Perilipin 5 regulates hepatic stellate cell activation and high-fat diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Background:Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)is one of the most common chronic liver diseases globally.Hepatic stellate cells(HSCs)are the major effector cells of liver fibrosis.HSCs contain abundant lipid droplets(LDs)in their cytoplasm during quiescence.Perilipin 5(PLIN 5)is a LD surface-associated protein that plays a crucial role in lipid homeostasis.However,little is known about the role of PLIN 5 in HSC activation.Methods:PLIN 5 was overexpressed in HSCs of Sprague–Dawley rats by lentivirus transfection.At the same time,PLIN 5 gene knockout mice were constructed and fed with a high-fat diet(HFD)for 20 weeks to study the role of PLIN 5 in NAFLD.The corresponding reagent kits were used to measure TG,GSH,Caspase 3 activity,ATP level,and mitochondrial DNA copy number.Metabolomic analysis of mice liver tissue metabolism was performed based on UPLC-MS/MS.AMPK,mitochondrial function,cell proliferation,and apoptosis-related genes and proteins were detected by western blotting and qPCR.Results:Overexpression of PLIN 5 in activated HSCs led to a decrease in ATP levels in mitochondria,inhibition of cell proliferation,and a significant increase in cell apoptosis through AMPK activation.In addition,compared with the HFD-fed C57BL/6J mice,PLIN 5 knockout mice fed with HFD showed reduced liver fat deposition,decreased LD abundance and size,and reduced liver fibrosis.Conclusion:These findings highlight the unique regulatory role of PLIN 5 in HSCs and the role of PLIN 5 in the fibrosis process of NAFLD.

The Main Progress of Perovskite Solar Cells in 2020-2021

Perovskite solar cells(PSCs)emerging as a promising photovoltaic technology with high efficiency and low manufacturing cost have attracted the attention from all over the world.Both the efficiency and stability of PSCs have increased steadily in recent years,and the research on reducing lead leakage and developing eco-friendly lead-free perovskites pushes forward the commercialization of PSCs step by step.This review summarizes the main progress of PSCs in 2020 and 2021 from the aspects of efficiency,stability,perovskite-based tandem devices,and lead-free PSCs.Moreover,a brief discussion on the development of PSC modules and its challenges toward practical application is provided.

Genetic variants in RAN, DICER and HIWI of microRNA biogenesis genes and risk of cervical carcinoma in a Chinese population

Objective：Recent evidence indicates that dysregulation of microRNA （miRNA） biogenesis is implicated in cancer development and progression.Based on the important role of miRNA biogenesis genes in carcinogenesis,we hypothesized that genetic variations of the miRNA biogenesis genes may modulate susceptibility to cervical cancer.Methods：We identified three single nucleotide polymorphisms （SNPs） located in the 3＇-untranslated regions （3＇-UTR） of of miRNA biogenesis key genes （rs1057035 in DICER,rs3803012 in RAN and rs10773771 in HIWI） and genotyped these SNPs in a case-control study of 1,486 cervical cancer cases and 1,549 cancer-free controls in Chinese women.Results：Logistic regression analyses showed that no significant associations were observed between the three SNPs and cervical cancer risk [rs3803012 in RAN AG/GG vs.AA adjusted OR =1.104,95 ％ confidence interval （CI）：0.859-1.419; rs1057035 in DICER CT/CC vs.TT adjusted OR =0.962,95％ CI：0.805-1.149;rs10773771 in HIWICT/CC vs.TT adjusted OR =0.963,95％ CI：0.826-1.122].Conclusions：The findings did not suggest that genetic variants in the 3＇-UTR of RAN,DICER and HIWI of miRNA biogenesis genes were associated with the risk of cervical cancer in this Chinese population.

An In-Situ Formed Tunneling Layer Enriches the Options of Anode for Efficient and Stable Regular Perovskite Solar Cells

Perovskite solar cells(PSCs)are taking steps to commercialization.However,the halogen-reactive anode with high cost becomes a stumbling block.Here,the halogen migration in PSCs is utilized to in situ generate a uniform tunneling layer between the hole transport materials and anodes,which enriches the options of anodes by breaking the Schottky barrier,enabling the regular PSCs with both high efficiency and stability.Specifically,the regular PSC that uses silver iodide as the tunneling layer and copper as the anode obtains a champion power conversion efficiency of 23.24%(certified 22.74%)with an aperture area of 1.04 cm^(2).The devices are stable,maintaining 98.6%of the initial effi-ciency after 500 h of operation at the maximum power point with continuous 1 sun illumination.PSCs with different tunneling layers and anodes are fabricated,which confirm the generality of the strategy.

Negative Poisson’s ratio in two-dimensional honeycomb structures

Negative Poisson’s ratio(NPR)in auxetic materials is of great interest due to the typically enhanced mechanical properties,which enables plenty of novel applications.In this paper,by employing first-principles calculations,we report the emergence of NPR in a class of two-dimensional honeycomb structures(graphene,silicene,h-BN,h-GaN,h-SiC,and h-BAs),which are distinct from all other known auxetic materials.They share the same mechanism for the emerged NPR despite the different chemical composition,which lies in the increased bond angle(θ).However,the increase of θ is quite intriguing and anomalous,which cannot be explained in the traditional point of view of the geometry structure and mechanical response,for example,in the framework of classical molecular dynamics simulations based on empirical potential.

Stable perovskite solar cells with 23.12% efficiency and area over 1 cm^(2) by an all-in-one strategy

To realize the commercialization of perovskite solar cells(PSCs), it is required to overcome the remaining challenges in device enlargement and operational stability. Here, we report an all-in-one strategy by integrating the oxidation of hole-transport material(HTM) with the formation of the passivation layer, which simultaneously solved the stability issues caused by HTM oxidation and realized the uniform defects in passivation over a large area. The resulting devices achieved a certified PCE of23.12% on average with an aperture area of 1.04 cm^(2) and are reproducible with high operational stability because of the exclusion of air exposure, hygroscopic Li-TFSI, and the lithium-based wastes, maintaining ca. 90% of their initial PCEs after operation at the maximum power point under continuous 1 sun illumination for 1,600 h. Our strategy simplifies the fabrication process of PSCs, which is compatible with commercial-scale methods, offering facile access to efficient and stable large-area PSCs.

偶偶核2_(1)^(+)态电四极矩的局域关联与对数N_(p)N_(n)系统性规律

相邻原子核2_(1)^(+)态的电四极矩之间的局域关联可由轴对称转子模型和非简谐振子模型推导得到。这种局域关联所对应的偏微分方程可以约束电四极矩的N_(p)N_(n)系统性演化,进而可以推得:在对数坐标的N_(p)N_(n) scheme中,电四极矩应具有线性演化特征。这一特征与偶偶核2_(1)^(+)态的激发能及其跃迁至基态的约化跃迁几率的N_(p)N_(n)系统性规律类似。实验数据也证实了2_(1)^(+)态电四极矩局域关联及对数N_(p)N_(n)线性演化特征是比较可靠的。使用这些局域关联与N_(p)N_(n)系统演化规律,还对未知电四极矩进行了预言,同时也减少了Ba同位素电四极矩实验数据上的不确定性。

Electric-controlled tunable thermal switch based on Janus monolayer MoSSe

The high-performance,wide-range tunable thermal switches play a significant role in the thermal management,high-power-density intelligent devices,energy systems,etc.However,traditional thermal switch components,such as thermal diodes,suffer from poor stability,small adjustability,low time efficiency,and difficult implementation.Herein,we propose the superior electric-controlled thermal switch(ECTS)based on Janus monolayer MoSSe.The high-effective and asymmetric regulation of the thermal conductivity driven by electric field demonstrates a wide-range adjustable thermal switch ratio,where the peak value reaches 2.09 under the electric field of 0.04 VÅ^(−1).The underlying mechanism is revealed by electronic structures that the interactions between electrons and phonons are renormalized due to the electric field driving charge density redistribution,which ultimately modulates the phonon anharmonicity.The high-efficiency adjustable ECTS component is expected to provide new inspiration for next-generation thermal management and information processing.