Search

This study aimed to investigate the potential relationship between urinary metals copper (Cu), arsenic (As), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), iron (Fe), lead (Pb) and manganese (Mn) and grip strength. We used linear regression models, quantile g-computation and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) to assess the relationship between metals and grip strength. In the multimetal linear regression, Cu (β = −2.119), As (β = −1.318), Sr (β = −2.480), Ba (β = 0.781), Fe (β = 1.130) and Mn (β = −0.404) were significantly correlated with grip strength (P < 0.05). The results of the quantile g-computation showed that the risk of occurrence of grip strength reduction was −1.007 (95% confidence interval: −1.362, −0.652; P < 0.001) when each quartile of the mixture of the seven metals was increased. Bayesian kernel function regression model analysis showed that mixtures of the seven metals had a negative overall effect on grip strength, with Cu, As and Sr being negatively associated with grip strength levels. In the total population, potential interactions were observed between As and Mn and between Cu and Mn (P interactions of 0.003 and 0.018, respectively). In summary, this study suggests that combined exposure to metal mixtures is negatively associated with grip strength. Cu, Sr and As were negatively correlated with grip strength levels, and there were potential interactions between As and Mn and between Cu and Mn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sepsis, a frequently fatal condition, emerges from an exaggerated inflammatory response to infection, resulting in multi-organ dysfunction and alarmingly high mortality rates. Despite the urgent need for effective treatments, current therapeutic options remain limited to antibiotics, with no other efficacious alternatives available. Echinatin (Ecn), a potent bioactive compound extracted from the roots and rhizomes of licorice, has gained significant attention for its broad pharmacological properties, particularly its ability to combat oxidative stress. Recent research highlights the crucial role that oxidative stress plays in the onset and progression of sepsis further emphasizing the potential therapeutic value of Ecn in this context. In this study, we explored the protective effects of Ecn in a murine model of sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Ecn demonstrated a significant reduction in the levels of inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. Network pharmacology analysis identified 41 targets and top 15 pathways involved in the Ecn-mediated signaling network, revealing that Ecn might exert its effects through key targets including the NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways. Molecular docking studies suggested a strong affinity between Ecn and MEK, with kinetic simulations and binding energy calculations confirming a stable interaction. Mechanistically, Ecn treatment inhibited NF-κB and the MEK/ERK signaling pathway, as evidenced by decreased phosphorylation of IκBα and nuclear p65, along with reduced phosphorylation of MEK and ERK in both LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages and septic mice. Furthermore, the administration of MEK signaling agonists reversed the anti-inflammatory effects of Ecn, indicating the involvement of this signaling pathway in Ecn's protective mechanism. Notably, our investigation revealed that Ecn did not affect bacterial proliferation either in vivo or in vitro, underscoring its specific immunomodulatory effects rather than direct antimicrobial activity. In summation, our findings underscored the potential of Ecn as an innovative therapeutic remedy for sepsis-induced injury, particularly through the regulation of the NF-κB and MEK/ERK signaling pathway. This exploration unveiled a promising therapeutic approach for treating sepsis, supplementing existing interventions and addressing their constraints. [Display omitted] • Ecn could reduce LPS-induced inflammatory factors and ROS levels in RAW 264.7 macrophages. • Ecn protected mice from cecal ligation and puncture-induced against organ injury by suppressing NF-κB and MEK/ERK signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An evaluation method is established for the erosion damage effect quantification. • Uncertainty quantification of environmental, material and geometric properties. • Surface deterioration and bearing capacity analysis considering erosion damage. The erosion damage of marine reinforced concrete (RC) structures is induced by the physical and chemical coupling effect including both abrasion damage by sediment-laden water flow and corrosion damage by salt-laden water flow. However, the comprehensive effects of the abrasion-corrosive damage on structural performance evaluation have not been considered, which will underestimate structural risk. In this paper, an evaluation method of surface deterioration and bearing capacity is established for marine RC structures under the spatiotemporal effect of erosion damage. The theoretical friction-impact abrasion model of concrete is derived using the energy conservation method. On this basis, using the theoretical friction-impact abrasion model and the numerical simulation method, the environmental action factors were analyzed when erosion damage appeared. The variations in abrasion damage rate are discussed related to changes in impact angle, the impact speed, and the sediment content when abrasion damage occurs at the concrete surface. The influence of multiple parameters on abrasion damage rate is gained by combining with the results obtained from the numerical simulation method. Then, erosion damage considering the coupling of corrosion damage and abrasion damage is introduced to quantify the surface deterioration and bearing capacity of RC structures based on the continuous integral method. The uncertainty analysis under abrasion times ranging from 0 to 30 years is conducted to verify the spatiotemporal effect of erosion damage on surface deterioration and bearing capacity of RC structures. The result establishes a good foundation for the failure analysis and diagnosis of marine RC structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Dynactin and NudE/Nudel are prominent regulators of cytoplasmic dynein motility and cargo-binding activities. Both interact with the intrinsically disordered N-terminal domain of dynein intermediate chain (IC), which also contains phosphorylation sites that apparently regulate these interactions. Nuclear magnetic resonance and isothermal calorimetry studies demonstrate that the Ser84 phosphorylation site identified in cells is in a disordered linker distant from the N-terminal helix that contains both the dynactin- and the Nudel-binding interfaces. Structural studies of a phosphomimetic Ser84Asp imply that phosphorylation stabilizes an electrostatic cluster that docks the disordered linker containing Ser84 against the N-terminal helix, resulting in a conformation that blocks access of IC to dynactin, but not to NudE/Nudel. Formation of this cluster is dependent on the length and sequence of the disordered linkers. This model explains the selective binding of mammalian IC to dynactin versus NudE/Nudel and why this selection is specific for IC-2C and not the IC-1A isoform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural phenomenon of mixed flocks indicates such principles as cooperation and social symbiosis among various species. Inspired by the organization and collective intelligence of natural mixed flocks, a mixed swarm based particle swarm optimization (MCPSO) is proposed to efficiently handle the trade-off between the global and local search in PSO. The approach divides all particles into two species, i.e., exploration species and exploitation species. Exploration species undertakes the coarse search in the solution space to discover new potential area, while the exploitation species is instructed accordingly to conduct fine search in its activity territory. Information sharing plays a crucial role between the two species, through the cooperative mechanism, not only does MCPSO avoid the optimum missed in a coarse search, but also it significantly saves void fine search. The proposed MCPSO is validated with well-known benchmarks confirming that the cooperative mixed swarm is an effective model for the swarm based searching, further proving that MCPSO is a robust global technique for complex optimization problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Novel organic–inorganic adsorbent PDVB/R-SiO2 was successfully prepared. [•] The amount of toluene adsorbed on PDVB/R-SiO2 is 12 times that on SiO2. [•] A highly humid environment exhibits no effect on the dynamic adsorption of PDVB/R-SiO2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Particle swarm optimization is a novel swarm-intelligence-based algorithm and a valid optimization technique. However, the algorithm suffers from the premature convergence problem when facing to complex optimization problem. In order to keep the balance between the global exploration and the local exploitation validly, the paper develops a knowledge-based cooperative particle swarm optimization (KCPSO). KCPSO mainly simulates the self-cognitive and self-learning process of evolutionary agents in special environment, and introduces a knowledge billboard to record varieties of search information. Moreover, KCPSO takes advantage of multi-swarm to maintain the swarm diversity and tries to guide their evolution by the shared information. Under the guide of the shared information, KCPSO manipulates each sub-swarm to go on with local exploitation in different local area, in which every particle follows a social learning behavior mode; at the same time, KCPSO carries out the global exploration through the escaping behavior and the cooperative behavior of the particles in different sub-swarms. KCPSO can maintain appropriate swarm diversity and alleviate the premature convergence validly. The proposed model was applied to some well-known benchmarks. The relative experimental results show KCPSO is a robust global optimization method for the complex multimodal functions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper makes an analysis on the simulated mechanisms of mind evolutionary computation (MEC) firstly and proposes an extended computation model for MEC (EMEC). EMEC manipulates the search based on the behavior space and the information space. All operations in the behavior space are processed based on groups that symbolize the solution area, while the operations in the information space are done based on the billboards that are used to record the evolutionary information. All components of EMEC are formulated in details, including the similar-taxis operation, the cooperation operation, and a simulated-annealing-based dissimilation operation (SADO). EMEC emphasizes on the share and the guide of the information in the search, and gets a performance superior to the simple MEC. The proposed EMEC was performed on some well-known benchmark problems. The experimental results show EMEC is a robust global optimization algorithm and can alleviate the premature convergence validly. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Solid-state polymer Li metal batteries have been regarded as a promising candidate for next-generation batteries due to their high-energy densities provided by the Li metal and the improved safety provided by the solid electrolyte. Polyester is one attractive polymer host, which could be an alternative to polyether-based solid electrolyte due to its excellent lithium ion transport ability and wide electrochemical stability window. Here, a BAB-type triblock copolymer is synthesized with poly (propylene carbonate) as A-block and poly (ε -caprolactone) as B-block. The triblock copolymer electrolyte exhibits a high ionic conductivity of 3 × 10−5 S cm−1 at 30 °C with a high lithium ion transference number (0.4) and an extremely wide electrochemical window (5 V). A highly stable interface against Li metal is maintained for more than 760 h at a current density of 0.1 mA cm−2. A LiFePO 4 cathode based solid state battery delivers a high discharge capacity of 142 mA h g−1 at 0.05C, room temperature, and 161 mA h g−1 at 0.1C, 70 °C with a capacity retention of 90% after 200 cycles. To understand the excellent electrochemical performance, the morphology and chemical information at both anode and cathode interface are characterized and analyzed. The synthesis of this triblock copolymer demonstrates a new direction in developing high ionic conductivity solid polymer electrolyte for solid-state polymer batteries. Image 1 • A novel polyester-based copolymer SPE shows a low T g and high oxidative stability. • Li//Li cells exhibit stable cyclability at 0.1 mA cm−2 with low overpotential. • The SPE contains a strong capability in suppressing Li dendrites. • LFP//Li and NMC//Li batteries display high performances at both 30 °C and 70 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The procedure of memory reconsolidation provides an opportunity to improve some mental disorders caused by maladaptive memories, such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Prediction error was considered a necessary condition for triggering memory reconsolidation. However, it is difficult to create a satisfying prediction error to successfully open memory reconsolidation in a clinical context. The purpose of this study was to explore a more practicable method to trigger memory reconsolidation. We used a successive 4-day fear-potentiated startle paradigm to compare the effect of uncertainty with prediction error during retrieval on preventing the return of fear. Bayes factor, combined with p value and effect size, was used as the main indicator of statistical inference. The results indicated that spontaneous recovery and reinstatement of fear were not observed in the uncertainty group, whereas return of fear was observed for the prediction error group. However, the direct comparison between the two groups did not yield statistically significant results, potentially reflecting a lack of statistical power. Nonetheless, these results suggest that uncertainty retrieval could be a better means to trigger memory reconsolidation than prediction error, making uncertainty a worthwhile factor to consider in future research on memory reconsolidation. • Uncertainty during retrieval could enhance the fear-impairing effect of the extinction procedure. • Uncertainty retrieval could effectively prevent the fear relapse. • Prediction error retrieval failed to block the return of fear. • The advantages on preventing fear relapse by uncertainty retrieval was only observed with SCR, but not FPS. • The uncertainty retrieval could be a better method to trigger the memory reconsolidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A multi-class Boosting method is proposed for the multi-class imbalanced problem. • Parametrized division of exposure zone is achieved using RMS, C r , C s , and D cl , etc. • Field chloride profile data with time span of 18 years validates proposed method. • The distribution of exposure zone satisfies the Weibull distribution. The analysis of marine reinforced concrete structures using chloride profile data is a commonly used exposure zone classification method. However, chloride profile data is multi-class, unbalanced and non-parametric, which makes it difficult for the commonly used machine-learning methods to construct an appropriate classification model. To solve this problem, chloride profile is parametrized by the minimum redundancy maximum relevance algorithm and a multi-class Boosting method using F-measure as inductive bias indicator to evaluate the weight of base classifiers is put forward. The method is based on field test data of the chloride profile over a period of 18 years in Hangzhou Bay, China. The method outperforms the original Boosting method with an average F-measure improvement of 6.2 %. The results show that parametric partitioning of the exposure zone is achieved and the distribution of the exposure zone satisfies the Weibull distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Maackiain exerts potent anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory capacities against sepsis-associated organ injury. • Activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway by MA contributes to its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. • PRKAA1 is a potential pharmacological target of Maackiain. Sepsis is a life-threatening medical condition caused by infection-triggered aberrant immune responses, leading to host tissue and organ injury. Despite advances in medical interventions, the mortality rate for septic shock remains high. Recent studies highlight the role of oxidative stress in the occurrence and development of sepsis, providing a potential therapeutic target for preventing sepsis-associated organ injury. In this study, we showed that Maackiain, a natural compound isolated from Sophora flavescens , exerted a protective role in a cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced murine model of sepsis. Maackiain treatment reduced organ injury, and mitigated systematic inflammation and oxidative stress in septic mice. Maackiain also reduced the levels of inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in RAW264.7 macrophage cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We further demonstrated that Maackiain initiated activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) pathway in RAW264.7 cells in an AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-dependent way. Moreover, inhibition of AMPK/Nrf2 axis abrogated the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects of Maackiain both in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, our study indicates that Maackiain treatment inhibits inflammatory response and oxidative stress via activation of AMPK/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway, thus exerting a protective effect against sepsis, providing an alternative option for sepsis prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of one-part geopolymer mortars has greater potential than the traditional two-part mortars, especially in repair applications, to convert waste into useful beneficial products while simultaneously eliminating the hazards associated with the alkaline solutions. Nevertheless, the inherent brittleness exhibited by the one-part geopolymers displays drawbacks like OPC when subjected to flexural loading. The fibers selection as well as their strengthening effects from literature is considerably scarce, especially for the repairing geopolymer system. This work aims to investigate the influences of fiber types and volume fractions on the workability, physical behavior, and cracking/fatigue resistance of ambient air-cured one-part geopolymer mortar. Reaction kinetics, mineralogical phases, and elemental components were explored by means of the TAM, quantitative XRD, and EDS mapping analysis. The FESEM and X-CT were employed to compare the microstructures and pore characteristics of the fibers-reinforced products. The results show that the copper-plated steel fiber produced the least change in workability, while the basalt fiber produced the lowest flow values. Setting time was the shortest for the basalt fiber reinforced, followed by polyvinyl-alcohol fiber. The steel fiber and carbon fiber would improve the mechanical properties of mortar significantly, especially in the early stage. The fatigue strength of 1 vol% carbon fiber reinforced mortar under 2 million cycles loading was the highest (3.72 MPa). The fibers addition a substantial decrease in sphericity and compactness of the pores (high anisotropy) as evidenced by X-CT data. Moreover, three hydration heat processes occurred after water was added to the one-part geopolymer mortar, which included dissolution of Na 2 SiO 3 particles, network degradation, and a second pozzolanic reaction. More crystalline formation occurred over curing time to form gel networks with high stability and generated different bonding modes with various fibers. • Geopolymer powder could produce ambient-cured one-part GPMs by mixing with water. • Effects of micro-fiber type and volume fraction on the one-partGPMs were investigated. • Workability, strength properties, cracking/fatigue resistance were measured. • Geopolymerization and fiber bonding of GPMs were analyzed using TAM, FESEM, EDS, QXRD and X-CT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The scale of fluctuation for surface chloride content under varying exposure zone on marine structure. • The modified spatiotemporal kriging interpolation method to re-establish the non-uniform spatiotemporal correlation distance. • The optimal strategy to improve the cost benefit ratio of surface chloride content detection on RC structures. Chloride-induced corrosion of marine reinforced concrete structures involves numerous uncertainties related to environmental exposure zone. The exposure zone is strongly correlated with surface chloride content, which exhibits significant spatiotemporal variability. In this study, the scale of fluctuation of the chloride content in different exposure zones was estimated to explore the effect of the exposure zone on the spatial variability of the marine chloride environment. Based on the detection data of surface chloride content over a time span of 18 years at Zhapu Port, we present a modified spatiotemporal Kriging interpolation method that extends interpolation from 2D plane to 3D space by replacing surface distance with the Euclidean distance. The chloride environmental spatiotemporal distance field model was constructed using the particle swarm optimization algorithm. The results show that the prediction of surface chloride content is physically more realistic when modified spatiotemporal Kriging is used with the spatiotemporal distance amplified by 2–3 times. Additionally, a method to optimise the location of the detection point is proposed, which can improve the cost–benefit ratio of surface chloride content detection on reinforced concrete structures by 37.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstracts MBP (maltose-binding protein) is a component of Escherichia coli . Our previous study found that MBP directly induces the activation of Th1 (T helper type 1), but the molecular mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, CD4 + T cells were purified from the spleens of normal mice using antibody-coated immunomagnetic beads by negative selection. CD4 + T cells activated with a CD3/CD28 antibody were stimulated with MBP. The results indicated that MBP elevated IFN-γ mRNA levels in activated CD4 + T cells and promoted IFN-γ production from activated CD4 + T cells. To explore TLR2/TLR4 signaling involved in the mechanism of MBP-induced activation of Th1, we further detected downstream molecules of TLR2/TLR4 signaling. We found that MBP increased the mRNA levels of MyD88, TRAF6, TRIF and TRAF3 expressed in CD4 + T cells. The results suggested that downstream molecules of TLR2/TLR4 signaling may be involved in MBP-induced activation of CD4 + T cells. Furthermore, MyD88, TRIF, TRAF3 and TRAF6 expressed in activated CD4 + T cells blocked with anti-TLR2 antibody or anti-TLR4 antibody followed by treatment with MBP were detected via RT-PCR and western blotting, respectively. MBP decreased the production of IFN-γ in CD4 + T cells in the presence of anti-TLR2, accompanied by the down-regulated expression of MyD88 and TRAF6. However, MBP increased the production of IFN-γ in CD4 + T cells in the presence of anti-TLR4 antibody accompanied by the up-regulated expression of MyD88 and the down-regulated expression of TRIF, TRAF6 and TRAF3. The results suggested that the MyD88-dependent pathway of TLR2 and TRIF-dependent pathway are involved in the mechanism of Th1 activation induced by MBP. Our study has contributed to the clarification of the molecular mechanism of MBP-induced activation of CD4 + T cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous study demonstrated that maltose-binding protein (MBP) combined with BCG induced synergistic mouse Th1 activation in viv o. Here, to explore the mechanism of MBP combined with BCG on Th1 activation, mouse purified CD4 + T cells were stimulated with MBP and BCG in vitro . The results showed that MBP combined with BCG synergistically increased IFN-γ production, accompanied with the upregulation of TLR2/9 expressions, suggesting that TLR2/9 were involved in the combination-induced Th1 activation. Next, TLR2 antibodies and TLR9 inhibitor were used to further analyze the effects of TLRs in Th1 activation. Results showed TLR2 antibody partly decreased MBP combined with BCG-induced IFN-γ production, MyD88 expression and IκB phosphorylation, indicating that TLR2-mediated MyD88-dependent pathway was involved in the MBP combined with BCG-induced Th1 activation. Moreover, MBP combined with BCG-induced Th1 activation was completely abrogated by TLR9 inhibitor, suggesting that TLR9-mediated MyD88-dependent pathway played a more important role than TLR2 in the combination-induced Th1 activation. Further study showed that TLR9 inhibitor downregulated TLR2 expression, suggesting that TLR9 signaling regulated TLR2 activation to favor Th1 resonse induced by MBP combined with BCG. Collectively, we demonstrated for the first time that the cross-talk of TLR2 and TLR9 triggered Th1 activation collaboratively and our findings provided valuable information about designing more effective adjuvant for cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fear generalization refers to conditioned fear responses extending to related stimuli and fear overgeneralization is a key feature of pathological anxiety. Along with perception similarity, conceptual relations affect fear generalization. We investigated whether stimulus diversity–an important principle of category-based induction–influences fear generalization. Induction studies have shown that generalization from a premise involving diverse instances is stronger than that from non-diverse instances. We adopted this framework for fear learning and established two groups. The diverse group developed fear in response to diverse instances from one category, while the non-diverse group acquired fear of non-diverse instances from the same category. An effect of stimulus diversity was observed in shock-expectancy ratings, with the diverse group displaying higher fear generalization than the non-diverse group. We also tested whether intolerance of uncertainty (IU) might affect the difference in fear generalization between the two conditions. Individuals with higher IU showed reduced difference in fear generalization between two conditions, mainly driven by heightened fear generalization to novel stimulus with ambiguous threat levels in the non-diverse condition. This study helps illustrate the mechanisms behind differential category-based fear generalization and provides a potential explanation for why higher IU individuals may develop anxiety disorders following trauma. • This study verifies a stimulus diversity effect in fear generalization. • Higher intolerance of uncertainty (IU) was associated with heightened fear after trained with non-diverse category stimuli. • Different traumatic experiences might account for individual differences in conceptual fear generalization response. • Individuals with higher IU may exhibit excessive fear of events after exposure to non-diverse traumatic events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cement manufacturing industry, a resource- and energy-intensive sector, took up more than 15% of total greenhouse gas emissions in China, thus finding a clean technology option for sustainable development is essential. CO 2 curing has emerged as a promising novel method for large-scale carbon sequestration and mechanical properties improvement of cement-based composites. Currently, a body of related works is mainly investigated in the laboratory, and understandings of the behaviors of CO 2 -cured cement-based composites are still less than complete, including, 1) the CO 2 storage potential has plenty of room for improvement due to the influence mechanism of variables factors remains unclear; 2) previous evaluations were mostly based on the subsets of individual result rather than an integrated dataset; 3) whether CO 2 curing is suitable for the manufacturing process of reinforced concrete. Therefore, this paper presents a comprehensive overview covering a wide range of parameters as well as fabrication, mechanical (compressive strength), and environmental (CO 2 uptake value) performances on the basis of a correct understanding of the differences between active and passive carbonation reactions. Notably, the influences of critical factors, including those less understood, e.g., types of curing setup (flow-able, enclosed, and others), components of binder, and aggregate/binder ratio, are also analyzed and the corresponding mechanisms discussed to achieve satisfied curing efficiency. Besides, corrosion-related challenges are also be pointed out to convince the widespread acceptance of this technology. Finally, based on this paper, limitations of existing research are identified and future scope on CO 2 curing regime is proposed. • 170 studies related to CO 2 /carbonation-cured cement-based composites are analyzed. • The differences between active/passive-carbonation together with reaction mechanisms are expounded. • Fabrication and influence factors on engineering and environmental properties are systematically reviewed. • CO 2 -cured cement-based composites exhibit excellent resistance to aggressive conditions. • The challenges and opportunities in the CO 2 curing method are innovatively discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European (EU) type of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) has recently emerged in China. In this study, three recombinant DNA vaccines, pVAX1-EU-ORF3-ORF5 (coexpressing EU type PRRSV GP3 and GP5), pVAX1-EU-ORF3 and pVAX1-EU-ORF5, were constructed and evaluated for their abilities to induce humoral and cellular responses as well as to protect piglets against homologous virus challenge. All piglets were given booster vaccinations at 21 days after the initial inoculation and then challenged 14 days later. Pigs inoculated with pVAX1-EU-ORF3-ORF5 developed significantly higher (P < 0.05) PRRSV-specific antibody responses, neutralizing antibodies and levels of IL-4 and IL-10 than those given pVAX1-EU-ORF3, pVAX1-EU-ORF5 or pVAX1. Moreover, pigs immunized with pVAX1-EU-ORF3-ORF5 had markedly increased levels of IFN-γ and IL-2 in serum and T-lymphocytes (CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ T cells) in peripheral blood. Thus, EU-type PRRSV GP3 and GP5 proteins demonstrated good immunogenicity and reactogenicity and could induce cellular immunity in pigs. Following challenge with the Lelystad virus (LV) strain, piglets inoculated with pVAX1-EU-ORF3-ORF5 showed viremia and virus load distributed in organ tissues that were significantly lower (P < 0.05) than those in the pVAX1-EU-ORF3 group and control group, and slightly lower than those in the pVAX1-EU-ORF5 group (P > 0.05). As GP3 could enhance humoral- and cell-mediated immune responses to GP5, the results of this study suggested that these two proteins delivered by a vaccine can synergistically induce immunity against PRRSV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulfide-based composite solid-state electrolyte has been deemed as "Holy Grail" for unlocking solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSLMBs) with high-energy density, combining the extremely high ionic conductivity of sulfide and machinability of organic polymer. However, this appealing system is hitherto stymied by two hindrances, difficult to synthesize due to the chemical incompatibility of sulfide with moisture and polar solvents, moreover, interfacial instability with lithium (Li) anode inducing severe Li dendrite grown. Herein, by utilizing perfluoropolyethers as bifunctional adjuvant, we initiatively fabricate sulfide-based composite electrolyte, Poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP)/Li 10 GeP 2 S 12 and assemble SSLMBs. Perfluoropolyethers with low molecular weight facilitate the stable dispersion of Li 10 GeP 2 S 12 in casting solution, ascribed to their strong electronegativity of C–F bonds. In addition, high molecular weight perfluoropolyethers function as interfacial stabilizer, dramatically improving the interfacial compatibility with Li anode by in-situ forming a LiF-rich solid electrolyte interphase layer. This composite electrolyte exhibits high room temperature ionic conductivity (0.18 mS cm−1), outstanding lithium ion transfer number (0.68), good mechanical strength and nonflammability. The solid-state LiFePO 4 ǁLi battery presents superior long-term cycling stability and rate capability. Our study paves a new way for fabricating the sulfide-based composite electrolyte, provides an effective strategy for constructing compatible solid-state electrolyteǁLi interface. Image 1 • PVDF-HFP/Li 10 GeP 2 S 12 electrolyte is prepared by binary solution casting method. • PFPE 500 as dispersing solvents exhibit good chemical compatibility with Li 10 GeP 2 S 12. • A high ion conductivity (σ RT = 10−4 S cm−1) and Li+ transfer number (0.68) are obtained. • PFPEs as interfacial stabilizers enhance the compatibility of Li 10 GeP 2 S 12 with Li. • LiFePO 4 ‖Li battery shows good cycling stability and rate capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]