpenoids from Siegesbeckia pubescens. In terms of the high content and typical structure, many ent-diterpenoids separated from S. pubescens were presumed to be biologically related to kirenol. Among them, epoxy-pimarane diterpenoids are belonging to a special family of naturally occurring compounds that attracted our attentions on their putative biosynthesis pathway and biological activities. Here, we designed and synthesized two known 14,16-epoxy-pimarane diterpenoids (2 and 3) and five 8,15-epoxy-pimarane diterpenoids (4–8) from kirenol. Their absolute structures were determined by 1D and 2D NMR data and the absolute configurations of 4 were confirmed by X-ray crystallographic data. Their inhibition effects on factor Xa (FXa) were evaluated to assess the potentiality of epoxy-pimarane diterpenoids as FXa inhibitor agents.     

Overexpression of RYBP inhibits proliferation,invasion, and chemoresistance to cisplatin in anaplastic thyroid cancer cells via the EGFR pathway

Ring1 and YY1 binding protein (RYBP), a new member of the polycomb group protein family, has been reported to play an important role in various biological processes. Recently, more and more studies have demonstrated an implication of RYBP in cancer development. However, the specific role of RYBP in anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) remains unknown. In this study, we investigated for the first time the expression pattern and biological functions of RYBP in ATC. We showed that RYBP was lowly expressed in ATC tissues and cell lines. We also found that overexpression of RYBP inhibited ATC cell proliferation, invasion, and cisplatin resistance. Furthermore, we observed that upregulation of RYBP decreased the phosphorylation of EGFR and ERK1/2 in ATC cells. Taken together, our data indicated that RYBP might be considered as a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of ATC.     

体外多酶分子机器的现状和最新进展

体外多酶分子机器遵循所设计的多酶催化路径,将若干种纯化或部分纯化的酶元件进行合理的优化与适配,高效地在体外将特定的底物转化为目标化合物。体外多酶分子机器反应系统呈现元件化和模块化的特点,在设计、组装和调控方面具有较高的自由度。近年来,体外多酶分子机器在实现反应过程的精准调控和提高产品得率方面的优势逐渐体现,展示了其在生物制造领域重要的应用潜力。对体外多酶分子机器的相关研究已成为合成生物学的一个重要分支领域,日益受到广泛的关注。文中系统地综述了基于酶元件/模块的体外多酶分子机器的构建策略,以及改善该分子机器中酶元件/模块之间适配性的研究进展,并分析了该生物制造平台的发展前景与挑战。     

NEK5 regulates cell cycle progression during mouse oocyte maturation and preimplantation embryonic development

NEK5, a member of never in mitosis‐gene A‐related protein kinase, is involved in the regulation of centrosome integrity and centrosome cohesion at mitosis in somatic cells. In this study, we investigated the expression and function of NEK5 during mouse oocyte maturation and preimplantation embryonic development. The results showed that NEK5 was expressed from germinal vesicle (GV) to metaphase II (MII) stages during oocyte maturation with the highest level of expression at the GV stage. It was shown that NEK5 localized in the cytoplasm of oocytes at GV stage, concentrated around chromosomes at germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) stage, and localized to the entire spindle at prometaphase I, MI and MII stages. The small interfering RNA‐mediated depletion of Nek5 significantly increased the phosphorylation level of cyclin‐dependent kinase 1 in oocytes, resulting in a decrease of maturation‐promoting factor activity, and severely impaired GVBD. The failure of meiotic resumption caused by Nek5 depletion could be rescued by the depletion of Wee1B. We found that Nek5 depletion did not affect CDC25B translocation into the GV. We also found that NEK5 was expressed from 1‐cell to blastocyst stages with the highest expression at the blastocyst stage, and Nek5 depletion severely impaired preimplantation embryonic development. This study demonstrated for the first time that NEK5 plays important roles during meiotic G2/M transition and preimplantation embryonic development.     

Improved Production of Spores and Bioactive Metabolites from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens in Solid-state Fermentation by a Rapid Optimization Process

Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins - A dipicolonic acid fluorimetry assay was used instead of plate counting for the assessment of spore yields for enhanced optimization efficiency. The...