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The thin film deposition engineering of layer‐by‐layer (LbL) non‐fullerene organic solar cells (OSCs) favors vertical phase distributions of donor:acceptor (D:A), effectively boosting the power conversion efficiency (PCE). However, previous deposition strategies mainly aimed at optimizing the morphology of LbL films, and paid limited attention to the reproducibility of device performance. To achieve high device performance and maintain reproducibility, a strategy for hierarchical morphology manipulation in LbL OSCs is developed. A series of LbL devices are fabricated by introducing vacuum‐assisted molecular drift treatment (VMDT) to the donor or acceptor layer individually or simultaneously to elucidate the functionalities of this treatment. Essentially, the VMDT provides an extended drift driving force to manipulate the donor and acceptor molecules, resulting in a well‐defined vertical phase distribution and ordered molecular packing. These enhancements facilitate improvement in the D:A interface area and charge transport channel, ultimately contributing to impressive PCEs of 19.18% from 18.27% in the LbL devices. More importantly, using VMDT overcomes the notorious batch‐dependent and heat treatment degradation issues of OSCs, leading to excellent batch‐to‐batch reproducibility and enhanced stability of the devices. This reported method provides a promising strategy available for industrial and laboratory use to controllably manipulate the morphology of LbL OSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tetrahymenosis, caused by about 10 Tetrahymena species, is an emerging problem inflicting a significant economic loss on the aquaculture industry worldwide. However, in the order Tetrahymenida, there are many unresolved evolutionary relationships among taxa. Here we report 21 new sequences, including SSU‐rRNA, ITS1‐5.8S‐ITS2 rRNA and LSU‐rRNA, genes of 10 facultative parasitic Tetrahymena associated with tetrahymenosis, and conduct phylogenetic analyses based on each individual gene and a three‐gene concatenated dataset. The main findings are: (1) All the parasitic and facultative parasitic species cluster in borealis group. (2) With the addition of new sequences, Tetrahymena is still divided into three groups, namely the "borealis group", the "australis group," and the "paravorax group." (3) the cluster pattern of all the newly sequenced facultative parasitic Tetrahymena species shows that members of the "borealis" group may be more susceptible to parasitism. (4) phylogeny based on concatenated genes show that T. pyriformis, T. setosa, and T. leucophrys have close relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accumulation of plastic wastes in landfills and the environment threatens our environment and public health, while leading to the loss of potential carbon resources. The urgent necessary lies in developing an energy‐saving and environmentally benign approach to upgrade plastic into value‐added chemicals. Artificial photosynthesis holds the ability to realize plastic upcycling by using endless solar energy under mild conditions, but remains in the initial stage for plastic upgrading. In this review, we aim to look critically at the photocatalytic conversion of plastic wastes from the perspective of resource reutilization. To begin with, we present the emerging conversion routes for plastic wastes and highlight the advantages of artificial photosynthesis for processing plastic wastes. By parsing photocatalytic plastic conversion process, we demonstrate the currently available routes for processing plastic, including plastic photodegradation, tandem decomposition of plastic and CO2 reduction, selective plastic oxidation, as well as photoreforming of plastic. This review concludes with a personal perspective for potential advances and emerging challenges in photocatalytic plastic conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four oil‐soluble ionic liquids (ILs) with different structures were synthesised: N88816‐Doss (N/S), P88816‐Doss (P/S), N88816 phosphate (N/P) and P88816 phosphate (P/P). The effects of the four ILs synthesised with conventional lubricating additives isobutylene sulfide (T321), zinc dialkyl dithiophosphate (ZDDP) and tricresyl phosphate (T306) as PAO10 additives on the physicochemical properties of the prepared oil samples were systematically investigated at the same dosing rates. The antifriction and antiwear properties and extreme pressure performance of oil samples prepared by four ILs and three conventional additives were investigated by a four‐ball friction and a wear testing machine. The results showed that P/S improved the thermal stability of PAO10. The addition of N/S significantly improved the tribological performance of PAO10 at room temperature and under heavy loading. The coefficient of friction was reduced by 90%, the wear spot diameter is decreased by 28%, the last non‐seizure load PB is doubled, and the resistance to sintering did not improve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Probiotics supplementation reinstates microbiome diversity and improves brain function, including memory and learning abilities, although the molecular mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. In the current study, we investigated the effects of orally supplemented Bifidobacterium breve MCC1274 (B. breve MCC1274, synonym B. breve A1) on memory impairment and Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis in amyloid precursor protein knock‐in (APP‐KI) mice, (AppNL‐G‐F). Method: Three‐month‐old AppNL‐G‐F mice were orally supplemented with B. breve MCC1274 for four months. Novel object recognition test was used to evaluate memory‐ameliorating effect of B. breve MCC1274. Amyloid plaques, Aβ levels, amyloid precursor protein (APP) and its processing enzymes, its metabolic products, and glial activity were assessed by immunohistochemistry, Aβ ELISA, Western blotting, and immunofluorescence staining. The mRNA expression levels of neuroinflammatory cytokines determined by quantitative RT‐PCR analysis. Result: Oral supplementation of B. breve MCC1274 rescued cognitive deficits in AppNL‐G‐F mice and down‐regulated hippocampal Aβ40 and Aβ42 levels via the enhancement of non‐amyloidogenic processing of APP, resulting from the enhancement of a‐disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 (ADAM10) protein level. Moreover, oral supplementation of B. breve MCC1274 activated the ERK/HIF‐1α signaling pathway, which is responsible for the enhancement of ADAM10 level. In addition, oral supplementation ofB. breve MCC1274 attenuated microglial activation, which in turn led to down‐regulation of the neuroinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) and IL‐1β mRNA expression levels in the brain. Moreover, B. breve MCC1274 supplementation increased postsynaptic protein levels in the hippocampus. Conclusion: Our study sheds light on the mechanism by which oral supplementation of B. breve MCC1274 reduced Aβ production and deposition through the enhancement of ERK‐HIF‐1α‐ADAM10 signaling pathway, consequently rescuing cognitive deficits. Therefore, our findings suggest that oral supplementation of B. breve MCC1274 could be used as a potential therapy for preventing AD progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ageing and fertility are intertwined. Germline loss extends the lifespan in various organisms, termed gonadal longevity. However, the original longevity signal from the somatic gonad remains poorly understood. Here, we focused on the interaction between germline stem cells (GSCs) and their niche, the distal tip cells (DTCs), to explore the barely known longevity signal from the somatic gonad in C. elegans. We found that removing germline disrupts the cell adhesions between GSC and DTC, causing a significant transcriptomic change in DTC through hmp-2/β-catenin and two GATA transcription factors, elt-3 and pqm-1 in this niche cell. Inhibiting elt-3 and pqm-1 in DTC suppresses gonadal longevity. Moreover, we further identified the TGF-β ligand, tig-2, as the cytokine from DTC upon the loss of germline, which evokes the downstream gonadal longevity signalling throughout the body. Our findings thus reveal the source of the longevity signalling in response to germline removal, highlighting the stem cell niche as a critical signalling hub in ageing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]