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Global warming has intensified the climatic warming and moistening trend on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, threatening the thermal stability of railway subgrades in the plateau permafrost regions. However, previous studies have lacked systematic analyses that comprehensively consider the climate along the railway, permafrost conditions, and subgrade stability. Based on meteorological data and ground temperature monitoring data of permafrost subgrades along the railway, this paper comparatively analyzes the variations in air temperature, precipitation, annual mean ground temperature (AMGT) at natural sites, natural permafrost table (NPT), artificial permafrost table (APT), and settlement of the left and right shoulders of the subgrade along the railway. The results indicate that over the past 20 years, the annual mean air temperature and annual mean precipitation along the railway have increased by an average of 1.2°C and 80 mm, respectively. Compared with 2007, the AMGT of permafrost at natural sites along the railway increased by an average of 0.1°C in 2020, the NPT descended by an average of 0.58 m, while the APT was raised by an average of 2.34 m. The average settlement of the left shoulder is greater than that of the right shoulder, indicating the existence of a sunny‐shady slope effect. The state of the permafrost railway subgrade is generally stable, proving that a series of engineering protection measures adopted during construction and operation are effective. However, facing the intensifying trend of future climatic warming and moistening, it is necessary to research and reserve new, economical, and durable permafrost protection technologies in advance. The average cooling temperature of the evaporation section of the adsorption heat pipe is around −15°C, and the field test results are favorable. The subsequent all‐season cooling performance will be evaluated based on long‐term monitoring data.

We demonstrated herein that ZnO nanoparticle with sizes in the range of 3–5 nm grown on the surface of halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) could be facile prepared in large quantities through the seed-mediated growth process using ZnAc 2 ·2H 2 O as the zinc source. Compared with the individually dispersed ZnO nanoparticles, the as-prepared HNTs@ZnO nanocomposites showed a smaller band gap energy and relatively strong light absorption. Therefore, HNTs@ZnO nanocomposites possessed higher photocatalytic activity than individually dispersed ZnO nanoparticles, exhibiting the HNTs@ZnO nanocomposites could be used as highly efficient photocatalysts. The HNTs@ZnO nanocomposites endowed HNTs special performance and improve the catalytic activity of ZnO, which originated from narrow band gap and chemical passivation induced by a negative fixed charge in the HNTs support.

Silicon (Si) has been attracting extensive attention for rechargeable lithium (Li)‐ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity and low potential vs Li/Li+. However, it remains challenging and problematic to stabilize the Si materials during electrochemical cycling because of the huge volume expansion, which results in losing electric contact and pulverization of Si particles. Consequently, the Si anode materials generally suffer from poor cycling, poor rate performance, and low coulomb efficiency, preventing them from practical applications. Up‐to‐date, there are numerous reports on the engineering of Si anode materials at microscale and nanoscale with significantly improved electrochemical performances. In this review, we will concentrate on various precisely designed protective layers for silicon‐based materials, including carbon layers, inorganic layers, and conductive polymer protective layer. First, we briefly introduced the alloying and failure mechanism of Si as anode materials upon electrochemical reactions. Following that, representative cases have been introduced and summarized to illustrate the purpose and advancement of protective coating layers, for instance, to alleviate pulverization and improve conductivity caused by volume expansion of Si particles during charge/discharge process, and maintain the surface stability of Si particles to form a stable solid‐electrolyte interphase layer. At last, possible strategies on the protective coating layer for stabilizing silicon anode materials that can be applied in the future have been indicated. Silicon anode materials, attracting extensive attention for rechargeable lithium‐ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity, generally suffer from poor cycling, poor rate performance, and low coulomb efficiency. We review on recent progress in the engineering of protective coating layers, including carbon, inorganic, and conductive polymer protective layers, for stabilizing silicon anode and improving electrochemical performance.

The lattice‐oxygen‐mediated mechanism is considered as a reasonable mechanism for the electrochemical catalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) of NiFe layered double hydroxides (LDHs). A NiFe LDH with distinct lattice contraction and microcrystallization was synthesized via a simple one‐step method using sodium gluconate. The lattice contraction is attributed to the interaction of carbon in sodium gluconate and iron in NiFe LDH. The NiFe LDH with optimized microcrystallization and lattice contraction shows a low overpotential of 217 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and excellent durability of 20 h at a high current density of 100 mA cm−2. The results revealed that a contractive metal–oxygen bond could boost the intrinsic activity of active sites and the microcrystallization promotes an increase in the number of active sites in terms of unit area. The chemical environment of oxygen elemental characterization and resistance at different chronopotentiometry times confirm that the lattice oxygen element is indeed involved in the process of OER, supporting the lattice‐oxygen‐mediated mechanism of NiFe LDH. Density functional theory calculations reveal that contractive metal–oxygen bonds induced a reduction of the adsorption energy barrier of intermediate products, thus improving the intrinsic catalytic activity. The special characteristics of microcrystallization and lattice contraction of NiFe LDH provide a strategy to improve both the number and the intrinsic activity of active sites in a versatile manner. Lattice contraction of NiFe layered double hydroxides can strongly affect the electron distribution of materials and further affect the adsorption strength of intermediate species. Microcrystallization can greatly improve the surface roughness of materials and improve the electrochemistry surface area in oxygen evolution reaction (OER).  Synergistic enhancement can be achieved through controllable structural engineering, therefore promoting efficient OER.

Background Heart rate (HR) was one of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, but there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate a relationship between heart rate fluctuations and the prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between 24-h heart rate fluctuations after admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 30-day, 1-year, and 3-year mortality rates in patients with AMI in order to examine its implications for prognosis in AMI patients. Methods All data were obtained from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III Database (MIMIC III). We calculated heart rate fluctuations using the maximum and minimum values of the patient’s heart rate during the first 24 h after ICU admission and divided them into three groups (< 23beats/min, 23-33beats/min, > 33beats/min) according to tertiles. The COX risk regression model was applied to the analysis, and subgroup analyses were performed for use in testing the robustness of the results. Curve fitting was performed to explore whether there was a nonlinear relationship between heart rate fluctuations and mortality. Outcome measures were 30-day, 1-year, and 3-year mortality in patients with AMI. Results After strict confounding adjustment, COX multifactorial analysis showed that patients’ heart rate fluctuations were positively associated with 30-day, 1-year, and 3-year mortality rates (HR = 1.17, 95%CI: 1.11 ~ 1.23; HR = 1.17, 95%CI: 1.12 ~ 1.22; HR = 1.17, 95%CI: 1.12 ~ 1.21). In addition, the high heart rate fluctuation group (> 33 beats/min) had a significantly increased risk of death (HR = 1.76, 95%CI: 1.28 ~ 2.42; HR = 1.59, 95%CI: 1.25 ~ 2.03; HR = 1.43, 95%CI: 1.15 ~ 1.77). In the curve-fitting analysis, a J-shaped curve relationship among heart rate fluctuations and 1- and 3-year mortality was found ( p for non-linearity = 0.049; p for non-linearity = 0.004), with an inflection point of 28 beats/min. In subgroup analyses, there was an interaction between heart rate fluctuations and age ( P for interaction = 0.041). Conclusions Heart rate fluctuations within 24 h after ICU admission of AMI patients were associated with 30-day, 1-year, and 3-year mortality, which is a simple and stable predictor of patients’ short- and long-term prognosis. Furthermore, 24-h heart rate fluctuations showed a “J” curve relationship with 1- and 3-year mortality, with fluctuations of 28 beats/min predicting the best prognosis.

Vaccines prevent the incidence of new infections, but availability of interventions that can prevent transition to severe disease is limited. Interferons (IFN) serve an important part of anti-viral host immune defense. Viruses including SARS-CoV-2 dysregulate IFN kinetics, leading to pathogenesis. The efficacy of systemically infused IFNs as a viable antiviral intervention is compromised by their adverse side effects and restrict the acceptable dosage levels. To address this problem, CD4 T cells have been engineered into a cell-based delivery platform that synthesizes antiviral IFNs upon recognizing the envelope protein of SARS-CoV-2 . This pathway cannot be disrupted by viruses and delivers the IFNs directly where needed, reducing side effects. Prophylactic and therapeutic effects of the type-I and type-III IFNs, produced from the T-cell delivery platform, on SARS-CoV-2-infected host cells have been determined. Among the tested interferons, type-I IFN-β consistently exhibited the strongest antiviral activity. The platform is based on CD4 T cells engineered with chimeric antigen receptors and can be rapidly re-engineered for targeting any new pathogen with sensitivity toward IFNs.

Hematology is an essential field for investigating the prognostic outcomes of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Recent research has suggested that mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) is associated with a poor prognosis in several CVDs. There is no evidence of a correlation between MCHC and hypertension. Therefore, our study aimed to analyze the association of MCHC with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in hypertensive patients. We used cohort data from U.S. adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999-2014. COX regression was applied to analyze the relationship between MCHC and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. In addition, three models were adjusted to reduce confounding factors. We reanalyzed the data after propensity score matching (PSM) to inspect the stability of the results. Stratified analysis was additionally adopted to investigate the results of each subgroup. Our research included 15,154 individuals. During a mean follow-up period of 129 months, 30.6% of the hypertensive population succumbed to mortality. Based on previous studies, we categorized patients with MCHC ≤33mg/dl as the hypochromia group and those with >33mg/dl as the non-hypochromia group. After PSM, the hypochromia group had higher all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]:1.26, 95% confidence interval [95%CI]:1.11-1.43) and cardiovascular mortality (adjusted HR:1.42, 95%CI:1.12-1.80) than the non-hypochromia group. The results of the COX regression remain stable after matching. Stratified analyses before PSM revealed an interaction of anemia in the relationship between MCHC and mortality, whereas there was no significant interaction after matching. In hypertensive individuals, low MCHC was correlated with a poor prognosis. Further studies on MCHC are necessary to analyze the potential mechanisms of its poor prognosis in hypertensive populations.

Chemotherapy is a common strategy to treat cancer. However, acquired resistance and metastasis are the major obstacles to successful treatment. Anastasis is a process by which cells survive executioner caspase activation when facing apoptotic stress. Here we demonstrate that colorectal cancer cells can undergo anastasis after transient exposure to chemotherapeutic drugs. Using a lineage tracing system to label and isolate cells that have experienced executioner caspase activation in response to drug treatment, we show that anastasis grants colorectal cancer cells enhanced migration, metastasis, and chemoresistance. Mechanistically, treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs induces upregulated expression of cIAP2 and activation of NFκB, which are required for cells to survive executioner caspase activation. The elevated cIAP2/NFκB signaling persists in anastatic cancer cells to promote migration and chemoresistance. Our study unveils that cIAP2/NFκB-dependent anastasis promotes acquired resistance and metastasis after chemotherapy.

Vector ticks' perception of characteristic odors emitted by infected hosts is key to understand tick's foraging behavior for infected host and design odor-based control strategies for tick-borne diseases. Laboratory mice knocked out for type I interferon (IFN) receptors (Ifnar-/-) were used to develop a simulated host by intraperitoneal infection with Bandavirus dabieense (SFTSV). Urine and fecal samples were collected 4 days post-infection and analyzed to detect differential volatile metabolites (DVMs) during infection. Next, the two salient odor cues among the SFTSV-induced host DVMs, indole and 3-methylindole, were used to test the olfactory response of Haemaphysalis. longicornis by electroantennographic detection (EAD) and Y-tube olfactometry, respectively. To gain insight into the potential olfactory mechanism, two olfactory-associated proteins, Niemann-Pick type C2 (NPC2) and Odor Binding Protein-like (OBPL) proteins were annotated from the transcriptomic data derived from H. longicornis forelegs. Online tools were used to predict the ligand binding properties of the two proteins to the two indole candidates. Simultaneously, quantitative RT-PCR using β-actin as an internal reference gene was used to monitor the relative transcript levels of NPC2 and OBPL proteins under the stimulation of two indole candidates. The significantly regulated proteins were cloned and expressed with the vector plasmid pET-28b in vitro. The purified proteins were tested for the binding properties to the two indole candidates. SFTSV-infected Ifnar-/- mice upregulated 11 DVMs in fecal samples, mostly indoles and phenols, along with indole biosynthesis and related metabolic processes. In the urine samples, 29 DVMs were downregulated in the infected host, with eucalyptol and phenylalanine acid being the most altered. We test the olfactory responses of H. longicornis to indole and 3-methylindole, which influence tick foraging behavior. The olfactometers showed that the tick preferred both indole and 3-methylindole. EAD tests showed that stimulation of the olfactory receptor neuron in Haller's organ produced significant active potential in response to indoles. Two olfactory proteins, NPC2 and OBPL, were successfully annotated from H. longicornis foreleg transcriptomic data. NPC2 has a β-barrel structure that binds signal chemicals, while OBPL is a classical OBP with a hydrophobic binding cavity. When monitoring the transcript levels of NPC2 and OBPL in the tick forelegs, the increased transcript level (1.2-1.4 folds change) of OBPL was observed following indoles stimulation, compared to the downregulated level (0.6-0.8 folds change) of NPC2 under the same circumstances. The OBPL and NPC2 gene from H. longicornis were successfully cloned and expressed as inclusion proteins respectively. The purified OBPL (20.28 kDa) showed higher affinity for both indole (Ki 2.256μM) and 3-methylindole (Ki 4.191μM) than NPC2 in the competitive fluorescence binding assays with 1-NPN as a competitor. Facilitated by the olfactory OBPL protein in Haller's organ, H. longicornis smells and is attracted to the characteristic indolic scents of hosts induced by SFTSV infection. Olfactory associations between infected hosts and vector arthropods could provide a new perspective to understand host foraging behavior and design novel control strategies for tick-borne diseases based on pathogen-induced scent according to chemical ecology theory.

Bacteriophage could be an alternative to conventional antibiotic therapy against multidrug-resistant bacteria. However, the emergence of resistant variants after phage treatment limited its therapeutic application. In this study, an approach, named \"Step-by-Step\" (SBS), has been established. This method takes advantage of the occurrence of phage-resistant bacteria variants and ensures that phages lytic for wild-type strain and its phage-resistant variants are selected. A phage cocktail lytic for Klebsiella pneumoniae was established by the SBS method. This phage cocktail consisted of three phages (GH-K1, GH-K2 and GH-K3) which have different but overlapping host strains. Several phage-resistant variants of Klebsiella pneumoniae were isolated after different phages treatments. The virulence of these variants was much weaker [minimal lethal doses (MLD)>1.3×10(9) cfu/mouse] than that of wild-type K7 countpart (MLD = 2.5×10(3) cfu/mouse). Compared with any single phage, the phage cocktail significantly reduced the mutation frequency of Klebsiella pneumoniae and effectively rescued Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteremia in a murine K7 strain challenge model. The minimal protective dose (MPD) of the phage cocktail which was sufficient to protect bacteremic mice from lethal K7 infection was only 3.0×10(4) pfu, significantly smaller (p<0.01) than that of single monophage. Moreover, a delayed administration of this phage cocktail was still effective in protection against K7 challenge. Our data showed that the phage cocktail was more effective in reducing bacterial mutation frequency and in the rescue of murine bacteremia than monophage suggesting that phage cocktail established by SBS method has great therapeutic potential for multidrug-resistant bacteria infection.