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[Display omitted] • Core-shelled Cr 2 O 3 @ ATO hybrid pigment was prepared by a facile in-suit precipitation method. • Cr 2 O 3 @ATO filled resin-based coatings possess reduced infrared emissivity and good thermal stability. • Introducing semiconductive ATO is favorable for enhancing the visible-infrared-radar compatible stealth performance of Cr 2 O 3. Multiband compatible stealth engineering with controllable visible light-infrared (VIS-IR) features and radar wave absorption is urgently needed to improve the survivability of advanced military equipment. Cr 2 O 3 has good visible light stealth performance under green background, but it is lack of IR and radar multi-band stealth properties. Herein, a core-shelled Cr 2 O 3 @stannic antimony oxide (ATO) structure was developed to enhance the IR-radar compatible stealth properties of Cr 2 O 3 by in-situ precipitation method, concurrently maintaining its visible light stealth property. The morphology, conductivity, and infrared stealth properties of the Cr 2 O 3 @ATO hybrids were influenced by the calcination temperature, and the IR and radar stealth performance were tunable by ATO content. The lowest emissivity of Cr 2 O 3 @ATO pigments is 0.852, reduced by 10% than pure Cr 2 O 3. The Cr 2 O 3 @ATO filled silicone resin coatings possessed good thermal stability and IR stealth stability. Benefiting from the enhanced interfacial polarization and conductive loss, the Cr 2 O 3 @ATO exhibited an effective absorption bandwidth of 2 GHz in the X band, with respect to pure Cr 2 O 3 without radar absorption property. The Cr 2 O 3 @ATO structure opens an avenue for advanced VIS-IR-Radar compatible stealth materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work reported here primarily aims to realize the automatic generation of couplets using the linguistic topology of deep neural network (DNN). First, the symmetry, topology, and cognitive linguistics of language are explored to lay a theoretical foundation for subsequent model establishment and analysis. Then, the recurrent neural network (RNN) is employed to build the Seq2Seq model, and Liweng's Guide to Rhyme (an ancient Chinese enlightenment reading material to poetry creation) is imported into the Seq2Seq model as a basic corpus. Eventually, the entire system is implemented automatically on TensorFlow. The system undergoes tests of the five-character quatrain, the seven-character quatrain, the couplet, and the part-of-speech detection. Results demonstrate that both the first and the second lines of the couplet present an excellent correspondence regarding sentences and words. After some famous verses are entered, the second line of the couplet obtained is quite vivid and appropriate. Meanwhile, the results can be generated quickly and meet the requirements on rhyme and couplet matching. This model can input verses according to users' own needs and generate the second line of the couplet quickly, showing good correspondence in words, part-of-speech, and sentence pattern. Because the couplet belongs to Chinese traditional culture, it has a strong local Chinese cultural flavor. The system designed based on computer technology can help people learn and experience the charm of couplets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To exploit the synergistic effect of architectural and nano-heterointerface engineering on developing high-performance electromagnetic (EM) absorbing materials, herein, a carbon nanotubes@ZnIn 2 S 4 nanosheets/cellulose nanofibers aerogel structure (CNTs@ZIS/CNF) is constructed. On the one hand, the air phase introduced interspersed in CNTs by the 3D porous aerogel structure can effectively avoid mismatched impedance matching and shielding behavior. At the same time, the interlaced ZIS nanosheet decorated on the CNTs maximized the heterointerface coupling effects to enrich the polarization loss mechanism. The optimized CNTs@ZIS/CNF shows an excellent EM absorbing performance with effective bandwidth of 5.8 GHz at a relatively thin thickness of 2.7 mm, more excellent than most present aerogel-shaped EM absorbing material. The multi-angel arch method is also used to verify the practical reflection loss of CNTs@ZIS/CNF, indicating its application potential to cope with the growing EM contaminate issue. Moreover, CNTs@ZIS/CNF exhibits other functions including thermal insulation and secondary recovery benefit from the dissoluble CNF-based porous structure. This work put forward a feasible method for the construction and optimization of high-efficient EM absorbing material. [Display omitted] • A novel CNTs@ZIS/CNF heterostructure aerogel is constructed as EM absorbing material. • The 2D ZIS nanosheets are used to modify the 1D CNTs to construct high-efficient interfacial coupling. • The synthetic effects of architecture design and heterointerface engineering can enrich attenuation mechanisms. • The multi-angle arch method is used to verify the practical EM absorbing performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a novel and effective approximation method for finding the value function for general utility maximization with closed convex control constraints and partial information. Using the separation principle and the weak duality relation, we transform the stochastic maximum principle of the fully observable dual control problem into an equivalent error minimization stochastic control problem and find the tight lower and upper bounds of the value function and its approximate value. Numerical examples show the goodness and usefulness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research of microwave absorption material has great significance for solving electromagnetic pollution and military security. Manganite perovskite has huge potential for developing into a fine microwave absorption material due to its adjustable electromagnetic property, while the mechanisms are still being explored. Therefore, we aim to explain the microwave loss mechanism of manganite perovskite with the double exchange interaction of Mn ion. Orthorhombic structure CaMnO 3 was effectively synthesized, and the Mn valence state and oxygen vacancy concentration were changed by doping at Ca-site, while the total number of Mn ions remained intact. Ba, Sr, La, Sm, and Ce were the doping ions employed. Analyses revealed that the microwave absorption performance of CMO was linked to the Mn valence state and oxygen vacancy concentration. The Sr-CMO with the optimal microwave attenuation capability had the most Mn3+ ions and its dielectric loss is primarily due to polarization relaxation loss. In the microwave attenuation mechanism of La-CMO, which had the least oxygen vacancy content, conductive loss played a larger role. Through the double exchange interaction of Mn, the synergistic impact altered the microwave absorption performance. Hence, we can manipulate Mn valence state and oxygen vacancy concentration to improve the microwave absorption performance of CaMnO 3 , and the technique might be applied to other Mn-based absorbents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although CaMnO 3 has been widely studied and used for its thermoelectric properties and giant magnetoresistance effect, little information exists about its application for microwave absorption. In this study, we synthesized CaMnO 3 , CaNi 0.05 Mn 0.95 O 3 CaTi 0.05 Mn 0.95 O 3 and CaZr 0.05 Mn 0.95 O 3 with an orthorhombic system using a simple high-temperature solid-phase method. The minimum reflection loss value and effective absorption bandwidth could be efficiently improved due to the enhanced match complex permittivity produced after the Ni, Ti or Zr ions were substituted for Mn ions in CaMnO 3. The minimum reflection loss value increases to −39.7 dB from −14.1 dB and the effective absorption bandwidth increases to 4.9 GHz from 2.7 GHz. The magnetic loss results only in a negligible influence on the microwave absorption. The enhancement of microwave absorption properties was primarily due to the stronger polarization effect. When Ni2+, Ti4+, or Zr4+ is introduced in the CaMnO 3 lattice, the charge balance is broken, and the crystal lattice distortion increases because of the substitutive ions, interstitial ions, oxygen vacancy and exchange effect of Mn3+~Mn4+. The results indicate that CaMnO 3 with reasonable doping at the Mn-site could achieve excellent microwave properties of wide bandwidth, high-efficiency absorption, and adjustable response frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ca 1-x Sr x MnO 3 (x = 0; 3%; 5%; 10%) powders were synthesized via a solid-state reaction for microwave absorption applications in the frequency range of 8.2–18 GHz (X and Ku band). The results suggested that the crystal structure of the samples belonged to the orthorhombic system without other phases presented. Sr2+ ions were inserted into the crystal lattice of CaMnO 3. The minimum reflection loss (RL) value of a pure CaMnO 3 sample reached −16.3 dB at 11.7 GHz and the effective absorption bandwidth was 2.9 GHz (10.5–13.4 GHz) with a thickness of 2.2 mm. The complex permittivity of the CaMnO 3 was greatly increased by Sr-doping. Because of better impedance matching and higher dielectric loss, the microwave absorption properties of doped samples were effectively enhanced. The optimum microwave absorption properties were obtained when the dopant concentration was 10%. For Ca 0·9 Sr 0·1 MnO 3 , the minimum reflection loss reached −46.1 dB at 17.4 GHz with a thickness of 1.4 mm, and the effective bandwidth was 4.7 GHz which covered from 13.0 GHz to 14.7 GHz with a matching thickness of 1.6 mm. This study demonstrated that CaMnO 3 can be used as a potential microwave absorbing material and its absorbing performance can be effectively tuned by doping Sr2+ ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SiO 2 /ZrO 2 interphase was successfully prepared on SiC fibers by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method and SiC f /SiC–Al 4 C 3 composites were fabricated by precursor infiltration and active filler-controlled pyrolysis process using mixed PCS and aluminum fillers as precursors. The morphology of EPD-SiO 2 /ZrO 2 interphase was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and its microstructure was characterized. The results indicated that a dense and smooth SiO 2 /ZrO 2 interphase can be obtained by EPD method. The effects of EPD-SiO 2 /ZrO 2 interphase on the mechanical, dielectric and microwave absorption properties of SiC f /SiC–Al 4 C 3 composites were investigated. The flexural strength and fail displacement of SiC f /SiC–Al 4 C 3 composite with 330 nm thick EPD-SiO 2 /ZrO 2 interphase have been dramatically improved to 360 MPa and 0.58 mm, respectively, which were four times more than those of SiC f /SiC–Al 4 C 3 composite without interphase. In addition, the complex permittivity of SiC f /SiC–Al 4 C 3 composites were improved slightly from 6.8-3.5 j to 8.5-3.9 j at 10 GHz with the introduction of EPD-SiO 2 /ZrO 2 interphase attributed to the inhibition of reaction between aluminum fillers and SiC fibers. Moreover, the introduction of EPD-SiO 2 /ZrO 2 interphase has little influence on the microwave absorption properties of SiC f /SiC–Al 4 C 3 composites and the effective microwave absorption band (RL ≤ −10dB) of SiC f /SiC–Al 4 C 3 composites with EPD-SiO 2 /ZrO 2 interphase reached to 3.9 GHz in X band according to the calculation values of reflection loss (RL), indicating its promising application in the field of structural and microwave absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PtOx films were deposited by direct current (DC) reactive magnetron sputtering in Ar/O2 mixture atmosphere at substrate temperatures ranging from 200∘C to 400∘C. The influence of substrate temperature on the structure, morphology, composition, electrical resistivity and infrared emissivity of PtOx films was studied. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) results revealed that the as-deposited amorphous PtOx films were mainly composed of PtO and PtO2 phases. It was found that with the increase in the substrate temperature, the proportion of PtO phase in the films increased, while the electrical resistivity and infrared emissivity of the films decreased with the increasing substrate temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract SiC f /SiC composites have been recognized as an ideal structural and microwave absorbing materials, however the use of SiC f /SiC composites still restricted at the stage of laboratory research due to their poor mechanical and microwave absorbing properties. In this study, both the bending strength and the complex permittivity for microwave absorbing purpose were successfully improved with the addition of aluminum fillers during the Precursor Infiltration and Pyrolysis (PIP) process of SiC f /SiC composites. The effects of aluminum powder content on the microstructural evolutions of polycarbosilane (PCS) derived SiC matrix, mechanical and dielectric properties of composites were investigated. The results confirm that the flexural strength of composite reaches the maximum value of 317 MPa when the aluminum content is 10 wt% owing to the higher densification and the generation of β-SiC and Al 4 C 3. The values of ε′ and ε′′ can be reduced to suitable levels with good impedance matching and dielectric loss when the aluminum content is 5 wt% attributed to the reduction of free carbon in the matrix. Furthermore, the reflection loss values of composites can be as low as −56 dB and the optimal bandwidth below −10 dB is 3.4 GHz when incorporating 5 wt% aluminum powders. Highlights • Aluminum as active filler can adjust dielectric property of SiC f /SiC composite. • Aluminum added in the mixed precursors can promote the crystallization of SiC. • The mechanical properties of SiC f /SiC composites can be greatly improved. • An optimum microwave absorption performance was obtained by adding aluminum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Polyimide resin was used as matrix to fabricate high performance radar absorbing structures. • The effect of carbon based absorbent on the mechanical and absorbing properties was studied. • The absorbing properties of composites can be easily adjusted by the kinds and content of absorbent. • Double layered absorbing composites were designed and simulated. Abstract High performance radar absorbing structures were fabricated using polyimide as matrix, Silicon Carbide fibers (SiC f) as reinforcement, and the effect of carbon-based absorbent (carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNP)) content on the mechanical and electromagnetic absorbing properties was studied and analyzed. The results indicated that the complex permittivity increased with increasing the filler content due to the high polarization ability, while the flexural strength of the composites decreased owing to the poor dispersion properties. The absorbing properties of carbon filler-SiC f /polyimide composites can be adjusted by the kinds of absorbent, the content and the thickness. In order to enhance the absorbing bandwidths, double layered structures were designed and simulated, and the minimum reflection value can reach to −29.8dB. This material can be using as a kind of high performance radar absorbing structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electromagnetic (EM) and microwave absorption properties of microwave absorbing materials (MAMs) with ball-milled flaky carbonyl iron-BaFe 12 O 19 (FCI-BaFe 12 O 19 ) as compound absorbents and silicon resin as matrix were investigated in the frequency range of 2.6–18.0 GHz. Results indicate that efficiently enhanced impedance matching and microwave absorption of the FCI-BaFe 12 O 19 /silicon resin composites were obtained due to the microstructure and synergism of FCI-BaFe 12 O 19 particles as well as the inherent electromagnetic properties. And the values and frequency dependencies of EM and microwave absorption properties of the MAMs can be simply adjusted by filling FCI-BaFe 12 O 19 absorbents with different mass ratios. When the mass ratio was 6:1, the reflective loss (RL) values below −5dB were obtained in the frequency range of 5.4–18 GHz, 4.9–18 GHz and 4.5–18 GHz with the thicknesses of 1.0 mm, 1.1 mm and 1.2 mm, respectively. Moreover, RL values are all below −8dB in military X band, meaning that 85% EM wave can be absorbed. The advantages demonstrate that this FCI-BaFe 12 O 19 compound absorbent can be acted as a potential candidate for fabricating microwave absorbing material with thin-thickness and broadband absorption, especially for practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Proposed the feedback attention network structure. • Developed the multi-scale residual group mudule. • Designed a mixed attention mechanism. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common clinical arrhythmia with a high disability and mortality rate. Improving the resolution of atrial structure and its changes in patients with AF is very important for understanding and treating AF. Aiming at the problems of previous deep learning-based image super-resolution (SR) reconstruction methods simply deepening the network, loss of upsampling information, and difficulty in the reconstruction of high-frequency information, we propose the Feedback Attention Network (FBAN) for cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) super-resolution. The network comprises a preprocessing module, a multi-scale residual group module, an upsampling module, and a reconstruction module. The preprocessing module uses a convolutional layer to extract shallow features and dilate the number of channels of the feature map. The multi-scale residual group module adds a multi-channel network, a mixed attention mechanism, and a long and short skip connection to expand the receptive field of the feature map, improve the multiplexing of multi-scale features and strengthen the reconstruction of high-frequency information. The upsampling module adopts the sub-pixel method to upsample the feature map to the target image size. The reconstruction module consists of a convolutional layer, which is used to restore the number of channels of the feature map to the original number to obtain the reconstructed high-resolution (HR) image. Furthermore, the test results on the public dataset of CMRI show that the HR images reconstructed by the FBAN method not only have a good improvement in reconstructed edge and texture information but also have a good improvement in the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and the structural similarity index (SSIM) objective evaluation indicators. Compared with the local magnified image, the edge information of the FBAN method reconstructed image has been enhanced, more high-frequency information of the CMRI is restored, the texture details are less lost, and the reconstructed image is less blurry. Overall, the reconstructed image has a lighter feeling of smearing, and the visual experience is more apparent and sharper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To investigate the risk factors for cough after pulmonary resection. Methods: The PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, and China National Knowledge Network databases were searched from inception to November 2022. The Q tests and I2 statistic were used to evaluate the heterogeneity. Odds ratios (OR) were combined using the inverse variance method. All statistical analyses were performed by RevMan 5.4.1. Results: Nineteen studies with 4755 patients were included, the incidence of postoperative cough was 21.1%-55.8%. The results showed that young age [OR = 0.66, 95% CI (0.46, 0.96), p = 0.03], female sex [OR = 1.69, 95% CI (1.07, 2.66), p = 0.02], preoperative cough [OR = 5.96, 95% CI (2.58, 13.73), p < 0.01], right lobe operation [OR = 2.14, 95% CI (1.44, 3.19), p < 0.01], lobectomy [OR = 3.70, 95% CI (1.73, 7.90), p < 0.01], subcarinal lymph node dissection [OR = 3.45, 95% CI (1.86, 6.39), p < 0.01], mediastinal lymph node removal [OR = 3.49, 95% CI (2.07, 5.89), p < 0.01], closure of bronchial stump with stapler [OR = 5.19, 95% CI (1.79, 15.07), p < 0.01], peritracheal lymph node resection [OR = 3.05, 95%CI (1.40,6.64), p < 0.01], postoperative acid reflux [OR = 11.07, 95%CI (4.38,28.02), p < 0.01] were independent risk factors for cough after pulmonary resection. Conclusions: Young age, female sex, preoperative cough, right lobe operation, lobectomy, subcarinal lymph node dissection, mediastinal lymph node removal, closure of bronchial stump with stapler, peritracheal lymph node resection, and postoperative acid reflux are independent risk factors for cough after pulmonary resection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SiC f /SiC composites with silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) interphase were successfully prepared using silicone resin as interphase precursor for dip-coating process and polycarbosilane as matrix precursor for PIP process assisted with hot mold pressing. The effects of SiOC interphase on mechanical and dielectric properties were investigated. XRD and Raman spectrum results show that SiOC interphase is composed of silicon oxycarbide and free carbon with a relatively low crystalline degree. The surface morphology of SiC fibers with SiOC interphase is smooth and homogeneous observed by SEM. The flexural strength and failure displacement of SiC f /SiC composites with SiOC interphase vary with the thickness of interphase and the maximum value of flexural strength is 289 MPa with a failure displacement of 0.39 mm when the thickness of SiOC interphase is 0.25 µm. The complex permittivity of the composites increases from 8.8-i5.7 to 9.8-i8.3 with the interphase thicker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study related to isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci of Megalobrama hoffmanni by sequencing technology and cross-species amplification in related species. Topics discussed include use of microsatellites as molecular markers due to high degree of polymorphism, role of polymorphic microsatellite in protecting genetic resources and molecular breeding, and use of microsatellites for genetic breeding, genome mapping and gene location.

PtO x films were deposited by direct current reactive magnetron sputtering in Ar/O 2 mixture atmosphere. Subsequently, post-deposition heat treatments were conducted in air ambient at temperatures from 400 to 600 °C for 1 h with the heating rate of 10 °C/min. Effects of the annealing temperature on properties of PtO x films such as the structure, morphology, composition, electrical resistivity and infrared emissivity were studied. The as-deposited PtO x films mainly consisted of amorphous PtO and PtO 2 compounds and decomposed to polycrystalline Pt slightly at 500 and 550 °C. As the annealing temperature increased, the films were decomposed completely at 600 °C. Due to the prompt release of oxygen at 600 °C, a great number of nano-scale pores were found on Pt films. The XPS analysis showed that the observed Pt 4f peaks would shift to lower binding energy with increasing the annealing temperature, which was consistent with the XRD analysis. The electrical resistivity and infrared emissivity of the films both increased when the annealing temperature was below 500 °C and decreased intensely at 550 and 600 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system plays critical roles in regulating immune responses to various vaccines. This study aimed to evaluate the association of HLA class II gene polymorphisms and the long-term duration of anti-HBs response in children vaccinated against hepatitis B during infancy. Methods Totally 297 children 5–7 years after the completion of primary vaccination against hepatitis B in infancy, without booster immunization or natural resolved infection, were enrolled. Of them, 86 children with anti-HBs <10 mIU/ml were considered as long-term non- or hypo-responders, and 211 others with anti-HBs ≥10 mIU/ml were defined as long-term responders. Ten alleles in HLA-DR and -DQ subregions were detected by polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers. Results The frequency of HLA-DQB1∗0401 was 15.1% in the long-term non- or hypo-responder group, relatively higher than 7.6% in the long-term responder group (O R = 2.17, 95% CI 1.01–4.73), however, the difference had no statistical significance after Bonferroni correction ( P = 0.470). The frequencies of seven HLA-DRB1 alleles, including ∗01, ∗03, ∗04, ∗07, ∗08, ∗11, and ∗1301/1302, and two HLA-DQB1 alleles, including ∗0201 and ∗0501, were each similarly distributed in the long-term non- or hypo-responders and responders respectively. Conclusion None of the ten HLA class II gene alleles previously reported to be related with short-term antibody response to hepatitis B vaccine is associated with the long-term antibody response after vaccination during infantile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast carcinoma plays a vital role in the reasons of global women's death. ER-related invasion and migration play an important part in the development and prognosis of breast cancer. Here, we found that 27-Hydroxycholesterol (27HC) could induce epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and increase the expression of the matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) at mRNA level and the active form. Meanwhile, interestingly, we found 27HC activated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT-3) in ER positive cells except activation of ER signaling. Furthermore, inhibition of STAT-3 by siRNA attenuated the 27HC-induced improvement of MMP9 and decreased the invasion and migration ability in MCF7 and T47D cells. In addition, 27HC could also promote MMP9, vimentin and active STAT-3 in the ER negative cells MDA-MB-231. All these results not only raise a mechanism whereby 27HC enhances the invasion and metastasis, but also is helpful to realize 27HC as a potential endogenous detrimental factor in breast tumor patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Separation of ion-absorbed rare earth elements (REE) by oxalate used as a precipitator is the principal extraction process employed in the mining industry. The oxalic acid precipitator plays the key role in the precipitation process. In this paper, the enhanced effect of a static magnetic treatment applied to the precipitation process of REs was investigated. Compared to the non-magnetization, the results of magnetic processes appeared to be better and its optimal precipitation conditions was obtained at pH value of the precipitation solution at 2,RE 2 O 3 : H 2 C 2 O 4 = 2.5:1, a magnetic strength 400 kA m − 1 , a 20 min magnetization time in a magnetized oxalate solution. The dosage of oxalate precipitator is less 5% to that employed in conventional processes conditions with non-magnetization while the purity of the rare earth still keeps stable. The electrical conductivity of the oxalate precipitator was increased by magnetization. A possible change in the electron spin of the magnetized precipitator ultimately affected the pace of rare earth precipitation crystallization and growth direction of the rare earth-bearing precipitated crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among females worldwide, and angiogenesis plays a crucial role in BC progression. 27-Hydroxycholesterol (27HC) is an endogenous selective estrogen receptor modulator, which promotes the growth and metastasis of BC. Here, we further found that, 27HC improved the angiogenic ability of BC in a VEGF-dependent manner. For the molecular mechanisms, on one hand, as an estrogen-like factor, 27HC enhanced the expression of VEGF by the classical ERα/VEGF signaling in ER-positive BC cells; on the other hand, in both ER-positive and ER-negative BC cells, 27HC enhanced the generation of ROS, which in turn activated the STAT-3/VEGF signaling in an ER independent manner. Either blocking the generation of ROS or knockdown of STAT-3 attenuated the 27HC-induced autocrine of VEGF and angiogenesis. These findings not only suggested a mechanism whereby 27HC enhanced the angiogenesis, but also helped to recognize the 27HC as a novel potential harmful factor in BC, especially in the menopause patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 651 samples from broiler cecal samples, carcasses, carcass parts collected at the slaughterhouse level in Sichuan Province of China were examined for the occurrence of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli . After confirmed by species-specific multiplex PCR, the recovered isolates were examined for resistance to antimicrobials using an agar dilution method and investigated for the mutation of gyrA , tetO gene and V domain of 23S rRNA as well as the presence of class 1 integron and the associated gene cassettes. In addition, the genotype relatedness of the isolates was determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profiling. The prevalence of Campylobacter was 56.1% in cecal samples, 31.0% in carcasses and 17.0% in carcass parts, respectively. Among them, C . jejuni accounted for 24.6% and C . coli occupied 20.0% of the samples. The strains of C . jejuni were most frequently resistant to ciprofloxacin (88.1%), followed by resistance to tetracycline (79.4%) and levofloxacin (78.1%). Most of the C . coli isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin (100%), tetracycline (98.5%), levofloxacin (98.5%), clindamycin (98.5%) and erythromycin (93.9%). Antimicrobial resistance profiling showed that 93.7% of campylobacters were multidrug resistant (MDR) strains. Moreover, class 1 integrons were detected in 98.6% of MDR campylobacters, among which 98.7% were positive for C . jejuni and 98.5% for C . coli . Three kinds of gene cassettes-associated amplicons were identified and the amplicons profile of 1000–750–500–250 bp was the predominant pattern linked to the aminoglycoside resistance gene of aadA 2. The presence of mutation in gyrA , tetO and 23S rRNA between C . jejuni and C . coli varied from 89.7% to 97.3%, 96.6% to 94.1%, and 95.0% to 96.7%, respectively. Finally, the results of PFGE indicated that, 33 PFGE profiles were generated among 78 isolates of C . jejuni and the similarity level ranged from 42.1% to 99.1%. By contrast, 15 PFGE patterns were produced among 68 C . coli isolates sharing a similarity level of 54.0%–99.7%. Comparison of the PFGE and antimicrobial resistance profiles of the isolates reflected the high genetic diversity of Campylobacter tested. A poor correlation among the antimicrobial resistance patterns, resistance determinants and PFGE genotypes was observed in C . jejuni . Our study showed that there were several points of cross-contamination during broiler slaughter, and a high diversity of PFGE types in the Campylobacter isolates with high resistances to ciprofloxacin and tetracycline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Proposed the dual attention mechanism network structure. • Developed a hybrid attention mechanism. • Designed a hybrid loss function. Currently, the morbidity and mortality of lung cancer rank first among malignant tumors worldwide. Improving the resolution of thin-slice CT of the lung is particularly important for the early diagnosis of lung cancer screening. Aiming at the problems of network training difficulty and low utilization of feature information caused by the deepening of network layers in super-resolution (SR) reconstruction technology, we propose the dual attention mechanism network for single image super-resolution (SISR). Firstly, the feature of a low-resolution image is extracted directly to retain the feature information. Secondly, several independent dual attention mechanism modules are constructed to extract high-frequency details. The introduction of residual connections can effectively solve the gradient disappearance caused by network deepening, and long and short skip connections can effectively enhance the data features. Furthermore, a hybrid loss function speeds up the network's convergence and improves image SR restoration ability. Finally, through the upsampling operation, the reconstructed high-resolution image is obtained. The results on the Set5 dataset for 4 × enlargement show that compared with traditional SR methods such as Bicubic, VDSR, and DRRN, the average PSNR/SSIM is increased by 3.33 dB / 0.079, 0.41 dB / 0.007 and 0.22 dB / 0.006 respectively. The experimental data fully show that DAMN can better restore the image contour features, obtain higher PSNR, SSIM, and better visual effect. Through the DAMN reconstruction method, the image quality can be improved without increasing radiation exposure and scanning time. Radiologists can enhance their confidence in diagnosing early lung cancer, provide a basis for clinical experts to choose treatment plans, formulate follow-up strategies, and benefit patients in the early stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SiC/C–SiC composites were fabricated via a chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) method using porous SiC/C composites as preform. The influences of the SiC/C preform densities on the mechanical, microstructure and electromagnetic interference shielding properties (EMI) of the SiC/C–SiC composites have been studied. Results show that the SiC/C–SiC composites densities increase with increasing the SiC/C preform densities. When the SiC/C preform density is 1.21 g/cm 3 , the flexural strength, shear strength and toughness of the corresponding SiC/C–SiC composite can reach 220 MPa, 20.98 MPa and 10.21 MPa m 1/2 , respectively. The surface reflection (SE R ) and the internal absorption (SE A ) both increase with increasing the SiC/C preform densities. The enhancement of the EMI is mainly attributed to the formation of conductive networks by the continuous pyrolytic carbon (PyC) matrix and the surface reflection is the dominant shielding mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microwave absorbing composites were designed and fabricated by using hybrid carbon based fillers (carbon black (CB) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)) as absorbent and phenylethynyl-terminated polyimide as matrix, which have superior mechanical properties and high temperature electromagnetic absorption characteristics. The well dispersion of hybrid fillers enhanced the mechanical properties of the composites due to the particle reinforcement. The complex permittivity increased with the increasing temperature in the X-band frequency from 25 °C to 400 °C. The CB linking the MWCNTs contributed to the absorbing properties. The conductance loss made a major contribution to the loss mechanism at an elevated temperature. When the content of hybrid fillers is 5 wt%, the −10 dB bandwidth is 2.2 GHz and 2.1 GHz with the thickness of 1.7 mm at 25 °C and 200 °C, respectively. Further increasing the temperature would deteriorate the absorbing properties due to the poor impedance matching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co coated carbonyl iron particles (Co (CI)) are fabricated through electroless plating method, and the electromagnetic microwave absorbing properties are investigated in the frequencies during 8.2–12.4 GHz. The complex permittivity of CI particles after electroless plating Co is higher than that of raw CI particles due to improvment of the polarization process. Furthermore, according to the XRD and TG results, the Co layer can enhance the heat resistance of CI particles. The bandwidth below −10 dB can reach 3.9 GHz for the Co(CI) absorbent. The results indicate that the electroless plating Co not only enhances the absorbing properties but also improves the heat resistance of CI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been confirmed to be associated with various human diseases. However, whether they are associated with Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) progression remains unclear. In this study, we designed the experiment to explore the relationship between lncRNA HOTTIP and HOXA13, and their pathogenicity to HSCR. Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot were performed to detect the levels of lncRNA, mRNAs, and proteins in colon tissues from 79 patients with HSCR and 79 controls. Small RNA interference transfection was used to study the function experiments in human 293T and SK-N-BE cell lines. The cell viability and activities were detected by the transwell assays, CCK8 assay, and flow cytometry, respectively. LncRNA HOTTIP and HOXA13 were significantly down-regulated in HSCR compared to the controls. Meanwhile, the declined extent of their expression levels makes sense between two main phenotype of HSCR. SiRNA-mediated knock-down of HOTTIP or HOXA13 correlated with decreased levels of each other and both reduced the cell migration and proliferation without affecting cell apoptosis or cell cycle. Our study demonstrates that aberrant reduction of HOTTIP and HOXA13, which have a bidirectional regulatory loop, may play an important role in the pathogenesis of HSCR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were introduced into polyimide matrix to fabricate high temperature microwave absorbing materials. The flexural strength can reach 125 MPa with 2 wt% MWCNTs, and the flexural strength decreases with increasing the filler content due to the filler reinforcement. The complex permittivity of the nanocomposite increases with increasing the temperature owing to shorten the relaxation time and enhance the electrical conductivity at elevated temperature. When the content of absorbent is 5%, the −10 dB absorption bandwidth could reach 1.3 GHz, with the thickness of 2.1 mm, while the bandwidth below −10 dB is 2.04 GHz with the thickness of 1.7 mm at 373 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have emphasized the important role of micro RNA (mi RNA) clusters and common target genes in disease progression. Despite the known involvement of the miR-192/215 family in many human diseases, its biological role in Hirschsprung disease ( HSCR) remains undefined. In this study, we explored the role of the miR-192/215 family in the pathogenesis of HSCR. Quantitative real-time PCR and western blotting measured relative expression levels of mi RNAs, mRNAs, and proteins in 80 HSCR patients and 77 normal colon tissues. Targets were evaluated by dual-luciferase reporter assays, and the functional effects of miR-192/215 on human 293T and SH- SY5Y cells were detected by the Transwell assay, CCK8 assay and flow cytometry. MiR-192/215 was significantly down-regulated in HSCR tissue samples, and their knockdown inhibited cell migration and proliferation in the human 293T and SH- SY5Y cell lines. Nidogen 1 ( NID1) was confirmed as a common target gene of miR-192/215 by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay and its expression was inversely correlated with that of miR-192/215 in tissue samples and cell lines. Silencing of NID1 could rescue the extent of the suppressing effects by miR-192/215 inhibitor. The down-regulation of miR-192/215 may contribute to HSCR development by targeting NID1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat resistant microwave absorbing materials were prepared by compression molding method, using polyimide resin as matrix and SiO 2 coated carbonyl iron (CI) as filler. The SiO 2 coated CI particles were prepared by Stober process. The microwave absorbing properties and the effect of heat treatment on the electromagnetic properties of SiO 2 coated CI/polyimide composites were investigated. When the content of SiO 2 coated CI is 60 wt%, the value of minimum reflection loss decreases from −25 dB to −33 dB with the thickness increases from 1.5 mm to 2.1 mm. According to the thermal-gravimetric analyses (TGA) curves, the polyimide matrix can be used at 300 °C for long time. The complex permittivity of the composites slightly increases while the complex permeability almost keeps constant after heat treatment at 300 °C for 10 h, which indicating that the composites can be used at elevated temperature as microwave absorbing materials at the same time have good heat resistance and microwave absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study established a fully automated computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system for the classification of malignant and benign masses via breast magnetic resonance imaging (BMRI). A breast segmentation method consisting of a preprocessing step to identify the air-breast interfacing boundary and curve fitting for chest wall line (CWL) segmentation was included in the proposed CAD system. The Chan-Vese (CV) model level set (LS) segmentation method was adopted to segment breast mass and demonstrated sufficiently good segmentation performance. The support vector machine (SVM) classifier with ReliefF feature selection was used to merge the extracted morphological and texture features into a classification score. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity measurements for the leave-half-case-out resampling method were 92.3%, 98.2%, and 76.2%, respectively. For the leave-one-case-out resampling method, the measurements were 90.0%, 98.7%, and 73.8%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C/C–SiC composites were fabricated via precursor infiltration pyrolysis (PIP) method using C/C composites as preforms. The influences of C/C preform density on the tribological characteristics of C/C–SiC composites under different conditions were investigated and compared. Results showed that the friction properties are related to the density of C/C preform. Both the SiC content and porosity decrease obviously with the increasing of the original density of C/C preforms. Under damp condition, the coefficient of friction of the C/C–SiC composites is slightly lower than that under dry condition due to the formation of friction film. The formation of friction film is beneficial to the alleviation of the “ploughing effect” between two disks. The C/C–SiC composites can keep almost the same properties under damp condition when compared with those under dry condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electromagnetic characteristics of polyimide/carbonyl iron absorbers synthesized by compression molding using the polyimide precursors (poly (amic acid) solution (PAA)) and different shape of carbonyl iron (CI) were studied at 8.2-12.4 GHz. Curing process of polyimide was monitored by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The influences of CI filler loading and morphology on the microstructure, electromagnetic properties and flexural strength were characterized. The distribution of filler is uniform throughout the polyimide matrix. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show the polyimide matrix can protect the CI particles from oxidation. Both the complex permittivity and complex permeability increase with increasing the CI volume fraction. The minimum reflection loss containing spherical CI is -11 dB at 12.4 GHz and flaky CI is 9.7 at 10.3GHz for the composites with 60 wt.% CI. The flexural strengths of the composites are up to 73 MPa and 68 MPa for flaky CI and spherical CI composites, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The effect of normal and shear stress on phase transitions in BaTiO3 and PbTiO3 has been investigated using a modified Landau–Ginzburg–Devonshire phenomenological model based on assumption of constant stress boundary conditions. Stress–temperature phase diagrams have been developed, and the influence of stress on polarization stability has been analyzed. The results show monoclinic phases with various polarization states absent in stress-free BaTiO3 may exist under uniaxial, biaxial, anisotropic three-dimensional, and shear stress conditions. For PbTiO3, our calculations show that, under normal stress new phases cannot be generated and the only stable ferroelectric phase has tetragonal symmetry, but under shear stress orthorhombic, rhombohedral, and monoclinic phases can be stabilized. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] The influence of the oxygen vacancy on the dielectric property of the ZnO/Al2O3 composite coatings was investigated. [•] The polarization mechanism related to oxygen vacancy was discussed. [•] The dielectric property of the ZnO/Al2O3 composite coating is extremely sensitive to the working temperature and atmosphere. [•] Annealing treatment can be employed as a promising alternative for optimization of electromagnetic parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we proposed a strategy of modifying colored pigments with low emissivity materials to develop multi-band compatible stealth materials. The silver-modified Cr 2 O 3 particles were first prepared for achieving visual/infrared stealth and radar wave transmission simultaneously. The electrical conductivity increased significantly and the emissivity reduced effectively of Cr 2 O 3 @Ag hybrid powders with the increase of Ag content. By employing silicone resin as the binder, and Cr 2 O 3 @Ag (X mol·L−1) as the filler, coatings were prepared to investigate the stealth performance. The coating with 65 wt% Cr 2 O 3 @Ag (0.2 mol⋅L−1) content achieved the lowest emissivity of 0.760. Particularly, the complex permittivity increased slowly and the transmittance was over 90% at the coating thickness within 0.3 mm. The high transmittance of radar waves is attributed to the good impedance matching between Cr 2 O 3 and free space, along with the space between the Ag particles. Additionally, the brownish-green Cr 2 O 3 @Ag pigment showed a lower visible-near infrared reflectance than pure Cr 2 O 3. The proposed method provides an idea for the design of colored coating with low emissivity and high radar wave transmission for application in stealth technology. [Display omitted] • Modifying pigment with low emissivity (Low-E) particles was proposed to achieve infrared/visual stealth performance. • The electrical conductivity and IR emissivity of hybrid pigment can be tuned by adjusting the content of Low-E particles. • The low complex permittivity of and the space between Low-E particles are beneficial to the transmission of radar waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A synthesis in good to excellent yields of 23 4H-benzo[d][1,3]oxazin-4-ones, 18 of which are novel, from monosubstituted anthranilic acids and variously substituted phenyl isoselenocyanates without using any harsh reagents has been developed. The Se powder precipitated during the reaction could be efficiently recycled for the preparation of the aryl isoselenocyanates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Two series of C/C–SiC composites were fabricated via precursor infiltration pyrolysis (PIP) and chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) using porous C/C composites with different original densities as preforms, respectively. The tribological characteristics of C/C–SiC braking composites were investigated by means of MM-1000 type of friction testing machine. The friction and wear behaviors of the two series of composites were compared and the factors that influence the friction and wear properties of C/C–SiC composites were discussed. Results show that the friction and wear properties relate close-knit to the content of SiC and porosity. As the original preform density increasing, the content of SiC and porosity decrease, and then the friction coefficient increases obviously, the braking time and the wear rate both decrease. Preparation techniques play an important role in the tribological properties of C/C–SiC composites. Compared with PIP process, the samples from CVI have a little higher friction coefficient, shorter braking time and higher wear rate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we obtain the following upper bound for the largest Laplacian graph eigenvalue :where the maximum is taken over all pairs . This is an improvement on Li and Zhang’s result with omitted. We also present another new upper bound for : [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: ZnO:Al(AZO) thin films with different Al-doped concentration were developed under different temperature. The effects of the temperature and Al-doped concentration on the infrared emissivity were investigated. Results show that the crystalline phase of the AZO films is hexagonal wurtzite which is the same as that of the un-doped ZnO film. The crystalline size become larger and the particle shapes become more regular with the increase of temperature, which lead to the increase of resistivity and the decreases of the infrared emissivity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: 1000nm-thick Au film was sputter-deposited on two groups of nickel alloy substrates, in which one group (Group A) was oxidated at 800°C for 20h to form a oxide film before coating gold while another group (Group B) was unoxidated. The gold thin-film is applied to serve as a low emissivity coating to reflect thermal radiation. The gold-coated samples were heated in air at 600°C for 150h to explore the effect of high-temperature environment on the emissivity of coated Au film. After heat-treatment, the average thermal emissivity at the wavelength of 3–14μm of Group B greatly increased from 0.18 to 0.82 while that of Group A only increased a little. The diffusion between Au and other nickel alloy elements at 600°C also had been discussed in this paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Developed a residual dense network to reconstruct magnetic resonance images super-resolution. • Designed the multi-residual block. • The proposed super-resolution method has good performance than the state-of-the-art methods. High-resolution magnetic resonance images (MRI) help experts to localize lesions and diagnose diseases, but it is difficult to obtain high-resolution MRI. Furthermore, image super-resolution technology based on deep learning can effectively improve image resolution. In this work, we propose a medical magnetic resonance (MR) image super-resolution reconstruction method based on residual dense network (MRDN). Firstly, we input the convolutional features of the shallow layer into the residual dense block to obtain global and local features. Secondly, each layer in the residual dense block is directly connected to the previous layer to achieve reuse of features. Finally, we use sub-pixel convolution layer for upsampling and super-resolution reconstruction to get a clear high-resolution image. For the 2 ×, 3 ×, and 4 × enlargement, we propose the MRDN method shows the superiority over the state-of-the-art methods on the Set5, Set14, and Urban100 benchmark datasets, extensive benchmark experiment and analysis show that the superiority of our MRDN algorithm in terms of the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity index indicators (SSIM). Quantitative experiments are conducted on three public datasets: Set5, Set14 and Urban10, evaluate with commonly used evaluation metrics, and the experimental results show that the method in this paper is more effective. In addition, we reconstruct the public MR datasets, and the reconstructed high-resolution MR image has a clear structure and rich texture details. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, the research on flotation separation of cassiterite and gangue minerals is mainly focused on the development of new collectors or depressants, while the research on combined depressants is rare. In this study, the flotation separation of cassiterite and the typical gangue mineral, calcite, was investigated using the metal-inorganic complex depressant AlSS, composed of aluminum sulfate (Al2(SO4)3) and water glass (Na2SiO3·4H2O). The flotation results indicated that, with the assistance of Al3+, the inhibition effect of SS (water glass) on calcite is significantly enhanced, while the inhibition effect on cassiterite is almost unchanged. The zeta potential and adsorption measurements proved that the formation of the negatively charged colloidal particles composed of Alm(OH)n3m−n and SiOm(OH)n4−2m−n tended to adsorb on the positively charged calcite surface, inhibiting the adsorption of sodium oleate (NaOL), while the adsorption of the colloidal particles on the negatively charged cassiterite surface is relatively less. The contact angle measurements indicate that the contact angle of cassiterite in the NaOL + AlSS solution is obviously larger than that of calcite, which indicates that cassiterite has better floatability in this system. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis confirms the Al and Si species are adsorbed on the surface of calcite, but not on the cassiterite. In addition, the adsorption of AlSS on cassiterite and calcite changes the chemical environment on the calcite surface, indicating that the adsorption of AlSS on the mineral surface is more inclined to be through a chemical reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A drop shaft experiment was conducted to melt and solidify a glass of 3.5PbO–96.5B2O3 (mol%) composition adhered to a small platinum heating coil (2–3mm i.d., 5–6mm long) at the Japan Microgravity Center (JAMIC). The temperature of glass melt recorded during the drop experiment indicates that the phase-separation of this glass mainly happened during the high gravity period of the experiment. A similar experiment was conducted on the ground to explore the effect of gravity level on the melting and phase-separation of lead borate glass. The homogeneity of different samples was compared through EDS analysis and the microstructure of the samples were observed by SEM. The lead borate glasses separated into two different glass phases, the separated phase (Pb-rich phase) and the continuous phase (B-rich phase), regardless of the gravity level the phase-separation happened. The size of separated Pb-rich phase in the top of sample from drop shaft experiment is much smaller than that in the bottom of sample, while the sizes of separated Pb-rich phase are almost the same in different locations in the ground sample. The homogeneity of the drop shaft sample is much worse than that of ground sample. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Glasses with the composition 3.5PbO·96.5B2O3 were melted and solidified through drop shaft experiment and ground experiment to explore the phase-separation of the glass under abnormal gravity condition. The composition homogeneity and the microstructure for different samples were compared. Results show that all the samples phase-separated into two different glass phases, the separated Pb-rich phase and the continuous B-rich phase, regardless of the gravity level in which the phase-separation happened. For the sample from experiment PB-1, the size of separated Pb-rich phase in the top is much smaller than that in the bottom. The big heterogeneity in composition along the vertical direction and obvious differences in microstructures for this sample could be attributed to the high gravity condition that the phase-separation occurred. There is no visible composition heterogeneity and the microstructure difference for the samples from experiments PB-2 and PB-G. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Results on exploration of making a large variety of different glasses, which are easy to make, have compositions distinguishable from each other, and are easy to be located in a complicated background, is reported. Porous glasses made by leaching a sodium borosilicate glass were used as the starting glass. The porous glasses were soaked in a solution containing soluble salts (mostly nitrates) of the necessary cations. When the pores in the porous glasses were filled with the solution, excess solution was removed and the glasses were heated at 650°C for 3h to decompose the salts in the pores into oxides. A group of salts are found useful for this purpose. By impregnating a fluorescent agent into the porous glasses, the glasses are made fluorescent under ultra-violet light and easy to be located. UO3, Eu2O3, and some laser dyes are found to be appropriate fluorescent agents for this purpose. The effects of the concentrations of some fluorescent agents in the impregnating solution on the fluorescence intensity of the impregnated glasses were studied. The oxides impregnated into the glasses are also found to have strong influence on the fluorescence intensity of the glasses impregnated with a fluorescent agent. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A series of high-temperature glass coats with SiCN nano powder as the filler and the BaO–La2O3–B2O3 glass (BLB glass) as binder were prepared on the Ti-alloy substrates. The coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) of the BLB glass in different temperature were determined by thermal mechanical analysis (TMA) and compared with those of Ti-alloy at the corresponding temperature. The tensile strength and the resistance to thermal shock of the different coats were investigated, and the effects of coating temperature and SiCN concentration in the coating materials on the properties of coats were discussed in detail. Results show that the tensile strength of coat without SiCN is much higher that those containing more or less SiCN. With the increase of SiCN content, the tensile strength of absorbing coat become worse, which could be attribute to the aggregate of SiCN in the coats. The breakage firstly happened inside the coat and then the interface of substrate and coat, indicating the bond strength of interface is higher that in the coat. The resistance to thermal shock of coat containing SiCN is much higher than those without SiCN, indicating that the addition of SiCN powder in the coat is helpful to improve the resistance to thermal shock. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The corrosion resistance of Inconel 690 and 693 coupons submerged in an iron phosphate melt has been investigated. After 155 days in an iron phosphate melt at 1050°C, which contained 30wt% of a simulated low activity waste (LAW at Hanford), the weight loss of Inconel 690 and 693 was 14% and 8%, respectively. The overall corrosion rate, calculated from the initial and final dimensions of each coupon, was 1.3 and 0.7μm/day for the Inconel 690 and 693, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction of the submerged Inconel coupons after 155 days in the iron phosphate melt showed that an altered surface layer had formed which was depleted in nickel and consisted of a (Fe, Cr)2O3 solid solution. This altered layer appears to be chemically protective as indicated by the gradual reduction in weight loss which occurred with time in the iron phosphate melt. Inconel 693 appears to be a better candidate to use as an electrode in iron phosphate melts since its corrosion rate and weight loss was only about one half that of Inconel 690. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The effect of melting temperature, time, and the type of raw material, NaNO3 or Na2CO3, as a source for Na2O on the glass formation for a Na2O·4TeO2(NT4) melt was investigated. Melting with NaNO3 at 750°C for a short time (15 min) produced a glass that is slightly more chemically durable and more resistant to crystallization than glasses melted at a higher temperature (800°C), or for a longer time (60 min), or using Na2CO3. A thin surface layer (<1.5 nm) that contains some nitrogen and a higher concentration of bridging oxygen is suspected to be the reason for the higher chemical durability and higher resistance to crystallization for this glass. However, melting at 800°C for 60 min produced a glass, whose properties were independent of the type of raw material, NaNO3 or Na2CO3, used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]