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An enhanced sensitivity magnetic field sensor, utilizing an optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) loop, is both proposed and demonstrated. The critical element of the system is a fiber Bragg grating-Fabry-Perot cavity with acrylate adhesive (FBG-FP-AC), which is composed of two identical FBGs and a sandwich structure. Also, the sandwich structure is fabricated by inserting a thin layer of transparent acrylate adhesive between two sections of single mode fiber (SMF). Furthermore, by bonding the FBG-FP-AC with a Terfenol-D piece, the magnetic field sensor head is formed and is employed in the OEO to implement a single passband microwave photonic filter (MPF). When the external magnetic field varies, the central wavelength of FBG-FP-AC is changed, leading to the shift of the center frequency of the MPF. By detecting the variation of oscillating frequency generated in the OEO, an accurate measurement of the magnetic field can be achieved. Given that Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio of the acrylate adhesive are significantly lower than those of silica, the adhesive cavity is significantly lengthened with the applied external magnetic field. Thus, magnetic-field-induced strain of the Terfenol-D can be effectively magnified. The experimental measurement of the sensitivity of the proposed OEO sensor for magnetic fields reaches 4.86 GHz/mT, which is improved about 7.8 dB compared with the traditional FBG-FP-based OEO sensing structure.

A magnetic field measurement with enhanced sensitivity based on the Vernier effect of a dual-loop optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) using a cascaded giant magnetostrictive material-fiber Bragg grating (GMM-FBG) and Monel-400-fiber Bragg grating (Monel-400-FBG) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The OEO loop incorporates two reflected signals from the dual FBGs, serving as separate light sources injected into two paths with distinct fiber lengths. The dispersion introduced in the loop allows the wavelength shift of the GMM-FBG to be translated into a frequency shift of the microwave signal within the OEO cavity. As the GMM-FBG’s central wavelength shifts with the magnetic field variation, the change of the monitoring OEO frequency enables precise measurement of magnetic field information. Diverging from conventional single-loop configurations, the proposed OEO generates the Vernier effect due to the length disparity between the two loops. Consequently, by monitoring the frequency variations in the envelope of the OEO’s micro-wave signal, the sensitivity scale factor for sensing information is significantly enhanced. Experimental findings reveal a magnetic field sensitivity of approximately 201 Hz/mT for the single loop, increasing to 8 kHz/mT with the application of the Vernier effect, which represents a 40-fold improvement. Furthermore, a Monel-400 alloy hosts the reference FBG, possessing a similar thermal expansion coefficient to GMM. This design mitigates temperature crosstalk in magnetic field measurements. Compared to utilizing an unprocessed reference FBG, the magnetic field error induced by temperature is reduced from 2.46 to 0.06 mT. Additionally, flexible sensitivity scale factors can be achieved by designing the varied path length differences. Experimental results demonstrate magnetic field sensitivities of 12.7 and 21.9 kHz/mT, with increases of 64 and 109 times, respectively.

• A superhydrophilic Cu 2 O/CuO-TiN x O y nanocomposite coating was deposited on Ti-Cu alloy. • The nanocomposite coating enhanced corrosion resistance, antibacterial property and rapid endothelialization potential. • The antibacterial mechanism was related to the Cu2+ and Cu 2 O/CuO compounds. • Appropriate Cu2+ release not only facilitated sterilization, but also improved cellular response. Antibacterial Ti-5Cu alloy is a promising substitute material for Ti-made cardiovascular implants, so its surface engineering is crucial to expediting clinical implementation. Given the antibacterial and cardiovascular biological benefits of Cu2+ and titanium-nitride-oxide (TiN x O y) coatings, a Cu 2 O/CuO-TiN x O y coating with upregulated Cu2+ release was successfully deposited on Ti-5Cu alloy for the first time using oxygen and nitrogen plasma-based surface modification. The superhydrophilic and nanostructured Cu 2 O/CuO-TiN x O y coating had a dense structure and was well bonded to the substrate, resulting in enhanced corrosion resistance, while CuO/Cu 2 O in the coating released Cu2+ faster than Ti 2 Cu phase in the matrix. More gratifying, the coating demonstrated perfect antibacterial properties (R > 99.9% against S. aureus), owing primarily to direct contact sterilization of Cu 2 O/CuO. The most encouraging phenomenon was that the coating dramatically accelerated HUVEC adhesion (1.4 times), proliferation (RGR: 106%–116%), and particularly migration (RMR : 158%–247%) compared with the control Ti. The coating extract also significantly stimulated in vitro angiogenesis capacity. The rapid endothelialization for Cu 2 O/CuO-TiN x O y coating was attributed to the surface nanostructure and Cu2+/NO 2 − release, which upregulated the angiogenesis-related gene expression of HIF-1α, VEGF, and eNOS to increase VEGF secretion and NO production. All of the findings indicated that the Cu 2 O/CuO-TiN x O y coating could enhance the corrosion resistance, antibacterial properties, and endothelialization potential of Ti-Cu alloy, displaying great clinical potential in cardiovascular applications. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:Nanosilver-alginate dressing can effectively promote the healing of diabetic wounds in rats. However, due to the potential toxicity of nanosilver, its widespread application in hard-to-heal wound healing is limited. In the present study, the role and potential mechanism of nanosilver-free alginate gel (NSFAG) in the healing process of diabetic wounds were explored.Method:A diabetic rat skin wound model was established, and wounds were treated with saline (NC group), nanosilver gel (NSG group) or nanosilver-free alginate gel (NSFAG group) for seven consecutive days.Results:NSFAG significantly promoted wound healing and increased the content of protein and hydroxyproline in granulation tissues, and was superior to NSG (p<0.05). Immunohistochemical analyses revealed that the skin wound tissue structure of the NSFAG group was intact, and the number of skin appendages in the dermis layer was significantly higher compared with the NC group and the NSG group (p<0.05). Western blot analysis found that the protein expression of the epidermal stem cell marker molecules CK19 and CK14 as well the proliferation marker of keratinocytes Ki67 in the NSFAG group was significantly higher compared with the NC group or NSG group (p<0.05). Additionally, the proliferation marker of keratinocytes Ki67 in the NSFAG group was significantly higher compared with the NC or NSG group (p<0.05). Immunofluorescence staining analyses indicated that the CK19- and CK14-positive cells were mainly distributed around the epidermis and the newly formed appendages in the NSFAG group, and this result was not observed in the NC or NSG groups.Conclusion:The present findings demonstrate that NSFAG can effectively accelerate wound healing in diabetic rats by promoting epidermal stem cell proliferation and differentiation into skin cells, as well as formation of granulation tissue, suggesting that it can be a potential dressing for diabetic wounds.

Extremely large-scale (XL) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna array is envisioned as a critical technology for future wireless communication systems. To effectively conduct precoding for XL massive MIMO antennas, a novel star decentralized baseband processing (DBP) paradigm has recently emerged. This new architecture distributively stores and processes the channel data of physically separated massive MIMO antenna segments using multiple decentralized units, which cooperate with a common central unit via fronthaul links. Although the star DBP architecture is promising, decentralized precoding schemes applicable to this framework have not yet been well investigated. In this article, we decentralize the classical eigen zero forcing (EZF) and weighted minimum mean square error (WMMSE) precoding schemes in the star DBP architecture. These decentralized algorithms yield identical performance with their centralized counterparts while requiring much lower fronthaul bandwidths. Moreover, to further improve fronthaul bandwidth efficiency, we propose two compression-then-communication based decentralized precoding schemes that have flexibly configurable compression ratios. Extensive numerical results are presented to verify the effectiveness of our solutions. Especially, our proposed compression-based decentralized WMMSE methods can achieve comparable performance with their non-compressed counterparts by requiring only a few percentages of the fronthaul bandwidth in low signal-to-noise-ratio regime.

Precoding design for maximizing weighted sum-rate (WSR) is a fundamental problem for downlink of massive multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) systems. It is well-known that this problem is generally NP-hard due to the presence of multi-user interference. The weighted minimum mean-square error (WMMSE) algorithm is a popular approach for WSR maximization. However, its computational complexity is cubic in the number of base station (BS) antennas, which is unaffordable when the BS is equipped with a large antenna array. In this paper, we consider the WSR maximization problem with either a sum-power constraint (SPC) or per-antenna power constraints (PAPCs). For the former, we prove that any nontrivial stationary point must have a low-dimensional subspace structure, and then propose a reduced-WMMSE (R-WMMSE) with linear complexity by exploiting the solution structure. For the latter, we propose a linear-complexity WMMSE approach, named PAPC-WMMSE, by using a novel recursive design of the algorithm. Both R-WMMSE and PAPC-WMMSE have simple closed-form updates and guaranteed convergence to stationary points. Simulation results verify the efficacy of the proposed designs, especially the much lower complexity as compared to the state-of-the-art approaches for massive MU-MIMO systems.

The advancement of scalable patterning techniques is essential for optimizing charge transport, enhancing conductivity, and improving the performance of polymer organic semiconductor (OSC) devices. Conventional photolithography encounters significant challenges in the micro-/nano-fabrication of polymeric materials due to insufficient chemical orthogonality with photoresists. Emerging methodologies, including inkjet printing, meniscus-guided coating, and innovative lithography techniques, have partially mitigated these issues but still frequently encounter limitations related to material versatility and process complexity. In response to these challenges, we developed the nano-aluminum micro-pattern infusion (NAMP-I) technique, which enables the precise patterning of solution-processed organic OSC films on hydrophobic perfluoro(1-butenylvinylether) polymer (CYTOP) dielectric layers. This innovative method employs aluminum-nanoparticle metal films to initiate and control OSC growth, thereby enhancing interfacial quality through the formation of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and improved hydrogen bonding interactions. Devices fabricated with the NAMP-I technique demonstrate low turn-on voltage, minimal hysteresis, and high carrier mobility of up to 1.85 cm2V−1s−1. NAMP-I enables high-performance, solution-processed OFETs with sharp on/off switching, demonstrating significant potential for integrating advanced functional materials into flexible and high-density electronic devices.

The drive to deliver ever-more powerful and feature-rich organic integrated circuits has made the interface contact quality improvement—that is, the process of alleviating the hysteresis phenomenon and contact resistance of the electrical properties in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs)—a critical challenge for the organic semiconductor (OSC) microelectronics industry. The use of blends of OSCs and insulating binding polymers has offered a breakthrough to circumvent these limitations. Here, we introduced a novel method for preparing high-performance OFETs based on a direct-writing inkjet printing (DWIP) blend composed of 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethinyl) pentacene (TIPS-pentacene) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The small molecular weight of PMMA imparted significantly superior crystallization of small-molecule OSCs, and the OFETs exhibited better electrical performance than other comparative conditions. The crystallization and characteristics improved because of two mechanisms: First, the PMMA delivered superior mechanical strength, stability, and improved film uniformity and created a more uniform interface that decreased the charge accumulation, thereby alleviating the hysteresis and contact resistance. Second, combined with DWIP technology and thanks to the advantages of horizontal solution shearing and spatially restricted domains, the blends contributed to solute draw and thus handled mass transport more efficiently and controllably. The proposed method provides attractive properties for industrial applications.

Graphical abstract:

•Boosted CO2uptake and yield in ICCU-RWGS with optimized molten salt and CaO.•Highlighted the key role of temperature and CaO concentration in maximizing CO2conversion.•Demonstrated, using spectroscopy and other methods, that CaCO3solubility in molten salt enhances CO2adsorption and conversion.

To the best of our knowledge, we report here the first demonstration of 2.9 µm laser emission from in-house fabricated Ho^3+/Pr^3+ co-doped ZBYA glass fiber. The fiber was fabricated based on the ZBYA glass with compositions of ZrF_4–BaF_2–YF_3–AlF_3–PbF_2–HoF_3-PrF_3. Under the pump of a 1150?nm Raman fiber laser, the maximum unsaturated output power of 2.16 W was obtained in a 15?cm long gain fiber with a slope efficiency of 24%. The influence of rare-earth doping concentration on laser performance was also investigated. The result indicates that ZBYA glass fibers have potential for using as a fluorozirconate glass gain fiber for mid-infrared fiber lasers.

Whispering gallery mode (WGM) lasers at ∼2µm are demonstrated in PbO-PbF_2-Bi_2O_3-Ga_2O_3 (PBG) heavy metal oxyfluoride glass microspheres. A 793 nm diode laser is used to pump the PBG microsphere and achieve single-mode and multimode WGM lasing. The fluorescence spectra of Tm^3+-doped PBG glasses are measured under 793 nm diode laser pumping. The maximum absorption and emission cross sections of Tm^3+:^3F_4?^3H_6 are calculated to be 8.23×10^−21 and 4.42×10^−20cm^2, respectively. The experimental results indicate that these PBG glass microspheres could become an important photonic component for infrared laser applications.

β-type titanium alloys have attracted much attention as implant materials because of their low elastic modulus and high strength, which is closer to human bones and can avoid the problem of stress fielding and extend the lifetime of prosthetics. However, other issues, such as the infection or inflammation postimplantation, still trouble the titanium alloy's clinical application. In this paper, we developed a novel near β-titanium alloy (Ti-13Nb-13Zr-13Ag, TNZA) with low elastic modulus and strong antibacterial ability by the addition of Ag element followed by proper microstructure controlling, which could reduce the stress shielding and bacterial infections simultaneously. The microstructure, mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, antibacterial properties and cell toxicity were studied using SEM, electrochemical testing, mechanical test and cell tests. The results have demonstrated that TNZA alloy exhibited an elastic modulus of 75−87 GPa and a strong antibacterial ability (up to 98 % reduction) and good biocompatibility. Moreover, it was also shown that this alloy's corrosion resistance was better than that of Ti-13Nb-13Zr. All the results suggested that Ti-13Nb-13Zr-13Ag might be a competitive biomedical titanium alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metals and alloys, including stainless steel, titanium and its alloys, cobalt alloys, and other metals and alloys have been widely used clinically as implant materials, but implant-related infection or inflammation is still one of the main causes of implantation failure. The bacterial infection or inflammation that seriously threatens human health has already become a worldwide complaint. Antibacterial metals and alloys recently have attracted wide attention for their long-term stable antibacterial ability, good mechanical properties and good biocompatibility in vitroand in vivo. In this review, common antibacterial alloying elements, antibacterial standards and testing methods were introduced. Recent developments in the design and manufacturing of antibacterial metal alloys containing various antibacterial agents were described in detail, including antibacterial stainless steel, antibacterial titanium alloy, antibacterial zinc and alloy, antibacterial magnesium and alloy, antibacterial cobalt alloy, and other antibacterial metals and alloys. Researches on the antibacterial properties, mechanical properties, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility of antibacterial metals and alloys have been summarized in detail for the first time. It is hoped that this review could help researchers understand the development of antibacterial alloys in a timely manner, thereby could promote the development of antibacterial metal alloys and the clinical application.

Object detection could be recognized as an essential part of the research to scenarios such as automatic driving and pedestrian detection, etc. Among multiple types of target objects, the identification of small-scale objects faces significant challenges. We would introduce a new feature pyramid framework called Dual Attention based Feature Pyramid Network (DAFPN), which is designed to avoid predicament about multi-scale object recognition. In DAFPN, the attention mechanism is introduced by calculating the top-down pathway and lateral pathway, where the spatial attention, as well as channel attention, would participate, respectively, such that the pyramidal feature maps can be generated with enhanced spatial and channel interdependencies, which bring more semantical information for the feature pyramid. Using the COCO data set, which consists of a considerable quantity of small-scale objects, the experiments are implemented. The analysis results verify the optimized performance of DAFPN compared with the original Feature Pyramid Network (FPN) specifically for the identification on a small scale. The proposed DAFPN is promising for object detection in an era full of intelligent machines that need to detect multi-scale objects.

This study investigates the properties and potential applications of phycoerythrin 545, a naturally occurring light-harvesting pigment protein from Rhodomonas salina. Phycoerythrin 545, characterized by its bright red color and maximum absorption wavelength at 545 nm, was extracted using freeze–thawing methods, further purified, and analyzed using chromatographic, spectroscopic techniques, and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Phycoerythrin 545 consists of two subunits, primarily α and β, but lacks the γ subunit, and is stable at 4 °C within a pH range of 3–10. To further characterize it, its susceptibility to degradation by trypsin was assessed. The biological activity of phycoerythrin 545 and its degradation products were investigated in HT29 human colon cancer cells. The results showed that the degradation products, particularly those within 3–10 kDa, significantly decreased the viability of HT29 cells by inducing apoptosis. Mechanistic studies indicated these effects were mediated through the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinases and MAPK/c-Jun N-terminal Kinase signaling pathways and involved the regulation of key apoptotic proteins such as p53, Bim, Bad, Bak, and Bax, leading to the activation of the Caspase-3 apoptotic pathway. These findings contribute to understanding the structural and functional properties of phycoerythrin 545, laying a foundation for its exploration in food industry applications and cancer therapy supplementation.

In order to avoid the toxic and side effects on human body of long-term dissolution of metal ions from antibacterial titanium alloys, Au element with non-toxicity and non-side effect was selected as the alloying element to prepare a new Ti-Au alloy with strong antibacterial property. We produced Ti-Au(S) sintered alloy by powder metallurgy and Ti-Au ingot alloy by ingot metallurgy, and investigated the influence of the secondary phase on the relative antimicrobial properties and antibacterial mechanism in this work. The results indicated that the aged Ti-Au(T6) alloy and Ti-Au(S) sintered alloy exhibited strong antibacterial rate against S. aureusdue to the formation of Ti3Au phases. In vitrocell culture (MC3T3 cells) experiments showed that Ti-Au alloys had good cytocompatibility and osteogenic properties. The following viewpoints of antibacterial mechanism are that the Ti3Au destroyed the ROS homeostasis of bacteria, causing oxidative stress in bacterial cells and preventing from the biofilms formation.

With the rapid development of wearable electronics and the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) era, it is imperative to research and explore the basic components to meet the application scenarios. In particular, it is becoming increasingly difficult to impart suitable properties to individual materials and realize appropriate physical dimensions in order to satisfy increasing demands of multifunctionality for fundamental studies, device designs, and performance optimization. Therefore, these challenges and opportunities can be addressed by designing (optical) electronic and energy devices with unique functionality and versatility through the combined advantages of multidimensional integration or hybridization of inorganic semiconductors, especially inorganic two-dimensional semiconductor materials, with various types of organic materials with potentially novel functions and unique properties. Herein, a comprehensive review of emerging integration or hybridization of inorganic semiconductor materials with organic materials from their individual components, and assembly fabrication to their state-of-the-art electronic, optoelectronic, magnetic, and energy applications is presented. Future opportunities and challenges associated with these organic/inorganic hybrids are highlighted.

Sparse reward feedback from the environment is the main challenge for learning goal-oriented tasks based on reinforcement learning. The lack of sufficient exploration also leads to the inability of the agent to robustly learn strategies, especially for hierarchical task control of continuous action space continuum robots, which are more difficult to explore. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical reinforcement learning framework, HCS-R-HER, to accelerate learning by reusing empirical data across subtasks. It uses an upper-level controller, meta-controller , to integrate the underlying targets, and a set of lower-level controllers, controllers , responsible for performing atomic operations. The Oracle perspective mechanism can skip the process of unfinished subtasks, which helps speed up the learning of the meta-controller. The CS-R-HER framework is used to improve the sparsity of the data and accelerate the learning of controllers. Our approach can solve complex tasks or hierarchical tasks more effectively, especially for continuum robot motion environments in continuous action space. Our method is the first time to apply HER to data augmentation for hierarchical tasks and to implement a framework where multiple subgoals are learned together. ● A data augmentation algorithm Rainbow HER under a single-level task or simple task. ● A data augmentation algorithm between multiple subtasks to achieve data augmentation. ● A hierarchical reinforcement learning framework for solving multi-layer manipulation tasks or complex tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural marble was successfully applied in integrated CO2capture and utilisation for selectively producing valuable CO. The cheap and easy-accessible marble dust is proven to have a high capacity of CO2capture (9.4 mmol g−1) and be active in converting the captured CO2into CO (> 85% CO2conversion at 650 °C) with almost 100% CO selectivity. Furthermore, the stone material exhibits impressive cycle stability (0.036 mmol g−1decrease per cycle). This report demonstrates that carbon emission control and CO2utilisation can be realised over a straightforward process using cheap and robust materials, representing an attractive technology for cost-effective low-carbon technology development.

In this paper the geometrical structure of disperse system is described by fractal theory, which is based on the easily measurable parameters, such as the occupation probability, the diameters of disperse pellets, etc. A fractal model of thermal conductivity of a disperse system with even particles has been developed with the aid of the analogy between the heat conduction and percolation. The measurement of the thermal conductivity in the disperse system was carried out by the cutout hot wire method. The model's prediction as to the ratio of thermal conductivity for different particle sizes is reasonably in agreement with the experimental results. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Asian Res, 29(7): 535–544, 2000

In this paper the geometrical structure of disperse system is described by fractal theory, which is based on the easily measurable parameters, such as the occupation probability, the diameters of disperse pellets, etc. A fractal model of thermal conductivity of a disperse system with even particles has been developed with the aid of the analogy between the heat conduction and percolation. The measurement of the thermal conductivity in the disperse system was carried out by the cutout hot wire method. The model's prediction as to the ratio of thermal conductivity for different particle sizes is reasonably in agreement with the experimental results. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Asian Res, 29(7): 535–544, 2000

Objective To explore the relationship between the omentin-1 gene rs2274907 A>T polymorphism and colorectal cancer (CRC) in the Chinese Han population.Methods rs2274907 A>T was assessed by PCR–restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Plasma omentin-1 expression from 358 patients with CRC and 286 healthy controls was analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. CRC and control groups were divided into subgroups according to the body mass index (BMI) threshold of 25 kg/m2.Results No significant differences were observed between CRC and control groups in terms of genotype or allele frequencies of rs2274907 A>T. Compared with individuals with BMI <25 kg/m2and the rs2274907 TT genotype, those with AA+AT genotypes and BMI ≥25 kg/m2had a 3.027-fold increased risk of CRC. A significant tendency toward a higher stage of colorectal adenocarcinomas and depth of invasion was observed in individuals with the rs2274907 AA genotype compared with other genotypes.Conclusions The omentin-1 gene rs2274907 A>T polymorphism does not seem to play a critical role in the development of CRC in the Chinese Han population, but an interaction between the rs2274907 A allele and BMI may increase the CRC risk. The rs2274907 AA genotype is a potential biomarker for CRC stage progression.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has emerged as a promising novel application for the Sixth-generation (6G) wireless communication by leveraging more favorable Line-of-sight (LoS) propagation. However, the jamming resistance by exploiting UAV’s mobility is a new challenge in the UAV-ground communication. This paper investigates the trajectory planning problem in an UAV communication system, where the UAV is operated by a Ground Control Unit (GCU) to perform certain tasks in the presence of multiple jammers with imperfect power and location information. To ensure the reliability of the GCU-to-UAV link, we formulate the problem as a non-convex semi-infinite optimization, aiming to maximize the average worst-case Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR) over a given flight duration by designing the robust trajectory of the UAV under stringent energy availability constraints. To handle this problem efficiently, we develop an iterative algorithm for the solution with the aid of S-procedureand Successive Convex Approximation (SCA) method. Numerous results demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed algorithm and offer some useful designinsights to practical system.

The slurry of ZrB2-Mo-Si-B have been prepared using the polyethylene glycol-800 (PEG800) and polyvinyl butyral (PVB) as dispersant and binder respectively. The effects of different additive concentration on the fluidity of the slurry were studied. When the amount of dispersant and binder were 0.2wt%, 4wt% and R value were 1.0, the slurry was most suitable for casting, and the green tape were smooth and flexible. ZrB2-Mo-Si-Blaminated structure ceramics have been successfully prepared by tape casting and hot-pressure sintering at 1900degC for 1h under a pressure of 30 MPa in argon gas. The highest flexural strength and fracture toughness of sintered samples at room temperature were 490+-10 MPa and 7.73 +- 0.56 MPa*m1/2, respectively.