In Situ Polymerization of Xanthan/Acrylamide for Highly Ionic Conductive Gel Polymer Electrolytes with Unique Interpenetrating Network

Gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) is the key to assembling high-performance solid-state supercapacitors (SSCs). Poly(acrylamide) (PAM) is considered as an important GPE matrix because of its good water solubility, the ease of hydrogen bond formation, and its excellent gel properties. However, the high crystallinity of linear polymer PAM impedes ion migration, and PAM has high flammability in air, which may cause safety problems. In this work, xanthan/PAM-based GPE (XP-GPE) was successfully prepared by an in situ polymerization method. Xanthan and linear PAM chain can form a dual network by hydrogen bond forming between the amide group of PAM and the hydroxyl group of xanthan. This greatly reduces the high crystallinity of PAM macromolecule, realizes the active migration of lithium ion between chain segments, and improves the electrochemical performance. SSCs prepared with XP-GPE and activated carbon electrodes show excellent specific capacitance (589 mF cm–2 at current density of 5 mA cm–2) and ionic conductivity (46.96 mS cm–1). Furthermore, the SSC shows outstanding flame retardant property. And the electrochemical performance of the flexible SSC has little change under bending conditions, providing an opportunity to develop safe and efficient flexible wearable SSCs

Van der Waals Coupled Organic Molecules with Monolayer MoS₂ for Fast Response Photodetectors with Gate-Tunable Responsivity

As a direct-band-gap transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD), atomic thin MoS₂ has attracted extensive attention in photodetection, whereas the hitherto unsolved persistent photoconductance (PPC) from the ungoverned charge trapping in devices has severely hindered their employment. Herein, we demonstrate the realization of ultrafast photoresponse dynamics in monolayer MoS₂ by exploiting a charge transfer interface based on surface-assembled zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) molecules. The formed MoS₂/ZnPc van der Waals interface is found to favorably suppress the PPC phenomenon in MoS₂ by instantly separating photogenerated holes toward the ZnPc molecules, away from the traps in MoS₂ and the dielectric interface. The derived MoS₂ detector then exhibits significantly improved photoresponse speed by more than 3 orders (from over 20 s to less than 8 ms for the decay) and a high responsivity of 430 A/W after Al₂O₃ passivation. It is also demonstrated that the device could be further tailored to be 2–10-fold more sensitive without severely sacrificing the ultrafast response dynamics using gate modulation. The strategy presented here based on surface-assembled organic molecules may thus pave the way for realizing high-performance TMD-based photodetection with ultrafast speed and high sensitivity

Use of Genome-Wide Association Studies for Cancer Research and Drug Repositioning

<div><p>Although genome-wide association studies have identified many risk loci associated with colorectal cancer, the molecular basis of these associations are still unclear. We aimed to infer biological insights and highlight candidate genes of interest within GWAS risk loci. We used an <i>in silico</i> pipeline based on functional annotation, quantitative trait loci mapping of cis-acting gene, PubMed text-mining, protein-protein interaction studies, genetic overlaps with cancer somatic mutations and knockout mouse phenotypes, and functional enrichment analysis to prioritize the candidate genes at the colorectal cancer risk loci. Based on these analyses, we observed that these genes were the targets of approved therapies for colorectal cancer, and suggested that drugs approved for other indications may be repurposed for the treatment of colorectal cancer. This study highlights the use of publicly available data as a cost effective solution to derive biological insights, and provides an empirical evidence that the molecular basis of colorectal cancer can provide important leads for the discovery of new drugs.</p></div

Connections between risk SNP, biological CRC genes and drugs indicated for other diseases.

<p>Connections between risk SNP, biological CRC genes and drugs indicated for other diseases.</p

Summary of connections between risk SNPs, biological candidate genes from each risk locus, genes from the PPI network and approved CRC drugs.

<p>Black lines indicate connections.</p

Biological genes in the CRC risk loci with a score≥2.

<p>Biological genes in the CRC risk loci with a score≥2.</p

An overview of the study design.

<p>One hundred and forty-seven candidate genes were obtained from 50 CRC risk loci. A bioinformatics pipeline was developed for the prioritization of these candidate genes. Seven criteria were used to score the genes: (1) CRC risk missense variant; (2) <i>cis</i>-eQTL; (3) PubMed text mining; (4) PPI; (5) cancer somatic mutation; (6) knockout mouse phenotype; and (7) functional enrichment. Extent of overlap with target genes for approved CRC drugs was also assessed.</p

Summary of 50 colorectal cancer GWAS risk alleles obtained from National Human Genome Research Institute.

<p>Summary of 50 colorectal cancer GWAS risk alleles obtained from National Human Genome Research Institute.</p

Detailed summary of the connections between risk SNPs, biological candidate genes from each risk locus, genes from the PPI network and drugs indicated for other diseases.

<p>Detailed summary of the connections between risk SNPs, biological candidate genes from each risk locus, genes from the PPI network and drugs indicated for other diseases.</p