Organic solar cells hold great promise for next-generation photovoltaics, yet their practical deployment is impeded by intrinsic morphological and interfacial limitations that compromise device performance and stability. Herein, we introduce a vacuum-induced interfacial compaction strategy that forms smooth, compact, and strongly adhered multilayer films without conventional thermal or solvent annealing, by promoting dense stacking, suppressing interfacial voids, and improving overall interfacial integrity. Consequently, corresponding devices achieve power conversion efficiencies of 20.51% for rigid and 19.13% for flexible devices, together with a high yield. Notably, device with an active area of 1.0 cm2 and a module with an area of 15.7 cm2 fabricated with this strategy deliver efficiencies of 19.04% and 17.48%, respectively. Upon further scaling the module area to 67.2 cm2, a high efficiency of 15.37% is still attained. These results establish the vacuum-induced interfacial compaction strategy as a feasible route toward durable, high-performance organic solar cells.

Micro-mesoporous Ti-MWW zeolites with a hierarchical structure were synthesized to overcome the diffusion limitations in the epoxidation reaction involving large-molecules. One-pot dissolution-recrystallization process of three-dimensional Ti-MWW constructed bimodal pores and abundant Ti sites on the external surface of Ti-MWW, which were efficient for cumene hydroperoxide-based propylene epoxidation to propylene oxide (PO), achieving a high PO yield as 91%, far superior to the sole 35% performance value afforded by the pristine Ti-MWW catalyst. Poisoning experiments confirm that the reaction predominantly occurs on the external surface. The recrystallization process further increases the fraction of open Ti sites, boosting epoxidation activity. Moreover, the robust zeolite framework endowed superior stability compared to the conventional mesoporous titanosilicate catalysts, remaining high activity under harsh conditions.

Comparative proteomic analysis of donkey milk extracellular vesicles isolated by ultracentrifugation and ultrafast isolation systems.

The spiraling whitefly, Aleurodicus dispersus Russell, is an invasive and polyphagous pest posing a serious challenge to eggplant production in tropical agroecosystems, with increasing relevance across warm regions worldwide, where insecticide use can result in unintended toxicological effects on nontarget arthropods. Field experiments were conducted over two consecutive cropping seasons using a randomized block design with three replications to evaluate the efficacy and toxicological selectivity of nine commonly used insecticides against A. dispersus, with particular emphasis on impacts on aphelinid parasitoids (Encarsia spp.) and key arthropod predators (Cybocephalus sp., Mallada astur and Scymnus coccivora) and fruit yield under field-relevant exposure conditions. Insecticide applications significantly affected posttreatment whitefly abundance, parasitism (general, unidentified) and predator populations, with treatment effects consistently exceeding seasonal effects. Per cent reduction analyses revealed pronounced differences among insecticides in both whitefly suppression (48.2%-89.6%) and nontarget toxicity. Acetamiprid, buprofezin and thiamethoxam exhibited relatively higher toxicological selectivity, whereas acephate, thiacloprid and thiodicarb showed broader nontarget impacts. Univariate (ANCOVA/ANOVA-based) analyses identified clear treatment-wise differences, while multivariate analyses integrating target and nontarget responses clearly distinguished insecticides with relatively selective toxicological profiles from broad-spectrum compounds, supported by selectivity and field safety indices. Fruit yield differed significantly among treatments (18.5-30.8 t ha-1) but not between seasons, and higher yields were generally associated with effective whitefly suppression combined with reduced nontarget impacts. Insecticides exhibiting favourable efficacy-selectivity trade-offs produced stable yield advantages across seasons. These findings demonstrate that insecticide performance against A. dispersus in eggplant is best assessed through integrative (combined univariate and multivariate), field-based toxicological frameworks rather than pest mortality alone, providing field-based evidence to inform aware insecticide selection applicable across vegetable production systems.

We report a facile one-pot synthetic strategy for producing CdSe/Cd1-xZnxS core/shell nanoplatelets (NPLs) with a chemical composition gradient, enabled by the introduction of halide ions, which promote the formation of a uniform-thickness shell. The use of a compositionally graded shell eliminates abrupt interfaces between the core and shell, leading to both high photoluminescence quantum yield and enhanced photostability. This graded shell architecture also induces significant Stokes shift, particularly due to heterogeneous growth of the NPL vertices, thereby effectively suppressing self-absorption. By varying the halide precursor concentration, both the emission wavelength and shell uniformity can be finely tuned, while the Auger recombination rate is significantly reduced with increasing shell thickness. Furthermore, we introduce an Al-doped ZnS outer shell that functions as a robust inorganic diffusion barrier, markedly enhancing resistance to photo-oxidation by effectively blocking oxygen and moisture penetration. Together, the halide-assisted graded shell and Al-doped outer passivation enable the direct synthesis of thick NPLs with optimized electronic structure and long-term stability, making them promising candidates for optoelectronic applications such as light-emitting diodes and laser devices.

Organic semiconductor thin-film lasers hold broad application prospects. High-quality organic films can effectively reduce optical losses in the gain medium, thereby enhancing the operational efficiency and stability of the devices. However, due to the occurrence of postgrowth evolution, organic thin films may undergo morphological and structural degradation over time, resulting in additional optical loss. Here, we propose a strategy to suppress thin-film failure through the control of postgrowth evolution from phase transition and crystallization. We synthesize two pyrene-based derivatives, which are employed as host and guest materials to construct a host-guest luminescent system. This system is systematically compared with a conventional system using CBP as the host material. Experimental results show that both doped systems achieve high photoluminescence quantum yields and ultralow ASE thresholds (less than 1 μJ cm-2) in thin films. We analyze the temporal evolution of the morphological and optical gain properties of the two film systems. It is found that the CBP-based films undergo severe morphological degradation in a short period due to crystallization and phase separation, completely losing their optical gain capability. In contrast, the pyrene-based host-guest film maintains high morphological integrity after more than 20 days of storage, exhibiting only localized microcrystallization, while the ASE threshold remains consistently lower than 10 μJ cm-2, demonstrating significantly enhanced material durability and application potential.

Fluorescence-based bioimaging enables noninvasive visualization of molecular and cellular processes with high sensitivity and without ionizing radiation. However, conventional fluorophores emitting in the visible or near-red infrared I (NIR-I) (650-800nm) regions suffer from limited tissue penetration and scattering. Extending fluorescence emission into the deeper NIR region represents a promising strategy to overcome these drawbacks, yet achieving high brightness and stability in organic dyes remains a major challenge. We report an original family of hetero-substituted-fused boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes bearing carbazole and thienyl donors that exhibit record brightness and emission maxima up to 852nm in toluene. The synthetic route combines successive Stille couplings from a 2,6-dibromo-3,5-diiodo-BODIPY precursor and an unprecedented silver(I)-mediated oxidative cyclization, affording high yields and suppressing undesired chlorination. The resulting dyes display intense absorption (ε = 1.8-2.5 × 105 M- 1 cm- 1) and exceptional fluorescence quantum yields (Φ up to 0.73). Encapsulation in silica nanoparticles (NPs) preserves their photophysical properties and enables efficient NIR-II in vivo imaging in mice, allowing tumor detection at doses as low as 0.2nmol with tumor-to-muscle ratios > 4. These fused BODIPY derivatives rank among the brightest NIR fluorophores reported to date and open new avenues for high-contrast deep-tissue imaging and image-guided surgery.

Xinjiang is the major cotton-producing region in China, and identifying core germplasm with disease resistance, high yield, and high seed index is of great significance for guiding local cotton production and breeding practices. Using 182 upland cotton germplasm accessions, we systematically investigated Verticillium wilt (caused by Verticillium dahliae) disease index, yield, and seed index in Kuitun, Xinjiang, during 2018–2019. Comparative analysis revealed that the germplasm from the Yellow River Ecological Region (YER) exhibited the strongest disease resistance but ranked second in yield, while the germplasm from the Northwest Inland Ecological Region (NWC) was susceptible to disease, yet had the highest yield, indicating great potential for further improving cotton yield in Kuitun. The Verticillium wilt index decreased, and yield increased with breeding periods. PCA and K-Means clustering divided germplasm into three clusters, with Cluster 0 being disease-resistant, high-yielding, and having a high seed index. Using the 20th percentile method, 20 core germplasm (11.0% of total) were selected, including disease-resistant and high-yield accessions, 3 disease-susceptible and high-yield accessions, and 6 disease-resistant and high seed index accessions. The results of this study provide important material support and a theoretical basis for the synergistic breeding of cotton with disease resistance, high yield, and high seed index in Xinjiang.

Most species belonging to the genus Artemisia are aromatic plants showing a broad diversity in their essential oil composition. Artemisia rutifolia, traditionally used in folk medicine, exhibits an atypical chemotype characterized by a high concentration of phenylbutanoids, in contrast to the profiles observed in other specimens of the same species. This study aimed to provide an in-depth chemical characterization of the phenylbutanoid-rich essential oil of A. rutifolia obtained from samples collected in the Middle Gobi province of Mongolia. Particular attention was devoted to the identification of the minor phenylbutanoids and a preliminary determination of the main contributors to the odor of the oil. Hence, the essential oil was fractionated by column chromatography and subjected to GC-MS/FID and GC-O/FID analyses. Camphor, 1,8-cineole, and 4-phenylbutan-2-one were identified as the dominant compounds, the latter being the main odorant responsible for the typical fresh-fruity smell of the plant. Moreover, α- and β-thujones were absent, and seven previously unreported 4-phenylbut-2-yl esters were unambiguously identified through combinatorial synthesis. These findings highlight the chemical distinctiveness of the Middle Gobi chemotype and support its potential for industrial essential oil production due to its high yield, lack of thujones, and pleasant fresh aroma.

Shoots of Ma bamboo (Dendrocalamus latiflorus) are widely valued for their high yield, extended harvest period, and nutritional richness. Despite their economic and ecological importance, the epigenetic mechanisms governing shoot development remain largely unexplored. Here, we integrated cytological, transcriptomic, proteomic, and multi-epigenomic analyses to characterize the developmental gradient from the basal mature region to the apical proliferative zone. Cytological observation revealed a transition from structurally reinforced cells at the basal internode to actively dividing cells at the apical internode. Genome-wide bisulfite sequencing showed a progressive increase in CG methylation and a decrease in CHG methylation within gene bodies, accompanied by promoter-enriched CHH methylation that was positively correlated with transcriptional activation. Chromatin profiling demonstrated elevated H3K36me3 active marks and enhanced chromatin accessibility at the apical internode. In contrast, N6-methyladenosine (m6A) levels declined from the basal internode to the apical internode, coinciding with the activation of growth-related genes. Using nanopore-based sequencing, we further found that Poly(A) tail lengths (PALs) were positively associated with m6A accumulation and gene body CG methylation but negatively correlated with H3K27me3 and H3K36me3 levels. Together, this study establishes an integrated epigenetic framework in which DNA methylation, histone modifications, m6A, and PAL dynamics collectively fine-tune transcription and translation during bamboo shoot elongation. Our study provides a multi-epigenomic model for D. latiflorus development and broadens our understanding of epigenetic coordination in a monocot, thereby offering valuable insights for future genetic improvement.

ABSTRACT Tomato productivity is severely constrained by salinity stress, which disrupts growth, yield and fruit quality. A field study was conducted at the Regional Research Station, Bathinda to evaluate the performance of selected tomato genotypes under canal water and brackish tube well water for irrigation. Salinity significantly reduced plant height and leaf number. Average fruit weight decreased from 68.4 grams under canal water to 51.3 grams brackish water and number of fruits plant−1 decreased from 30.8 to 29.4 in saline conditions. Total and marketable yield per hectare declined by 10% and 19%, respectively. Conversely, moderate salinity enhanced certain quality traits; total soluble solids increased from 4.8 to 5.7 °Brix, lycopene rose from 4.3 to 5.0 milligrams 100 grams−1 fresh weight and Total soluble solids to acid ratio improved from 5.3 to 7.8, whereas titratable acidity declined from 0.96 to 0.78%. Among the genotypes, PTNI-203, PTNI-202 and PTNI-200 maintained superior growth, yield and fruit quality traits. These findings showed the potential for selecting and breeding tomato varieties with high yield and improved fruit quality in saline irrigation. Future research should focus on physiological and genetic basis of salinity tolerance to support sustainable tomato production in saline conditions.

Clostridium tyrobutyricum Δcat1::adhE2 is a promising cell factory for butanol production because of its robustness, high butanol tolerance, and minimal butyrate production. However, excessive acetate and ethanol production remains a major bottleneck limiting its butanol yield. Coexpressing an exogenous hbd(Ck) encoding the NADPH-dependent 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase (HBD) from Clostridium kluyveri with adhE2 could increase the C4 carbon flux, resulting in increased butanol and decreased acetate and ethanol production. However, constitutively overexpressing hbd(Ck) in Δcat1::adhE2 shows little improvement in butanol yield, productivity, and selectivity, which might be caused by redox imbalance and growth inhibition. To alleviate this problem, C. tyrobutyricum MΔcat1::adhE2-Pbgal-hbd(Ck) with a dynamic expression of hbd(Ck) controlled by an inducible promoter was developed. In serum bottle fermentation at 37 °C, when the hbd(Ck) expression was induced at 12 h or in the early exponential phase, butanol production increased ∼20% in yield (from 0.22 to 0.27 g/g glucose), 87.5% in productivity (from 0.16 to 0.30 g/L·h), and 52% in selectivity (from 0.46 to 0.70 g/g total products) compared to the control strain without expressing any hbd(Ck), whereas hbd(Ck) expression induced at 0 or 24 h in MΔcat1::adhE2-Pbgal-hbd(Ck) or constitutively in MΔcat1::adhE2-Pcat1-hbd(Ck) showed significantly lower butanol yield and productivity. At 25 °C, MΔcat1::adhE2-Pbgal-hbd(Ck) with 12 h induction produced the highest butanol titer of 23 g/L with 0.32 g/g yield, 0.16 g/L·h productivity, and 0.83 g/g product selectivity due to much reduced acetate formation. Subsequent scale-up to a stirred-tank bioreactor at 37 °C increased productivity to 0.39 g/L·h while also achieving high butanol titer (21.8 g/L), yield (0.30 g/g), and selectivity (0.67 g/g). The optimized induction timing resulted in a balanced NAD(P)H pool, effectively channeling substrates toward butanol biosynthesis. It was concluded that the timing for hbd(Ck) expression was critical as it affected glucose catabolism, cell growth, redox balance, and carbon flux distribution. These findings underscore the potential of dynamic metabolic regulation to overcome bottlenecks in biobutanol production, providing a scalable and economically viable bioprocess for industrial application.

High-performance broadband near-infrared (NIR) phosphors are essential for the development of state-of-the-art NIR phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes (pc-LEDs). Herein, we report a novel Cr3+-doped Mg4GaSbO8 (MGSO) luminescent material based on an orthorhombic spinel-derived superstructure featuring multiple crystallographically distinct octahedral sites. By precisely modulating Cr3+ concentration, NIR emission with a remarkable tunability in full width at half-maximum from 100 to 308 nm is realized. Comprehensive spectroscopic analyses reveal three inequivalent Cr3+ emission centers (CrI, CrII, and CrIII) arising from selective substitution at Mg1, Mg2, and Mg3 octahedral sites with progressively weakened crystal fields. Increasing dopant concentration drives sequential site occupation and energy transfer among Cr3+ centers, leading to pronounced spectral redshift and ultrabroadband emission. The optimized MGSO:0.07Cr3+ shows a high quantum yield of 80.4% and solid thermal stability with 85.6% emission intensity retention at 373 K. At high doping levels (x = 0.20), the phosphor exhibits reduced thermal robustness but exceptional spectral broadening. Finally, MGSO:Cr3+ was integrated into NIR pc-LED prototypes, underscoring their potential applicability in nondestructive inspection and NIR spectroscopy.

Researchers are in a continual quest for advanced nanotechnology-based delivery systems to revolutionize the field of brain targeting. Nanotechnology has special significance for drug candidates failing therapeutically due to their low solubility, permeability, and stability in different physiological environments. They provide the right platform for the enhancement of the bioavailability of drug molecules via controlled release and proper targeting. Recently, quantum dots, the nanoparticles composed of fluorescent semiconducting materials, are gaining much popularity among researchers because of their promising multipronged approach due to numerous unique characteristics such as high surface area owing to their nanosize, fluorescence intensity, photoluminescence, optical and electrical properties, targeting capabilities, high quantum yield, high drug encapsulation efficiencies, high biological membrane permeability capacities, and photostability. Quantum dots possess immense potential for targeting drugs and diagnostic molecules to the site of interest by permeating the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which is the main obstacle for brain delivery. Furthermore, the effectiveness of this nanosystem increases manyfold as compared to its existing counterparts due to its multifunctional approaches of maximizing drug targeting, imaging, and diagnosis to fulfill the purpose of BBB permeation, visualizing brain structures, and monitoring drug delivery patterns for effective treatment of brain disorders. This review focuses on the discussion of the blood-brain barrier as a major obstacle, quantum dots as emerging tools for imaging and targeting, and their recent developments with a special emphasis on toxicity aspects, their biodistribution, challenges, and future prospects.

An engineered imine reductase variant capable of synthesizing (S)-nicotine was developed through structure-guided directed evolution. Enzyme library screening identified IR-55 as an ideal parent, exhibiting high yield and good enantioselectivity. Targeted combinatorial mutagenesis of a crucial loop (residues 227-236) produced mutant M6 with 97.7% ee. By dynamically regulating the pH within the range of 7.5-8.0, a substrate loading of 250 g/L was achieved, resulting in a conversion rate of 94% after 4 h with space-time yield (STY) of 58.7 g/L/h. Scale-up with 2.5 g of substrate in 20 mL for 6 h yielded 1.23 g of product (97.2% ee, 75.9% isolated yield STY 10.3 g/L/h), demonstrating superior space-time yield and operational efficiency compared to existing biocatalytic routes. This work not only offers an efficient pathway for the industrial synthesis of (S)-nicotine through rational enzyme engineering but also provides a comprehensive strategy to overcome substrate inhibition and enzyme inactivation under high substrate concentration.

Leaf physiological and transcriptomic analyses provide insights into the regulatory network underlying high yield in yam under directional cultivation.

Enantioenriched dienols are important structural motifs in numerous bioactive compounds and serve as valuable intermediates in organic synthesis. Although several synthetic routes have been developed, the most desirable approach is the direct addition of 1,3-dienes to aldehydes, thereby avoiding the need for preformed alkenylmetal reagents. Herein, we report the first enantioselective direct addition of 1,3-dienes to aldehydes, enabled by nickel(0) catalysis in combination with a newly developed class of chiral monodentate diamidophosphite ligands derived from chiral 1,2-diamine scaffolds. This method affords chiral dienols in high yields and with excellent regio- and enantioselectivity under mild, redox-neutral, and atom-economical conditions. Comprehensive mechanistic studies-including both experimental investigations and DFT calculations-reveal a catalytic cycle involving oxo-nickelacycle intermediates. The high selectivity arises from the chiral diamidophosphite ligands, which provide precise stereocontrol by stabilizing key intermediates through noncovalent CH···HC interactions.

A series of 6-aroyl-7-aryl-5-methyl-4,7-dihydro-[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines 5 was synthesized regioselectively via a one-pot multicomponent reaction between β-diketone 1, aromatic aldehyde 2, and 3-amino-1H-1,2,4-triazole 3. The regioisomeric structure of the newly synthesized compounds 5 was unambiguously determined using 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and rigorous multinuclear 2D-NMR spectroscopy [1H–13C] HMBC, [1H–13C] HSQC and [1H–15N] HMBC. The remarkable features of this protocol are high yields, operational simplicity, use of commercially available reagents and broad substrate scope. The interactions of selected compounds (5f, 5m and 5t) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) were studied by UV-vis spectroscopy, steady-state fluorescence, and molecular docking. The results indicated that compound 5t could effectively quench the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA via a static quenching process. Competitive binding studies using site markers demonstrated that compound 5t binds to site I of BSA. Binding constants for [1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines show that the affinity of 5t binding to BSA is stronger than that of 5f and 5m.

Abstract Potato yield is highly dependent on phosphorus (P) availability. Although high rates of P fertilizers are commonly applied to potatoes even in high P test soils, the efficiency of these practices is questionable. Foliar P fertilization, particularly during the tuber bulking stage, has emerged as a potential complementary strategy. This study aimed to evaluate whether adjusting the conventional P application rate at planting and applying in-season foliar P could optimize potato production. A field experiment was conducted on tropical Oxisols with high P-resin concentrations (74–123 mg P dm −3 ) in three site-years in southeastern Brazil. Treatments included five soil P rates at planting (0, 22, 44, 88, and 177 kg P ha −1 ) combined or not with three foliar P applications (1.3 kg P ha −1 each) during tuber bulking. Even without soil- or foliar-applied P, potatoes grown in these soils exhibited adequate P nutrition and high tuber yields (43.1–54.8 Mg ha −1 ); however, minimum soil P rates still enhanced tuber initiation and yield. Foliar P application increased leaf P concentration, uptake, and recovery efficiency across all planting P rates but did not improve tuber yield or quality. Increasing planting P rates produced modest yield gains (6.5%), with estimated optima at 33 or 53 kg P ha −1 depending on the regression model. Potatoes can still respond to P fertilization even in soils testing high in P, but substantially lower P rates than those traditionally used in commercial production are sufficient to achieve high yields. Foliar P application did not improve tuber yield or quality. Graphical Abstract

Comprehensive Summary Axially chirality is a crucial structural motif in natural products, pharmaceuticals, and chiral catalysts, making the development of efficient methods for constructing axially chiral compounds highly desirable. However, the enantioselective synthesis of axially chiral biaryl sulfenamides is a significant challenge for current chemical synthesis due to the lack of effective synthetic strategies. Herein, we report a novel addition‐elimination strategy which involves copper/chiral cobalt anion‐catalyzed sulfur‐arylation and dealkylation of cyclic diaryliodoniums via a one‐pot two‐stepwise process for the construction of chiral biaryl sulfenamides. Various axial chiral biaryl sulfenamides were efficiently prepared in high yields (up to 95%) and enantioselectivities (up to 96% ee) which can be employed as novel organo‐catalysts for the synthesis of epoxides and axially chiral hypervalent iodine catalysts for asymmetric catalysis, also they can be easily transformed into a wide range of valuable chiral biaryl sulfenamides and their derivatives with diverse functional groups. Moreover, control experiments demonstrated that this elimination process involved the sulfilimine as an intermediate, clarifying the reaction pathway. Finally, DFT calculation was carried out to systematically investigate the control of enantioselectivity, diastereoselectivity and chemoselectivity (C–S coupling or C–N coupling) of this protocol, providing a theoretical basis for the rational design of more efficient catalytic systems for axially chirality construction.