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In recent decades, the demand for clean and renewable energy has grown increasingly urgent due to the irreversible alteration of the global climate change. As a result, organic solar cells (OSCs) have emerged as a promising alternative to address this issue. In this review, we summarize the recent progress in the molecular design strategies of benzodithiophene (BDT)‐based polymer and small molecule donor materials since their birth, focusing on the development of main‐chain engineering, side‐chain engineering and other unique molecular design paths. Up to now, the state‐of‐the‐art power conversion efficiency (PCE) of binary OSCs prepared by BDT‐based donor materials has approached 20%. This work discusses the potential relationship between the molecular changes of donor materials and photoelectric performance in corresponding OSC devices in detail, thereby presenting a rational molecular design guidance for stable and efficient donor materials in future. This summary diagram comprehensively and reasonably reviews the evolution of BDT‐based donor materials over the last 20 years by subdividing the molecular design strategies of main‐chain engineering, side‐chain engineering as well as other engineering based on the detailed molecular structure of BDT‐based polymer donors and small molecule donors.

The high non-radiative energy loss is a bottleneck issue that impedes the improvement of organic solar cells. The formation of triplet exciton is thought to be the main source of the large non-radiative energy loss. Decreasing the rate of back charge transfer is considered as an effective approach to alleviate the relaxation of the charge-transfer state and the triplet exciton generation. Herein, we develops an efficient ternary system based on D18:N3-BO:F-BTA3 by regulating the charge-transfer state disorder and the rate of back charge transfer of the blend. With the addition of F-BTA3, a well-defined morphology with a more condensed molecular packing is obtained. Moreover, a reduced charge-transfer state disorder is demonstrated in the ternary blend, which decreases the rate of back charge transfer as well as the triplet exciton formation, and therefore hinders the non-radiative recombination pathways. Consequently, D18:N3-BO:F-BTA3-based device produces a low non-radiative energy loss of 0.183 eV and a record-high efficiency of 20.25%. This work not only points towards the significant role of the charge-transfer state disorder on the suppression of triplet exciton formation and the non-radiative energy loss, but also provides a valuable insight for enhancing the performance of OSCs. The high non-radiative energy loss is a bottleneck issue for efficient organic solar cells. Here, the authors regulate the charge transfer state disorder and rate of back charge transfer through a ternary system, achieving low non-radiative energy loss of 0.183 eV and device efficiency of 20.25%.

As our understanding of the mechanisms of cancer treatment has increased, a growing number of studies demonstrate pathways through which DNA damage repair (DDR) affects the immune system. At the same time, the varied response of patients to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy has prompted the discovery of various predictive biomarkers and the study of combination therapy. Here, our investigation explores the interactions involved in combination therapy, accompanied by a review that summarizes currently identified and promising predictors of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) that are useful for classifying oncology patients. In addition, this work, which discusses immunogenicity and several components of the tumor immune microenvironment, serves to illustrate the mechanism by which higher response rates and improved efficacy of DDR inhibitors (DDRi) in combination with ICIs are achieved.

HighlightsThe organic optoelectronic synapse achieves unprecedented sound perception on volume, tone and timbre simultaneously.The quantitative relationship between the interfacial layers and synaptic performances is clarified.The neuromorphic systems for sound perception is under highly demanding for the future bioinspired electronics and humanoid robots. However, the sound perception based on volume, tone and timbre remains unknown. Herein, organic optoelectronic synapses (OOSs) are constructed for unprecedented sound recognition. The volume, tone and timbre of sound can be regulated appropriately by the input signal of voltages, frequencies and light intensities of OOSs, according to the amplitude, frequency, and waveform of the sound. The quantitative relation between recognition factor (ζ) and postsynaptic current (I = Ilight − Idark) is established to achieve sound perception. Interestingly, the bell sound for University of Chinese Academy of Sciences is recognized with an accuracy of 99.8%. The mechanism studies reveal that the impedance of the interfacial layers play a critical role in the synaptic performances. This contribution presents unprecedented artificial synapses for sound perception at hardware levels.

π-Conjugated polymers (CPs) have broad applications in high-performance optoelectronics, energy storage, sensors and biomedicine. However, developing green and efficient methods to precisely synthesize alternating CP structures on a large scale remains challenging and critical for their industrialization. Here a room-temperature, scalable and homogeneous Suzuki–Miyaura-type polymerization reaction is developed with broad generality validated for 24 CPs including donor–donor, donor–acceptor and acceptor–acceptor connectivities, yielding device-quality polymers with high molecular masses. Furthermore, the polymerization protocol significantly reduces homocoupling structural defects, yielding more structurally regular and higher-performance electronic materials and optoelectronic devices than conventional thermally activated polymerizations. Experimental and theoretical studies reveal that a borate transmetalation process plays a key role in suppressing protodeboronation, which is critical for large-scale structural regularity. Thus, these results provide a general polymerization tool for the scalable production of device-quality CPs with alternating structural regularity. A general process for a room-temperature, homogeneous Suzuki–Miyaura-type polymerization is reported, demonstrating a route for the scalable production of device-quality conjugated polymers.

Growing evidence suggests that protocadherins (PCDH) play crucial roles in pathogenesis and progression of cancers, including gastric cancer (GC). Protocadherin‐8 (PCDH8) was previously reported to be involved in metastasis of GC, but functional studies yielded inconsistent results and the molecular mechanism remained unknown. The present study aimed to explore the clinical relevance, function and molecular mechanism of PCDH8 in GC. Data from the GEPIA and Kaplan–Meier plotter databases showed that high expression of PCDH8 was significantly correlated with poorer prognosis in GC. Ectopic expression of PCDH8 in GC cells promoted invasion and migration in vitro and metastasis in vivo, and knockdown of PCDH8 inhibited invasion and migration in vitro. RNA sequencing followed by gene set enrichment analysis found a remarkable enrichment in the extracellular matrix receptor interaction pathway, with the expression of laminin subunit γ2 (LAMC2) being significantly increased in the PCDH8‐overexpressing group. High expression of LAMC2 was significantly correlated to poor prognosis in GC in GEPIA database. Upregulation of LAMC2 following PCDH8 overexpression was further confirmed by immunohistochemistry in liver metastatic lesions of nude mice. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the metastasis‐enhancing property and molecular mechanism through upregulation of LAMC2 of PCDH8 in cancer. High expression of PCDH8 could be used as a biomarker for poor prognosis in clinical practice. Protocadherin‐8 promotes invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer through up‐regulation of laminin subunit γ2. High expression of protocadherin is associated with poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains the third most commonly diagnosed cancer, ranking second among the most common causes of cancer-related mortality. Immune checkpoint therapy has recently been shown to have great potential. However, only some patients respond to immune checkpoint blockade, indicating the unmet need for determining the underlying mechanism of colorectal cancer immunosuppression. In this study, we analyzed The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets and found that high expression of PIPKIγ positively correlated with tumor-associated macrophage infiltration. Further loss-of-function studies revealed that silencing PIPKIγ greatly reduced CCL2 expression at both the mRNA and protein levels, leading to weak chemotaxis of cancer cells to macrophages. Mechanistically, PIPKIγ facilitated PI3K-Akt-mTOR signaling pathway activation to increase STAT3 phosphorylation levels, thus triggering CCL2 transcription to enhance tumor-associated macrophage recruitment. These findings identify the PIPKIγ signaling pathway as a new actor in colorectal cancer immunosuppression and a potential therapeutic target for this common cancer.

This study investigated the effect of the interaction between ultrafine slag powder (USL) and limestone (LS) on the rheology behavior, microstructure, and fractal features of UHPC. The results indicated that B2 with mass ratio of 2:1 between the USL and LS obtained the highest compressive strength and the lowest yield stress. The combination of the USL and LS facilitated the cement hydration, ettringite, and monocarboaluminate (Mc) formation, as well as the increase in the polymerization of the C–S–H. The synergistic action between the USL and LS refined the pore structure due to the formation of the Mc, compensating for the consumption of the CH by the pozzolanic reaction, which provided a denser microstructure in the UHPC. The fractal dimension (Ds) of the UHPC was strongly related to the concrete pore structures and the compressive strength, which demonstrated that a new metric called the Ds value may be used to assess the synergistic effect of the UHPC.

In the article titled “PIPKIγ Regulates CCL2 Expression in Colorectal Cancer by Activating AKT-STAT3 Signaling” [1], the Acknowledgments section should read as follows: