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BACKGROUND Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare disorder that typically presents with ascending weakness, pain, paraesthesias, and numbness, which mimic the findings in lumbar spinal stenosis. Here, we report a case of severe lumbar spinal stenosis combined with GBS. CASE SUMMARY A 70-year-old man with a history of lumbar spinal stenosis presented to our emergency department with severe lower back pain and lower extremity numbness. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed the diagnosis of severe lumbar spinal stenosis. However, his symptoms did not improve postoperatively and he developed dysphagia and upper extremity numbness. An electromyogram was performed. Based on his symptoms, physical examination, and electromyogram, he was diagnosed with GBS. After 5 d of intravenous immunoglobulin (0.4 g/kg/d for 5 d) therapy, he gained 4/5 of strength in his upper and lower extremities and denied paraesthesias. He had regained 5/5 of strength in his extremities when he was discharged and had no symptoms during follow-up. CONCLUSION GBS should be considered in the differential diagnosis of spinal disorder, even though magnetic resonance imaging shows severe lumbar spinal stenosis. This case highlights the importance of a careful diagnosis when a patient has a history of a disease and comes to the hospital with the same or similar symptoms.

Columnar-grained Cu-Al-Mn shape memory alloy (SMA) exhibits excellent superelastic fatigue properties at high strain amplitude, and its functional fatigue life reaches above 103 cycles at tensile strain of 4%–10%. As the increase of loading-unloading cycle number, the transformation stress and superelastic recovery rate decrease. The decay coefficient of recovery rate is about 1.4. Fatigue cycles for Cu-Al-Mn SMAs can be divided into four stages according to the significant changes of superelasticity: plateaus stage, rapid attenuation earlier stage, rapid attenuation later stage, functional incapacitation stage. The columnar-grained Cu-Al-Mn SMA shows larger range of stable superelasticity than other polycrystalline counterparts.

The influences of rolling reduction and aluminum sheet initial thickness (AIT) on the thickness fluctuation of aluminum layer (TFA) of embedded aluminum–steel composite sheet produced by cold roll bonding were investigated, the formation mechanism of TFA was analyzed and method to improve the thickness uniformity of the aluminum layer was proposed. The results showed that when the reduction increased, TFA increased gradually. When the reduction was lower than 40%, AIT had negligible effect on the TFA, while TFA increased with the decrease of AIT when the reduction was higher than 40%. The non-uniformities of the steel surface deformation and the interfacial bonding extent caused by the work-hardened steel surface layer, were the main reasons for the formation of TFA. Adopting an appropriate surface treatment can help to decrease the hardening extent of the steel surface for improving the deformation uniformity during cold roll bonding process, which effectively improved the aluminum thickness uniformity of the embedded aluminum/steel composite sheets.

With the aid of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), the microstructure of the alloy in as-extruded state and various solution-treated states was investigated. The results indicate that second phase of the as-extruded 7136 aluminum alloy mainly consists of Mg(Zn, Cu, Al)2 and Fe-rich phases. The Mg(Zn, Cu, Al)2 phase directly dissolves into the matrix during solution treatment with various solution temperatures. After solution treated at 475 °C for 1 h, Mg(Zn, Cu, Al)2 phases are dissolved into the matrix, while Fe-rich phases still exist. Fe-rich phases could not dissolve into the matrix by prolonging solution time. The mechanical property test and EBSD observation show that two-stage solution treatment makes no significant improvement in mechanical properties and recrystallization of the alloy. The optimized solution treatment parameter is chosen as 475 °C/1 h.

Columnar-grained Cu71.7Al18.1Mn10.2 shape memory alloy (SMA) was prepared by a directional solidification method and exhibited a high superelasticity of 8.18% and excellent ductility at room temperature, which provided the possibility of obtaining high shape memory. However, proper pre-deformation is an essential part of repeatedly obtaining large and stable shape change. In this paper, one-time uniaxial tensile pre-deformation was carried out at the temperature range &minus, 70&ndash, &minus, 80 &deg, C. Then, the two-way shape memory effect (TWSME) of the alloy was evaluated by the martensitic transformation strain (&epsilon, M) which was measured by a thermal expansion test to investigate the relationship between the pre-deformation strain (&epsilon, T) and the TWSME. The results showed that &epsilon, M of the columnar-grained Cu71.7Al18.1Mn10.2 alloy increased at first and then decreased with the increase of &epsilon, T. The maximum value 2.91% of the &epsilon, M could be reached when &epsilon, T was 6%. The effects of the &epsilon, T on transformation temperatures were also measured by differential scanning calorimetry. Based on the variations of transformation temperatures, the relationship between the internal stress induced by the pre-deformation process and the &epsilon, M, and the influence mechanism of the pre-deformation strain on the TWSME in columnar-grained Cu71.7Al18.1Mn10.2 alloy, were discussed. The results obtained from this work may provide reference for potential applications of Cu-based SMAs, such as self-control components, fasteners, etc.

The planting area and varieties of rapeseeds were studied based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) combining with stepwise discriminatory analysis. The FTIR of 188 rapeseed skin samples of 17 varieties from 5 planting areas was obtained and processed by OMINC 8.0 software. In order to distinguish their planting area and variety, 5 spectra in the range of 1 800～950 cm-1 for each variety from each producing area were selected as training samples arbitrarily with Fisher linear discriminatory criterion which was used to build model by means of stepwise discriminatory analysis by SPSS20.0 software. All the five discriminatory models based on Wilks’Lambda, Unexplained variance, Mahalanobis distance, Smallest F value and Rao’s v can distinguish variety and planting area well, and the best one for identifying variety was on the base of Wilks’Lambda, which yielded correct rate of 97.9%, and the best one for distinguishing planting area was on the base of Unexplained variance with a correct rate of 98.4%. The results showed that discriminatory analysis based on the infrared spectrum of rapeseed skin is an efficient method for identification of rapeseed variety and planting area.

In order to analyze single stage ageing behavior of a high-zinc Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy, the microstructure and property variations of the alloy treated by various temperatures were explored by hardness, conductivity, tensile properties, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HREM) techniques. The results indicated that a long time was needed to reach a peak hardness value for the alloy treated at 100 and 120 °C and the peak hardness value could sustain a relatively long time interval. The alloy treated at 120 °C adopted a shorter time to reach peak hardness values and its peak hardness value was larger compared with that at 120 °C. The hardness treated at 140 °C reached the peak rapidly and then diminished continuously. With ageing time prolonging, the conductivities of the alloy treated at various temperatures increase persistently. After a peak ageing regime of 120 °C/24 h, the alloy possessed fine and dispersedly distributed matrix precipitates (MPs) and the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS), elongation and electrical conductivity were 697 MPa, 655 MPa, 12.9% and 17.3 MS m−1, respectively. With the alloy temper varying from under-ageing to peak-ageing to over-ageing, the variety of MPs changed from GPI zone, GPII zone and η′ phase to GPII zone and η′ phase to η′ phase. During this process, the size distribution of MPs became broader and average precipitate size became larger.

The columnar-grained (CG) Cu–Al–Mn shape memory alloy samples possess a strong -oriented texture along the solidification direction (SD) and straight low-energy grain boundaries fabricated by unidirectional solidification technique. When the angle between tensile direction and the SD ranged from 0° to 90° at the tensile tests, the superelasticity of samples changed in a “V” shape and showed a large anisotropy. Meanwhile, the martensite transformation critical stress of the CG Cu–Al–Mn samples increased from 258.5 MPa for 0° to 521.9 MPa for 45°, and then decreased to 324.3 MPa. The large anisotropy of the superelasticity was attributed to the combined effects of grain orientation and grain boundaries, wherein the influence of the grain boundaries had an obvious dependence on orientation. The potential applications of CG Cu–Al–Mn alloys as anisotropic shock isolators and dampers in high rise buildings and precision instruments were also proposed. Keywords: Columnar grain, Cu–Al–Mn shape memory alloys, Superelastic anisotropy, Grain boundary, Device design

The effects of various structure factors on the properties (superelasticity mainly) of Cu-based shape memory alloys (SMAs) were systematically evaluated in this review article through literatures combining with our work. It is concluded that besides the decisive role of grain orientation, the grain boundary (GB) characteristics also play important roles in the superelasticity, which include GB area, GB type, GB morphology and GB direction in descending order of the effect significance. According to the above results, the prior principles of structure design are proposed for high-performance Cu-based SMAs from most to least important: (1) obtaining grain orientation with high phase transformation strain; (2) increasing grain size or reducing GB area; (3) obtaining straight low-energy GBs, especially low-angle GBs; (4) trying to make GB direction parallel to external stress. Consistent with the main or all principles, the bamboo-like-grained and columnar-grained (CG) Cu-based SMAs show excellent comprehensive properties.

Through texture and grain boundary control by continuous unidirectional solidification, the continuous columnar-grained polycrystalline Cu 71.8 Al 17.8 Mn 10.4 shape memory alloys were prepared and possess a strong 〈0 0 1〉 texture along the solidification direction and straight low-energy grain boundary. The alloys show excellent superelasticity of 10.1% improved from 3% for ordinary polycrystalline counterpart and with a tiny residual strain of less than 0.3% after unloading. There are some reasons for the enhanced superelasticity: (1) The martensitic transformation of all grains with strong 〈0 0 1〉-oriented texture occur at the same time under the tensile loading, which can avoid the significant stress concentration problem and transformation strain incompatibility at the grain boundaries due to the high elastic anisotropy in ordinary polycrystalline alloy. (2) High phase transformation strain can be obtained along 〈0 0 1〉 grain orientation. (3) Straight low-energy grain boundary and the absence of grain boundary triple junctions of continuous columnar-grained polycrystals can significantly reduce the blockage of martensitic transformation at the grain boundaries. These results provide a reference to structure design of high-performance polycrystalline Cu-based shape memory alloys.

The content of this subject research is to conduct optimization for engine mounting system, and through optimization, it can make the vibration between engine and vehicle body achieve a minimum, using Adams software for simulation. It studies the isolation vibration of the engine mounting system and conducts goal optimization for fixed frequency. This paper uses two methods for optimization. One is to use the rational allocation of fixed frequency to optimize the fixed frequency, and the other is to use energy decoupling method to optimize the fixed frequency. It uses Adams software for simulation of the optimized fixed frequency and conducts comparison of simulated results. The simulated results show that the optimized energy distribution situation almost achieves 90%. Compared with original data, decoupling degree also has a very great improvement, illustrating that the optimized data has greater effect for the isolated vibration of engine, in order to further verify the feasibility of optimization design method.

In this study, the engine suspension system was optimized for making the vibration between engine and car body minimized, and also the optimization was simulated using software Adams. The purpose of this study was to research the vibration isolation of the engine mounting system and implement multi-objective optimization for the intrinsic frequency. In this paper, the optimization was implemented in two ways: (1) the intrinsic frequency was optimized by reasonably allocating it: (2) the intrinsic frequency was optimized using energy decoupling. The optimized intrinsic frequencies were simulated using software Adams and then the simulation results were compared. The simulation results showed that the optimized energy distribution was almost up to 90% and the decoupling degree was greatly improved by comparing the initial data, proving the optimized data played a greater effect on engine vibration isolation and further verifying the feasibility of optimization design method.

In order to avoid coarse primary-precipitated ε phase which prolong α+ε→β phase transition time in FeSi2 material prepared by conventional casting, a cyclical superheating process of melt for preparing FeSi2 with complete α+ε eutectic structure was proposed. The effects of melt superheating conditions on the microstructure of FeSi2 were investigated. The results showed that, with the increase of the superheating temperature, the superheating time, the recycling times and the cooling velocity, the size and quantity of the ε phase reduced. Meanwhile, the number of the fine eutectic structure increased. FeSi2 sample with uniform and complete α+ε eutectic structure was successfully prepared in the conditions of melt superheating temperature at 1550°C, superheating time for 10mins, recycling 3 times,melt cooling rate of 30°C/s.

In this paper, the compression stress-strain curves of 7050 Al-alloy under various deformation conditions were obtained, and the recrystallization structures were analyzed. The main parameters of dynamic recrystallization model were determined. The rationality of the model parameters were verified by hot compression and extrusion. The results show that the accuracy of the model is high enough for predicting the recrystallization of the 7050 Al-alloy during hot deformation. Comparison of the experiment and calculated results in hot compression shows that the maximum relative error of the recrystallization fraction is 11.4%. Comparison of the experiment and calculated results in hot extrusion shows that the maximum relative error of the recrystallization fraction is 13.0%, and that of the recrystallization grain size is 14.9%.

Cu/nanoTiO2/PBO composite fiber with low density, high strength, toughness and conductivity was prepared with a photocatalysis electroless plating method by reduction depositing Cu2+ on the surface of nanoTiO2/PBO composite fiber. The process parameters on the preparation of Cu/nanoTiO2/PBO composite fiber were optimized by the characterization of surface morphology, phase, composition, pull-out strength and resistivity of Cu/nanoTiO2/PBO composite fibers using SEM, XRD, EDS, electronic tester of tensile strength and multimeter, respectively. The mechanism of Cu coating nanoTiO2/PBO composite fiber was also discussed in this study. The results showed that Cu/nanoTiO2/PBO composite fibers were well prepared under the bath composition of CuSO45H2O 16gL-1, KNaC4H4O64H2O 15 gL-1, Na2EDTA2H2O 24 gL-1, HCHO 16 mlL-1, NaOH 14 gL-1, C10H8N2 24 mgL-1 and K4Fe (CN)6H2O 12 mgL-1 by the UV-light irradiated for 30 min. The diameter, pull-out strength and resistivity of Cu/nanoTiO2/PBO composite fiber were 20.2 μm, 2.25 GPa and 0.02864 Ωmm2m-1, respectively. Cu2+ ions on the surface of nanoTiO2/PBO composite fiber were reduced to Cu by photo-electrons which were generated of nanoTiO2 under the UV-light irradiated, and the primary Cu layer as a catalytic center promoted the reduction reactions of producing Cu/nanoTiO2/PBO composite fiber further.

Surface heat transfer coefficient is a key parameter for accurately predicting the extrusion product temperature near the die exit and then achieving isothermal extrusion by speed controlling. Based on the heat transfer characteristics of extrusion product during cooling process, a dynamic loading method of heat transfer boundary conditions was proposed. The surface heat transfer coefficient model of 7075 Al-alloy extrusion product was established using the dynamic loading method and inverse calculation comprehensively. The model indicated the relationship among surface heat transfer coefficient h, surface temperature T and initial temperature T0 as h=1.16T-0.97T0. Its accuracy is high enough for calculating the surface temperature of 7075 Al-alloy extrusion product. According to the model and the experimental data, the relationship between the product and the measured temperatures can be established. It provides an effective way to solve the problem that the extrusion product temperature near the die exit cannot be directly measured.

The traditional forming technologies of stainless steel tapered tube have some disadvantages, such as its complicated processes, few product specification, low production efficiency and high production cost. Dieless drawing is a new kind of near net-shaping process for fabricating tapered metallic tubes with large deformation per pass, high yield ratio of material and flexible production. Dieless drawing of stainless steel tapered tube was studied systematically in order to establish both temperature field model with respect to the changes of boundary condition and metal flow velocity during deformation, and a drawing speed controlling model with respect to the volume change of deformation zone. The models were verified by experiments in the present investigation. Finally, a continuous pickling process with variable-speed was proposed for tapered metallic tube, which was successfully applied to surface oxidation film removal of the stainless steel tapered tube.

Cu-12 wt.%Al (Cu-12Al) alloy fabricated by continuous unidirectional solidification (CUS) process has high elasticity, high strength, high conductivity, high plasticity and other good comprehensive properties, which has a potential to develop into a high-performance elastic material as the alternative to beryllium bronze. Especially, the room temperature tensile elongation of the columnar-grained structure (CGS) Cu-12Al alloy with high β orientation along the axial direction exceeded 20%, which is six times more than that of the ordinary polycrystalline structure (OPS) Cu-12Al alloy (ε=2-4%) fabricated by traditional casting. The CGS Cu-12Al alloy shows lower flow stress and work-hardening rate during plastic deformation, which determines a dramatic improvement of workability comparing with the OPS alloy. In the present paper, both the effects of the rolling process and its parameters on the microstructure and properties of the CGS Cu-12Al alloy sheets were investigated. The results showed that the CGS sheets (σb=310 MPa, ε=19%) have the maximum reduction of 80% and remain columnar-grained structure after the first rolling pass at 700. After deformation the tensile strength was 401 MPa and the tensile elongation approached to 14%. Then, the hot rolled sheets were rolled again through the second pass at 325 and 700, respectively. The maximum reduction of CGS sheets at 325 warm rolling was 20%, the sheets remain columnar-grained structure and β1'α1' martensitic phase transformation occured; The second pass hot-rolling at 700 showed that the maximum reduction exceeded 60%, and the recrystallization occured in the sheets. After two passes of hot-rolling (total deformation was 92%), although the recrystallization occured, the CGS sheets remained columnar-grained structure (CGS) high tensile elongation (8.3%), which is two times more than that of the as-cast OPS sheets, and is five times as much as the OPS sheets with the same total deformation.

To investigate the anterior slip phenomenon of the vertebrae after corpectomy surgery and its clinical significance.The clinical data of 164 patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy treated from January 2010 to April 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 88 males and 76 females, aged from 38 to 74 years old with the mean of 56.2 years. Among them, 31 cases for C₄ corpectomy, 87 cases for C₅ corpectomy, 46 cases for C₆ corpectomy. Preoperative and postoperative distance of posterior wall of vertebral canal to the line of adjacent upper vertebral bodies anterosuperior border and lower vertebral bodies anteroinferior border was measured by CT in cervical sagittal middle layer scanning as the center, anterior slip degree of the vertebrae after operation was evaluated. The fast clustering method was used, the vertebral shift distance as variable, according to the size of the forward distance, 90 cases classified as group 1(forward greatly group), and the 74 cases classified as group 2(forwad short group). The relationships on the anterior slip of the vertebrae and cervical curvature, surgical segment were analyzed. Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scores and its improvement rate were observed before and after operation, and the relationships on the anterior slip of the vertebrae and sagittal plane diagonal diameter of spinal canal, clinical effect were analyzed.All the patients were followed up from 12 to 48 months with an average of 29.5 months. All operative vertebrae occurred anterior slip with different degree after corpectomy surgery, the maximum was 3.52 mm and minimum was 1.12 mm, with an average of (2.14±1.02) mm. According to the clustering method, the anterior slip distance with (3.07±0.21) mm classified as forward greatly group(90 cases, 54.9%) and the anterior slip distance with (1.55±0.32) mm classified as forwad short group(74 cases, 45.1%). There was no significant difference between anterior slip distance and operation segments(Corpectomy of the cervical spine can result in vertebral forward displacement trend, and obvious displacement may cause the secondary compression of the spinal cord.

nanoTiO2/PBO composite fiber was prepared with a chemical method by depositing nanoTiO2 on the surface of PBO fiber which was treated by silane coupling agent. The process parameters on the preparation of nanoTiO2/PBO composite fiber were optimized according to the interfacial adhesion between the composite fiber and epoxy resin, and the coating mechanism of nanoTiO2/PBO composite fiber was also discussed. The results show that the uniform nanoTiO2/PBO composite fiber with high interfacial adhesion can be prepared on the PBO fiber which was pretreated by silane coupling agent with a concentration of 1.5 % for 35 min at room temperature, in which the nanoTiO2 aqueous solution with a concentration of 1.0wt% was ultrasonic dispersed for 1h in alkaline environment (pH 11), and then the PBO fiber was immersed in the dispersed solution at 60 °C for 6 h to prepare nanoTiO2/PBO composite fiber. The single fiber pull-out strength of the prepared composite fiber was increased by 85.28 % compared with that of the untreated PBO fiber. Silane coupling agent was a bridge of PBO and nanoTiO2, hydrogen bond association and like dissolves like were attributed to the improvement of interfacial adhesion between nanoTiO2 and PBO fiber.

Microstructural evolution of AZ91 magnesium alloy was investigated during homogenizing annealing treatment, hot extrusion and ageing treatment, respectively. The results exhibited that both the divorced eutectic β-Mg17Al12 and the precipitated β-Mg17Al12 phases appeared in the as-cast alloy. The β-Mg17Al12 phase dissolved into α-Mg matrix mostly and the structure kept fine after the optimized homogenization treatment at 380 °C for 15 h. Dynamic recrystallization and consequent grain refinement occurred during extrusion. The banded β-Mg17Al12 precipitates paralleled to the extrusion direction were observed after ageing treatment. The banded precipitation should be attributed to the solidification segregation which was elongated during the subsequent extrusion. Furthermore, the effects of temperature, holding time of homogenization and ageing treatment, and extrusion processing parameters on the microstructural evolution of AZ91 alloy were also discussed in details according to the experimental results.

A new horizontal continuous casting method with heating-cooling combined mold (HCCM) technology was explored for fabricating high-quality thin-wall cupronickel alloy tubes used for heat exchange pipes. The microstructure and mechanical properties of BFe10 cupronickel alloy tubes fabricated by HCCM and traditional continuous casting (cooling mold casting) were comparatively investigated. The results show that the tube fabricated by HCCM has smooth internal and external surfaces without any defects, and its internal and external surface roughnesses are 0.64 μm and 0.85 μm, respectively. The tube could be used for subsequent cold processing without other treatments such as surface planning, milling and acid-washing. This indicates that HCCM can effectively reduce the process flow and improve the production efficiency of a BFe10 cupronickel alloy tube. The tube has columnar grains along its axial direction with a major casting texture of \(\left\{ {012} \right\}\left\langle {6\bar 21} \right\rangle\). Compared with cooling mold casting (δ = 36.5%), HCCM can improve elongation (δ = 46.3%) by 10% with a slight loss of strength, which indicates that HCCM remarkably improves the cold extension performance of a BFe10 cupronickel alloy tube.

Effects of melt temperature and casting speed on microstructure and mechanical properties of Cu-14%Al-3.8%Ni (mass fraction) alloy wires fabricated by continuous unidirectional solidification technology were investigated. It was found that the average size of columnar grain in the alloy decreased and grain boundary turned clear and straight with increasing the casting speed at a given melt temperature. When the melt temperature was up to 1 280 °C, the β 1 phase gradually transformed into lozenged and lanciform γ 1 ' martensite, as well as parallel-sided plate β 1 ' martensite. The alloy with numerous coarsely dendritic γ 2 phase has poor mechanical properties due to the difficulty of stress-induced martensitic transformation. When the amount of the γ 2 phase reduced and the coarse dendrite γ 2 phase evolved into the fine square particles, the elongation of the alloy increased gradually with a decrease in tensile strength. Meanwhile, the plasticity of the alloy could also be improved by increasing the amount and size of martensites, particularly the lanciform γ 1 ' martensite. When the alloy was almost composed of coarse lanciform γ 1 ' martensite, the tensile strength and elongation of the alloy could be up to 772 MPa and 18.9%, respectively, and the tensile curve consisted of three transformation platforms.

Microstructural evolutions of AZ91 magnesium alloy, which applied to homogenizing annealing treatment, hot extrusion and ageing treatment respectively, are investigated in this paper. Results exhibit that the massive β-Mg17Al12 phase appearing in the initial structure dissolves to eliminate in α-Mg matrix mostly due to the homogenizing annealing treatment; dynamic recrystallization and consequent grain refinement occur during extrusion; banded structure, in which the β-Mg17Al12 phase precipitates parallel to the extrusion direction in α-Mg matrix, are observed in the ageing treated specimen. Furthermore, the effects of temperature, keeping time of homogenizing annealing treatment and ageing treatment, and the extrusion processing parameter on the microstructural evolution of this alloy are also discussed according to the experimental results in details. In addition, the various mechanisms of the morphology and quantity of α-Mg and β-Mg17Al12 phase are analyzed corresponded to the various states. As for the banded structure appearing in the ageing treated specimen, it can be attributed to the banded segregation which remained in the extruded one and resulted from the casting dendrite and subsequent extrusion.

Tin bronze wires were produced by dieless drawing. The effects of heating power, the distance between cooler and heater as well as feeding speed on the diameter, the temperature field, and the deformation region profile of the wires were investigated. The results indicated that each processing parameter exhibited both lower and upper limits of stable deformation based on the criterion of stable deformation with the diameter fluctuation of ±0.05 mm. Both the temperature and its gradient of the deformation region increased with increasing heating power under stable deformation, but decreased with an increase in feeding speed. As the distance between cooler and heater increased, the temperature of the deformation region increased and the slope of the deformation region profile decreased. The processing limit map of stable deformation exhibited a closed curve and the unstable deformation consisted of wire breakage and diameter fluctuations.

The microstructure and mechanical properties of Cu-12wt%Al alloy wires which are composed of continuous columnar crystals after dieless drawing forming at drawing speed of 1.0–1.4 mm/s and deformation temperature of 600–900°C were analyzed, and deformation behavior of the alloy during dieless drawing forming was experimentally investigated. The results showed that in the above-mentioned conditions, recrystallization phenomenon was not found during dieless drawing forming. When a drawing speed of 1.0 mm/s was used, the grain boundaries were out of straight gradually with increasing deformation temperature from 600°C to 900°C, and tensile strength of the dieless drawn Cu-12wt%Al alloy wires increased while elongations decreased with increasing deformation temperature. At drawing speed of 1.1–1.2 mm/s and deformation temperature of 600°C, the effect of dieless drawing forming process on the microstructure of the alloy was inconspicuous, and when drawing speed was up to 1.3–1.4 mm/s, the grain boundaries of continuous columnar crystals became zigzag while there was little effect of drawing speed of 1.1–1.4 mm/s on the elongation and tensile strength of the alloy wires.

High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a nonhistone nuclear protein, is released by macrophages into the extracellular milieu consequent to cellular activation. Extracellular HMGB1 has properties of a pro-inflammatory cytokine through its interaction with receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) and/or toll-like receptors (TLR2 and TLR4). Although HMGB1 is highly expressed in macrophages and differentiating osteoclasts, its role in osteoclastogenesis remains largely unknown. In this report, we present evidence for a function of HMGB1 in this event. HMGB1 is released from macrophages in response to RANKL stimulation and is required for RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis in vitro and in vivo. In addition, HMGB1, like other osteoclastogenic cytokines (e.g., TNFalpha), enhances RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis in vivo and in vitro at subthreshold concentrations of RANKL, which alone would be insufficient. The role of HMGB1 in osteoclastogenesis is mediated, in large part, by its interaction with RAGE, an immunoglobin domain containing family receptor that plays an important role in osteoclast terminal differentiation and activation. HMGB1-RAGE signaling seems to be important in regulating actin cytoskeleton reorganization, thereby participating in RANKL-induced and integrin-dependent osteoclastogenesis. Taken together, these observations show a novel function of HMGB1 in osteoclastogenesis and provide a new link between inflammatory mechanisms and bone resorption.

Six kinds of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys, modified with nickel and zirconium, have been produced by rapid solidification using spray deposition(the Osprey process). The effect of nickel on the structures, mechanical properties of ultrahigh strength aluminium alloy is studied, and the probable maximum of mechanical properties is predicted. There are three nickel-rich phases, Al3Ni2, Al7Cu4Ni and MgNi2, forming in 1%Ni alloy, its ultimate tensile strength(UTS) increased with increasing extrusion ratios significantly while maintaining high levels of ductility, Futhermore, the extruded bars show enhancing more clearly than extruded plates in UTS and ductility. The content of Ni should decreased with increasing of Zn and Zr, and the highest properties(UTS=832MPa, Elongation=7.5%)are attained in 0.20Zr＋0.30Ni (wt%)alloy. In addition, the size, the shape and the homogeneous distribution of zirconium-rich phase produced in solidification is the key to effecting the mechanical properties of materials when Zr content is 0.2~0.5％.

To simplify forming process of cladding materials with high performance, such as copper cladding aluminum composite materials, and to improve the interface quality of cladding materials, a novel forming process called Core-Filling continuous Casting (CFC) for bimetal composite materials is proposed. A conceptual equipment is developed, and the forming of composite bars of copper cladding aluminum is investigated. The basic technique theory of CFC, the reaction and bonded state of interface and the interfacial bonding strength of the cladding materials, as well as the influences of technological parameters are analyzed. The composite bars of copper cladding aluminum with 24mm in diameter of core material and 8mm in thickness of cladding layer are successfully fabricated. The results show that: (i) the proposed CFC process is feasible in principle; (ii) the composite bars of copper cladding aluminum having metallurgical bonding interfaces can be fabricated by CFC process under the conditions of liquid copper temperature of 1250~1300°C, liquid aluminum temperature of about 700°C and drawing velocity of 12~24mm/min; (iii) the copper layer thickness distribution is uniform both in the directions of portrait and circumference and (iv) the interfacial bonding strength is higher than that of core aluminum.

A novel process – multi-billet extrusion was employed to produce a three-layer W/Cu functionally graded material, which is comprised of superfine W–15%Cu, W–25%Cu and W–35%Cu composite powders fabricated by mechanical alloying. An aqueous solution of water-soluble hydroxypropyl methylcellulose was used as binder. The effect of the content of binder on the quality of extrusion products is discussed. The extrusion behavior for W–Cu extrudates is analyzed. W/Cu green products were pressureless sintered at temperatures in the range of 1150–1300 °C for 1 h in hydrogen atmosphere. Three-layer W/Cu samples with a high density and a highly homogeneous microstructure were attained after sintering at 1250 °C for 1 h in hydrogen atmosphere. The mechanisms for enhancement of sinterability and improvement of density of the mechanically alloyed W–Cu powder products have been discussed. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope respectively were used to identify and observe phase constitution and microstructure.

W/Cu functionally gradient materials (FGMs) are fabricated by a novel process—multi-billet extrusion (MBE). Different W/Cu superfine powders made by mechanical alloying (MA) are used to improve the sinterability of W/Cu compacts. Good quality of three-layer W/Cu extrudes are obtained after confirming the extrusion parameters and the type and the content of binder during extrusion process. The green products are pressureless sintered at the temperature range of 1100-1300 oC for 1 h. W/Cu FGMs with relatively high density and high homogeneous microstructure are attained after sintering at 1200 oC for 1 h. The mechanisms for the enhance of sinterability and improvement of density of the mechanical alloyed (MAed) W-Cu powder products have been discussed. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope are used to identify and observe phase constitution and microstructure, respectively.

To analyse related risk factors of classic Kaposi' s sarcoma in Xinjiang.A 1:4 case-control study was used and the conditional logistic regression model was performed in this study. Cases were followed up in Xinjiang while controls were selected by the same sex, nation and age within 5 years with cases.Interleukin-6,vascular endothelial growth factor, beta-MG, neopterin, human herpevirus 8, were found to be associated with Kaposi's sarcoma risk in one-way variance model while beta2 -MG and human herpevirus 8 entered the multiple conditional logistic regression model, and their ORs were 1.002(95%CI: 1.000-1.003), 81.041 (95%CI: 1.790-3669.620).There was a correlate relationship between beta2 -MG and classic Kaposi's sarcoma being found that human herpevirus 8 exposure related factors seemed to have played important roles on classic Kaposi's sarcoma in Xinjiang.

A method for the determination of water-soluble antimony (III) and antimony (V) in Leigongteng using ultrasound-assisted extraction by hydride generation inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry was developed in the present paper. Affecting parameters of ultrasound extraction, the pH of antimony species, the operation condition of hydride generation and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry were investigated and optimized. The effect of coexisting ions on the determination of antimony was also investigated. The detection limits are 0.3 and 2.4 ng x mL(-1) for antimony (and antimony (V), respectively, and with RSD 3.9% for antimony (III) and 4.5% for antimony (V). The recovery is in the range of 93% to 105%.