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ABSTRACT: Avian coccidiosis causes huge economic losses to the global poultry industry. Vaccine is an important means to prevent and control coccidiosis. In this study, Bacillus subtilis was selected as the expression host strain to express anti Eimeria tenella surface protein SAG22. The synthesized surface protein SAG22 gene fragment of E. tenella was ligated with Escherichia coli-bacillus shuttle vector GJ148 to construct the recombinant vector SAG22-GJ148. And then the recombinant Bacillus strain SAG22-DH61 was obtained by electrotransfer. The results of SDS-PAGE and Western Blot showed that the recombinant protein SAG22 was successfully expressed intracellularly. The immunoprotective effect of recombinant Bacillus strain SAG22-DH61 on broiler chickens was evaluated in 3 identically designed animal experiments. The birds were infected with E. tenella on d 14, 21, and 28, respectively. Each batch of experiments was divided into 4 groups: blank control group (NC), blank control group + infected E. tenella (CON), addition of recombinant SAG22-DH61 strain + infected with E. tenella (SAG22-DH61), addition of recombinant empty vector GJ148-DH61 strain + infected with E. tenella (GJ148-DH61). The animal experiments results showed that the average weight gain of the SAG22-DH61 group was higher than that of the infected control group, and the difference was significant in the d 14 and 28 attack tests (P < 0.05); the oocyst reduction rate of the SAG22-DH61 group was much higher than that of the GJ148-DH61 group (P < 0.05); the intestinal lesion count score of the SAG22-DH61 group was much lower than that of the GJ148-DH61 group (P < 0.05). In addition, the SAG22-DH61 group achieved highly effective coccidia resistance in the d 14 attack test and moderately effective coccidia resistance in both the d 21 and 28 attack tests. In summary, recombinant SAG22 B. subtilis has the potential to become one of the technological reserves in the prevention and control of coccidiosis in chickens in production.

The closed pores play a critical role in improving the sodium storage capacity of hard carbon (HC) anode, however, their formation mechanism as well as the efficient modulation strategy at molecular level in the polymer‐derived HCs is still lacking. In this work, the steric hindrance effect has been proposed to create closed pores in the polymer‐derived HCs for the first time through grafting the aromatic rings within and between the main chains in the precursor. The experimental data and theoretical calculation demonstrate that steric‐hindrance effect from the aromatic ring side group can increase backbone rigidity and the internal free volumes in the polymer precursor, which can prevent the over graphitization and facilitate the formation of closed pores during the carbonization process. As a result, the as‐prepared HC anode exhibits a remarkably enhanced discharge capacity of 340.3 mAh/g at 0.1 C, improved rate performance (210.7 mAh/g at 5 C) as well as boosted cycling stability (86.4 % over 1000 cycles at 2 C). This work provides a new insight into the formation mechanisms of closed pores via steric hindrance engineering, which can shed light on the development of high‐performance polymer‐derived HC anode for sodium‐ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains the foremost cause of dementia and represents a significant unmet healthcare need globally. The complex pathogenesis of AD, characterized by various pathological and physiological events, has historically challenged the development of anti-AD drugs. However, recent breakthroughs in AD drug development, including the approvals of aducanumab, lecanemab, and sodium oligomannate (GV-971), have ended a nearly two-decade hiatus in the introduction of new AD drugs. These developments have addressed long-standing challenges in AD drug development, marking a substantial shift in the therapeutic landscape of AD. Moreover, natural products (NPs) have shown promise in AD drug research, with several currently under clinical investigation. Their distinct properties and mechanisms of action offer new avenues to complement and enhance existing AD treatment approaches. This review article aims to provide an overview of the recent advancements and prospects in AD therapeutics, focusing on both NPs and approved drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenges posed by the low ionic conductivity at room temperature and the poor compatibility of the Li metal/electrolyte interface restrict the practical application of solid-state polymer electrolytes. Herein, a bifunctional heptafluorobutyric anhydride (HFA) additive has been proposed to overcome the abovementioned problems of the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based polymer-in-salt solid electrolyte. The experimental data, density functional theory (DFT) calculations and the molecular dynamics (MD) simulations demonstrate that the HFA additive can promote the formation of nanometric aggregates (n-AGGs), which can construct a continuous and fast Li+ ion transport network in the solid electrolyte. Meanwhile, the HFA additive exhibits a lower LUMO energy level, and then it can contribute a LiF-rich SEI at the Li metal/electrolyte interface. As a result, the fabricated solid electrolytes with HFA additive can deliver an improved ion conductivity of 2.41 × 10−4 S cm−1 at room temperature, which makes the symmetric Li‖Li batteries show an ultra-long cycle life (≈1700 h at 0.1 mA h cm−2). Besides, the HFA-containing solid electrolytes show greatly enhanced cycle stability compared to the pristine electrolyte in the full cells when paired with a LiFePO4 cathode or high-voltage LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 (NCM622) cathode. This work provides a critical insight into the mechanism of a new additive to enhance the electrochemical performances of PVDF-based polymer-in-salt solid-state electrolytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slow charging speed has been a serious constraint to the promotion of electric vehicles (EVs), and therefore the development of advanced lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with fast-charging capability has become an urgent task. Thanks to its low price and excellent overall electrochemical performance, graphite has dominated the anode market for the past 30 years. However, it is difficult to meet the development needs of fast-charging batteries using graphite anodes due to their fast capacity degradation and safety hazards under high-current charging processes. This feature article describes the failure mechanism of graphite anodes under fast charging, and then summarizes the basic principles, current research progress, advanced strategies and challenges of fast-charging anodes represented by graphite, lithium titanate (Li4Ti5O12) and niobium-based oxides. Moreover, we look forward to the development prospects of fast-charging anodes and provide some guidance for future research in the field of fast-charging batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium nitrate has been widely used to improve the interfacial stability of Li metal anode in ether electrolyte. However, the low solubility limits its application in carbonate electrolytes for high‐voltage Li metal batteries. Herein, nitrated polycaprolactone (PCL‐ONO2), which is prepared via the acylation of polycaprolactone diol (PCL‐diol) followed by the grafting of nitrate group, has been proposed as an electrolyte additive to introduce high‐concentration NO3− into carbonate electrolytes for the first time. The theoretical calculations and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth profiling demonstrate that the PCL‐ONO2 additive preferentially reacts with Li metal and in situ constructs a stable dual‐layered solid electrolyte interphase film, presenting an inner nitride‐rich layer and an outer flexible PCL‐based layer on the surface of Li metal anode. As a result, the Li metal anode delivers an impressive long‐term cycling performance over 1400 h at an elevated area capacity of 10.0 mAh cm−2 and an ultrahigh current density of 10.0 mA cm−2 in the Li symmetrical cells. Moreover, the PCL‐ONO2 additive enables the full cells constructed by coupling high‐loading LiFePO4 (20.0 mg cm−2) or LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3 (16.5 mg cm−2) cathode and thin Li metal anode (≈50 µm) to demonstrate greatly improved cycling stability and rate capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disease and clinically manifests with cognitive decline and behavioral disabilities. Over the past years, mounting studies have demonstrated that the inflammatory response plays a key role in the onset and development of AD, and neuroinflammation has been proposed as the third major pathological driving factor of AD, ranking after the two well-known core pathologies, amyloid β (Aβ) deposits and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). Epigenetic mechanisms, referring to heritable changes in gene expression independent of DNA sequence alterations, are crucial regulators of neuroinflammation which have emerged as potential therapeutic targets for AD. Upon regulation of transcriptional repression or activation, epigenetic modification profiles are closely involved in inflammatory gene expression and signaling pathways of neuronal differentiation and cognitive function in central nervous system disorders. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge about epigenetic control mechanisms with a focus on DNA and histone modifications involved in the regulation of inflammatory genes and signaling pathways in AD, and the inhibitors under clinical assessment are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]