Antagonisms of ASFV towards Host Defense Mechanisms: Knowledge Gaps in Viral Immune Evasion and Pathogenesis

African swine fever (ASF) causes high morbidity and mortality of both domestic pigs and wild boars and severely impacts the swine industry worldwide. ASF virus (ASFV), the etiologic agent of ASF epidemics, mainly infects myeloid cells in swine mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS), including blood-circulating monocytes, tissue-resident macrophages, and dendritic cells (DCs). Since their significant roles in bridging host innate and adaptive immunity, these cells provide ASFV with favorable targets to manipulate and block their antiviral activities, leading to immune escape and immunosuppression. To date, vaccines are still being regarded as the most promising measure to prevent and control ASF outbreaks. However, ASF vaccine development is delayed and limited by existing knowledge gaps in viral immune evasion, pathogenesis, etc. Recent studies have revealed that ASFV can employ diverse strategies to interrupt the host defense mechanisms via abundant self-encoded proteins. Thus, this review mainly focuses on the antagonisms of ASFV-encoded proteins towards IFN-I production, IFN-induced antiviral response, NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and GSDMD-mediated pyroptosis. Additionally, we also make a brief discussion concerning the potential challenges in future development of ASF vaccine

Crack-free perovskite layers for high performance and reproducible devices via improved control of ambient conditions during fabrication

Highlights - Cracking film can be avoided in summer by regulating ambient temperature. - High-quality perovskite films without cracking was prepared with low defects. - The PCE was boosted from 13.51% to 18.46% at ambient temperature of 18 °C. - High-efficiency PSCs device can be prepared at high ambient temperature. - This method can boost the efficiency of PSCs in the case of film cracking. Abstract Organic-inorganic perovskite has shown one of the most rapid growths ever in photovoltaic history and achieved remarkable achievement with PCE of 22.1%. Since the first perovskite solar cells (PSCs) was reported in 2009, it always existed a problem that the performance of PSCs prepared in winter is much better than summer due to films cracking. In this article, we explored the reasons for this phenomenon and provided a corresponding solution. It was found that film cracking was a major contributor for losses of PSCs performance. By adjusting ambient temperature of operating environment, the film quality and device performance can be increased effectively. Result showed that mirror-like perovskite film surface without cracks can be prepared by control operating environment, and the power conversion efficiency was boosted from 13% to values more than 18% measured under standard solar conditions (AM 1.5G, 100 mW/cm2). Furthermore, this method exhibits good reproducibility. It is expected that by this effective approach and better understanding of the perovskite preparation process, high efficiency and reproducible PSCs device can be prepared

Enhanced morphology and stability of high-performance perovskite solar cells with ultra-smooth surface and high fill factor via crystal growth engineering

Since solvent engineering methods were applied to the treatment of perovskite films, the performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has shown rapid growth and remarkable achievements have been made. Here we report a highly reproducible method for controlling perovskite crystal growth by a spraying anti-solvent process, which is quite different from conventional dripping methods. The results showed that the change of the method by which the anti-solvent is used has a significant impact on the morphology and formation of the perovskite. It has a high probability to form a mirror-like surface without wave-circle or ring defects, and to obtain a longer carrier lifetime than crystals formed by by dripping. After optimizing the spraying operating conditions, the optimal device based on FA0.81MA0.15Cs0.025PbI2.5Br0.45 obtained a PCE of 19.21%. Particularly, this method exhibited good reproducibility and a high fill factor due to the reduced crystal defects in the film. The champion cell obtained a fill factor as high as 80.84%, measured at AM 1.5G, 100 mW cm−2. It is expected that these findings can be beneficial for the future integrated applications of these perovskites.</p

Enhanced Performance and Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells Using NH₄I Interfacial Modifier

Despite organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells have rapid advances in power conversion efficiency in recent years, the serious instability of the device under practical working conditions is the current main challenge for commercialization. In this study, we have successfully inserted NH₄I as an interfacial modifier between the TiO₂ electron transport layer and perovskite layer. The result shows that it can significantly improve the quality of the perovskite films and electron extraction efficiency between the perovskite and electron transport layer. The devices with NH₄I are obtained an improved power conversion efficiency of 18.31% under AM 1.5G illumination (100 mW cm^–2). More importantly, the humidity and UV light stability of the devices are greatly improved after adding NH₄I layer. The uncoated devices only decrease by less than 15% of its original efficiency during 700-h stability tests in a humidity chamber (with a relative humidity of 80%) and the efficiency almost maintains 70% of its initial value over 20 h under UV light stress tests. This work provides a potential way by interfacial modification to significantly improve photovoltaic performance and stability of perovskite solar cells