1. |
- Wang, Xuran, et al.
(författare)
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De Novo Design of Spiro-Type Hole-Transporting Material: Anisotropic Regulation Toward Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells
- 2024
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Ingår i: RESEARCH. - : AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE. - 2096-5168. ; 7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 2,2′,7,7′-Tetrakis(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenyl)-amine-9,9′-spirobifluorene (Spiro-OMeTAD) represents the state-of-the-art hole-transporting material (HTM) in n-i-p perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, its susceptibility to stability issues has been a long-standing concern. In this study, we embark on a comprehensive exploration of the untapped potential within the family of spiro-type HTMs using an innovative anisotropic regulation strategy. Diverging from conventional approaches that can only modify spirobifluorene with single functional group, this approach allows us to independently tailor the two orthogonal components of the spiro-skeleton at the molecular level. The newly designed HTM, SF-MPA-MCz, features enhanced thermal stability, precise energy level alignment, superior film morphology, and optimized interfacial properties when compared to Spiro-OMeTAD, which contribute to a remarkable power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 24.53% for PSCs employing SF-MPA-MCz with substantially improved thermal stability and operational stability. Note that the optimal concentration for SF-MPA-MCz solution is only 30 mg/ml, significantly lower than Spiro-OMeTAD (>70 mg/ml), which could remarkably reduce the cost especially for large-area processing in future commercialization. This work presents a promising avenue for the versatile design of multifunctional HTMs, offering a blueprint for achieving efficient and stable PSCs.
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2. |
- Liu, Shungang, et al.
(författare)
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The role of connectivity in significant bandgap narrowing for fused-pyrene based non-fullerene acceptors toward high-efficiency organic solar cells
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Chemistry A. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2050-7488 .- 2050-7496. ; 8:12, s. 5995-6003
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Great attention has been paid to developing low bandgap non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) for matching wide bandgap donor polymers to increase the photocurrent and therefore the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of NFA organic solar cells, while pyrene-core based acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) NFAs have been mainly reported via the 2,9-position connection due to their bisthieno[3′,2′-b']thienyl[a,h]pyrene fused via a five-membered ring bridge at the ortho-position of pyrene as the representative one named FPIC5, which has prohibited further narrowing their energy gap. Herein, an acceptor FPIC6 was exploited by creating the 1,8-position connection through fusing as bisthieno[3′,2′-b′]thienyl[f-g,m-n]pyrene linked at the bay-position via a six-membered bridge, with enhanced push-pull characteristics within such A-D-A structure. As a structural isomer of FPIC5, FPIC6 exhibited a much lower bandgap of 1.42 eV (1.63 eV for FPIC5). Therefore, the photocurrent and PCE of PTB7-Th:FPIC6 cells were improved to 21.50 mA cm-2 and 11.55%, respectively, due to the balanced mobilities, better photoluminescence quenching efficiency and optimized morphology, which are both ∼40% better than those of PTB7-Th:FPIC5 cells. Our results clearly proved that a pyrene fused core with 1,8-position connection with electron-withdrawing end groups instead of 2,9-position connection is an efficient molecular design strategy to narrow the optical bandgap and improve the photovoltaic performance of NFA based OSCs.
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3. |
- Bian, Zilong, et al.
(författare)
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Healthy lifestyle and cancer survival : A multinational cohort study
- 2024
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cancer. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 154:10, s. 1709-1718
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lifestyle factors after a cancer diagnosis could influence the survival of cancer 60 survivors. To examine the independent and joint associations of healthy lifestyle factors with mortality outcomes among cancer survivors, four prospective cohorts (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [NHANES], National Health Interview Survey [NHIS], UK Biobank [UKB] and Kailuan study) across three countries. A healthy lifestyle score (HLS) was defined based on five common lifestyle factors (smoking, alcohol drinking, diet, physical activity and body mass index) that related to cancer survival. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) for the associations of individual lifestyle factors and HLS with all-cause and cancer mortality among cancer survivors. During the follow-up period of 37,095 cancer survivors, 8927 all-cause mortality events were accrued in four cohorts and 4449 cancer death events were documented in the UK and US cohorts. Never smoking (adjusted HR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.69-0.86), light alcohol consumption (adjusted HR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.82-0.90), adequate physical activity (adjusted HR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.85-0.94), a healthy diet (adjusted HR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.61-0.78) and optimal BMI (adjusted HR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.85-0.93) were significantly associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality. In the joint analyses of HLS, the HR of all-cause and cancer mortality for cancer survivors with a favorable HLS (4 and 5 healthy lifestyle factors) were 0.55 (95% CI 0.42-0.64) and 0.57 (95% CI 0.44-0.72), respectively. This multicohort study of cancer survivors from the United States, the United Kingdom and China found that greater adherence to a healthy lifestyle might be beneficial in improving cancer prognosis. This study investigated the independent and joint associations of healthy lifestyle factors with mortality outcomes among cancer survivors by analyzing data from four prospective cohorts across three countries-the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and National Health Interview Survey in the United States, the UK Biobank and the Kailuan study in China. Adhering to a healthy lifestyle could reduce the risk of all-cause and cancer mortality by half among cancer survivors. Specifically, avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, maintaining a healthy diet, engaging in physical activity and maintaining a healthy body mass index were associated with improved prognosis.image
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4. |
- Chen, Kuan, et al.
(författare)
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Characterization and protein engineering of glycosyltransferases for the biosynthesis of diverse hepatoprotective cycloartane-type saponins in Astragalus membranaceus
- 2023
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Ingår i: Plant Biotechnology Journal. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1467-7644 .- 1467-7652. ; 21:4, s. 698-710
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although plant secondary metabolites are important source of new drugs, obtaining these compounds is challenging due to their high structural diversity and low abundance. The roots of Astragalus membranaceus are a popular herbal medicine worldwide. It contains a series of cycloartane-type saponins (astragalosides) as hepatoprotective and antivirus components. However, astragalosides exhibit complex sugar substitution patterns which hindered their purification and bioactivity investigation. In this work, glycosyltransferases (GT) from A. membranaceus were studied to synthesize structurally diverse astragalosides. Three new GTs, AmGT1/5 and AmGT9, were characterized as 3-O-glycosyltransferase and 25-O-glycosyltransferase of cycloastragenol respectively. AmGT1(G146V/I) variants were obtained as specific 3-O-xylosyltransferases by sequence alignment, molecular modelling and site-directed mutagenesis. A combinatorial synthesis system was established using AmGT1/5/9, AmGT1(G146V/S) and the reported AmGT8 and AmGT8(A394F). The system allowed the synthesis of 13 astragalosides in Astragalus root with conversion rates from 22.6% to 98.7%, covering most of the sugar-substitution patterns for astragalosides. In addition, AmGT1 exhibited remarkable sugar donor promiscuity to use 10 different donors, and was used to synthesize three novel astragalosides and ginsenosides. Glycosylation remarkably improved the hepatoprotective and SARS-CoV-2 inhibition activities for triterpenoids. This is one of the first attempts to produce a series of herbal constituents via combinatorial synthesis. The results provided new biocatalytic tools for saponin biosynthesis.
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5. |
- Jiang, Fangyuan, et al.
(författare)
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Association between antibiotic use during early life and early-onset colorectal cancer risk overall and according to polygenic risk and FUT2 genotypes
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cancer. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 153:9, s. 1602-1611
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) has been increasing worldwide. Potential risk factors may have occurred in childhood or adolescence. We investigated the associations between early-life factors and EOCRC risk, with a particular focus on long-term or recurrent antibiotic use (LRAU) and its interaction with genetic factors. Data on the UK Biobank participants recruited between 2006 and 2010 and followed up to February 2022 were used. We used logistic regression to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of the associations between LRAU during early life and EOCRC risk overall and by polygenic risk score (constructed by 127 CRC-related genetic variants) and Fucosyltransferase 2 (FUT2), a gut microbiota regulatory gene. We also assessed the associations for early-onset colorectal adenomas, as precursor lesion of CRC, to examine the effect of LRAU during early-life and genetic factors on colorectal carcinogenesis. A total of 113 256 participants were included in the analysis, with 165 EOCRC cases and 719 EOCRA cases. LRAU was nominally associated with increased risk of early-onset CRC (OR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.01-2.17, P = .046) and adenomas (OR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.17-1.68, P < .001). When stratified by genetic polymorphisms of FUT2, LRAU appeared to confer a comparatively greater risk for early-onset adenomas among participants with rs281377 TT genotype (OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 0.79-1.52, P = .587, for CC genotype; OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.16-2.64, P = .008, for TT genotype; Pinteraction = .089). Our study suggested that LRAU during early life is associated with increased risk of early-onset CRC and adenomas, and the association for adenomas is predominant among individuals with rs281377 TT/CT genotype. Further studies investigating how LRAU contributes together with genetic factors to modify EOCRC risk, particularly concerning the microbiome-related pathway underlying colorectal carcinogenesis, are warranted.
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6. |
- Li, Xiaojuan, et al.
(författare)
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Climate and soil properties drive soil organic and inorganic carbon patterns across a latitudinal gradient in southwestern China
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Soils and Sediments. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1614-7480 .- 1439-0108. ; 23:1, s. 91-102
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PurposeDrylands account for 47.2% of land area and contain 15.5% of global carbon (C). However, the variation in organic and inorganic C stocks across latitudinal gradients in arid and semiarid shrubland ecosystems remains understudied, and we lack in-depth understanding of the main drivers of C variation at this spatial scale.MethodsHere, we sampled soils from 95 sites across a latitudinal gradient to explore both the latitudinal patterns and potential drivers of soil organic carbon density (SOCD) and soil inorganic carbon density (SICD). We also assessed variation in SOCD and SICD down the soil profile, by sampling soils at four depths (0 – 10 cm, 10 – 20 cm, 20 – 30 cm, and 30 – 50 cm).ResultBoth SOCD and SICD exhibited a binomial relationship with latitude (P < 0.01). Soil properties accounted for the greatest variation in SOCD, with the most important explanatory factor being exchangeable calcium, followed by mean annual temperature, pH, plant diversity, and silt content. Soil pH and plant diversity were more important in explaining variation in SOCD in the subsoil (> 20 cm depth) than the topsoil. For SICD, soil properties explained the greatest variation at all depths. Soil pH explained the most variance in SICD, followed by exchangeable calcium and mean annual temperature in the topsoil (i.e., 0 – 10 cm and 10 – 20 cm). In the subsoil (i.e., 20 – 30 cm and 30 – 50 cm), exchangeable calcium was the most important predictor, followed by soil organic carbon, mean annual temperature, and pH.ConclusionOur study shows that soil properties are a strong predictor of latitudinal patterns of soil organic and inorganic C in arid and semiarid shrubland ecosystems. We also identified differences in potential drivers of SOCD and SICD with depth, advancing our understanding of large-scale patterns of C storage in arid and semiarid soils.
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7. |
- Li, Xiaojuan, et al.
(författare)
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Latitudinal patterns of light and heavy organic matter fractions in arid and semi-arid soils
- 2022
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Ingår i: Catena. - : Elsevier BV. - 0341-8162. ; 215
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Semi-arid and arid ecosystems are important for the global C cycle. Despite this, it remains unclear how organic matter fractions vary across latitudinal gradients, and what drives this variation, in dry ecosystems. In this study, we sampled soils from 100 sites across a latitudinal gradient in the dry valleys of southwestern China to explore the latitudinal patterns of light fraction organic matter (LFOM) and heavy fraction organic matter (HFOM) at two soil depths (0–10 cm and 10–20 cm). Across the studied gradient, HFOM accounted for a larger fraction of soil organic matter than LFOM. LFOM increased exponentially with increasing latitude at both 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm depths. Heavy fraction organic C increased linearly with increasing latitude at both depths, while heavy fraction organic N only increased with latitude in soils from 10 to 20 cm depth. Latitudinal patterns of LFOM were mainly explained by climate, with the most important driver being mean annual temperature, followed by mean annual precipitation. Soil physicochemical factors – in particular cation exchange capacity and silt content – explained the most variation in HFOM. Total microbial biomass was also important in explaining variation in HFOM, especially in the 10–20 cm soil layer. Overall, our results shed light on the spatial distribution of organic matter fractions in arid and semi-arid regions. We also identify candidate drivers of the variation in LFOM and HFOM in arid and semi-arid regions, finding that climate primarily explains variation in LFOM while soil physiochemistry primarily explains variation in HFOM.
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9. |
- Lu, Yahua, et al.
(författare)
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Engineer Nanoscale Defects into Selective Channels : MOF-Enhanced Li+ Separation by Porous Layered Double Hydroxide Membrane
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nano-Micro Letters. - 2311-6706. ; 15:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two-dimensional (2D) membrane-based ion separation technology has been increasingly explored to address the problem of lithium resource shortage, yet it remains a sound challenge to design 2D membranes of high selectivity and permeability for ion separation applications. Zeolitic imidazolate framework functionalized modified layered double hydroxide (ZIF-8@MLDH) composite membranes with high lithium-ion (Li+) permeability and excellent operational stability were obtained in this work by in situ depositing functional ZIF-8 nanoparticles into the nanopores acting as framework defects in MLDH membranes. The defect-rich framework amplified the permeability of Li+, and the site-selective growth of ZIF-8 in the framework defects bettered its selectivity. Specifically speaking, the ZIF-8@MLDH membranes featured a high permeation rate of Li+ up to 1.73 mol m−2 h−1 and a desirable selectivity of Li+/Mg2+ up to 31.9. Simulations supported that the simultaneously enhanced selectivity and permeability of Li+ are attributed to changes in the type of mass transfer channels and the difference in the dehydration capacity of hydrated metal cations when they pass through nanochannels of ZIF-8. This study will inspire the ongoing research of high-performance 2D membranes through the engineering of defects.
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10. |
- Yang, Chen, et al.
(författare)
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Transforming Hong Kong's warehousing industry with a novel business model : A game-theory analysis
- 2021
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Ingår i: Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing. - : Elsevier BV. - 0736-5845 .- 1879-2537. ; 68
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The booming e-commerce and intense regional competition are pushing the transformation of Hong Kong's warehousing industry towards more automated and efficient. However, this falls into a dilemma when stakeholders do not have enough technical and operational capability (to use advanced facility and systems) or strong motivation (due to high investment and risk). To resolve this, we first propose a new business model in which a third party - the warehousing equipment supplier (WES) is introduced to the current business between the warehouse owner (WO) and the user. The WO and WES own different advantages, complement each other and have the potential to "make the pie bigger" and promote the transformation. Then we utilize cooperative game-theory approaches (the Cournot game and the Shapley value) to explore the possible equilibrium in the new business model on profit distribution, the essential conditions for this new model to succeed and what factors that determine and affect the efficiency of the game. The experiments using the real data set show that market demand and its sensitivity to service quality, service price, price elasticity, etc. can exert impacts on the co-operative surplus and lead to the feasibility/infeasibility of the business model.
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