The electron transport layer plays a key role in affecting the charge dynamics and photovoltaic parameters in perovskite solar cells. Compared to other counterparts, SnO 2 has unique advantages such as low temperature fabrication and high electron extraction ability, and it receives extra attentions from the research community since the first report. Planar-type perovskite solar cells based on SnO 2 exhibit a simple architecture and state of art device can achieve a power conversion efficiency of over 23%, which can compete with traditional devices using mesoporous TiO 2. The modification engineering of SnO 2 has contributed significantly to the enhanced device performance during the past years. There is still great potential for further improvement in the efficiency and long-term stability. Herein recent advances toward modifying the optoelectronic properties of SnO 2 from the perspective of the optimization strategies are summarized and the remaining challenges as well as opportunities for future research are discussed. The continuous efforts dedicated to this exciting field may pave the way for developing commercial perovskite solar cells.

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Several lepidopteran species share the same pheromone blend consisting of (Z)-11-hexadecenal (Z11-16:Ald) and (Z)-9-hexadecenal (Z9-16:Ald) at different ratios and active doses. In rice pest Chilo suppressalis, (Z)-11-hexadecenol, (Z11-16:OH) and octadecanal (18:Ald) were identified as minor components in the pheromone gland of female moths, and these components were previously not considered as part of the sex pheromone of C. suppressalis. Z11-16:Ald, Z9-16:Ald and (Z)-13-octadecenal (Z13-18:Ald) frequently trapped other lepidopteran species, such as rice pests Scirpophaga incertulas and Mythimna separate, corn and vegetable pests Helicoverpa armigera in the field, suggesting a lack of specificity in the pheromone blend. Our data showed that the minor component Z11-16:OH did not have a synergistic effect on the attractiveness of the blend to C. suppressalis; however, pheromone mixtures containing Z11-16:OH failed in trapping male H. armigera moths. We confirmed the identity and specificity of the C. suppressalis sex pheromone and demonstrated that Z11-16:OH plays a key role in the reproductive isolation of C. suppressalis, M. separata, and H. armigera moths, and a similar role of Z9-18:Ald in that of S. incertulas and C. suppressalis. This phenomenon could be more widely applicable to interspecific interactions in the pheromone communication between insects, which is crucial to developing the electronic automatic counting device for automatically monitoring the pest population by pheromone trapping based on its species specificity.

BackgroundThe evolution of exaggerated vocal signals in anuran species is an important topic. Males and females have both evolved the ability to discriminate communication sounds. However, the nature of sexual dimorphism in cognition and sensory discrimination and in the evolution and limitation of sexual signal exaggeration remain relatively unexplored.MethodsIn the present study, we used male calls of varied complexity in the serrate-legged small treefrog, Kurixalus odontotarsus, as probes to investigate how both sexes respond to variations in call complexity and how sex differences in signal discrimination play a role in the evolution of sexual signal exaggeration. The compound calls of male K. odontotarsus consist of a series of one or more harmonic notes (A notes) which may be followed by one or more short broadband notes (B notes).ResultsMale playback experiments and female phonotaxis tests showed that increasing the number of A notes in stimulus calls elicits increased numbers of response calls by males and increases the attractiveness of the stimulus calls to females. The addition of B notes, however, reduces male calling responses. Moreover, call stimuli which contain only B notes suppress spontaneous male calling responses. Phonotaxis experiments show that females prefer calls with greater numbers of A notes and calls containing both A notes and B notes, but do not prefer calls with only B notes.DiscussionMale-male competition and female choice appear to have played different roles in the evolution and limitation of signal complexity in K. odontotarsus. These results provide new insights into how exaggerated compound signals evolve and how signal complexity may be limited in anurans.

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This study is conducted to investigate the effects of Achyranthes bidentata polysaccharide (ABP) as a dietary additive on growth performance, plasma parametre profile and the mRNA abundances of IGF-1 and IL-1b in liver, jejunal mucosa and mesentery lymph node. A total of 200 three-hybreded (Landrace )Yorkshire)Duroc) piglets weaned at 28 days of age were allocated into five dietary treatment groups on the basis of body weight and litter of origin in a complete randomised design. Five diets were tested for 35 days, including the basal control diet, the antibiotic treatment diet (basal control diet ' 500 mg/kg flavomycin), and three ABP treatment diets, in which ABP were added to basal control diet with 500, 1000 and 1500 mg/kg, respectively. There was higher average daily feed intake (ADFI) in animals fed with 500 mg/kg ABP when compared with animals in other groups (PB0.05). However, there was no significant deference in ADFI among animals in control group, antibiotics group (500 mg/kg flavomycin), high dose ABP supplementation group (1000 and 1500 mg/kg ABP) (P !0.05). Flavomycin (500 mg/kg) and different dose of ABP supplementation significantly increased average daily gain (PB0.05). Compared with animals in control group, there was low FiG in animals fed with 500 mg/kg flavomycin, 500, 1000 and 1500 mg/kg ABP, respectively (PB0.05). Flavomycin (500 mg/kg) and different dose of ABP supplementation significantly decreased the diarrhoea frequency of weaned piglets (P B0.05). Moreover, there was lower diarrhoea frequency in animals fed with different dose of ABP compared with animals fed 500 mg/kg flavomycin (PB0.05). Supplementation of ABP increased plasma concentrations of hormones, antibodies, and alkaline phosphatase (P B0.05) and IL-1b mRNA abundance in liver, jejunal mucosa and lymph nodes. These findings indicate that ABP is effective in improving growth performance and defending capacity, which suggests that ABP can be used as a diet additive for weanling piglets.

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