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【Background】 The climate in Inner Mongolia of China is suitable for growing strawberry but the shallow root system of the crop makes it prone to soil salinity. How to alleviate soil salinity and improve the resistance of strawberry against soil salinity is hence essential to safeguarding strawberry production in both fields and greenhouses that endured secondary soil salination. 【Objective】 The objective of this paper is to study the feasibility of using arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation to improve physical and biogeochemical conditions of the rhizosphere of strawberry to improve its resistance against salinity stress. 【Method】 We used the cultivar of ‘Charlie sweet’ as the model plant and inoculated its roots with AMF. They were then grown in soils with a salinity gradient created by adding 0 to 100 mmol/L of solution of NaCl and Na2SO4 mixed at 1:1 ratio. In each treatment, we measured the number of microbes and the activity of urease, catalase, sucrase and amylase in the rhizosphere. 【Result】 With the salt concentration increasing, the salinity index of the crop increased, while the rate of mycorrhizal infection, the number of soil microorganisms and the enzymatic activity all decreased. Compared with control without inoculation, 28 days after instigating the salt stress inoculation reduced the salt damage index of the strawberry by 10.91% to 23.93%, depending on salt concentration, 28 days after instigating the salt stress. Inoculation also increased the activity of all enzymes and the number of microorganisms at significant level (P

Simple Summary: Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV), and porcine rotavirus-A (PoRVA) are the four significant pathogens of viral diarrhea of piglets in large-scale pig farms, which have caused huge economic losses to the pig industry all over the world. Since these four viruses have very similar clinical symptoms, it is necessary to develop an excellent detection method that can differentiate and diagnose these four viruses. In this study, we developed a multiplex real-time RT-PCR method that can simultaneously differentiate and diagnose these four viruses. The method has high specificity and does not cross-react with other porcine viruses. The lower limit of detection was 2.18 × 102 copies/μL. In addition, we tested 97 clinical samples collected by this method, and the results were consistent with the detection results of traditional RT-PCR, indicating that this method is reliable. In summary, we developed a multiplex real-time RT-PCR method for simultaneous detection of PEDV, TGEV, PDCoV, and PoRVA, and the results of this study can provide technical means for the differential diagnosis and epidemiological investigation of these four porcine diarrhea virus diseases. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV), and porcine rotavirus-A (PoRVA) are the four main pathogens that cause viral diarrhea in pigs, and they often occur in mixed infections, which are difficult to distinguish only according to clinical symptoms. Here, we developed a multiplex TaqMan-probe-based real-time RT-PCR method for the simultaneous detection of PEDV, TGEV, PDCoV, and PoRVA for the first time. The specific primers and probes were designed for the M protein gene of PEDV, N protein gene of TGEV, N protein gene of PDCoV, and VP7 protein gene of PoRVA, and corresponding recombinant plasmids were constructed. The method showed extreme specificity, high sensitivity, and excellent repeatability; the limit of detection (LOD) can reach as low as 2.18 × 102 copies/μL in multiplex real-time RT-PCR assay. A total of 97 clinical samples were used to compare the results of the conventional reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and this multiplex real-time RT-PCR for PEDV, TGEV, PDCoV, and PoRVA detection, and the results were 100% consistent. Subsequently, five randomly selected clinical samples that tested positive were sent for DNA sequencing verification, and the sequencing results showed consistency with the detection results of the conventional RT-PCR and our developed method in this study. In summary, this study developed a multiplex real-time RT-PCR method for simultaneous detection of PEDV, TGEV, PDCoV, and PoRVA, and the results of this study can provide technical means for the differential diagnosis and epidemiological investigation of these four porcine viral diarrheic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been proposed as emerging fillers for composite polymer electrolytes (CPEs). However, MOF particles are usually served as passive fillers that yield limited ionic conductivity improvement. Building continuous MOF reinforcements and exploiting their active roles remain challenging. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of engineering fast Li + conduction within MOF on molecule conception. Two-dimensional Cu(BDC) MOF is selected as an active filler due to its sufficient accessible open metal sites for perchlorate anion anchoring to release free Li + , verified by theoretical calculations and measurements. A novel Cu(BDC)-scaffold-reinforced CPE is developed via in situ growth of MOF, which provides fast Li + channels inside MOF and continuous Li + paths along the MOF/polymer interface for high Li + conductivity (ambient 0.24 mS cm -1 ) and enables high mechanical strength. Stable cycling is achieved in solid-state Li-NCM811 full cell using the MOF-reinforced CPE. This molecule-basis Li + conduction strategy brings new ideas for designing advanced CPEs.

Solid polymer electrolytes for safe lithium batteries are in general flexible and easy to process, yet they have limited ionic conductivity and low mechanical strength. Introducing nano/microsized fillers into polymer electrolytes has been proven effective to address these issues, while formation of a percolated network of fillers for efficient Li + conduction remains challenging. In this work, composite polymer electrolyte with 3D cellulose/ceramic networks is successfully developed using natural cellulose fibers and Li + -conducting ceramic nanoparticles. Monodisperse ceramic nanofillers first form interconnected networks driven by the self-assembly of hybrid cellulose fibers. The hierarchical cellulose skeleton provides spatial guidance for ceramic fillers and firmly supports the whole structure. After polymer electrolyte infusion, the resultant hybrid electrolyte affords both 3D continuous Li + pathways for high Li + conductivity and sufficient mechanical strength for dendrite suppression. This cellulose-confined particle percolation approach enables efficient and strong solid electrolytes for lithium batteries.

Type Iγ phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinase (PIPKIγ) has been associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer patients by promoting metastasis. Among the six alternative-splicing isoforms of PIPKIγ, PIPKIγ_i2 specifically targets to focal adhesions and regulates focal adhesion turnover, thus was proposed responsible for tumor metastasis. In the present study, we specifically depleted PIPKIγ_i2 from mouse triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) 4T1 cells and analyzed their behaviors. As expected, PIPKIγ_i2-depleted 4T1 cells exhibited reduced proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro at a comparable level as pan-PIPKIγ depleted cells. However, PIPKIγ_i2 depletion had no effect on metastasis and progression of 4T1 tumors in vivo . PIPKIγ_i2-depleted tumors showed similar levels of growth, hypoxia state, macrophage infiltration, and angiogenesis as parental tumors, although the pan-PIPKIγ depletion led to substantial inhibition on these aspects. Further investigation revealed that depleting PIPKIγ_i2 alone, unlike depleting all PIPKIγ isoforms, had no effect on PD-L1 expression, the status of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and the anchorage-independent growth of 4T1 cells. In human TNBC MDA-MB-231 cells, we obtained similar results. Thus, while PIPKIγ_i2 indeed is required for cell migration and invasion, these characteristics are not decisive for metastasis. Other PIPKIγ isoform(s) that regulate the expression of key factors to support cell survival under stresses is more critical for the malignant progression of TNBCs., Competing Interests: None.

Developing new electrode materials with high capacity and stability is an urgent demand in electric vehicle applications. Li x Si alloy, as a promising high-capacity and Li-containing anode candidate, has attracted much attention. However, the alloy anode suffers severely from intrinsic high chemical reactivity and poor cycling stability in battery fabrication and operation. Here, we have developed a facile coating-then-lithiation approach to prepare lithiated-TiO 2 protected Li x Si nanoparticles (Li x Si-Li 2 O/Ti y O z NPs) as an attractive anode material. The robust lithiated-TiO 2 protection matrix not only provides fast electron transport pathways to efficiently improve the electrical conductivity between Li x Si/Si NPs, but also spatially limits the direct solid electrolyte interphase formation on Li x Si/Si cores during cycling. More importantly, this dense coating layer protects most inner Li x Si alloys from ambient corrosion, leading to high dry-air stability. As a result, the resulting Li x Si-Li 2 O/Ti y O z anode achieves greatly enhanced cycling and chemical stability in half-cells. It maintains capacity of about 1300 mAh g -1 after prolonged 500 cycles at a high current rate of C/2, with 77% capacity retention. In addition, it exhibits excellent dry-air stability, with around 87% capacity retained after exposure to dry air (10% relative humidity) for 30 days.

A novel structure of a carbon-coated LiMnPO 4 microcluster through emulsion-based self-assembly has been fabricated to yield a high-performance battery cathode. In this rational design, nanosized LiMnPO 4 plates are assembled into microclusters to achieve a dense packing and robust interparticle contact. In addition, the conductive carbon framework wrapping around these clusters functions as a fast electron highway, ensuring the high utilization of the active materials. The designed structure demonstrates enhanced specific capacity and cycling stability in lithium-ion batteries, delivering a discharge capacity of 120 mAh g -1 after 200 cycles at 0.2 C. It also shows a superior rate capability with discharge capacities of 139.7 mAh g -1 at 0.05 C, 131.7 mAh g -1 at 0.1 C, and 99.2 mAh g -1 at 1 C at room temperature.