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The wettability mechanism of soil–water interfaces is of significant importance in geotechnical engineering. However, the effect of different contact angles on unsaturated sand soil behavior has been less understood. In this study, the wetting behavior of nano water droplets on various silica substrates is investigated using molecular dynamics. Seventeen groups of simulation systems with different interaction potential energies ($\varepsilon _{\mathrm{Si}} = 0.008$, 0.04, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1, 2 kcal/mol) and temperatures ($T = 273$, 298, 323, 353 K) are conducted. The results show that the contact angles varies intensively with interaction potential energies from 108.5° to 18.1°, which indicates a transition from hydrophobic to hydrophilic and wettability enhancement along with the increase of interaction potential energy. Simulation results also show that contact angles increase with the increase of temperature, whatever the hydrophobic or hydrophilic of the silica surface. Such phenomena are interpreted from the perspective of microstructure, along with the performance of macrostructure. In addition, results show that the contact angles are independent of the thickness and width (length) of silica substrate.

Importance: Acupoint autohemotherapy (AA), a therapeutic technique involving the subcutaneous injection of autologous blood into acupoints, has been empirically validated as safe and effective for treating asthma by alleviating symptoms and decreasing acute attacks, though its mechanism is not well understood.Objective: The role of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in AA-induced suppression of asthmatic airway inflammation is examined. Methods: Twenty rats were assigned randomly to four groups, namely the Control, OVA, OVA + AA, and (OVA + Snpp) + AA. Rats in the OVA + AA and (OVA + Snpp) + AA received autologous blood injections into acupoints (BL13 and BL23) following OVA challenge. Rats in the (OVA + Snpp) + AA were concurrently subjected to intraperitoneal injections of Snpp, a inhibitor of HO-1. Airway inflammation was evaluated through HE staining, while the concentrations of cytokines in BALF were quantified using ELISA. The mRNA and protein levels of RORγt (Th17-specific transcription factor), Foxp3 (Treg-specific transcription factor), and HO-1 in lung tissue were assessed through qRT-PCR and WB. Results: HE staining indicated that airway inflammation was alleviated in the OVA + AA. The OVA + AA displayed significantly lower counts of total cells and eosinophils in the BALF compared to both the OVA and (OVA + Snpp) + AA. The ELISA demonstrated a significant decrease in levels of pro-inflamatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-17A), and an increase in levels of anti-inflamatory cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-10), in the OVA + AA when compared to both OVA and (OVA + Snpp) + AA. The qRT-PCR and WB analyses revealed an upregulation of HO-1 and Foxp3 expression, and a downregulation of RORγt expression, in the OVA + AA when compared to OVA and (OVA + Snpp) + AA. Conclusions and Relevance: The involvement of HO-1 in the underlying mechanism responsible for the anti-inflammatory effects of AA is evident.

Abstract Physical inactivity poses a significant risk to morbidity and mortality. Chinese American women, as part of the larger group of Asian American women, exhibit low adherence to recommended physical activity guidelines. To date, few physical activity interventions have been tailored to address specific sociocultural considerations in this population, and the heterogeneity among Asian Americans is often not considered. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand facilitators, motivations, and barriers to physical activity perceived by Chinese American women to help inform tailored physical activity interventions for this population. Virtual, semi-structured individual interviews with 21 Chinese American women were completed. Data were analyzed using Clarke and Braun’s thematic analysis approach. Six main themes emerged: (1) desires to stay healthy; (2) achievement and satisfaction; (3) facilitators and motivations from social networks; (4) COVID-19 pandemic; (5) prioritizing family needs; and (6) weight status satisfaction. Participants expressed motivations rooted in their desire for improved health, personal experience of improvement and accomplishment gained from physical activity, and the influence of social networks, both online and in-person. The COVID-19 pandemic acted as both a facilitator and a barrier to physical activity. Identified barriers include prioritizing family needs over personal engagement in physical activity and lacking motivation due to perceiving a normal weight that does not necessitate participation in physical activity. The findings facilitate the development of culturally appropriate interventions to improve physical activity and enhance overall well-being in this population.

A highly efficient, transition-metal- and light-free approach to polyheterocycles via regioselective cascade radical cyclization is developed. The redox-neutral protocol has a broad substrate scope with good functional group tolerance and probably undergoes a SET process, which is initiated by catalytic amounts of quinone in combination with 2.0 equiv. of Cs2CO3.

Abstract Expressway networks are continuously developing and emergency rescue demand is increasing proportionately. The location of expressway emergency rescue nodes needs refinement to meet changing requirements. In this study, the expressway was modeled as an expressway network. The differences in the origin destination (OD) distribution matrices for working days and major holidays were used as the bases for determining the need for temporary emergency rescue nodes. Overlapping and non-overlapping community detection algorithms were used to extract the distribution characteristics of OD during both day categories. These distributions were used to determine permanent and temporary emergency rescue sites. In this study, we considered the differences in traffic volume, distance, and impact of four vehicle types on traffic accidents to select the location of emergency rescue nodes, and allocate emergency resources. An emergency rescue node selection model for an expressway network was established based on spatio-temporal characteristics. The results based on a regional example determined that 22 permanent and 25 temporary emergency rescue nodes were appropriate. The average rescue time for traffic accidents during working days and major holidays compared to the P-center location model, was reduced by approximately 27.08% and 6.70%, respectively. The coefficient of variation of emergency rescue time was reduced by approximately 28.22% and 21.41%, respectively. The results indicated that the model satisfied the expressway emergency rescue demand requirements, and improved the rationality of the rescue center node layout.

Abstract α‐halo alkylboronic esters, acting as ambiphilic synthons, play a pivotal role as versatile intermediates in fields like pharmaceutical science and organic chemistry. The sequential transformation of carbon–boron and carbon–halogen bonds into a broad range of carbon–X bonds allows for programmable bond formation, facilitating the incorporation of multiple substituents at a single position and streamlining the synthesis of complex molecules. Nevertheless, the synthetic potential of these compounds is constrained by limited reaction patterns. Additionally, the conventional methods often necessitate the use of bulk toxic solvents, exhibit sensitivity to air/moisture, rely on expensive metal catalysts, and involve extended reaction times. In this report, a ball milling technique is introduced that overcomes these limitations, enabling the external catalyst‐free multicomponent coupling of aryl diazonium salts, alkenes, and simple metal halides. This approach offers a general and straightforward method for obtaining a diverse array of α‐halo alkylboronic esters, thereby paving the way for the extensive utilization of these synthons in the synthesis of fine chemicals.

In order to study the effect of heat treatment in air on the hydrogen permeation in/through Pd membrane, Pd membrane was deposited via the electroless plating method and the hydrogen permeation flux of Pd membrane before and after heat treatment in air at 573 K was measured. The membranes were characterized by XRD, SEM, AFM and hydrogen permeation tests. The results show that Pd membrane is compact and defect-free and has a thickness of 5 μm. The hydrogen permeability of Pd membrane at 673 K, 723 K and 773 K are 3.62×10-9, 5.12×10-9 mol/(m·s·Pa0.5) and 6.80×10-9 mol/(m·s·Pa0.5), respectively. The membrane treated in air at 573 K has higher surface roughness, larger surface area and more dissociation adsorption sites than the as-deposited membrane, thus improving the hydrogen permeability of the Pd membrane. After heat treatment, the hydrogen permeability of Pd membrane at 673, 723 K and 773 K are 5.32×10-9, 6.44×10-9 mol/(m·s·Pa0.5) and 7.31×10-9 mol/(m·s·Pa0.5), respectively. The hydrogen permeability of such Pd membrane is 1.1-1.5 times higher than that of the as-deposited one.

Objective To investigate the effect of exosomes (Exo) derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) overexpressing miR-124-1 by regulating M2 polarization of microglia (MG) on stroke. Methods Rat BMMSCs were isolated and cultured. Then BMMSCs-Exo were extracted, and flow cytometry, Western blotting and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to identify the BMMSCs and BMMSCs-Exo, respectively. Thirty rats were randomized into sham operation group (sham group), model group (middle cerebral artery occlusion and reperfusion, MCAO/R), Exo transplantation group (Exo group), transplantation group of Exo transfected with empty lentivirus (Exo-Elv group) and transplantation group of Exo transfected with124-1 lentivirus (Exo/124-1 group), with 6 rats in each group. In 1 and 14 d after modeling, the corresponding agents were transplanted into the right lateral ventricle of rats in each transplantation group, while the rats of Sham group and MCAO/R group were given the injection of the same dose of normal saline. At 2 h and 1, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 d after modeling, modified neurological severity score (mNSS) was employed to evaluate neurologic deficit, and triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining was performed to measure cerebral infarct volume. The expression of TNF-α (M1 molecule) and CD206 (M2 molecule) in the MG in the brain tissue at 28 d at both mRNA and protein levels were detected. Results BMMSCs and BMMSCs-Exo were successfully obtained and identified. MiR-124-1 was significantly expressed in Exo/124-1 rats. All rats (except those from the sham operation group) had neurological deficit after modeling. From 7 d to 28 d after modeling, the mNSS was significantly lower in the Exo/124-1 group than the MCAO/R group (P

In the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, influenza virus infections continuously lead to a global disease burden. Evaluating vaccine effectiveness against influenza infection is crucial to inform vaccine design and vaccination strategy. In this study, we recruited 1120 patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) who attended fever clinics of 4 sentinel hospitals in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, from January 1 to April 7, 2024. Using a test-negative design, we estimated influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) of 54.7% (95% CrI: 23.7, 73.1) against medical-attended influenza infection, with 62.3% (95% CrI: 29.3, 79.8) against influenza A, and 51.2% (95% CrI: 28.7, 83.0) against influenza B. Despite the moderate VE estimated in this study, influenza vaccination remains the most important approach to prevent influenza at the community level.

The aim of this study was to investigate the global epidemiological trends in the incidence and deaths of acute respiratory infections (ARIs), encompassing both upper respiratory infections (URIs) and lower respiratory infections (LRIs), from 1990 to 2021. Using data from the Global Burden of Disease study 2021 (GBD 2021), we utilized the average annual percentage change (AAPC) to examine the trends in the age-standardized incidence rate and deaths rate (ASIR and ASDRs) of URIs and LRIs. In 2021, the global ASIR of URIs and LRIs were 166,770.73 (95 % UI: 148,098.16–189,487.93) per 100,000 and 4283.61 (95 % UI: 4057.03–4524.89) per 100,000, respectively. The highest ASIR of URIs occurred in high-sociodemographic index (SDI) regions (232744.64, 95 % UI: 206887.07–261694.81) per 100,000, whereas LRIs occurred in low-SDI regions (9261.1, 95 % UI: 8741.61–9820.86) per 100,000. In 2021, the global ASDRs of URIs and LRIs were 0.28 (95 % UI: 0.09–0.61) per 100,000 and 28.67 (95 % UI: 25.92–31.07) per 100,000, respectively. The highest ASDRs of both URIs and LRIs were observed in low-SDI regions, with 1.1 (95 % UI: 0.08–2.78) per 100,000 and 70.68 (95 % UI: 62.56–78.62) per 100,000, respectively. From 1990 to 2021, the global ASIR for URIs and LRIs decreased, with AAPCs of −0.17 % (95 % CI: 0.17 % to −0.16 %) and −1.28 % (95 % CI: −1.37 % to −1.22 %), respectively. The global ASDRs also decreased (−3.39 % for URIs; −2.46 % for LRIs). However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ASIR of URIs increased in many countries, especially in high-SDI regions (rate difference before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in ASIR was 2210.19 per 100,000.) and low-SDI regions (rate difference in ASIR: 111.26 per 100,000). The global incidence and deaths related to ARIs have decreased over the past 32 years. However, it remains a significant public health concern, particularly due to the notable incidence of URIs in high SDI regions and the deaths associated with both URIs and LRIs in low SDI regions. Furthermore, an increase in the incidence of URIs was observed in both high- and low-SDI regions during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the need for increased attention.

This study investigated the synthesis of α-hemihydrate gypsum (α-HH) through semi-liquid autoclaving of phosphogypsum (PG) using various carboxylic acids as modifying agents. The impact of carboxyl group spatial location, auxiliary functional group type, and the number of carboxyl groups within the carboxylic acid modifiers on the mechanical strength and crystal morphology of α-HH was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), strength testing, and molecular dynamics simulations. The results revealed a significant influence of the carboxylic acid molecular structure on the α-HH crystal morphology. Monocarboxylic acids and dicarboxylic acids with a long carbon chain length between carboxyl groups exhibited preferential adsorption on the (200), (110), and (−110) crystal planes, promoting crystal growth along the c-axis. In contrast, hydroxyl groups and cis double bonds in the modifier structure induced selective adsorption on the (001) plane, hindering growth along the c-axis. Conversely, trans double bonds favored adsorption on the (200), (110), and (−110) planes, enhancing growth along the c-axis. Based on these observations, screening principles for carboxylic acid modifiers were established, suggesting that: 1) the number of carboxyl groups should exceed 2; 2) the optimal carbon atom spacing between carboxyl groups is 3; and 3) auxiliary functional groups such as hydroxyl groups and cis double bonds should be introduced. Modifiers like citric acid, ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), and pyromellitic acid, within concentration ranges of 0.05%–0.1%, 0.1%–0.15%, and 0.05%–0.1%, respectively, yielded α-HH with flexural strengths exceeding 4 MPa and compressive strengths greater than 35 MPa, demonstrating the validity of these principles.

Tuft cells are a group of rare epithelial cells that can detect pathogenic microbes and parasites. Many of these cells express signaling proteins initially found in taste buds. It is, however, not well understood how these taste signaling proteins contribute to the response to the invading pathogens or to the recovery of injured tissues. In this study, we conditionally nullified the signaling G protein subunit Gγ13 and found that the number of ectopic tuft cells in the injured lung was reduced following the infection of the influenza virus H1N1. Furthermore, the infected mutant mice exhibited significantly larger areas of lung injury, increased macrophage infiltration, severer pulmonary epithelial leakage, augmented pyroptosis and cell death, greater bodyweight loss, slower recovery, worsened fibrosis and increased fatality. Our data demonstrate that the Gγ13-mediated signal transduction pathway is critical to tuft cells-mediated inflammation resolution and functional repair of the damaged lungs.To our best knowledge, it is the first report indicating subtype-specific contributions of tuft cells to the resolution and recovery.

Abstract We revisit the condensation scenario of charged pions in external magnetic field and rotation, which was first considered by Y. Liu and I. Zahed. Based on the Ginzburg-Landau analysis of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model, we find that the charged-pion condensation takes place only when both a strong coupling constant and negatively large baryon chemical potential are applied. Besides, our numerical calculation shows that the chiral restoration induced by the interplay between magnetic field and rotation (i.e., the rotational magnetic inhibition) interrupts the formation of the charged-pion condensate. This suggests that the analysis of such condensation requires a careful treatment of the inner structure of pions, which was not taken into account before. We also discuss the underlying physical mechanism of our finding and the indication of charged-rho condensation.

Molecular dynamics method was used to establish composite wall/inorganic nanopores of three pore sizes, three shale oil systems, five CO2-cosolvent systems, and pure CO2 system. The process of CO2-cosolvent displacement of crude oil in shale nanopores and carbon storage was simulated and the influencing factors of displacement and storage were analyzed. It is shown that the attraction of the quartz wall to shale oil increases with the degree of hydroxylation. The higher the degree of quartz hydroxylation, the more difficult it is to extract the polar components of shale oil. Nanopore size also has a great impact on shale oil displacement efficiency. The larger the pore size, the higher the shale oil displacement efficiency. The closer the cosolvent molecules are to the polarity of the shale oil, the higher the mutual solubility of CO2 and shale oil. The more the non-polar components of shale oil, the lower the mutual solubility of CO2 and shale oil with highly polar cosolvent. Ethyl acetate is more effective in stripping relatively high polar shale oil, while dimethyl ether is more effective in stripping relatively low polar shale oil. Kerogen is highly adsorptive, especially to CO2. The CO2 inside the kerogen is not easy to diffuse and leak, thus allowing for a stable carbon storage. The highest CO2 storage rate is observed when dimethyl ether is used as a cosolvent, and the best storage stability is observed when ethyl acetate is used as a cosolvent.