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Al coating was fabricated on the surface of Mg−Zn−Al−Sn−Mn alloy by cold spraying process to enhance its corrosion resistance. The effects of temperature and pressure of working gas on the microstructure and corrosion behaviors of Al coating were investigated. The results show that as gas temperature and pressure increase, the densification and thickness of Al coating obviously increase. High gas temperature declines the critical velocity of powder deposition and increases the deposition efficiency. High gas pressure not only improves the quality of mechanical bonding, but also provides strong tamping effect on the deposited coating. Due to the reduction of porosity, the corrosion resistance of Al coating is improved with the increase of gas temperature and pressure. The corrosion products of Al(OH)3and Al2O3can block the pores in Al coating and act as physical barriers to corrosion, which effectively protects Mg alloy from being corroded.

To investigate the incidence, clinical and genetic characteristics of pediatric lymphoma patients of China with inborn errors of immunity (IEI)-related gene mutations, which have not been fully studied.

Conventional horizontal twin-roll casting (TRC) with steel rollers generally possesses slow casting speed. In this study, the inclined TRC method with Cu rollers was proposed, which significantly increases the casting efficiency. A three-dimensional model of the inclined TRC was established, which revealed the temperature field, solid fraction, velocity distribution, and TRC microstructure of the AA6005 aluminum (Al) alloys by the finite element simulation. We considered the various effects of the pouring temperature, roll gap, and rolling speed on the outlet temperature of the inclined cast rolling zone, and determined the appropriate range of processing parameters. The casting speed of the inclined TRC process could reach ∼5.8–7.9 m/min when the roll gap was 2 and 3 mm. Due to the different contact areas between the melt and two rollers, the temperature field and the shape of the liquid hole were asymmetric, and the isotherm and solidification end point (Kiss point) shifted to the direction of the upper roller at the steady inclined TRC state. The columnar/equiaxed grain structure and the upper shift of central segregation in the inclined TRC sheets were successfully simulated by the finite element method, which was in good agreement with the experiments. Moreover, the inclined TRC method with Cu rollers has high cooling intensity and the potential to eliminate central segregation. The results of this study can effectively reduce the trial-and-error effort, and provide a new insight into the development of the TRC Al alloys.

Evidential reasoning (ER) rule has been widely used in the fields of information fusion, multiattribute decision making, and pattern recognition. In current studies of ER rule, there is a strict one-to-one correspondence between the framework of discernment (FoD) of evidence and the FoD of reasoning results. However, this may not be satisfied in engineering practice, making it difficult to conduct the reasoning. When the element of FoD is changed, how the reasoning result will change is also a focus that deserves attention. As such, in this article, the modeling, optimization, and robustness analysis method of ER rule under multidiscernment framework is proposed. Specifically, the ER rule with transformation matrix is proposed to unify the evidence with different FoDs into the same FoD as reasoning results. A parameter optimization model is established based on the expected utility and interpretable constraints. A robustness analysis method of the proposed ER rule is proposed in the context of perturbation to further explore its performance. Particularly, the generation and transmission rules of perturbation are described, and two robustness criteria are defined. A case study of health assessment of laser gyroscope, the mainstream navigation equipment in the aerospace field, is conducted to present the implementation of the proposed method and verify its effectiveness in engineering practice.

Two-dimensional conductive metal-organic frameworks (2D c-MOFs) are emerging as promising electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, 2D c-MOFs with binary redox-active organic ligands are rare and suffer from complicated synthesis procedures. Herein, a facile one-step method is developed for the synthesis of a dual-ligand-based 2D c-MOF Cu3(HHTP)(THQ) (HHTP = 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexahydroxytriphenyl, THQ = tetrahydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone) by using the ethylenediamine regulator. The resulting Cu3(HHTP)(THQ) possesses good conductivity, abundant active sites, and excellent chemical stability. As an anode material for LIBs, Cu3(HHTP)(THQ) exhibits high specific capacity, good rate performance, and long-term cycling stability. Comprehensive experimental studies and theoretical calculations reveal that CuO4units and aromatic benzene rings in Cu3(HHTP)(THQ) are involved in lithium storage, thereby optimizing the lithium storage performance. This work provides a new way for the construction of dual-ligand 2D c-MOFs and high-performance LIB electrode materials.

Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites (HOIPs) have exhibited striking application potential in piezoelectric energy harvesting and sensing due to their high piezoelectricity, light weight, and solution processability. However, to date, the application of piezoelectric HOIPs in ultrasound detection has not yet been explored. Here, we report the synthesis of a pair of chiral two-dimensional piezoelectric HOIPs, R-(4-bromo-2-butylammonium)2PbBr4and S-(4-bromo-2-butylammonium)2PbBr4[R-(BrBA)2PbBr4and S-(BrBA)2PbBr4], which show low mechanical strength and significant piezoelectric strain coefficients that are advantageous for mechanoelectrical energy conversion. Benefiting from these virtues, the R-(BrBA)2PbBr4@PBAT and S-(BrBA)2PbBr4@PBAT [PBAT = poly(butyleneadipate-co-terephthalate)] composite films show prominent underwater ultrasound detection performance with a transmission effectivity of 12.0% using a 10.0 MHz probe, comparable with that of a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) device fabricated in the same conditions. Density functional theory calculations reveal that R-(BrBA)2PbBr4and S-(BrBA)2PbBr4have a beneficial acoustic impedance (5.07–6.76 MRayl) compatible with that of water (1.5 MRayl), which is responsible for the facile ultrasound-induced electricity generation. These encouraging results open up new possibilities for applying piezoelectric HOIPs in underwater ultrasound detection and imaging technologies.

The evidential reasoning (ER) rule, with its strict probabilistic reasoning and superior uncertainty handling ability, has been widely used in the evaluation, diagnosis, and decision-making. Recently, a modeling approach based on the ER rule that combines the evidence constituted by a single attribute (SA_ER) has gradually attracted scholars’ attention due to its good scalability and flexibility. However, in the SA_ER, the frame of discernment (FoD) is composed of a series of singleton propositions and the universal set of these propositions. Since the SA_ER has a special form of evidence structure, its reflection on the system output is incomplete. The existing FoD is unable to quantify this incompleteness, which greatly limits the development of SA_ER. In this article, an improved SA_ER approach that extends the FoD to the power set (PSA_ER) is proposed. Meanwhile, combined with the physical meaning of the model parameters, the expressions of evidence weight and reliability are deduced, respectively. Then, an intelligent optimization algorithm is used to optimize partial parameters to enhance the performance of PSA_ER. Further, the basic properties of PSA_ER are analyzed in detail from the parameter level to promote its engineering application. Finally, an engineering example is intended to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Piezoelectric hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (HOIPs) have emerged as promising materials for the development of self-powered electronic devices. These hybrid systems generally have low elastic moduli and are also intrinsically brittle, limiting their applications in mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion. Here, we report the synthesis of TMCM-CdCl3/PDMS (TMCM, trimethylchloromethyl ammonium; Cl, chloride; PDMS, polydimethylsiloxane) composites with high piezoelectricity. The TMCM-CdCl3micro-rods can adhere with PDMS chains via the C–H···Cl interactions, leading to effective absorption of strain and corresponding efficient conversion to electric polarization. As a result, the energy harvesting devices made by the composite films give a high power density up to 115.2 μW/cm2, catching up with those of the state-of-the-art ceramic counterparts. In addition, the composite devices can harvest human motion energy and sense delicate body gestures. This work demonstrates that the piezoelectric HOIP/polymer composites can serve as promising materials for the development of self-powered flexible and wearable devices.

Low expression levels of E2F3a and caspase 8-associated protein 2 (CASP8AP2) are associated with poor outcomes in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Our previous study showed that a combined assessment of E2F3a and CASP8AP2 expression was more accurate in predicting relapse in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, the interaction between E2F3a and CASP8AP2 and its role in the regulation of histone expression, cell proliferation, the cell cycle, and chemosensitivity were investigated. Exogenous E2F3a-GST was coprecipitated with CASP8AP2-FLAG in HEK-293T cells. E2F3a was colocalized with CASP8AP2-GFP in the nucleus. The replication-dependent histones H2A and H2B were significantly upregulated when E2F3a or CASP8AP2 was overexpressed in HEK-293T or 697 cells and downregulated by E2F3a or CASP8AP2 knockdown. E2F3a and CASP8AP2 could collaboratively enhance the transcriptional activity of HIST1H2AGand HIST1H2BK. Both CASP8AP2 and E2F3a are involved in S phase progression. E2F3a and CASP8AP2 also affected the sensitivity of leukemic cells to daunorubicin. Therefore, CASP8AP2 and E2F3a collaboratively regulated replication-dependent histone expression, cell cycle progression, and chemosensitivity of leukemic cells.

Although N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C) modification affects the stability and translation of mRNA, it is unknown whether it exists in noncoding RNAs, and its biological function is unclear. Here, nucleotide-resolution method for profiling CTC-490G23.2 ac4C sites and gain- and loss-of-function experiments revealed that N-acetyltransferase 10 (NAT10) is responsible for ac4C modification of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). NAT10-mediated ac4C modification leads to the stabilization and overexpression of lncRNA CTC-490G23.2 in primary esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and its further upregulation in metastatic tissues. CTC-490G23.2 significantly promotes cancer invasion and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, CTC-490G23.2 acts as a scaffold to increase the binding of CD44 pre-mRNA to polypyrimidine tract-binding protein 1 (PTBP1), resulting in a oncogenic splicing switch from the standard isoform CD44s to the variant isoform CD44v(8-10). CD44v(8-10), but not CD44s, binds to and increases the protein stability of vimentin. Expression levels of CTC-490G23.2 and CD44v(8-10) can predict poor prognosis in cancer patients. Furthermore, the antisense oligonucleotide (ASO)/SV40-LAH4-L1 peptide self-assembled nanocomplexes targeting CTC490G23.2 exerts a significantly suppressive effect on cancer metastasis. The outcome of this study will provide new mechanistic insight into the ac4C modification of lncRNAs and useful clues for the development of novel systemic therapies and prognostic biomarkers.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a growing public health problem. However, the complicated pathogenesis of NAFLD contributes to the deficiency of effective clinical treatment. Here, we demonstrated that liver-specific loss of Arid2induced hepatic steatosis and this progression could be exacerbated by HFD. Mechanistic study revealed that ARID2 repressed JAK2-STAT5-PPARγ signaling pathway by promoting the ubiquitination of JAK2, which was mediated by NEDD4L, a novel E3 ligase for JAK2. ChIP assay revealed that ARID2 recruited CARM1 to increase H3R17me2a level at the NEDD4L promoter and activated the transcription of NEDD4L. Moreover, inhibition of Jak2 by Fedratinib in liver-specific Arid2knockout mice alleviated HFD-induced hepatic steatosis. Downregulation of ARID2 and the reverse correlation between ARID2 and JAK2 were also observed in clinical samples. Therefore, our study has revealed an important role of ARID2 in the development of NAFLD and provided a potential therapeutic strategy for NAFLD.

Posttranslational modifications add tremendous complexity to proteomes; however, gaps remain in knowledge regarding the function and regulatory mechanism of newly discovered lysine acylation modifications. Here, we compared a panel of non-histone lysine acylation patterns in metastasis models and clinical samples, and focused on 2-hydroxyisobutyrylation (Khib) due to its significant upregulation in cancer metastases. By the integration of systemic Khib proteome profiling in 20 paired primary esophageal tumor and metastatic tumor tissues with CRISPR/Cas9 functional screening, we identified N-acetyltransferase 10 (NAT10) as a substrate for Khib modification. We further showed that Khib modification at lysine 823 in NAT10 functionally contribute to metastasis. Mechanistically, NAT10 Khib modification enhances its interaction with deubiquitinase USP39, resulting in increased NAT10 protein stability. NAT10 in turn promotes metastasis by increasing NOTCH3 mRNA stability in an N4-acetylcytidine-dependent manner. Furthermore, we discovered a lead compound #7586-3507 that inhibited NAT10 Khib modification and showed efficacy in tumor models in vivo at a low concentration. Together, our findings bridge newly identified lysine acylation modifications with RNA modifications, thus providing novel insights into epigenetic regulation in human cancer. We propose that pharmacological inhibition of NAT10 K823 Khib modification constitutes a potential anti-metastasis strategy.

Low-dimensional hybrid lead halides with responsive emissions have attracted considerable attention due to their potential applications in sensing. Herein, a new one-dimensional hybrid lead bromide CyPbBr3(Cy = cytosine cation) was synthesized to explore its emission evolution in response to temperature and pressure. The compound possesses an edge-sharing 1D double-chain structure and emits warm white light across nearly the entire visible spectrum upon ultraviolet excitation. This emission arises from the self-trapped excitons and its broadband feature is attributed to the strong electron-phonon coupling as revealed by the variable-temperature photoluminescence experiments. Moreover, a 4.5-fold pressure-induced emission enhancement was observed at 2.7 GPa which is caused by the pressure suppressed non-radiative energy loss. Furthermore, in-situpowder X-ray diffraction and Raman experiments reveal the maxima of the emission enhancement is associated with a phase transition at the same pressure. Our work demonstrates that low-dimensional metal halides are a promising class of stimuli-responsive materials which could have potential applications in temperature and pressure sensing.

Lung cancer is the most common malignancy and the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the most prevalent subtype. Considering the emergence of resistance to therapies, it is urgent to develop more effective therapies to improve the prognosis. Here we reported that pancreatic progenitor cell differentiation and proliferation factor (PPDPF) deficiency inhibited LUAD development both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, PPDPF induces hyperactive STAT3 by interfering STAT3-PTPN1 interaction. Activated STAT3 promoted BMPR2 transcription, which further inhibited apoptosis. Moreover, PPDPF reduced NK cell infiltration and activation to develop an immunosuppressive microenvironment, which was also mediated by STAT3. Furthermore, we identified that the expression of PPDPF was positively correlated with the malignant features of LUAD, as well as BMPR2 and p-STAT3 level in clinical samples. Therefore, our study suggests that PPDPF positively regulates BMPR2 expression and facilitates immune escape via regulating STAT3 activity, providing a potential therapy target for LUAD.

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a lethal disorder characterized by hyperinflammation. Recently, ruxolitinib (RUX), targeting key cytokines in HLH, has shown promise for HLH treatment. However, there is a lack of robust clinical trials evaluating its efficacy, especially its utility as a frontline therapy. In this study (www.chictr.org.cn, ChiCTR2000031702), we designed ruxolitinib as a first-line agent for pediatric HLH and stratified the treatment based on its early response. Fifty-two newly diagnosed patients were enrolled. The overall response rate (ORR) of ruxolitinib monotherapy (day 28) was 69.2% (36/52), with 42.3% (22/52) achieving sustained complete remission (CR). All responders achieved their first response to ruxolitinib within 3 days. The response to ruxolitinib was significantly associated with the underlying etiology at enrollment (P = .009). Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-HLH patients were most sensitive to ruxolitinib, with an ORR of 87.5% (58.3% in CR). After ruxolitinib therapy, 57.7% (30/52) of the patients entered intensive therapy with additional chemotherapy. Among them, 53.3% (16/30) patients achieved CR, and 46.7% (14/30) patients dominated by chronic active EBV infection-associated HLH (CAEBV-HLH) developed refractory HLH by week 8. The median interval to additional treatment since the first ruxolitinib administration was 6 days (range, 3-25 days). Altogether, 73.1% (38/52) of the enrolled patients achieved CR after treatment overall. The 12-month overall survival (OS) for all patients was 86.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 77.1% to 95.7%). Ruxolitinib had low toxicity and was well tolerated compared with intensive chemotherapy. Our study provides clinical evidence for ruxolitinib as a frontline agent for pediatric HLH. The efficacy was particularly exemplified with stratified regimens based on the early differential response to ruxolitinib. This study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry Platform (http://www.chictr.org.cn/) as ChiCTR2000031702.

The capture of radioactive I2vapor from nuclear waste under industrial operating conditions remains a challenging task, as the practical industrial conditions of high temperature (≥150 °C) and low I2concentration (∼150 ppmv) are unfavorable for I2adsorption. We report a novel guanidinium-based covalent organic framework (COF), termed TGDM, which can efficiently capture I2under industrial operating conditions. At 150 °C and 150 ppmv I2, TGDM exhibits an I2uptake of ∼30 wt %, which is significantly higher than that of the industrial silver-based adsorbents such as Ag@MOR (17 wt %) currently used in the nuclear fuel reprocessing industry. Characterization and theoretical calculations indicate that among the multiple types of adsorption sites in TGDM, only ionic sites can bond to I2through strong Coulomb interactions under harsh conditions. The abundant ionic groups of TGDM account for its superior I2capture performance compared to various benchmark adsorbents. In addition, TGDM exhibits exceptionally high chemical and thermal stabilities that fully meet the requirements of practical radioactive I2capture (high-temperature, humid, and acidic environment) and differentiate it from other ionic COFs. Furthermore, TGDM has excellent recyclability and low cost, which are unavailable for the current industrial silver-based adsorbents. These advantages make TGDM a promising candidate for capturing I2vapor during nuclear fuel reprocessing. This strategy of incorporating chemically stable ionic guanidine moieties in COF would stimulate the development of new adsorbents for I2capture and related applications.

Introducing the chiral spacers to two-dimensional (2D) lead halide perovskites (LHPs) enables them to exhibit circularly polarized photoluminescence (CPPL), which could have applications in chiral-optics and spintronics. Despite that a great deal of effort has been made in this field, the reported polarization degree of CPPL at ambient conditions is still very limited, and the integration of multiple functionalities also remains to be explored. Here we report the structures, CPPL, and piezoelectric energy harvesting properties of chiral 2D LHPs, [R-1-(4-bromophenyl)ethylaminium]2PbI4(R-[BPEA]2PbI4) and [S-1-(4-bromophenyl)ethylaminium]2PbI4(S-[BPEA]2PbI4). Our results show that these chiral perovskites are direct bandgap semiconductors and exhibit CPPL centered at ∼513 nm with a maximum degree of polarization of up to 11.0% at room temperature. In addition, the unique configurational arrangement of the chiral spacers is found to be able to reduce the interlayer π–π interactions and consequently result in strong electron–phonon coupling. Furthermore, the intrinsic chirality of both R-[BPEA]2PbI4and S-[BPEA]2PbI4enables them to be piezoelectric active, and their composite films can be applied to generate voltages and currents up to ∼0.6 V and ∼1.5 μA under periodic impacting with a strength of 2 N, respectively. This work not only reports a high degree of CPPL but also demonstrates piezoelectric energy harvesting behavior for realizing multifunctionalities in chiral 2D LHPs.

Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite (HOIP) ferroelectrics are attracting considerable interest because of their high performance, ease of synthesis, and lightweight. However, the intrinsic thermodynamic origins of their ferroelectric transitions remain insufficiently understood. Here, we identify the nature of the ferroelectric phase transitions in displacive [(CH3)2NH2][Mn(N3)3] and order–disorder type [(CH3)2NH2][Mn(HCOO)3] via spatially resolved structural analysis and ab initiolattice dynamics calculations. Our results demonstrate that the vibrational entropy change of the extended perovskite lattice drives the ferroelectric transition in the former and also contributes importantly to that of the latter along with the rotational entropy change of the A-site. This finding not only reveals the delicate atomic dynamics in ferroelectric HOIPs but also highlights that both the local and extended fluctuation of the hybrid perovskite lattice can be manipulated for creating ferroelectricity by taking advantages of their abundant atomic, electronic, and phononic degrees of freedom.

SiCp/AZ91 composites were prepared by vacuum pressure infiltration. The microstructure, mechanical properties and wear resistance of composite were studied. Results indicated that SiC particles were uniformly distributed in the metal matrix and had a good interface bonding with the metal matrix. Mg17Al12preferably precipitated near the SiC particles, and high-density dislocations were induced by the mismatch of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between the SiC particle and the AZ91 matrix, thereby accelerating the aging precipitation of the matrix. Compared with AZ91 alloy, the addition of SiC particles improves the hardness and compressive strength of the composite, which is mainly due to the load transfer strengthening and grain refinement strengthening mechanisms. Furthermore, a stable support surface-protecting matrix formed during the wear process because of the excellent wear resistance of SiC.

Dimensionality engineering plays a pivotal role in optimizing the performance, ensuring long-term stability, and expanding the versatile applications of lead halide perovskites (LHPs). Currently, the manipulation of LHP dimensions primarily occurs during the synthesis stage, a procedure hampered by constraints, including synthetic complexity and irreversibility. This investigation successfully achieved a transition from one-dimensional (1D) to two-dimensional (2D) structures in chiral LHPs by applying hydrostatic pressure. Remarkably, this pressure-induced transition in dimensionality is absent in the racemic analogue due to the staggered arrangement of inorganic chains and the elevated steric hindrance posed by the organic cations. Notably, the hydrogen bonding between organic cations and the inorganic framework adopts a symmetrical arrangement in the racemic system but a helical configuration along the 1D chain direction in the chiral counterparts. This distinct helical arrangement induces a consequential distortion in the inorganic moiety, resulting in the emergence of a spin-polarized Rashba–Dresselhaus texture that explains the chirality’s electronic spin origin. Furthermore, both experimental and density functional theory calculation results demonstrate that the 1D-to-2D phase transition in chiral halide perovskites can induce significant modifications in the electronic structures and associated optical emissions. In summary, the findings unveil novel avenues for manipulating optoelectronic properties in chiral perovskites through dimensionality engineering.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare myeloid neoplasm with inflammatory characteristics. This study aims to investigate the correlation between sCD25 levels and clinical characteristics, as well as prognosis, in pediatric LCH.

The phenomenon of pressure-induced emission alterations related to complex excitonic dynamics in 2D lead halide perovskites (LHPs) has gained considerable attention for understanding their structure–property relationship and obtaining inaccessible luminescence under ambient conditions. However, the well-known pressure-induced emissions are limited to the formation of self-trapped excitons (STEs) due to the structural distortion under compression, which goes against the advantage of the highly pure emission of LHPs. Here, the pressure-induced detrapping from STEs to free excitons (FEs) accompanied by the dramatic transition from broadband orangish emission to narrow blue emission has been achieved in chiral 2D LHPs and R- and S-[4MeOPEA]2PbBr4, (4MeOPEA = 4-methoxy-α-methylbenzylammonium). The combined experimental and calculated results reveal that the distortion level of PbBr6octahedra of R- and S-[4MeOPEA]2PbBr4exhibits an unusually significant reduction as the applied pressure increases, which leads to decreased electron–phonon coupling and self-trapped energy barrier and consequently enables the detrapping of STEs to FEs. This work illustrates the dramatic exciton transfer in 2D LHPs and highlights the potential for realizing highly efficient and pure light emissions by manipulating the structural distortion via strain engineering.

Organic–inorganic metal halides (OIMHs) can show diverse optical properties under pressure since their emission pathways can be facilely manipulated through hydrostatic compression. However, pressure-induced phase transitions and their irreversibility disrupt the linear tuning of the pressure-dependent optical properties, thereby hampering their applications in pressure sensing. To improve structural stability, we introduced O–H···Br interactions and synthesized a zero-dimensional (0D) manganese-based (Mn-based) OIMH, (TDMA)MnBr3(H2O)2[TDMA = (tetrahydrofuran-3-yl)methylammonium], with a 625 nm phosphorescence emission. For pressure-induced discoloration, high pressure enhances the crystal field splitting energy of Mn2+through octahedral compression and distortion, which leads to the decrease of the band gap and the red shift of the emission wavelength. Above all, the strong O–H···Br interactions formed between adjacent octahedra have effectively improved the structural stability and suppressed phase transitions under high pressure, which promotes the generation of a highly linear pressure–emission wavelength correlation. This encouraging result opens up the potential applications of pressure sensing within the red emission of 0D Mn-based OIMHs.

This study investigates the influence of accumulative roll bonding (ARB) cycles on the microstructure and room temperature (RT) mechanical properties of AT31/ATX3105 magnesium (Mg) alloy composite sheet. It is observed that, as the number of rolling passes increases, the interface between ATX3105 and AT31 layers exhibits stronger bonding. Furthermore, after five cycles of ARB treatment, the grain sizes of AT31 and ATX3105 layers are refined to ∼ 5.1 μm and ∼ 4.2 μm, respectively. With the increasing number of ARB passes, the strength of the composite sheets gradually increased, while their ductility showed a wave-like trend. It is particularly noteworthy that the ductility reached an optimal level of ∼17.0% after four ARB cycles. The composite sheet after five ARB cycles demonstrates the best comprehensive mechanical properties, with yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS), and elongation (EL) at ∼ 205.4 MPa, ∼274.9 MPa and ∼15.4%, respectively. The strength improvement mainly comes from grain boundary strengthening and heterogeneous deformation-induced (HDI) strengthening due to the layered grain structure of alternating coarse and fine grains. The results of hetero-structured Mg alloy sheet produced by ARB provides a reference for the development of Mg alloy sheet with good mechanical properties.

Foamed zinc was prepared by infiltration casting process. The mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the samples were studied, and the feasibility of the foamed zinc as a bone implant material was discussed. All the compression stress-strain curves of open-cell zinc foams with various cell size (1–4 mm) and porosity (55%–67%) show three stages: elastic stage, plastic stage, and densification stage. The compression strength increases with decreasing density. The smooth stress-strain response indicates a progressively deformation of open-cell zinc foam. In addition, the cell wall or edge bending and fracture are the dominated mechanisms for failure of open cell zinc foam. The immersion test for determining the corrosion rate of open cell zinc foam was conducted in simulated body fluid. It was found that zinc foam with a small cell size and high porosity showed a higher corrosion rate. In addition, open-cell zinc foams can effectively induce Ca-P deposition in immersion tests, showing good bioactivity. Therefore, the open cell zinc foam prepared in this experiment has a good potential application as a human bone substitute material.

This study aims to investigate the promotion effect of twinning-induced nucleation vs the inhibition effect of Mg 17 Al 12 particles pinning for recrystallization, achieved through gradient rolling for Mg‒3Al‒1Zn (AZ31) and Mg‒9Al‒1Zn (AZ91) alloys as well as pure Mg. Through gradient rolling, a transition zone from the initial to deformed microstructure undergoing varying thickness reductions was obtained in the same sample, where the evolution of deformation twins and second phase can be examined precisely and continuously. During hot deformation, dynamic recrystallized (DRXed) grains tended to originate from {10 1 ¯ 1}-{10 1 ¯ 2} double twins, whose nucleation was significantly restricted by increasing Al content and hence recrystallization can be rarely triggered in AZ91 alloy. Concurrently, the size and volume fraction of Mg 17 Al 12 particles changed via dissolution and re-precipitation, leading to finer average size and higher volume fraction, which produced stronger pinning effect and hindered dynamic recrystallization significantly. The current study provides insights into the mechanisms responsible for dynamic recrystallization behavior during hot rolling in Mg‒Al‒Zn alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Axial compression tests were conducted on AZ31B magnesium and A6063 aluminum thin-walled square tubes with varied lengths and induced features at different compression rates. In compression, the magnesium tubes exhibited a “local buckling and fracture” mode, with three fracture patterns, i.e. “horizontal”, “double-oblique”, and “spiral” fractures. In general, the magnesium tube showed an inferior crashworthiness to the aluminum square tube. In addition, the effects of L/Wratio, strain rate and induced features on the crashworthiness of thin-walled square tubes were investigated. With an increase in the L/Wratio (Land Wrepresent the tube length and width, respectively) from 1 to 4, the maximal force and global specific energy absorption decreased in a power-law trend for the magnesium tubes, while they remained approximately constant for the aluminum tubes. Furthermore, as the compression rate increased from 5×10−5to 10 m/s, the primary crashworthiness parameters of the magnesium tubes increased in an approximately exponential manner, while for the aluminum tubes, they changed slightly. Finally, the involved induced features were proven to be not an effective method to improve the specific energy absorption of magnesium tubes, thus, more trigger types, locations, and sizes will be evaluated in future to improve the energy-absorption ability.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Breast cancer is now recognized as a clinically heterogeneous disease with a wide spectrum of epidemiological and clinicopathologic features. We aimed to evaluate whether epidemiological and clinicopathologic features are associated with the histological tumor grade of breast carcinomas in Western China. METHODS:We retrospectively collected data from the Western China Clinical Cooperation Group and assessed associations between clinicopathologic factors and histological tumor grade in 8619 female breast cancer patients. Patients were divided into two groups: Group I (tumor grade I/II) and Group II (tumor grade III). Univariable analysis and multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationships between clinicopathologic factors and tumor grade. RESULTS:Patients presenting with positive axillary lymph nodes, large tumor size (>2 cm), lymphovascular invasion, hormone receptor negativity, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) positivity, and triple negativity tended to have an increased risk of a high tumor grade. However, the number of pregnancies or births was inversely correlated with the risk of a high tumor grade. In addition, patients presenting with grade III tumors were more likely to receive aggressive treatment, such as adjuvant chemotherapy, anti–HER-2 therapy, and level III axillary lymph node dissection. CONCLUSIONS:Our results suggested that several clinicopathologic factors were associated with high tumor grade of breast cancer patients in Western China.

In order to clarify the main pathogens of tomato Fusarium wilt in Shanxi Province, China, morphological identification, elongation factor 1 alpha (EF-1α) sequence analysis, specific primer amplification and pathogenicity tests were applied to study the isolates which were recovered from diseased plants collected from 17 different districts of Shanxi Province. The results were as follows: 1) Through morphological and molecular identification, the following 7 species of Fusariumwere identified: F. oxysporum, F. solani, F. verticillioides, F. subglutinans, F. chlamydosporum, F. sporotrichioides,and F. semitectum; 2) 56 isolates of F. oxysporumwere identified using specific primer amplification, among which, 29, 5 and 6 isolates were respectively identified as F. oxysporumf. sp. lycopersiciphysiological race 1, race 2, and race 3; 3) pathogenicity test indicated the significant pathogenicity of F. oxysporum, F. solani, F. verticillioides,and F. subglutinansto tomato plant. Therefore, among these 4 species confirmed as pathogenic to tomato in Shanxi, the highest isolation rate (53.3%) corresponded to F. oxysporum.Three physiological species, race 1, race 2, and race 3 of F. oxysporumf. sp. lycopersiciare detected in Shanxi, among which race 1 is the most widespread pathogen and is also considered as the predominant race.

Conventional methods for analyzing system reliability involve the use of unit reliability and system composition. However, these methods have limitation on considering the type of failure distribution that exists in unit of system, resulting in inaccurate evaluation of system reliability as the bathtub curve. The process in which unit and system go from a normal working state to a failure state can be described as a fuzzy process. The fuzzy probability of unit reliability is defined in formula, and its curve is drawn based on bathtub curve, reliability function curve and fuzzy probability. For two systems that have the same system reliability, conventional methods also fail to take into account the effect of differences in unit reliability on system reliability. In this study, we introduce a novel method to analyze system reliability that based on fuzzy probability. This method is an assumption that unit reliability is a fuzzy probability-based event, and then these concepts of system failure probability and integrated system reliability are proposed. The system failure probability is a characteristic quantity used to measure the effect of different unit in system reliability. The integrated system reliability is a characteristic quantity that evaluated the comprehensive system reliability. These proposed concepts are applied in the reliability analysis of series system, parallel system and compound system. These results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method by the application and comparison in these examples.

Current terahertz metamaterial absorber (TMA) is easily disturbed by infrared (IR) radiation background in real applications. We present a TMA design method with the ability of IR absorption suppression, which uses the slit pattern on the metal surface to control the absorption spectrum. Experimental results show that the designed and processed TMA produces an absorption peak of more than 80% at the resonant frequency of 1.33 THz and achieves less than 3% absorption in IR bands above 12 THz. The photothermal conversion noise caused by IR absorption at room temperature can be decreased by 20.9 times compared with a previous design. We believe it provides new paths in the TMA research and is helpful for the development of high-sensitivity THz microbolometer.

Rice false smut, caused by Ustilaginoidea virens, produces significant losses in rice yield and grain quality and has recently emerged as one of the most important rice diseases worldwide. Despite its importance in rice production, relatively few studies have been conducted to illustrate the complex interactome and the pathogenicity gene interactions. Here a protein–protein interaction network of U. virenswas built through two well-recognized approaches, interolog- and domain–domain interaction-based methods. A total of 20 217 interactions associated with 3305 proteins were predicted after strict filtering. The reliability of the network was assessed computationally and experimentally. The topology of the interactome network revealed highly connected proteins. A pathogenicity-related subnetwork involving up-regulated genes during early U. virensinfection was also constructed, and many novel pathogenicity proteins were predicted in the subnetwork. In addition, we built an interspecies PPI network between U. virensand Oryza sativa, providing new insights for molecular interactions of this host–pathogen pathosystem. A web-based publicly available interactive database based on these interaction networks has also been released. In summary, a proteome-scale map of the PPI network was described for U. virens, which will provide new perspectives for finely dissecting interactions of genes related to its pathogenicity.

Pancreatic progenitor cell differentiation and proliferation factor (PPDPF) has been reported to play a role in tumorigenesis. However, its function in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains poorly understood. In this study, we report that PPDPF is significantly downregulated in HCC and decreased PPDPF expression indicates poor prognosis. In the DEN-induced HCC mouse model, hepatocyte-specific depletion of Ppdpfpromotes hepatocarcinogenesis, and reintroduction of PPDPF into LKO mice inhibits the accelerated HCC development. Mechanistic study reveals that PPDPF regulates NF-κB signaling through modulation of RIPK1 ubiquitination. PPDPF interacts with RIPK1 and facilitates K63-linked ubiquitination of RIPK1 via recruiting the E3 ligase TRIM21, which catalyzes K63-linked ubiquitination of RIPK1 at K140. In addition, liver-specific overexpression of PPDPF activates NF-κB signaling, attenuates apoptosis and compensatory proliferation in mice, which significantly suppresses HCC development. This work identifies PPDPF as a regulator of NF-κB signaling and provides a potential therapeutic candidate for HCC.

The J-lay method is regarded as one of the most feasible methods to lay a pipeline in deep water and ultra-deep water. A numerical model that accounts for the nonlinear soil stiffness is developed in this study to evaluate a J-lay pipeline. The pipeline considered in this model is divided into two parts: the part one is suspended in water, and the part two is laid on the seabed. In addition to the boundary conditions at the two end points of the pipeline, a special set of the boundary conditions is required at the touchdown point that connects the two parts of the pipeline. The two parts of the pipeline are solved by a numerical iterative method and the finite difference method, respectively. The proposed numerical model is validated for a special case using a catenary model and a numerical model with linear soil stiffness. A good agreement in the pipeline configuration, the tension force and the bending moment is obtained among these three models. Furthermore, the present model is used to study the importance of the nonlinear soil stiffness. Finally, the parametric study is performed to study the effect of the mudline shear strength, the gradient of the soil shear strength, and the outer diameter of the pipeline on the pipelaying solution.

Based on the microscopic phase-field model, the correlation between site occupation evolution of alloying elements in Ni3V-DO22phase and growth of Ni3Al-L12phase was studied during the phase transformation of Ni75Al4.2V20.8. The results demonstrate that the growth of L12phase can be divided into two stages: at the early stage, the composition of alloying elements in DO22phase almost remains unchanged; at the late stage, the compositions of Ni and Al decrease while V increases in DO22phase. Part of alloying elements for L12phase growth are supplied from the site occupation evolution of alloying elements on three kinds of sublattices in DO22phase. Ni is mainly supplied from V sublattice, and part of Al is supplied from Niıand V sites at the centre of DO22phase. The excessive V from the decreasing DO22phase migrates into the centre of DO22phase and mainly occupies V and NiIIsites. It is the site occupation evolution of antisite atoms and ternary additions in DO22phase that controls the growth rate of L12phase at the late stage.

The problem of the hydrodynamic interaction with the arc-shaped bottom-mounted breakwaters is investigated theoretically. The breakwater is assumed to be rigid, thin, impermeable and vertically located in a finite water depth. The fluid domain is divided into two sub-regions of inner and outer by an auxiliary circular interface. Linear theory is assumed and the eigenfunction expansion approach is used to determine the wave field. In order to examine the validity of the theoretical model, the analytical solutions are compared to agree well with published results with the same parameters. Numerical results including wave amplitude, surge pressure, and wave force are presented with different model parameters. The major factors including wave parameters, structure configuration, and water depth that affect the surge pressure, wave forces, and wave amplitudes are discussed and illustrated by some graphs and cloud maps.

Periodontitis is a major cause of tooth loss in adults and periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) is the most favorable candidate for the reconstruction of tissues destroyed by periodontal diseases. However, pathological alterations caused by inflammatory insults might impact the regenerative capacities of these cells. Bone-marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) would accelerate alveolar bone regeneration by transplantation, compared to PDLSCs. Therefore, a better understanding of the osteogenic differentiation between PDLSCs and BMSCs in inflammatory microenviroments is therefore warranted. In this study, human PDLSCs were investigated for their stem cell characteristics via analysis of cell surface marker expression, colony forming unit efficiency, osteogenic differentiation and adipogenic differentiation, and compared to BMSCs. To determine the impact of both inflammation and the NF-κβ signal pathway on osteogenic differentiation, cells were challenged with TNF-α under osteogenic induction conditions and investigated for mineralization, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, cell proliferation and relative genes expression. Results showed that PDLSCs exhibit weaker mineralization and ALP activity compared to BMSCs. TNF-α inhibited genes expression of osteogenic differentiation in PDLSCs, while, it stimulates gene expressions (BSP and Runx2) in BMSCs. Enhanced NF-κβ activity in PDLSCs decreases expression of Runx2 but it does not impede the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. Taken together, these results may suggest that the BMSCs owned the stronger immunomodulation in local microenvironment via anti-inflammatory functions, compared to PDLSCs.

Drop-weight impact tests were conducted on 2024-T3 aluminum plates with five types of impactors, and then the effects of the dent on the residual ultimate strength of the 2024-T3 specimens were investigated through axial compression tests. Results indicate that with increase in dent depth, the five types of dents affect the ultimate strength of the plate in different trends. Nevertheless, other than the plate global deflection caused by impacting, the dent itself has unremarkable effect on the ultimate strength. The mathematical expressions are derived regarding the relationship between impact energy factor and the dent depth factor as well as the compressive ultimate strength reduction rate and the dent depth factor.

The power supply system, which is totally discussed in this paper, is of special importance for the daily operation of the cabled seafloor scientific observatory. Based on the unique features of the power supply system of the cabled seafloor scientific observatory, this paper proposes the solution of parallel direct current power supply, which is suitable for the underwater environment. According to special application environment of power supply system,this paper determines the maximum voltage and current that can be applied to the transmission system of the cabled seafloor scientific observatory.