Age-related changes in the mitochondrial, synthesis of steroids, and cellular homeostasis of the chicken ovary.

In poultry reproduction, the decline of ovarian function due to aging is related to dysfunction of mitochondria exacerbated by a reduction in antioxidant capacity, ultimately leading to follicle atresia and decreased egg production. However, the mechanisms of mitochondrial dysfunction in the chicken ovary in aging have remained to be understood. Hence, this study aims to investigate the effects of aging on mitochondrial function and cellular homeostasis. We collect ovarian tissue, small white follicles (SWF), large white follicles (LWF), and small yellow follicles (SYF) from three different laying periods of hens. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results showed that mitochondrial damage occurred in ovarian tissue during the late laying period (LP), characterized by structural swelling, scattered mitochondrial cristae, and an increase in the vacuoles. At the same time, with age, the synthesis of steroid hormones in the ovaries and follicular tissues is reduced. The levels of autophagy and cell apoptosis in ovarian tissues were both increased in the LP. In addition, aging adversely impacts mitochondrial function, leading to a decrease in mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) functions. This study will expand the knowledge about regressing ovarian aging in hens and increasing egg production in older layers for poultry production.

Intermolecular Interactions, Morphology, and Photovoltaic Patterns in p-i-n Heterojunction Solar Cells With Fluorine-Substituted Organic Photovoltaic Materials.

During the layer-by-layer (LBL) processing of polymer solar cells (PSCs), the swelling and molecule interdiffusion are essential for achieving precise, controllable vertical morphology, and thus efficient PSCs. However, the influencing mechanism of material properties on morphology and correlated device performance has not been paid much attention. Herein, a series of fluorinated/non-fluorinated polymer donors (PBDB-T and PBDB-TF) and non-fullerene acceptors (ITIC, IT-2F, and IT-4F) are employed to investigate the performance of LBL devices. The impacts of fluorine substitution on the repulsion and miscibility between the donor and acceptor, as well as the molecular arrangement of the donor/acceptor and the vertical distribution of the LBL devices are systematically explored by the measurement of donor/acceptor Flory-Huggins interaction parameters, spectroscopic ellipsometry, and neutron reflectivity, respectively. With efficient charge transfer due to the ideal vertical and horizon morphology properties, devices based on PBDB-TF/IT-4F exhibit the highest fill factors (FFs) as well as champion power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). With this guidance, high-performance LBL devices with PCE of 17.2%, 18.5%, and 19.1% are obtained by the fluorinated blend of PBDB-TF/Y6, PBDB-TF/L8-BO, and D18/L8-BO respectively.

Heat enhances the inhibitory effect of lipopolysaccharide on duck granulosa cell proliferation and steroid biosynthesis in vitro.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) reduces the reproductive performance of laying ducks, especially during the hot summer months. To study the underlying mechanisms, we investigated the effects of different LPS concentrations and heat on duck granulosa cell (GC) proliferation and steroid biosynthesis in vitro. We investigated GC proliferation, secretion, and activation of the MAPK pathway. The cell cycle results showed that LPS treatment alone did not significantly affect cell proliferation, whereas the mRNA expression levels of IGF2, IGFBP2, and CyclinD1 were downregulated and p27kip1 was significantly upregulated after 2000 ng/mL LPS treatment when compared to untreated cells. In steroid hormone synthesis, although LPS increased the expression of most steroid biosynthesis genes, it inhibited the expression of CYP11A1 at high LPS concentrations. High temperatures enhanced the inhibitory effect of LPS on the expression of proliferation-promoting genes. Heat significantly reduced CYP11A1 and CYP19A1 expression. In addition, the phosphorylation of P38 was significantly upregulated by high temperatures combined with LPS, whereas the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and JNK was downregulated. The relative protein expression of Bax/BCL-2 was upregulated at high temperatures in combination with LPS. Heat treatment enhanced the inhibitory effects of LPS on the proliferation and hormone biosynthesis of duck GCs in vitro.

Uncovering the out-of-plane nanomorphology of organic photovoltaic bulk heterojunction by GTSAXS.

The bulk morphology of the active layer of organic solar cells (OSCs) is known to be crucial to the device performance. The thin film device structure breaks the symmetry into the in-plane direction and out-of-plane direction with respect to the substrate, leading to an intrinsic anisotropy in the bulk morphology. However, the characterization of out-of-plane nanomorphology within the active layer remains a grand challenge. Here, we utilized an X-ray scattering technique, Grazing-incident Transmission Small-angle X-ray Scattering (GTSAXS), to uncover this new morphology dimension. This technique was implemented on the model systems based on fullerene derivative (P3HT:PC71BM) and non-fullerene systems (PBDBT:ITIC, PM6:Y6), which demonstrated the successful extraction of the quantitative out-of-plane acceptor domain size of OSC systems. The detected in-plane and out-of-plane domain sizes show strong correlations with the device performance, particularly in terms of exciton dissociation and charge transfer. With the help of GTSAXS, one could obtain a more fundamental perception about the three-dimensional nanomorphology and new angles for morphology control strategies towards highly efficient photovoltaic devices.

Electrolyte/Dye/TiO2 Interfacial Structures of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Revealed by In Situ Neutron Reflectometry with Contrast Matching.

The nature of an interfacial structure buried within a device assembly is often critical to its function. For example, the dye/TiO2 interfacial structure that comprises the working electrode of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) governs its photovoltaic output. These structures have been determined outside of the DSC device, using ex situ characterization methods; yet, they really should be probed while held within a DSC since they are modulated by the device environment. Dye/TiO2 structures will be particularly influenced by a layer of electrolyte ions that lies above the dye self-assembly. We show that electrolyte/dye/TiO2 interfacial structures can be resolved using in situ neutron reflectometry with contrast matching. We find that electrolyte constituents ingress into the self-assembled monolayer of dye molecules that anchor onto TiO2. Some dye/TiO2 anchoring configurations are modulated by the formation of electrolyte/dye intermolecular interactions. These electrolyte-influencing structural changes will affect dye-regeneration and electron-injection DSC operational processes. This underpins the importance of this in situ structural determination of electrolyte/dye/TiO2 interfaces within representative DSC device environments.

Quantitative Determination of the Vertical Segregation and Molecular Ordering of PBDB-T/ITIC Blend Films with Solvent Additives.

The vertical component distribution of bulk heterojunction (BHJ) active film shows a significant impact on determining the device performance in polymer solar cells (PSCs). Processing solvent additives are well known for regulating the BHJ active layer morphology; however, there are few reports regarding the quantitative evaluation of the effect. Herein, a study of the quantitative determination of the vertical segregation in combination of molecular ordering of PBDB-T/ITIC blend films with various 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO) contents is provided. A 0.5% (volume ratio) DIO-added blend film achieves the highest power conversion efficiency of 10.75%. The reduced performance of the PSCs resulted from the excessive vertical component segregation and overcrystallization investigated by various techniques. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicates that DIO aggravates the PBDB-T enrichment region at the air side. Neutron reflectivity further quantitatively figures out the phase separation effect. Although increased crystallinity of ITIC and a higher face-on ratio of PBDB-T in active layer were obtained with increased DIO content approved by grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS), the enhanced vertical distribution along with the enhanced crystal size of ITIC leads to the reduced performance of the PSCs due to the reduced carrier transportation paths between donor and acceptor.

Large-scale multiferroic complex oxide epitaxy with magnetically switched polarization enabled by solution processing.

Complex oxides with tunable structures have many fascinating properties, though high-quality complex oxide epitaxy with precisely controlled composition is still out of reach. Here we have successfully developed solution-based single-crystalline epitaxy for multiferroic (1-x)BiTi(1-y)/2Fe y Mg(1-y)/2O3-(x)CaTiO3 (BTFM-CTO) solid solution in large area, confirming its ferroelectricity at the atomic scale with strong spontaneous polarization. Careful compositional tuning leads to a bulk magnetization of 0.07 ± 0.035 µB/Fe at room temperature, enabling magnetically induced polarization switching exhibiting a large magnetoelectric coefficient of 2.7-3.0 × 10-7 s/m. This work demonstrates the great potential of solution processing in large-scale complex oxide epitaxy and establishes novel room-temperature magnetoelectric coupling in epitaxial BTFM-CTO film, making it possible to explore a much wider space of composition, phase, and structure that can be easily scaled up for industrial applications.

Impact of Donor-Acceptor Interaction and Solvent Additive on the Vertical Composition Distribution of Bulk Heterojunction Polymer Solar Cells.

The vertical composition distribution of a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) photoactive layer is known to have dramatic effects on photovoltaic performance in polymer solar cells. However, the vertical composition distribution evolution rules of BHJ films are still elusive. In this contribution, three BHJ film systems, composed of polymer donor PBDB-T, and three different classes of acceptor (fullerene acceptor PCBM, small-molecule acceptor ITIC, and polymer acceptor N2200) are systematically investigated using neutron reflectometry to examine how donor-acceptor interaction and solvent additive impact the vertical composition distribution. Our results show that those three BHJ films possess homogeneous vertical composition distributions across the bulk of the film, while very different composition accumulations near the top and bottom surface were observed, which could be attributed to different repulsion, miscibility, and phase separation between the donor and acceptor components as approved by the measurement of the donor-acceptor Flory-Huggins interaction parameter χ. Moreover, the solvent additive 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO) can induce more distinct vertical composition distribution especially in nonfullerene acceptor-based BHJ films. Thus, higher power conversion efficiencies were achieved in inverted solar cells because of facilitated charge transport in the active layer, improved carrier collection at electrodes, and suppressed charge recombination in BHJ solar cells.

The Microscopic Structure-Property Relationship of Metal-Organic Polyhedron Nanocomposites.

Monodispersed hairy nanocomposites with typical 2 nm (isophthalic acid)24 Cu24 metal-organic polyhedra (MOP) as a core protected by 24 polymer chains with controlled narrow molecular weight distribution has been probed by imaging and scattering studies for the heterogeneity of polymers in the nanocomposites and the confinement effect the MOPs imposing on anchored polymers. Typical confined-extending surrounded by one entanglement area is proposed to describe the physical states of the polymer chains. This model dictates the counterintuitive thermal and rheological properties and prohibited solvent exchange properties of the nanocomposites, whilst those polymer chain states are tunable and deterministic based on their component inputs. From the relationship between the structure and behavior of the MOP nanocomposites, a MOP-composited thermoplastic elastomer was obtained, providing practical solutions to improve mechanical/rheological performances and processabilities of inorganic MOPs.

One-pot synthesis of dual carbon dots using only an N and S co-existed dopant for fluorescence detection of Ag.

Luminescent carbon-based nanoparticles, named often as carbon dots (CDs), were synthesized from citric acid (CA) and guanidine thiocyanate (GITC) via an N and S co-doped hydrothermal procedure. In the present structure characterization, N and S elements could be sufficiently doped by means of the heteroatom or the functional groups bonded on the surface of CDs. The as-prepared CDs solution showed blue color fluorescence under ultraviolet excitation, yet the PL spectra exhibited a repetitive emission process from excitation-independent to excitation-dependent. In view of the triexponential feature of fluorescence lifetimes of CDs, one possibility was proposed to be co-existence of two types of CDs with different surface states. Additionally, the as-prepared CDs were used as a sensing probe for the detection of Ag+ taking into consideration of the possible interactions between Ag+ and various fluorophores attached to the CD surface. As expected, the changes of fluorescence intensities were linearly proportional to the different concentration ranges of Ag+, which suggests the complex nature of the quenching mechanism. And for the first time, the SCN group was found to accelerate the quenching of CDs towards Ag+, promising a new approach for efficient detection of Ag+ for the application in industrial pollutants.

High-Pressure Phases of a S-Based Compound: Dimethyl Sulfide.

The high-pressure behavior of dimethyl sulfide was investigated at room temperature by Raman scattering measurements with pressures up to 30.1 GPa. Phase transitions at 1.3, 3.6-5.8, and 17.2 GPa were found and evidenced by the frequency shifts, pressure coefficients, and changes in fwhm of related modes. These phase transitions were suggested to result from the changes in the inter- and intramolecular bonding of the material. Interestingly, the CH3 groups was compelled to be frozen in positions at a relatively low pressure, suggested by the disappearance of the relative modes softening. In addition, the appearance of lattice mode can also be found at a modest pressure, which makes it possible to gain a superiority for this compound to further investigate the superconductivity with high transition temperatures of bulk hydrogen.

Defect-tuning exchange bias of ferromagnet/antiferromagnet core/shell nanoparticles by numerical study.

The influence of non-magnetic defects on the exchange bias (EB) of ferromagnet (FM)/antiferromagnet (AFM) core/shell nanoparticles is studied by Monte Carlo simulations. It is found that the EB can be tuned by defects in different positions. Defects at both the AFM and FM interfaces reduce the EB field while they enhance the coercive field by decreasing the effective interface coupling. However, the EB field and the coercive field show respectively a non-monotonic and a monotonic dependence on the defect concentration when the defects are located inside the AFM shell, indicating a similar microscopic mechanism to that proposed in the domain state model. These results suggest a way to optimize the EB effect for applications.