A metal-free organic dye-sensitized solar cell attains 13% power conversion efficiency under AM1.5G full sunlight.

The effect of proline (Pro) accumulation on heat sensitivity was investigated using transgenic Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants ectopically expressing the D(1)-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase 1 gene (AtP5CS1) under the control of a heat shock protein 17.6II gene promoter. During heat stress, the heat-inducible expression of the AtP5CS1 transgene was capable of enhancing Pro biosynthesis. Twelve-day-old seedlings were first treated with heat at 37°C for 24 h to induce Pro and then were stressed at 50°C for 4 h. After recovery at 22°C for 96 h, the growth of Pro-overproducing plants was significantly more inhibited than that of control plants that do not accumulate Pro, manifested by lower survival rate, higher ion leakage, higher reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde levels, and increased activity of the Pro/P5C cycle. The activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase, guaiacol peroxidase, and catalase, but not those of glutathione reductase and ascorbate peroxidase, increased in all lines after heat treatment, but the increase was more significant in Pro-overproducing seedlings. Staining with MitoSox-Red, reported for being able to specifically detect superoxide formed in mitochondria, showed that Pro accumulation during heat stress resulted in elevated levels of ROS in mitochondria. Interestingly, exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) and ethylene were found to partially rescue the heat-sensitive phenotype of Pro-overproducing seedlings. Measurement of ethylene and ABA levels further confirmed that these two hormones are negatively affected in Pro-overproducing seedlings during heat stress. Our results indicated that Pro accumulation under heat stress decreases the thermotolerance, probably by increased ROS production via the Pro/P5C cycle and inhibition of ABA and ethylene biosynthesis.

Lithium ions are known for their potent function in modulating the energy alignment at the oxide semiconductor/dye/electrolyte interface in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), offering the opportunity to control the associated multichannel charge-transfer dynamics. Herein, by optimizing the lithium iodide content in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide-based ionic liquid electrolytes, we present a solvent-free DSC displaying an impressive 8.4% efficiency at 100 mW cm(-2) AM1.5G conditions. We further scrutinize the origins of evident impacts of lithium ions upon current density-voltage characteristics as well as photocurrent action spectra of DSCs based thereon. It is found that, along with a gradual increase of the lithium content in ionic liquid electrolytes, a consecutive diminishment of the open-circuit photovoltage arises, primarily owing to a noticeable downward movement of the titania conduction band edge. The conduction band edge displacement away from vacuum also assists the formation of a more favorable energy offset at the titania/dye interface, and thereby leads to a faster electron injection rate and a higher exciton dissociation yield as implied by transient emission measurements. We also notice that the adverse influence of the titania conduction band edge downward shift arising from lithium addition upon photovoltage is partly compensated by a concomitant suppression of the triiodide involving interfacial charge recombination.

We report structures of X 13 clusters for 26 metal elements found by global optimization of the energy calculated by density functional theory. The icosahedron is unstable in 19 of those cases. There are at least 11 truly distinct structures among the 26 global minima. Differences in geometries between elements are understood as resulting from competing structural principles. Periodic trends in structure relate to atomic properties. Cagelike features correlate with hardness, ͑IE− EA͒ / 2, and the number of 90°bond angles correlates with pand d-type orbital participations in localized bonds.

COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, is an acute and rapidly developing pandemic, which leads to a global health crisis. SARS-CoV-2 primarily attacks human alveoli and causes severe lung infection and damage. To better understand the molecular basis of this disease, we sought to characterize the responses of alveolar epithelium and its adjacent microvascular endothelium to viral infection under a co-culture system. SARS-CoV-2 infection caused massive virus replication and dramatic organelles remodeling in alveolar epithelial cells, alone. While, viral infection affected endothelial cells in an indirect manner, which was mediated by infected alveolar epithelium. Proteomics analysis and TEM examinations showed viral infection caused global proteomic modulations and marked ultrastructural changes in both epithelial cells and endothelial cells under the co-culture system. In particular, viral infection elicited global protein changes and structural reorganizations across many sub-cellular compartments in epithelial cells. Among the affected organelles, mitochondrion seems to be a primary target organelle. Besides, according to EM and proteomic results, we identified Daurisoline, a potent autophagy inhibitor, could inhibit virus replication effectively in host cells. Collectively, our study revealed an unrecognized cross-talk between epithelium and endothelium, which contributed to alveolar–capillary injury during SARS-CoV-2 infection. These new findings will expand our understanding of COVID-19 and may also be helpful for targeted drug development.

A rhodium(III)-catalyzed carboxylic acid directed decarboxylative C-H/C-H cross-coupling of carboxylic acids with thiophenes has been developed. With a slight adjustment of the reaction conditions based on the nature of the substrates, aryl carboxylic acids with a variety of substituents could serve as suitable coupling partners, and a broad variety of functional groups were tolerated. This method provides straightforward access to biaryl scaffolds with diverse substitution patterns, many of which have conventionally been synthesized through lengthy synthetic sequences. An illustrative example is the one-step gram-scale synthesis of a biologically active 3,5-substituted 2-arylthiophene by way of the current method.

We propose that porous 2D materials with entirely planar structure and proper pore sizes are highly promising ultrahigh capacity anode materials for LIBs and SIBs, following which the B7P2 monolayer is identified with an ultrahigh capacity of 3117 mA h g−1.

Electrocatalytic reduction of nitrogen (N2) is considered as a simple, green, and sustainable method for producing ammonia (NH3). Inspired by the recent experimental synthesis of two-dimensional intrinsically conductive Ni-based covalent...