Structural basis for linker histone H5-nucleosome binding and chromatin fiber compaction.

The hierarchical packaging of chromatin fibers plays a critical role in gene regulation. The 30-nm chromatin fibers, a central-level structure bridging nucleosomal arrays to higher-order organizations, function as the first level of transcriptional dormant chromatin. The dynamics of 30-nm chromatin fiber play a crucial role in biological processes related to DNA. Here, we report a 3.6-angstrom resolution cryogenic electron microscopy structure of H5-bound dodecanucleosome, i.e., the chromatin fiber reconstituted in the presence of linker histone H5, which shows a two-start left-handed double helical structure twisted by tetranucleosomal units. An atomic structural model of the H5-bound chromatin fiber, including an intact chromatosome, is built, which provides structural details of the full-length linker histone H5, including its N-terminal domain and an HMG-motif-like C-terminal domain. The chromatosome structure shows that H5 binds the nucleosome off-dyad through a three-contact mode in the chromatin fiber. More importantly, the H5-chromatin structure provides a fine molecular basis for the intra-tetranucleosomal and inter-tetranucleosomal interactions. In addition, we systematically validated the physiological functions and structural characteristics of the tetranucleosomal unit through a series of genetic and genomic studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in vitro biophysical experiments. Furthermore, our structure reveals that multiple structural asymmetries of histone tails confer a polarity to the chromatin fiber. These findings provide structural and mechanistic insights into how a nucleosomal array folds into a higher-order chromatin fiber with a polarity in vitro and in vivo.

Structures of Liquid-Liquid Interfaces in Partially Miscible Systems Revealed by Soft X-ray Imaging.

The properties of liquid-liquid interfaces are intricately linked to its structure, with a particular focus on the concentration distribution within the interface. To obtain precise information regarding the concentration distribution, we have developed a high-resolution soft X-ray imaging method for liquid-liquid interfaces. This work focused on representative partially miscible systems, analyzing the interfacial concentration distribution profiles of water-alkanols under both steady-state and dynamic processes, and obtaining the diffusion coefficients of different water concentrations in alkanols. Significant disparities in concentration distributions and the concentration-related diffusion coefficients were observed despite comparable diffusion distances within the same system across different states. Meanwhile, it was found that alkanols exhibit adsorption phenomena at the interface. This newfound knowledge serves as a crucial stepping stone toward a deeper understanding of partially miscible systems. Our study opens a way to explore liquid-liquid interface information with high-resolution.

Identifying the heavy metal pollution risk pattern from industrial production to rural settlements and its countermeasures in China.

Impacted by large-scale and rapid rural industrialization in the past few decades, China's rural settlements are confronted with the risk of heavy metal pollution stemming from industrial production, which might pose a significant threat to the rural habitat and the well-beings. This study devised a relative risk model for industrial heavy metal pollution to the rural settlements based on the source-pathway-receptor risk theory. Using this model, we assessed the risk magnitudes of heavy metal pollution from industrial production at a 10 km × 10 km grid scale and identified the characteristics of the risk pattern in China. Our finding reveals: (1) the relative risk values of wastewater, waste gas and total heavy metal pollution are notably concentrated within a confined spectrum, with only a small number of units are characterized by high-risk level; (2) Approximately 21.57 % of China's rural settlements contend with heavy metal pollution, with 4.17 %, 9.84 % and 7.55 % being subjected to high, medium and low risks, respectively; (3) The high-risk units mainly is concentrated in the developed areas such as Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and the Beijing-Tianjin metropolitan area, also dispersed in the plain areas with high rural population density. Guided by these insights, this study puts forth regionally tailored prevention and control strategies, as well as distinct process prevention and control strategies.

Nutritional Partitioning among Sympatric Ungulates in Eastern Tibet.

Wild ungulates play crucial roles in maintaining the structure and function of local ecosystems. The alpine musk deer (Moschus chrysogaste), white-lipped deer (Przewalskium albirostris), and red serow (Capricornis rubidus) are widely distributed throughout the Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains of Tibet. However, research on the mechanisms underlying their coexistence in the same habitat remains lacking. This study aimed to investigate the mechanisms underlying the coexistence of these species based on their dietary preferences through DNA barcoding using the fecal samples of these animals collected from the study area. These species consume a wide variety of food types. Alpine musk deer, white-lipped deer, and red serow consume plants belonging to 74 families and 114 genera, 62 families and 122 genera, and 63 families and 113 genera, respectively. Furthermore, significant differences were observed in the nutritional ecological niche among these species, primarily manifested in the differentiation of food types and selection of food at the genus level. Owing to differences in social behavior, body size, and habitat selection, these three species further expand their differentiation in resource selection, thereby making more efficient use of environmental resources. Our findings indicate these factors are the primary reasons for the stable coexistence of these species.

PST-Diff: Achieving High-consistency Stain Transfer by Diffusion Models with Pathological and Structural Constraints.

Histopathological examinations heavily rely on hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. IHC staining can offer more accurate diagnostic details but it brings significant financial and time costs. Furthermore, either re-staining HE-stained slides or using adjacent slides for IHC may compromise the accuracy of pathological diagnosis due to information loss. To address these challenges, we develop PST-Diff, a method for generating virtual IHC images from HE images based on diffusion models, which allows pathologists to simultaneously view multiple staining results from the same tissue slide. To maintain the pathological consistency of the stain transfer, we propose the asymmetric attention mechanism (AAM) and latent transfer (LT) module in PST-Diff. Specifically, the AAM can retain more local pathological information of the source domain images through the design of asymmetric attention mechanisms, while ensuring the model's flexibility in generating virtual stained images that highly confirm to the target domain. Subsequently, the LT module transfers the implicit representations across different domains, effectively alleviating the bias introduced by direct connection and further enhancing the pathological consistency of PST-Diff. Furthermore, to maintain the structural consistency of the stain transfer, the conditional frequency guidance (CFG) module is proposed to precisely control image generation and preserve structural details according to the frequency recovery process. To conclude, the pathological and structural consistency constraints provide PST-Diff with effectiveness and superior generalization in generating stable and functionally pathological IHC images with the best evaluation score. In general, PST-Diff offers prospective application in clinical virtual staining and pathological image analysis.

Neighborhood Diversity Promotes Tree Growth in a Secondary Forest: The Interplay of Intraspecific Competition, Interspecific Competition, and Spatial Scale.

Understanding the biodiversity-productivity relationship (BPR) is crucial for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management. While it is known that diversity enhances forest productivity, the underlying mechanisms at the local neighborhood level remain poorly understood. We established a 9.6 ha dynamic forest plot to study how neighborhood diversity, intraspecific competition, and interspecific competition influence tree growth across spatial scales using linear mixed-effects models. Our analysis reveals a significant positive correlation between neighborhood species richness (NSR) and relative growth rate (RGR). Notably, intraspecific competition, measured by conspecific neighborhood density and resource competition, negatively impacts RGR at finer scales, indicating intense competition among conspecifics for limited resources. In contrast, interspecific competition, measured by heterospecific density and resource competition, has a negligible impact on RGR. The relative importance of diversity and intra/interspecific competition in influencing tree growth varies with scale. At fine scales, intraspecific competition dominates negatively, while at larger scales, the positive effect of NSR on RGR increases, contributing to a positive BPR. These findings highlight the intricate interplay between local interactions and spatial scale in modulating tree growth, emphasizing the importance of considering biotic interactions and spatial variability in studying BPR.

CMRLCCOA: Multi-Strategy Enhanced Coati Optimization Algorithm for Engineering Designs and Hypersonic Vehicle Path Planning.

The recently introduced coati optimization algorithm suffers from drawbacks such as slow search velocity and weak optimization precision. An enhanced coati optimization algorithm called CMRLCCOA is proposed. Firstly, the Sine chaotic mapping function is used to initialize the CMRLCCOA as a way to obtain better-quality coati populations and increase the diversity of the population. Secondly, the generated candidate solutions are updated again using the convex lens imaging reverse learning strategy to expand the search range. Thirdly, the Lévy flight strategy increases the search step size, expands the search range, and avoids the phenomenon of convergence too early. Finally, utilizing the crossover strategy can effectively reduce the search blind spots, making the search particles constantly close to the global optimum solution. The four strategies work together to enhance the efficiency of COA and to boost the precision and steadiness. The performance of CMRLCCOA is evaluated on CEC2017 and CEC2019. The superiority of CMRLCCOA is comprehensively demonstrated by comparing the output of CMRLCCOA with the previously submitted algorithms. Besides the results of iterative convergence curves, boxplots and a nonparametric statistical analysis illustrate that the CMRLCCOA is competitive, significantly improves the convergence accuracy, and well avoids local optimal solutions. Finally, the performance and usefulness of CMRLCCOA are proven through three engineering application problems. A mathematical model of the hypersonic vehicle cruise trajectory optimization problem is developed. The result of CMRLCCOA is less than other comparative algorithms and the shortest path length for this problem is obtained.

Laser-assisted exfoliation of Ti3C2Tx.

As an emerging two-dimensional material, MXene has shown a wide range of applications, which has triggered the demand for efficient exfoliation of nanoflakes with large size and specific surface area. Here, we took advantage of the efficient photo-thermal conversion of Ti3C2Tx and employed 532 nm continuous wave laser irradiation to assist the traditional ultrasonic exfoliation, with no need for complex equipment and an expensive femtosecond or picosecond laser. This approach greatly improves the exfoliation efficiency, increases the size, uniformity and specific surface area of the Ti3C2Tx nanoflakes, and reduces energy consumption as well. The electrical conductivity of Ti3C2Tx film is also significantly enhanced (from 3135 to 7433 S m-1). It is demonstrated that the laser promotes the formation of Ti-OH and enhances the solubility of Ti3C2Tx in water, facilitating the exfoliation and preventing oxidation as a result.

Mapping alternative splicing events in colorectal cancer.

Although aberrant splicing events of genes are closely related to the development and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC), the mapping of abnormal splicing events, especially alternative splicing (AS) event types and the underlying effects, remain investigational. In the present study, we analyzed a public RNA-seq database (GSE138202) and identified 14,314 significant AS events in CRC patients compared to healthy individuals. Most of the key genes such as oncogenes involved in the development of CRC have different AS event types. Moreover, the results demonstrate that certain AS events may play a significant role in the functioning of key genes involved in splicing factors and microRNAs. Furthermore, we observed that the oncogene CDK4 in CRC tends to undergo exon 2 skipping AS events, resulting in a stronger tendency for protein expression to form complexes with CCND1, thereby inhibiting the cell cycle and weakening cell proliferation, while enhancing cell migration capability. These findings not only provide new insights into the mechanism of AS in regulating CRC, but also offers a theoretical basis for targeted splicing therapy in CRC.

The antioxidant protective effect of resveratrol on long-term exposure to acrylamide-induced skeletal toxicity in female mice.

Background: Acrylamide (AA) is a toxic substance formed when cooking starch-based foods at high temperatures. Studies have shown that AA can cause neurotoxicity, reproductive toxicity and so on. However, there remains limited understanding of the potential skeletal toxicity of AA. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the potential skeletal toxicity of AA, as well as the potential bone protective effects of Resveratrol (RVT). Methods: Based on the daily intake of adult women, adult female mice was treated with AA at 0, 0.01, 0.1, 1 mg/kg/d or AA/RVT (1 mg/kg/d AA +10 mg/kg/d RVT) for 8 weeks, and skeletal toxicity were evaluated by RT-qPCR and histopathological techniques. Results: The results found that exposure to AA (0.1 or 1 mg/kg/d) after 8 weeks, osteogenesis exhibited pathological damage characteristics such as inhibition of growth plate function, and reduction of fibrous tissue, and cartilage exhibited pathological damage characteristics such as irregular cell morphology and arrangement, and damage to the tidal line. The results of cellular functional gene testing showed a decrease in the expression of functional genes in osteoblasts and chondrocytes. Meanwhile, after further co-treatment with AA (1 mg/kg/d) and resveratrol (RVT) (10 mg/kg/d), we found that RVT restored AA-induced damage to osteogenesis and cartilage, and reduced the high apoptosis and oxidative stress levels in osteogenesis/cartilage after AA exposure. Conclusion: In summary, this study confirmed the skeletal toxicity of AA on female adult mice, and further clarified the antioxidant protective effect of RVT on this toxicity.

One-Step Wet-Spinning of High-Energy Density Coaxial Fibrous Supercapacitors Based on In Situ Carbon-Modified Nitrogen-Doped MXene Nanosheets.

Fibrous supercapacitors (SCs) are emerging promising power sources for flexible/wearable electronics and have attracted an extensive amount of attention from researchers. However, the low energy density has always hindered their further development. Here, a coaxial fibrous SC (CFSC) was fabricated by one-step wet-spinning combined with an electrodeposition strategy. Benefiting from the large surface area and abundant pore structure of carbon-modified nitrogen-doped MXene nanosheets (NS), as well as the high conductivity of silver (Ag) NS, the electrolyte ion/electron transport paths are significantly improved. Furthermore, the distributed GO in the P(VDF-HFP) separator could form a high-speed continuous ion transport channel, thus enhancing the ionic conductivity. At a power density of 40-200 µW cm-2, the CFSC shows a high energy density of 0.7-3.39 µWh cm-2. The as-prepared CFSC also maintains an excellent capacitance retention rate of 90.3% even after 15 000 charge-discharge cycles. This work provides a general strategy for manufacturing high-performance, flexible, and wearable SCs.

Brain age prediction using interpretable multi-feature-based convolutional neural network in mild traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND: Convolutional neural network (CNN) can capture the structural features changes of brain aging based on MRI, thus predict brain age in healthy individuals accurately. However, most studies use single feature to predict brain age in healthy individuals, ignoring adding information from multiple sources and the changes in brain aging patterns after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) were still unclear. METHODS: Here, we leveraged the structural data from a large, heterogeneous dataset (N = 1464) to implement an interpretable 3D combined CNN model for brain-age prediction. In addition, we also built an atlas-based occlusion analysis scheme with a fine-grained human Brainnetome Atlas to reveal the age-sstratified contributed brain regions for brain-age prediction in healthy controls (HCs) and mTBI patients. The correlations between brain predicted age gaps (brain-PAG) following mTBI and individual's cognitive impairment, as well as the level of plasma neurofilament light were also examined. RESULTS: Our model utilized multiple 3D features derived from T1w data as inputs, and reduced the mean absolute error (MAE) of age prediction to 3.08 years and improved Pearson's r to 0.97 on 154 HCs. The strong generalizability of our model was also validated across different centers. Regions contributing the most significantly to brain age prediction were the caudate and thalamus for HCs and patients with mTBI, and the contributive regions were mostly located in the subcortical areas throughout the adult lifespan. The left hemisphere was confirmed to contribute more in brain age prediction throughout the adult lifespan. Our research showed that brain-PAG in mTBI patients was significantly higher than that in HCs in both acute and chronic phases. The increased brain-PAG in mTBI patients was also highly correlated with cognitive impairment and a higher level of plasma neurofilament light, a marker of neurodegeneration. The higher brain-PAG and its correlation with severe cognitive impairment showed a longitudinal and persistent nature in patients with follow-up examinations. CONCLUSION: We proposed an interpretable deep learning framework on a relatively large dataset to accurately predict brain age in both healthy individuals and mTBI patients. The interpretable analysis revealed that the caudate and thalamus became the most contributive role across the adult lifespan in both HCs and patients with mTBI. The left hemisphere contributed significantly to brain age prediction may enlighten us to be concerned about the lateralization of brain abnormality in neurological diseases in the future. The proposed interpretable deep learning framework might also provide hope for testing the performance of related drugs and treatments in the future.

Molecular subtypes of ischemic heart disease based on circadian rhythm.

Coronary atherosclerotic heart disease (CAD) is among the most prevalent chronic diseases globally. Circadian rhythm disruption (CRD) is closely associated with the progression of various diseases. However, the precise role of CRD in the development of CAD remains to be elucidated. The Circadian rhythm disruption score (CRDscore) was employed to quantitatively assess the level of CRD in CAD samples. Our investigation revealed a significant association between high CRDscore and adverse prognosis in CAD patients, along with a substantial correlation with CAD progression. Remarkably distinct CRDscore distributions were also identified among various subtypes. In summary, we have pioneered the revelation of the relationship between CRD and CAD at the single-cell level and established reliable markers for the development, treatment, and prognosis of CAD. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms may offer new possibilities for incorporating "the therapy of coronary heart disease based circadian rhythm" into personalized medical treatment regimens.

A Study on the Protective Impact of Resveratrol on Liver Damage in Rats with Obstructive Jaundice.

BACKGROUND: Obstructive Jaundice (OJ) is a common clinical condition with potential outcomes, including hepatocyte necrosis, bile duct hyperplasia, significant cholestatic liver fibrosis, and, in severe cases, liver failure. Resveratrol (RES), a polyphenol present in grapes and berries, has demonstrated efficacy in improving OJ. However, the precise mechanism of its action remains unclear. METHODS: In this study, we employed network pharmacology to investigate the underlying molecular mechanism of RES in the treatment of OJ. The targets of RES were identified using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP), SuperPred, and SwissTargetPrediction database. The targets related to OJ were gathered from the DisGeNET, GeneCards, DrugBank, and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) databases, and the intersection of these targets was determined using Venny2.1.0. Subsequently, an active component-target network was constructed using Cytoscape software. The Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network was generated using the String database and Cytoscape software. Following this, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were conducted using the Bioconductor platform. Finally, quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR), Western Blotting (WB), and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) were employed to assess RNA and protein expression levels in related pathways. RESULTS: The findings revealed a selection of 56 potential targets for RES, and a search through the online database identified 2,742 OJ-related targets with overlapping in 27 targets. In the PPI network, mTOR, CYP2C9, CYP1A1, CYP3A4, AHR, ESR1, and HSD17B1 emerged as core targets. KEGG analyses demonstrated that the primary pathways of RES in treating OJ, particularly those related to lipid metabolism, include linoleic acid metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, lipid and atherosclerosis, tyrosine metabolism, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and pentose and glucuronate interconversions signaling pathways. Furthermore, in vivo experiments indicated that RES significantly ameliorated liver injury induced by Common Bile Duct Ligation (CBDL) in rats with OJ. It lowered serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels, reduced liver tissue MDA levels, increased glutathione (GSH) content, and enhanced activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), alleviating liver damage. Metabolomics analysis revealed that the therapeutic effect of RES in OJ involved alterations in lipid metabolic pathways, hinting at the potential mechanism of RES in treating OJ. ELISA, qRTPCR, and WB analyses confirmed lower expression levels of mTOR, CYP1A1, and CYP2C9 in the RES group compared to the model group, validating their involvement in the lipid metabolism pathway. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, RES exhibited a protective effect on liver function in rats with OJ. The underlying mechanism appears to be linked to antioxidant activity and modulation of lipid metabolism pathways.

Study of dust pollution control effect based on orthogonal test and CFD numerical simulations.

To control the diffusion of high concentrations of coal dust during tunnel boring and minimize the threat to the life and health of coal miners, theoretical analysis, numerical simulations, and field measurements were combined in this study. First, computational fluid dynamic simulation software was used to simulate the generation of dust particles and their transport pattern in the tunnel. Subsequently, an innovative orthogonal test was performed to study the effect of four ventilation parameters [the pressure airflow rate (Q), distance between the air duct center and heading face (LA), distance between the air duct center and tunnel floor (LB), and distance between the air duct center and nearest coal wall (LC)] on dust diffusion. According to the orthogonal test results, the optimal ventilation parameters for effective dust control are as follows: Q = 1400 m3/min, LA = 7 m, LB = 2.8 m, and LC = 1 m. The optimized set of ventilation parameters was applied to the Wangpo 3206 working face. The results show that dust diffusion in the tunnel was effectively controlled and that the air quality was sufficiently improved.

Sodium Polyoxotungstate Inhibits the Replication of Influenza Virus by Blocking the Nuclear Import of vRNP.

Both pandemic and seasonal influenza are major health concerns, causing significant mortality and morbidity. Current influenza drugs primarily target viral neuraminidase and RNA polymerase, which are prone to drug resistance. Polyoxometalates (POMs) are metal cation clusters bridged by oxide anions. They have exhibited potent anti-tumor, antiviral, and antibacterial effects. They have remarkable activity against various DNA and RNA viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus, herpes simplex virus, hepatitis B and C viruses, dengue virus, and influenza virus. In this study, we have identified sodium polyoxotungstate (POM-1) from an ion channel inhibitor library. In vitro, POM-1 has been demonstrated to have potent antiviral activity against H1N1, H3N2, and oseltamivir-resistant H1N1 strains. POM-1 can cause virion aggregation during adsorption, as well as endocytosis. However, the aggregation is reversible; it does not interfere with virus adsorption and endocytosis. Our results suggest that POM-1 exerts its antiviral activity by inhibiting the nuclear import of viral ribonucleoprotein (vRNP). This distinct mechanism of action, combined with its wide range of efficacy, positions POM-1 as a promising therapeutic candidate for influenza treatment and warrants further investigation.

Unveiling the Mechanism of Plasma-Catalyzed Oxidation of Methane to C2+ Oxygenates over Cu/UiO-66-NH2.

Nonthermal plasma (NTP) offers the potential for converting CH4 with CO2 into liquid products under mild conditions, but controlling liquid selectivity and manipulating intermediate species remain significant challenges. Here, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the Cu/UiO-66-NH2 catalyst in promising the conversion of CH4 and CO2 into oxygenates within a dielectric barrier discharge NTP reactor under ambient conditions. The 10% Cu/UiO-66-NH2 catalyst achieved an impressive 53.4% overall liquid selectivity, with C2+ oxygenates accounting for ∼60.8% of the total liquid products. In situ plasma-coupled Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) suggests that Cu facilitates the cleavage of surface adsorbed COOH species (*COOH), generating *CO and enabling its migration to the surface of Cu particles. This surface-bound *CO then undergoes C-C coupling and hydrogenation, leading to ethanol production. Further analysis using CO diffuse reflection FTIR and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy indicates that in situ generated surface *CO is more effective than gas-phase CO (g) in promoting C-C coupling and C2+ liquid formation. This work provides valuable mechanistic insights into C-C coupling and C2+ liquid production during plasma-catalytic CO2 oxidation of CH4 under ambient conditions. These findings hold broader implications for the rational design of more efficient catalysts for this reaction, paving the way for advancements in sustainable fuel and chemical production.

Noncommutative Bohnenblust-Hille inequalities.

Bohnenblust-Hille inequalities for Boolean cubes have been proven with dimension-free constants that grow subexponentially in the degree (Defant et al. in Math Ann 374(1):653-680, 2019). Such inequalities have found great applications in learning low-degree Boolean functions (Eskenazis and Ivanisvili in Proceedings of the 54th annual ACM SIGACT symposium on theory of computing, pp 203-207, 2022). Motivated by learning quantum observables, a qubit analogue of Bohnenblust-Hille inequality for Boolean cubes was recently conjectured in Rouzé et al. (Quantum Talagrand, KKL and Friedgut's theorems and the learnability of quantum Boolean functions, 2022. arXiv preprint arXiv:2209.07279). The conjecture was resolved in Huang et al. (Learning to predict arbitrary quantum processes, 2022. arXiv preprint arXiv:2210.14894). In this paper, we give a new proof of these Bohnenblust-Hille inequalities for qubit system with constants that are dimension-free and of exponential growth in the degree. As a consequence, we obtain a junta theorem for low-degree polynomials. Using similar ideas, we also study learning problems of low degree quantum observables and Bohr's radius phenomenon on quantum Boolean cubes.

Identification of bioactive ingredients and potential mechanisms of flowers of Hosta Plantaginea in treating pneumonia based on network pharmacology and experimental validation.

Flowers of Hosta plantaginea (H. plantaginea), a widely utilized medicinal herb in Mongolian medicine, holds a significant historical background in terms of its medicinal applications. This herb is renowned for its ability to clear heat and detoxify the body, alleviate cough, and provide relief to the throat. However, the active ingredients and the potential mechanism of action remain ambiguity. The objective of this study was to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the efficacy of H. plantaginea in treating pneumonia, identify its active ingredients and unveil the pharmacological mechanism in the treatment of pneumonia. In vivo experiments demonstrate the plant's anti-pneumonia properties, while mass spectrometry analysis identifies 62 chemicals, with 14 absorbed into the bloodstream. Network pharmacology and Venn analysis reveal 195 targets of 52 active ingredients, with 49 gene targets common to H. plantaginea and pneumonia. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction and enrichment analysis highlight the key targets and pathways such as AKT, EGFR, IL-17. Western blotting confirms downregulation of these pathways, indicating the anti-inflammatory effects of H. plantaginea in treating acute lung injury. Our findings showed that the treatment of ALI with the H. plantaginea exerts its anti-inflammatory effects through multiple components, targets, and pathways. This study established a solid experimental foundation for investigating the various components, targets, and pathways involved in the treatment of pneumonia using H. plantaginea. It offers valuable insights from multiple perspectives and can serve as a reference for the clinical application of this plant in pneumonia treatment.

Experimental investigation of influence of amide polymer on loess for subgrade.

The effects of moisture and drying shrinkage can lead to uneven settlement, cracking, and other diseases in loess subgrade. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of amide polymer (AP) on the permeability, mechanical properties and crack resistance of loess by orthogonal experiments. The basic properties of AP and the permeability, mechanical properties, and dry-wet variation properties of polymer-modified loess were tested, and a scale model verification and simulation analysis were conducted. In this paper, water migration in subgrade is regulated by improving the water sensitivity of loess. By reducing the variation range of subgrade water content, the stress accumulation in subgrade caused by water is weakened. The results show that the curing time and mechanical properties of AP are directly affected by the oxidant and reducing agent, and the mechanical properties of AP are compatible with the characteristics of loess. AP filled the grain gap and reduced the permeability of loess by 34.05-280.83%. The ductility of polymer-modified loess is significantly increased, and the strain of peak strength is increased by 17.21-126.36%. AP can regulate moisture change, reduce the surface tension between particles, and reduce stress concentration. The strength loss rate was reduced by 19.98-51.21% by enhancing the cracking resistance and weakening the strength loss caused by dry and wet cycling. The increase of upper layer moisture content in the scale model of polymer-modified loess subgrade is reduced by 31.38-36.11%.