Controlling Schottky Barriers and Tunneling Resistances in Metal/CuSe Contacts via van der Waals Interlayers.

Electrode contact properties with two-dimensional (2D) channel materials decisively determine the nanodevice's overall performance. A recently synthesized semiconducting CuSe monolayer has emerged as a promising candidate for high-performance device channels due to its high carrier mobility, excellent environmental stability, and a reversible thermal-driven phase transition accompanied by a direct-to-indirect band-gap variation. Herein, to identify promising high-quality electrodes for CuSe, the contact properties with various metals (Al, Ag, Au, Ni, and Co), as well as the modulation effects of graphene and -BN interlayers, are systematically investigated based on first-principles calculations.

Genome-Wide Identification of Family in U's Triangle Species and Analysis of Its Expression in .

The RasGAP SH3 domain binding protein (G3BP) is a highly conserved family of proteins in eukaryotic organisms that coordinates signal transduction and post-transcriptional gene regulation and functions in the formation of stress granules. G3BPs have important roles in abiotic/biotic stresses in mammals, and recent research suggests that they have similar functions in higher plants. contains many important oilseeds, vegetables, and ornamental plants, but there are no reports on the family in species.

Presolvation Dynamics Preceding the Hydrated Proton Transfer in the Electrical Double Layer.

Hydrated proton transfer (PT) mechanisms in a solid-liquid electric double layer (EDL) remain challenging, as the solvation structure is influenced by the operating potential. Under constant potential framework, we combined the fixed-potential method with molecular dynamics (AIMD) to simulate the PT in the EDL. Near the interface of EDL, negative potential (vs zero-charge potential) promotes the effective diffusion of the excess proton via reducing the proportion of trapping and revisiting processes of PT, but stiffens the hydrogen bond network manifesting as the restriction of water orientation and the elongation of the O···O pairs.

Dual Field Passivation Strategy for High-Performance Wide-Bandgap Perovskite Solar Cells.

Wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells (WBG PSCs) have been receiving increasing focus due to the ideal application in tandem photovoltaics. Nonetheless, WBG perovskites tend to form high-density trap states, causing serious nonradiative recombination and phase segregation, which is detrimental to the efficiency and stability of WBG PSCs. In this work, a dual-field passivation strategy facilitated by isopropylamine hydroiodide (i-PAI) is introduced, in effect, showing both the molecular dipole field passivation and interface electric field passivation.

Ecological evolution in a semi-arid lake: insights from subfossil diatoms and geochemical indicators in Hulun Lake.

Hulun Lake, one of the largest inland lakes in the grassland region of northern China, has undergone distinct ecological changes over the past century due to both natural climatic shifts and human activities. Despite its ecological significance, the long-term drivers behind these changes are still not fully understood, especially the interactions between climate and anthropogenic influences on lake dynamics. To fill this gap, we analyzed sediment core from Hulun Lake, examining subfossil diatom assemblages, geochemical indicators, and sediment characteristics to reconstruct environmental changes and uncover the mechanisms driving them.

Record-setting cyanobacterial bloom in the largest freshwater lake in northern China caused by joint effects of hydrological variations and nutrient enrichment.

Cyanobacterial blooms represent a significant environmental issue posing widespread threats to global aquatic ecological health. Climate and nutrient enrichment were the most studied factors modulating cyanobacterial blooms in eutrophic lakes. However, in many floodplain lakes, the importance of hydrological variation in driving and predicting cyanobacterial blooms is often overlooked and largely underestimated, which has hampered the effectiveness of lake management.

Brassica napus cytochrome P450 superfamily: Origin from parental species and involvement in diseases resistance, abiotic stresses tolerance, and seed quality traits.

Cytochromes P450 monooxygenases (CYP450s) constitute the largest enzymic protein family that is widely present in plants, animals, and microorganisms, participate in numerous metabolic pathways, and play diverse roles in development, metabolism, and defense. Rapeseed (Brassica napus) is an important oil crop worldwide and have many versions of reference genome. However, there is no systemically comparative genome-wide analysis of CYP450 family genes in rapeseed and its parental species B.

Prediction of 2D group-11 chalcogenides: insights into novel auxetic MX (M = Cu, Ag, Au; X = S, Se, Te) monolayers.

Two-dimensional (2D) auxetic materials have recently attracted considerable research interest due to their excellent mechanical properties and diverse applications, surpassing those of three-dimensional (3D) materials. This study focuses on the theoretical prediction of mechanical properties and auxeticity in 2D MX (M = Cu, Ag, Au; X = S, Se, Te) monolayers using first-principles calculations. Our results indicate that the dynamically stable monolayers include low-energy α-CuS, α-CuSe, α-CuTe, β-AgS, β-AgSe, α-AgTe, β-AuS, β-AuSe and α-AuTe.

Electronic properties, skyrmions and bimerons in Janus CrXY (X, Y = S, Se, Te, Cl, Br, I, and X ≠ Y) monolayers.

Using first-principles calculations, we systematically investigate the electronic properties, chiral skyrmions and bimerons in two-dimensional (2D) Janus CrXY (X, Y = S, Se, Te, Cl, Br, I, and X ≠ Y) monolayers. We found that the categories of nonmagnetic atoms (X and Y in CrXY) determine whether CrXY is a ferromagnetic metal or a semiconductor. Unexpectedly, the CrBrS monolayer of these CrXY materials is a room temperature ferromagnetic semiconductor with a Curie temperature of 303 K, and it possesses an off-plane magnetic anisotropy energy of 0.

Application of colloidal photonic crystals in study of organoids.

As alternative disease models, other than 2D cell lines and patient-derived xenografts, organoids have preferable in vivo physiological relevance. However, both endogenous and exogenous limitations impede the development and clinical translation of these organoids. Fortunately, colloidal photonic crystals (PCs), which benefit from favorable biocompatibility, brilliant optical manipulation, and facile chemical decoration, have been applied to the engineering of organoids and have achieved the desirable recapitulation of the ECM niche, well-defined geometrical onsets for initial culture, in situ multiphysiological parameter monitoring, single-cell biomechanical sensing, and high-throughput drug screening with versatile functional readouts.

X-Ray-Induced Drug Release for Cancer Therapy.

Drug delivery systems (DDSs) are designed to deliver therapeutic agents to specific target sites while minimizing systemic toxicity. Recent developments in drug-loaded DDSs have demonstrated promising characteristics and paved new pathways for cancer treatment. Light, a prevalent external stimulus, is widely utilized to trigger drug release.

Genome-wide analysis of fatty acid desaturase genes in chia (Salvia hispanica) reveals their crucial roles in cold response and seed oil formation.

Chia (Salvia hispanica) is a functional food crop with high α-linolenic acid (ALA), the omega-3 essential fatty acid, but its worldwide plantation is limited by cold-intolerance and strict short-photoperiod flowering feature. Fatty acid desaturases (FADs) are responsible for seed oil accumulation, and play important roles in cold stress tolerance of plants. To date, there is no report on systemically genome-wide analysis of FAD genes in chia (ShiFADs).

Engineering the Staple Oil Crop Enriched with α-Linolenic Acid Using the Perilla - Fusion Gene.

Modern people generally suffer from α-linolenic acid (ALA) deficiency, since most staple food oils are low in ALA content. Thus, the enhancement of ALA in staple oil crops is of importance. In this study, the and coding regions from the ALA-king species were fused using a newly designed double linker LP4-2A, driven by a seed-specific promoter P, and engineered into a rapeseed elite cultivar ZS10 with canola quality background.

Downregulation of () increases biomass growth and disease susceptibility remodeling phytohormone, chlorophyll, shikimate and lignin levels.

MYB transcription factors are major actors regulating plant development and adaptability. is a staple oil crop and is hampered by lodging and diseases. Here, four () genes were cloned and functionally characterized.

Tunable Schottky contacts in graphene/XAuY (X, Y = Se, Te) heterostructures.

Graphene-based (G-based) heterostructures have recently attracted considerable research interest in the field of two-dimensional nanodevices owing to their superior properties compared with those of separate monolayers. In this study, the electronic properties and Schottky barrier heights (SBHs) of G/XAuY (X, Y = Se, Te) heterostructures were systematically analyzed through first-principles calculations. G/SeAuSe, G/SeAuTe, and G/TeAuSe are n-type Schottky contacts with = 0.

Strain-induced magnetic phase transition, magnetic anisotropy switching and bilayer antiferromagnetic skyrmions in van der Waals magnet CrTe.

In recent years, considerable attention has been paid to the research of peculiar magnetism in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) layered materials. Here, we unveil the major features and deep physical mechanisms of a magnetic phase transition and magnetic anisotropy switching in monolayer CrTe and antiferromagnetic (AFM) skyrmions in bilayer CrTe first-principles calculations and micromagnetic simulations. We find that a magnetic phase transition from stripy-type AFM to ferromagnetic (FM) order can be induced by applying a tensile strain of 3%.

Topological phase transition and skyrmions in a Janus MnSbBiSeTe monolayer.

Using first-principles calculations and micro-magnetic simulations, we propose a Janus MnSbBiSeTe (MSBST) monolayer derived from the MnBiTe (MBT) ferromagnet and investigate the influence of biaxial strain on the electronic structures, topological characteristics and spin textures. Different from pristine MBT with an out-of-plane easy axis, the anisotropy of MSBST prefers an in-plane direction. Intriguingly, switching the easy axis direction of MSBST will significantly modify the band structure.

Spontaneous magnetic merons in a half-metallic MnIBr monolayer with easy-plane anisotropy.

In recent years, great effort has been made in the study of two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals ferromagnets that can stabilize peculiar chiral spin textures, such as magnetic skyrmions and merons. Here, by first-principles calculations and micromagnetic simulations, we systematically investigate the in-plane magnetic anisotropy, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) and magnetic merons in a MnIBr monolayer. MnIBr exhibits half-metallic behavior with a large band gap (∼2.

Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of Gene Family in Rapeseed () Reveals Their Critical Roles in Biotic and Abiotic Stress Responses.

Non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs) are small cysteine-rich basic proteins which play essential roles in plant growth, development and abiotic/biotic stress response. However, there is limited information about the gene () family in rapeseed (). In this study, 283 genes were identified in rapeseed, which were distributed randomly in 19 chromosomes of rapeseed.

Porous Silicon Nanocarriers with Stimulus-Cleavable Linkers for Effective Cancer Therapy.

Porous silicon nanoparticles (pSiNPs) are widely utilized as drug carriers due to their excellent biocompatibility, large surface area, and versatile surface chemistry. However, the dispersion in pore size and biodegradability of pSiNPs arguably have hindered the application of pSiNPs for controlled drug release. Here, a step-changing solution to this problem is described involving the design, synthesis, and application of three different linker-drug conjugates comprising anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) and different stimulus-cleavable linkers (SCLs) including the photocleavable linker (ortho-nitrobenzyl), pH-cleavable linker (hydrazone), and enzyme-cleavable linker (β-glucuronide).

Progress on the Physiological Function of Mitochondrial DNA and Its Specific Detection and Therapy.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is the genetic information of mitochondrion, and its structure is circular double-stranded. Despite the diminutive size of the mitochondrial genome, mtDNA mutations are an important cause of mitochondrial diseases which are characterized by defects in oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Mitochondrial diseases are involved in multiple systems, particularly in the organs that are highly dependent on aerobic metabolism.

Effect of three different proteases on horsemeat tenderness during postmortem aging.

In this study, the semitendinosus of horse meat was used as the raw material. The study assessed the variation of the tenderness of horse meat during postmortem aging through the injection of papain, bromelain and fungal protease. The cooking loss of the horse meat became worse during postmortem aging.

Recent Advances in Chemical Biology of Mitochondria Targeting.

Mitochondria are vital subcellular organelles that generate most cellular chemical energy, regulate cell metabolism and maintain cell function. Mitochondrial dysfunction is directly linked to numerous diseases including neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes, thyroid squamous disease, cancer and septicemia. Thus, the design of specific mitochondria-targeting molecules and the realization of real-time acquisition of mitochondrial activity are powerful tools in the study and treatment of mitochondria dysfunction in related diseases.