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Postoperative cognitive decline (POCD) is a common complication after surgery and anesthesia among the elderly. Yet the potential mechanism of POCD remains ambiguous, with limited therapeutic measures currently available. Ketamine has been reported to attenuate POCD after cardiac surgery. Herein, we tried to determine the effect of esketamine (the S-enantiomer of ketamine) on POCD and the possible molecular mechanisms.We investigated the effects of esketamine (10 mg/kg) on POCD using an exploratory laparotomy model in aged SD rats (24 months). Open field, novel object recognition, and morris water maze tests were performed on day 30 post-surgery. 24 h or 30 d post-surgery, brain tissue from the hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was harvested and subjected to histopathology and molecular biology analysis. During the in vitro experiment, primary astrocytes from the hippocampus and vmPFC were exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to investigate the pathological changes in astrocytes during the process of POCD.Our results indicated that exploratory laparotomy could induce significant cognitive and memory decline, accompanied by A2-type astrocytes phenotype loss and increased expression of neuron Aβ-42, astrocytes GABA, stimulator of interferon genes (STING) and TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1). In addition, LPS exposure significantly decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential and upregulated the level of pyroptosis-associated proteins, including cleaved caspase-1 and IL-18. Notably, treatment with esketamine reversed these abnormalities in vivo and vitro. However, ADU-S100, a special STING activator, suppressed the protective effects of esketamine to a certain extent. Finally, C-176, an antagonist of STING, further enhanced the protective effects of esketamine against POCD.Findings of our study suggest that esketamine can alleviate surgery-induced POCD in rats via inhibition of the STING/TBK1 signaling pathway.

The influence of Ag on the microstructure evolution of an aged Al–Cu–Li–Mg alloy was studied. The coarse Cu-rich precipitates containing Ag and Mg were found during the whole ageing process of Al–Cu–Li–Mg–Ag alloy. Besides, Ag addition in the Al–Cu–Li–Mg alloy accelerates the hardness value reduction of the overaged alloy. When the alloy was over heat-treated, more coarse Cu-rich phases containing Ag and Mg are presented at the grain boundaries. These discrete coarse precipitates accelerate the hardness reduction of the overaged alloy.

The microstructures and mechanical properties of Al-3.35Cu-1.2Li-0.4Mg-0.4Zn-0.3Mn-0.1Zr (mass fraction, %) alloy with Sc addition or free Sc were investigated through tensile test, SEM, EPMA and TEM. The addition of 0.082% (mass fraction) Sc element leads to the formation of Cu-rich and Sc-contained nano-sized Al3(ScZr) particles and W phase particles. The Al3(ScZr) particles can inhibit recrystallization to a certain extent and impede recrystallized grain growth during solution treatment. It is found that W phase cannot dissolve in supersaturated solid solution during the solution heat treatment, and the Cu content in the solutionized matrix is decreased, which causes a decrease in the fraction of Cu-contained strengthening precipitates with T1 (Al2CuLi) and θ′ (Al2Cu) under T8 aging condition. Due to the formation of the W phases, the small Sc addition causes a little reduction in the strength.

In this paper, analyzing the experiment data of multiple scanning probes in the arc wind-driven hypersonic plasma flows with the chaos dynamics method, we have obtained the power spectrum, the frequency wavenumber spectral density, the correlation dimension and Kolmogorov entropy of the flows, respectively. The distribution of correlation dimension and Kolmogorov entropy of the blunt cone wakes along the axis and the radius of the flows are presented successfully in the flows. The distributions clearly show the structure of turbulence and lamination in blunt cone wakes. Using the method of minimum Kolmogorov entropy, we observed the structure of the bow shock at far wake region in the blunt cone wakes.