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The rare‐earth chalcogenide Er2Te3, characterized by its low lattice thermal conductivity, represents a highly promising and innovative thermoelectric material. However, there have been limited studies exploring its thermoelectric properties in depth. Additionally, it has been discovered that strain engineering is an effective method for enhancing thermoelectric properties, a technique successfully applied to relevant materials. In this study, we employed a first‐principles approach in conjunction with the semi‐classical Boltzmann transport theory to investigate the thermoelectric properties of Er2Te3 materials under −4% to 4% strain. The results indicate that applying compressive strain modulates thermoelectric properties more effectively than tensile strain for Er2Te3. Under strain modulation, the maximum power factor for both p‐type and n‐type Er2Te3 increases significantly, from 0.9 to 2.5 mW m−1 K−2 and from 14 to 18 mW m−1 K−2 at 300 K, respectively. Moreover, the figure of merit (ZT) for p‐type and n‐type Er2Te3 improves notably, from 0.15 to 0.25 and from 1.15 to 1.35, respectively, under −4% strain. Consequently, the thermoelectric properties of Er2Te3 materials can be significantly enhanced through strain application, with n‐type Er2Te3 demonstrating substantial potential as a thermoelectric material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With two well‐validated aging measures capturing mortality and morbidity risk, this study examined whether and to what extent aging mediates the associations of unhealthy lifestyles with adverse health outcomes. Methods: Data were from 405,944 adults (40–69 years) from UK Biobank (UKB) and 9972 adults (20–84 years) from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). An unhealthy lifestyles score (range: 0–5) was constructed based on five factors (smoking, drinking, physical inactivity, unhealthy body mass index, and unhealthy diet). Two aging measures, Phenotypic Age Acceleration (PhenoAgeAccel) and Biological Age Acceleration (BioAgeAccel) were calculated using nine and seven blood biomarkers, respectively, with a higher value indicating the acceleration of aging. The outcomes included incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), incident cancer, and all‐cause mortality in UKB; CVD mortality, cancer mortality, and all‐cause mortality in NHANES. A general linear regression model, Cox proportional hazards model, and formal mediation analysis were performed. Results: The unhealthy lifestyles score was positively associated with PhenoAgeAccel (UKB: β = 0.741; NHANES: β = 0.874, all p < 0.001). We further confirmed the respective associations of PhenoAgeAccel and unhealthy lifestyles with the outcomes in UKB and NHANES. The mediation proportion of PhenoAgeAccel in associations of unhealthy lifestyles with incident CVD, incident cancer, and all‐cause mortality were 20.0%, 17.8%, and 26.6% (all p < 0.001) in UKB, respectively. Similar results were found in NHANES. The findings were robust when using another aging measure—BioAgeAccel. Conclusions: Accelerated aging partially mediated the associations of lifestyles with CVD, cancer, and mortality in UK and US populations. The findings reveal a novel pathway and the potential of geroprotective programs in mitigating health inequality in late life beyond lifestyle interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theoretical calculations are used to find that D-π-A-π-A style conjugated polymer PC-TBTBT is more efficient for solar cells application than the D-π-A analog PC-TBT because the D-π-A-π-A structure has a narrower band gap and higher molar absorption coefficient and redshift spectrum. Motivated by the theoretical prediction, 5,6-bis(octyloxy)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole and 2,7-carbazole are adopted to synthesize the D-π-A-π-A style PC-TBTBT (Mw = 31.1 kDa) and D-π-A analog PC-TBT (Mw = 87.5 kDa) by Suzuki coupling reaction. Experimental results confirm that D-π-A-π-A PC-TBTBT -based solar cell shows a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.74% with high V OC of 0.99 V and enhanced J SC of 9.70 mA cm-2. The PCE and JSC achieve improvements of 17% and 26%, respectively, compared to the D-π-A PC-TBT -based solar cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Back Cover: Solar energy is one key direction for solving world energy needs. Theoretical models are used to find that D–π–A–π–A style conjugated polymer is more efficient for solar cell applications than the classical D–π–A structure. Therefore, benzothiadiazole‐carbazole based conjugated polymers PC‐TBT and PC‐TBTBT are investigated and experimentally confirm this prediction. Further details can be found in the article by M. Zhou, M. Wang, L. Zhu, Z. Yang, C. Jiang, D. Cao,* Q. Li* on page 2156. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]