Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes in Emerging Solar Cells: Synthesis and Electrode Applications

Emerging solar cells, namely, organic solar cells and perovskite solar cells, are the thin‐film photovoltaics that have light to electricity conversion efficiencies close to that of silicon solar cells while possessing advantages in having additional functionalities, facile‐processability, and low fabrication cost. To maximize these advantages, the electrode components must be replaced by materials that are more flexible and cost‐effective. Researchers around the globe have been looking for the new electrodes that meet these requirements. Among many candidates, single‐walled carbon nanotubes have demonstrated their feasibility as the new alternative to conventional electrodes, such as indium tin oxide and metals. This review discusses various growth methods of single‐walled carbon nanotubes and their electrode applications in thin‐film photovoltaics.     

Chromatin interacting factor OsVIL2 increases biomass and rice grain yield

Grain number is an important agronomic trait. We investigated the roles of chromatin interacting factor Oryza sativa VIN3‐LIKE 2 (OsVIL2), which controls plant biomass and yield in rice. Mutations in OsVIL2 led to shorter plants and fewer grains whereas its overexpression (OX) enhanced biomass production and grain numbers when compared with the wild type. RNA‐sequencing analyses revealed that 1958 genes were up‐regulated and 2096 genes were down‐regulated in the region of active division within the first internodes of OX plants. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis showed that, among the downregulated genes, OsVIL2 was directly associated with chromatins in the promoter region of CYTOKININ OXIDASE/DEHYDROGENASE2 (OsCKX2), a gene responsible for cytokinin degradation. Likewise, active cytokinin levels were increased in the OX plants. We conclude that OsVIL2 improves the production of biomass and grain by suppressing OsCKX2 chromatin.     

KIN‐4/MAST kinase promotes PTEN‐mediated longevity of Caenorhabditis elegans via binding through a PDZ domain

PDZ domain‐containing proteins (PDZ proteins) act as scaffolds for protein–protein interactions and are crucial for a variety of signal transduction processes. However, the role of PDZ proteins in organismal lifespan and aging remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that KIN‐4, a PDZ domain‐containing microtubule‐associated serine‐threonine (MAST) protein kinase, is a key longevity factor acting through binding PTEN phosphatase in Caenorhabditis elegans. Through a targeted genetic screen for PDZ proteins, we find that kin‐4 is required for the long lifespan of daf‐2/insulin/IGF‐1 receptor mutants. We then show that neurons are crucial tissues for the longevity‐promoting role of kin‐4. We find that the PDZ domain of KIN‐4 binds PTEN, a key factor for the longevity of daf‐2 mutants. Moreover, the interaction between KIN‐4 and PTEN is essential for the extended lifespan of daf‐2 mutants. As many aspects of lifespan regulation in C. elegans are evolutionarily conserved, MAST family kinases may regulate aging and/or age‐related diseases in mammals through their interaction with PTEN.     

Suppression of Recombination Losses in Polymer:Nonfullerene Acceptor Organic Solar Cells due to Aggregation Dependence of Acceptor Electron Affinity

Here, it is investigated whether an energetic cascade between mixed and pure regions assists in suppressing recombination losses in non‐fullerene acceptor (NFA)‐based organic solar cells. The impact of polymer‐NFA blend composition upon morphology, energetics, charge carrier recombination kinetics, and photocurrent properties are studied. By changing film composition, morphological structures are varied from consisting of highly intermixed polymer‐NFA phases to consisting of both intermixed and pure phase. Cyclic voltammetry is employed to investigate the impact of blend morphology upon NFA lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level energetics. Transient absorption spectroscopy reveals the importance of an energetic cascade between mixed and pure phases in the electron–hole dynamics in order to well separate spatially localized electron–hole pairs. Raman spectroscopy is used to investigate the origin of energetic shift of NFA LUMO levels. It appears that the increase in NFA electron affinity in pure phases relative to mixed phases is correlated with a transition from a relatively planar backbone structure of NFA in pure, aggregated phases, to a more twisted structure in molecularly mixed phases. The studies focus on addressing whether aggregation‐dependent acceptor LUMO level energetics are a general design requirement for both fullerene and NFAs, and quantifying the magnitude, origin, and impact of such energetic shifts upon device performance.     

Reactive oxygen species‐mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress response induces apoptosis of Mycobacterium avium‐infected macrophages by activating regulated IRE1‐dependent decay pathway

Mycobacterium avium, a slow‐growing nontuberculous mycobacterium, causes fever, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, and weight loss in immunocompromised people. We have proposed that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress‐mediated apoptosis plays a critical role in removing intracellular mycobacteria. In the present study, we investigated the role of the regulated IRE1‐dependent decay (RIDD) pathway in macrophages during M. avium infection based on its role in the regulation of gene expression. The inositol‐requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1)/apoptosis signal‐regulating kinase 1 (ASK1)/c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) signalling pathway was activated in macrophages after infection with M. avium. The expression of RIDD‐associated genes, such as Bloc1s1 and St3gal5, was decreased in M. avium‐infected macrophages. Interestingly, M. avium‐induced apoptosis was significantly suppressed by pretreatment with irestatin (inhibitor of IRE1α) and 4μ8c (RIDD blocker). Macrophages pretreated with N‐acetyl cysteine (NAC) showed decreased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), IRE1α, and apoptosis after M. avium infection. The expression of Bloc1s1 and St3gal5 was increased in NAC‐pretreated macrophages following infection with M. avium. Growth of M. avium was significantly increased in irestatin‐, 4μ8c‐, and NAC‐treated macrophages compared with the control. The data indicate that the ROS‐mediated ER stress response induces apoptosis of M. avium‐infected macrophages by activating IRE1α‐RIDD. Thus, activation of IRE1α suppresses the intracellular survival of M. avium in macrophages.     

The Effect of Probiotics on Halitosis: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins - Although several studies have evaluated the inhibitory effect of probiotics on halitosis, findings are inconsistent. This systematic review and meta-analysis...     

Biocompatibility evaluation of bioprinted decellularized collagen sheet implanted in vivo cornea using swept‐source optical coherence tomography

Corneal transplantation by full‐thickness penetrating keratoplasty with human donor tissue is a widely accepted treatment for damaged or diseased corneas. Although corneal transplantation has a high success rate, a shortage of high‐quality donor tissue is a considerable limitation. Therefore, bioengineered corneas could be an effective solution for this limitation, and a decellularized extracellular matrix comprises a promising scaffold for their fabrication. In this study, three‐dimensional bioprinted decellularized collagen sheets were implanted into the stromal layer of the cornea of five rabbits. We performed in vivo noninvasive monitoring of the rabbit corneas using swept‐source optical coherence tomography (OCT) after implanting the collagen sheets. Anterior segment OCT images and averaged amplitude‐scans were acquired biweekly to monitor corneal thickness after implantation for 1 month. The averaged cornea thickness in the control images was 430.3 ± 5.9 μm, while the averaged thickness after corneal implantation was 598.5 ± 11.8 μm and 564.5 ± 12.5 μm at 2 and 4 weeks, respectively. The corneal thickness reduction of 34 μm confirmed the biocompatibility through the image analysis of the depth‐intensity profile base. Moreover, hematoxylin and eosin staining supported the biocompatibility evaluation of the bioprinted decellularized collagen sheet implantation. Hence, the developed bioprinted decellularized collagen sheets could become an alternative solution to human corneal donor tissue, and the proposed image analysis procedure could be beneficial to confirm the success of the surgery.      

Delineation of critical amino acids in activation function 1 of progesterone receptor for recruitment of transcription coregulators

The activation functions AF1 and AF2 of nuclear receptors mediate the recruitment of coregulators in gene regulation. AF1 is mapped to the highly variable and intrinsically unstructured N terminal domain and AF2 lies in the conserved ligand binding domain. The unstructured nature of AF1 offers structural plasticity and hence functional versatility in gene regulation. However, little is known about the key functional residues of AF1 that mediates its interaction with coregulators. This study focuses on the progesterone receptor (PR) and reports the identification of K464, K481 and R492 (KKR) as the key functional residues of PR AF1. The KKR are monomethylated and function cooperatively. The combined mutations of KKR to QQQ render PR isoform B (PRB) hyperactive, whereas KKR to FFF mutations abolishes as much as 80% of PR activity. Furthermore, the hyperactive QQQ mutation rescues the loss of PR activity due to E911A mutation in AF2. The study also finds that the magnitudes of the mutational effect differ in different cell types as a result of differential effects on the functional interaction with coregulators. Furthermore, KKR provides the interface for AF1 to physically interact with p300 and SRC-1, and with AF2 at E911. Intriguingly, the inactive FFF mutant interacts strikingly stronger with both SRC-1 and AF2 than wt PRB. We propose a tripartite model to describe the dynamic interactions between AF1, AF2 and SRC-1 with KKR of AF1 and E911 of AF2 as the interface. An overly stable interaction would hamper the dynamics of disassembly of the receptor complex.