SUMMARY DNA damage repair (DDR) pathways modulate cancer risk, progression, and therapeutic response. We systematically analyzed somatic alterations to provide a comprehensive view of DDR deficiency across 33 cancer types. Mutations with accompanying loss of heterozygosity were observed in over 1/3 of DDR genes, including TP53 and BRCA1/2. Other prevalent alterations included epigenetic silencing of the direct repair genes EXO5, MGMT, and ALKBH3 in ~20% of samples. Homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) was present at varying frequency in many cancer types, most notably ovarian cancer. However, in contrast to ovarian cancer, HRD was associated with worse outcomes in several other cancers. Protein structure-based analyses allowed us to predict functional consequences of rare, recurrent DDR mutations. A new machine-learning-based classifier developed from gene expression data allowed us to identify alterations that phenocopy deleterious TP53 mutations. These frequent DDR gene alterations in many human cancers have functional consequences that may determine cancer progression and guide therapy.

Rice husk (RH) biomass is a massive byproduct from rice milling. Applications of RHs have been very limited. Therefore, RHs are often considered as a biowaste. RHs are mainly composed of lignocellulose (ca. 72–85 wt %) and silica (ca. 15–28 wt %). The majority of previous explorations focused on the preparation of silica or other silicon based materials from RHs, while the lignocellulose in RHs was usually burnt and thus wasted. Herein, an approach for comprehensive utilization of RHs has been developed to obtain both lignocellulose and high quality porous silica nanoparticles from RHs. Most of the lignocellulose in RHs was first extracted by dissolving in ionic liquids. The dissolved lignocellulose was subsequently separated and collected. The remaining RH residue after extraction that contains a high concentration of silica was thermally treated to synthesize amorphous porous silica nanoparticles with a high purity and surface area. It was also found that, during the extraction of lignocellulose using ionic liquids, some metal cations (e.g., K+) that generate negative effect for the synthesis of silica can be removed simultaneously, which generates a synergy for this comprehensive approach to make full use of RH biomass. The implication of the present findings is discussed.

PCE has reached 25.5% in less than one decade since the first report of all-solid-state PSCs in 2012. [5][6][7] Although remarkable progress has been made in device efficiency, there is still a huge gap toward the theoretical Shockley-Queisser limit efficiency (30.5%). [8] Besides the PCE, the long-term stability of PSCs is of great significance for commercial applications, but it could be affected by the interfacial degradation induced by various stresses. [3,4] In a typical planar n-i-p PSC structure, the perovskite absorber is sandwiched between an electron transport layer (ETL) and hole transport layer (HTL). The interfaces between perovskite and carrier transport layers have been considered crucial for the further improvement of efficiency and stability of PSCs. [9,10] On the one hand, the interfacial defects and imperfect band alignments would result in substantial nonradiative recombination losses and thus compromised PCE. [11,12] On the other hand, the degradation of PSCs derived from both perovskite/HTL interfaces and ETL/perovskite interfaces severely threatens the stability of PSCs. [13][14][15][16] Plenty of research has concentrated on stabilizing perovskite/ HTL interfaces via post-fabrication treatment and HTL modification. [17] However, the concentration of defects accumulating at the buried interface is even higher than that at the top interface, [18] which makes the buried interface equally significant as the top interface. Unfortunately, little attention has been paid to it, which is partly because of the difficulties in fabricating and investigating the buried interface. [19] Moreover, the perovskite film near the ETL interface bears the strongest illumination stress under operational condition. Especially under UV exposure, the photovoltaic (PV) performance of PSCs could drop dramatically with the halogen oxidation and Pb reduction because of the vulnerability of perovskite to UV light. [20,21] This process is further accelerated by the desorption of UV-activated oxygen from ETLs, which also exposes deep-level interfacial defects and thus affecting the charge collection. [22][23][24] Although various strategies have been adopted to modify the ETLs to reduce defects, [25][26][27][28][29] there is little research effort on the interaction between the modified ETLs and perovskite films. Recently, Dong and co-workers reported a perovskite/ ETL interface enhancement strategy where formamidinium iodide incorporated SnO 2 reacts with PbI 2 -excess perovskiteThe buried interface between the perovskite and the electron transport layer (ETL) plays a vital role for the further improvement of power conversion efficiency (PCE) and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, it is challenging to efficiently optimize this interface as it is buried in the bottom of the perovskite film. Herein, a buried interface strengthening strategy for constructing efficient and stable PSCs by using CsI-SnO 2 complex as an ETL is reported. The CsI modification facilitates the growth of the perovskite film and eff...

Three acceptor–acceptor (A–A) type conjugated polymers based on isoindigo and naphthalene diimide/perylene diimide are designed and synthesized to study the effects of building blocks and alkyl chains on the polymer properties and performance of all‐polymer photoresponse devices. Variation of the building blocks and alkyl chains can influence the thermal, optical, and electrochemical properties of the polymers, as indicated by thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, UV–vis, cyclic voltammetry, and density functional theory calculations. Based on the A–A type conjugated polymers, the most efficient all‐polymer photovoltaic cells are achieved with an efficiency of 2.68%, and the first all‐polymer photodetectors are constructed with high responsivity (0.12 A W−1) and detectivity (1.2 × 1012 Jones), comparable to those of the best fullerene based organic photodetectors and inorganic photodetectors. Photoluminescence spectra, charge transport properties, and morphology of blend films are investigated to elucidate the influence of polymeric structures on device performances. This contribution demonstrates a strategy of systematically tuning the polymeric structures to achieve high performance all‐polymer photoresponse devices.

Core–shell Cu@(CuCo-alloy)/Al2O3 catalysts are obtained via an in situ growth–calcination–reduction process, which exhibit excellent catalytic behavior toward CO hydrogenation to produce higher alcohols.

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Formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI3)‐based perovskites have become one of the most promising candidate materials for high efficiency and thermally stable perovskite solar cells due to their outstanding optoelectrical properties and high thermal stability. However, the phase degradation of black FAPbI3 perovskite phase to yellow nonperovskite phase at ambient conditions restricts the long‐term stability of FAPbI3 perovskite solar cells. Such phase transition can be affected by various conditions especially under humidity and thermal stress. To address the phase instability issue, tremendous research efforts have been devoted to crystallizing high‐quality black phase and refraining the photoinactive δ‐phase formation. Herein, first, these research efforts are summarized for the deposition of FAPbI3 perovskite film and the stabilization of pure α‐FAPbI3 perovskite, then the FAPbI3 structural features and phase transformation behavior are discussed. The corresponding strategies for maintaining black phase and enhancing optical properties of FAPbI3 perovskite is also concluded. Second, the latest progress and achievement of stabilizing black‐phase FAPbI3 are discussed through various methods including additives, doping, and alloying, interfacial engineering, etc. Finally, the future research directions and strategies to achieve high efficiency and stable FAPbI3‐based perovskite solar cells are described.

Two of the main problems associated with matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) analysis of polymers are mass discrimination and poor reproducibility. This paper shows that the use of binary solvent systems is one of the causes of these problems. It was observed that the presence of a second solvent such as water in the PMMA solution could cause significant mass discrimination and varying polymer distributions, which can be varied by over 50% when PMMA 4K was used as the polymer sample. In general, a small amount of a second solvent tends to result in less severe mass discrimination but varying distributions, while large amounts of a second solvent are more likely to cause more systematic and severe mass discrimination. Except for a few cases, mass discrimination was observed to be against larger oligomers. Moreover, it was observed that this effect varies with the matrix, main solvent, and sample preparation used. The importance of this work is that it provides guidance for one to develop a better sample preparation protocol to minimize the mass discrimination and poor reproducibility problems. Several potential sources leading to water contamination were identified. Finally, a simple method to verify if amounts of a second solvent are sufficiently high to cause mass discrimination is also discussed.