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The utilization of vanadium titano-magnetite concentrate (VTM) for pellet preparation poses challenges in terms of low consolidation strength and high energy consumption during the thermal process. The effect and function mechanism of high-pressure grinding roll (HPGR) pretreatment on the preparation of VTM pellets were investigated. The results indicate that HPGR pretreatment increased the strength of the pellets prepared by VTM and decreased the thermal processing temperature and time. The main reason can be attributed to the reduced particle size of VTM, accompanied by an increase in specific surface area, iron-bearing mineral liberation, and improved interfacial hydrophilicity and particle ballability. Moreover, HPGR pretreatment reduced the crystallite size of VTM and increased lattice microstrain and amorphousness, leading to a 13.21 kJ/mol improvement in the mechanical energy storage of titanomagnetite. The increased specific surface area was a crucial factor in strengthening the preparation of VTM pellets, which increased the contacting points participated in interface physicochemical reactions. The enhanced hydrophilicity and ballability were beneficial to improving the strength of green pellets, while the increased strength of roasted pellets was primarily attributed to the iron-containing mineral liberation and crystal mechanical activation, which promoted the oxidation of iron-bearing minerals and the microcrystalline diffusion and connection. Compared with the untreated VTM, the compressive strength of roasted pellets increased from 2168 N P−1 (Newton per pellet) to 2813 N P−1 when the roller pressure intensity was 12 MPa, and the proper roasting temperature could be reduced by more than 50 °C.

Abstract Soil amendment with biochar is being promoted as a promising strategy for carbon (C) stabilization and accrual, which are key to climate change mitigation. However, it remains elusive on how biochar addition influences nonbiochar C in soils and its mechanisms, especially in the presence of plants. Here we conducted a 365-day soil microcosm experiment with and without adding 13C-labeled biochar into topsoil to quantify changes in nonbiochar C in the topsoil and subsoil in the presence or absence of rice plants and to determine the mechanisms by which biochar controls nonbiochar C accrual in the soil profile. The nonbiochar C content of topsoil was not affected by biochar addition in the absence of rice plants, but was significantly increased by 4.5% in the presence of rice plants, which could result from increases in the soil macroaggregate fraction, iron (Fe)-bound nonbiochar organic C content, and fungal biomass collectively. However, biochar amendment had no effect on the content of nonbiochar organic C in the subsoil. Overall, biochar-plant interactions drive more nonbiochar C sequestration in the topsoil, and the changes of nonbiochar C in planted soils following biochar addition should be quantified to better assess the soil C sequestration potential in agricultural lands.

Nowadays, electricity has become an integral part of human lives. Most of our daily appliances, tools, and personal belongings are inseparable from electricity. To ensure a proper electricity distribution with an efficient transfer capability, Extra-High Voltage (EHV) transmission towers are needed. To design such a structure, it is of utmost importance to account for the cost of said tower. However, the process to estimate the cost of EHV transmission towers is both time-consuming and strenuous on human labor since a lot of consideration have to be taken. To overcome this, an imperative requirement exists for a prompt, precise, and automated tool to replace the existing manual cost estimation method. This research endeavor aims to craft a tool using support vector regression (SVR) with the capacity to prognosticate construction expenses for projects involving EHV transmission towers. The exploration of pertinent literature has enabled us to amass historical data and delineate the attributes essential for estimating costs linked to EHV transmission tower construction. The investigation delves into a comprehensive dataset spanning the past decade in Taiwan. Within this timeframe, 317 EHV transmission towers were erected between 2009 and 2019. However, 79 of these instances are excluded due to incomplete information, thereby yielding 238 viable datasets (comprising 75 % of the overall total) to underpin the development of the SVR model. By configuring the parameters to C = 0.2 and γ = 0.1, followed by 5-fold cross-validation, the resultant SVR model attains a remarkable prediction accuracy of 97.91 %, on average. As a result, the proposed SVR-based model can effectively and accurately predict the cost of constructing an EHV transmission tower project and reduce the time spent on estimation, thus contributing to the enhancement of the resilience and robustness of the transmission network system.

As modern information technology advances and equipment devices update, extended reality (XR) technologies, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and augmented virtuality (AV) have witnessed an increasing use and application in construction training. This review aims to comprehensively examine the evolution of XR training in the construction domain. To achieve this, a systematic literature review of 74 journal papers from the Scopus database was conducted. This paper outlines the progression of XR training from 2009 to 2023, detailing related technologies like development platforms, display devices, and input devices. The literature review reveals that XR application in construction training spans five main areas: (1) safety management, (2) skill/knowledge acquisition, (3) equipment operation, (4) human–computer collaboration, and (5) ergonomics/postural training. Additionally, this review explores the impact of trainee roles on XR training outcomes and identifies the challenges faced by XR technology in construction training applications. The findings of this literature review are hoped to assist researchers and construction engineering trainers in understanding the latest advancements and challenges in XR, thereby providing valuable insights for future research.

Buildings’ energy resilience in natural disasters is reliant on the support of the functionalities of critical infrastructure that the buildings connect to, such as highway-bridge and electric power systems. Meanwhile, as critical infrastructure systems have increasingly become interconnected and interdependent, they are more susceptible to natural hazards and less able to withstand their effects. Insufficient research has been conducted regarding computational models of effectively representing the interdependencies and interactions involved in the restoration scheduling of post-disaster critical infrastructure systems. To address this research gap, this study proposes integer programs, integrating hybrid genetic algorithms, to explicitly investigate the impact of interactions and interdependencies between electric power systems (EPSs) and highway-bridge systems (HBSs) on the energy-recovery processes of buildings. The objective is to dynamically prioritize the restoration scheduling for EPSs and HBSs while considering inspection and restoration activities. A case study based on the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan province, China, is employed to validate the efficacy of the proposed method. The results of the analysis reveal that the dynamic model exhibits a substantial 6.4% improvement in building energy resilience at the seven-day mark, compared to the static model. Moreover, the proposed coupled EPS–HBS inspection–restoration joint model outperforms a disjoint EPS inspection–restoration scheduling model, yielding a remarkable 11.4% enhancement in system resilience at the seven-day mark. These findings underscore the significance of considering interdependencies and interactions within critical infrastructure systems to enhance the energy resilience of buildings in earthquake-affected areas.

The construction industry is a typical labor-intensive industry, which suffers from low productivity and labor shortage in the past decades. Recently, the developments in robotics and artificial intelligence technologies highlight the evolutionary reforming potential in the construction industry. An increasing number of robots are joining construction tasks and collaborating with human workers. This study reviews the major developments in intelligent robots and human–robot collaboration (HRC) in the construction industry. The technological foundations and fundamental concepts of construction robots and collaborative robots are reviewed, organized, and discussed to reveal that progress has been made. Based on a comprehensive review, the major challenges and future research directions of HRC have been proposed and examined. This study finally developed a comprehensive and in-depth discussion of the state-of-the-art implementation of robotics technologies in the construction industry and shed light on its path to future development.

Osteosarcoma frequently presents as recurrence and metastasis, even if the primary lesion was eradicated and/or radiotherapy and chemotherapy were administered. Osteosarcoma cancer stem cells (CSCs) are one of the key factors for the recurrence and metastasis of osteosarcoma. We have shown that interleukin-24 (IL-24) inhibits osteosarcoma cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro. In the current study, we investigated the role of IL-24 in inhibiting the growth of osteosarcoma CSCs. IL-24 inhibited proliferation and invasion and decreased the stemness of osteosarcoma CSCs in vitro. In a nude mouse xenograft model, IL-24 significantly inhibited the growth of tumors originating from osteosarcoma CSCs. Moreover, we found that IL-24 was able to inactivate both Notch and Wnt/β-Catenin signaling, which are important for the development of the biological characteristics of CSCs. These data demonstrate that IL-24 is able to kill not only cancer cells but also CSCs in osteosarcoma, suggesting that IL-24 might eradicate osteosarcoma and enhance long-term cure rates in patients with osteosarcoma.

This study aimed to explore comprehensively the biological function of curcumin, and its underlying mechanism, in protecting from necrotising microscopic colitis in newborn rats. A total of 20 normal healthy rats were selected, and a necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) model was established. After hypoxia and hypothermia stimulation, these rats were treated with different doses of curcumin (control group, NEC model group, NEC+20 mg/kg curcumin and NEC+50 mg/kg curcumin). Inflammation was identified using hematoxylin and eosin staining, and inflammatory factors were detected via ELISA. The mRNA and protein levels of SIRT1, NRF2, TLR4, NLRP3 and caspase-1 were determined by quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Curcumin improved the inflammatory condition of NEC and inhibited the expression of inflammatory factors in NEC newborn rat intestinal tissue. Furthermore, the SIRT1/NRF2 pathway was inhibited in the intestinal tissue of NEC newborn rats, whereas curcumin treatment induced the activation of the SIRT1/NRF2 pathway and inhibited TLR4 expression in these animals. In addition, curcumin could also inhibit the expression of inflammatory factors and alleviate the LPS/ATP-induced focal death pathway in intestinal epithelial cells through the SIRT1 pathway. Curcumin can improve necrotising microscopic colitis and cell pyroptosis by attenuating NEC-induced inhibition of SIRT1/NRF2 and inhibiting the TLR4 signalling pathway in newborn rats.

Background: To investigate the expressions of fibrinogen (Fib) and Interleukin-12 (IL-12) in serum of neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and to analyze the correlation between the two and their relationship with clinicopathological features. Methods: Forty two children with NEC treated in Xuzhou Children’s Hospital, Xuzhou Medical University Xuzhou, China from 2016-2019 were selected as an observation group and 40 children who underwent physical examination at the same period as a control group. The expression levels of Fib and IL-12 in the serum of two groups were detected by ELISA. The correlation between Fib and IL-12 in the observation group and the correlation among the expressions of Fib, IL-12, the clinicopathological features and common examination indexes of the children with NEC were investigated by Pearson correlation analysis. Results: The levels of Fib and IL-12 in the serum of the children in observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group were (P

Abstract Background Ferroptosis is a newly recognized form of regulatory cell death characterized by severe lipid peroxidation triggered by iron overload and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the role of ferroptosis in severe acute pancreatitis(SAP) has not been fully elucidated. Methods We established four severe acute pancreatitis models of rats including the sham control group, the SAP group, the Fer -1-treated SAP (SAP + Fer-1) group, the 3-MA-treated SAP (SAP + 3-MA) group. The SAP group was induced by retrograde injection of sodium taurocholate into the pancreatic duct. The other two groups were intraperitoneally injected with ferroptosis inhibitor (Fer-1) and autophagy inhibitor (3-MA), respectively. The model of severe acute pancreatitis with amylase crest-related inflammatory factors was successfully established. Then we detected ferroptosis (GPX4, SLC7A1 etc.) and autophagy-related factors (LC3II, p62 ect.) to further clarify the relationship between ferroptosis and autophagy. Results Our study found that ferroptosis occurs during the development of SAP, such as iron and lipid peroxidation in pancreatic tissues, decreased levels of reduced glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX 4) and glutathione (GSH), and increased malondialdehyde(MDA) and significant mitochondrial damage. In addition, ferroptosis related proteins such as GPX4, solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11) and ferritin heavy chain 1(FTH1) were significantly decreased. Next, the pathogenesis of ferroptosis in SAP was studied. First, treatment with the ferroptosis inhibitor ferrostatin-1(Fer-1) significantly alleviated ferroptosis in SAP. Interestingly, autophagy occurs during the pathogenesis of SAP, and autophagy promotes the occurrence of ferroptosis in SAP. Moreover, 3-methyladenine (3-MA) inhibition of autophagy can significantly reduce iron overload and ferroptosis in SAP. Conclusions Our results suggest that ferroptosis is a novel pathogenesis of SAP and is dependent on autophagy. This study provides a new theoretical basis for the study of SAP.

Abstract Background The aberrant expression of phosphofructokinase-platelet (PFKP) plays a crucial role in the development of various human cancers by modifying diverse biological functions. However, the precise molecular mechanisms underlying the role of PFKP in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are not fully elucidated. Methods We assessed the expression levels of PFKP and c-Myc in tumor and adjacent normal tissues from 120 HNSCC patients. A series of in vitro and in vivo experiments were performed to explore the impact of the feedback loop between PFKP and c-Myc on HNSCC progression. Additionally, we explored the therapeutic effects of targeting PFKP and c-Myc in HNSCC using Patient-Derived Organoids (PDO), Cell Line-Derived Xenografts, and Patients-Derived Xenografts. Results Our findings indicated that PFKP is frequently upregulated in HNSCC tissues and cell lines, correlating with poor prognosis. Our in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrate that elevated PFKP facilitates cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis in HNSCC. Mechanistically, PFKP increases the ERK-mediated stability of c-Myc, thereby driving progression of HNSCC. Moreover, c-Myc stimulates PFKP expression at the transcriptional level, thus forming a positive feedback loop between PFKP and c-Myc. Additionally, our multiple models demonstrate that co-targeting PFKP and c-Myc triggers synergistic anti-tumor effects in HNSCC. Conclusion Our study demonstrates the critical role of the PFKP/c-Myc positive feedback loop in driving HNSCC progression and suggests that simultaneously targeting PFKP and c-Myc may be a novel and effective therapeutic strategy for HNSCC.