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Ternary system piezoelectric ceramics 0.7PbZrxTi1−xO3-0.3Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 (abbreviated as 0.7PZTx-0.3PZN) were prepared by a traditional solid-phase process. With the increase in Zr content, the electrical properties of the ceramics were significantly improved, and this result could be attributed to the change in the ceramic phase structure. The relationship between the change in Zr content and the ceramic phase structure and properties was investigated in detail by component modulation. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses showed that the phase structure of the ceramics undergoes a transition from the coexistence of tetragonal (T) and rhombohedral (R) phases to the predominance of rhombohedral (R) phases as the Zr content x increases. The phase structure of the ceramics at x = 0.49 is closer to the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), with about 32% of the T-phase and 68% of the R-phase, and possesses good electrical properties: d33 = 483 pC/N, kp = 0.69, εr = 2171.7, tanδ = 0.016, Tc = 292.5°C, Pr = 35.9 μC/cm2, Ec = 7.7 kV/mm. Constructing the MPB of 0.7PZT-0.3PZN piezoelectric ceramics by varying the Zr content can be effective in improving the electrical properties and understanding more broadly how the change in Zr/Ti composition affects the piezoelectric behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the preparation of (Ba,Ca)(Zr,Ti)O3 lead-free piezoelectric ceramics, different Ca2+ and Zr4+ contents will greatly affect the phase structure, microstructure, and electrical properties of the ceramics. XRD shows that all samples have pure perovskite phase structure, and the (Ba0.85Ca0.15)(ZryTi1−y)O3 ceramics morphotropic phase boundary region from tetragonal phase to rhombohedral phase near 0.08 ≤ y ≤ 0.1. From the dielectric temperature curve, the phase transition temperature (TO-T) was found near room temperature at 0.12 ≤ x ≤ 0.18 for the (Ba1−xCax)(Zr0.1Ti0.9)O3 ceramics. Both Ca2+ and Zr4+ increase have a significant decrease on the Curie temperature Tc. All samples were revealed as relaxers with diffusivities in the range 1.29 ≤ γ ≤ 1.82. Different from the undoped ceramics, ceramics doped with Ca and Zr ions exhibit saturated P–E hysteresis loops, and their ferroelectric properties are significantly optimized. In particular, the (Ba0.85Ca0.15)(Zr0.1Ti0.9)O3 ceramic demonstrated optimal properties, namely d33 = 330 pC/N, kp = 0.41, εr = 4069, Pr = 4.8 μC/cm2, and Ec = 3.1 kV/cm, indicating that it is a viable lead-free piezoelectric contender. Variations in Ca and Zr content have a significant effect on the crystal grain sizes and densities of ceramics, which is strongly associated with their piezoelectricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

0.55BaSrTiO-0.45MgO composite ceramics (BST-MgO, x = 0.5-0.65) co-modified with CuO and MnO were prepared by conventional soild state reaction method. The microstructure, phase and morphology were investigated. The results showed the formation of the perovskite BST phase and MgO phase. The dielectric constant ( ε) and tunability ( T) of the ceramic samples increased with increasing Ba content. The dielectric loss (tan δ) and figure of merit achieved their minimum and maximum at x = 0.6, respectively. The obtained ceramic sample with x = 0.6 exhibited favorable properties, which are listed as follows: ε = 190, tan δ = 0.22 %, T = 16 %, E = 5.6 kV/cm and FOM = 72.7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zirconia ceramics are widely used in aerospace, precision machinery, electronics, and biomedical fields because of their high temperature resistance, wear resistance, strong electromagnetic response, and biocompatibility. Nevertheless, high brittleness and low shear strength seriously hinder the large-scale application of zirconia ceramics in industrial production. This paper mainly reviews the research advances on primary machining technologies of zirconia ceramics from two aspects. One aspect is traditional machining of zirconia ceramics, which primarily focuses on the issues such as tool wear, machined surface quality, and cutting force in milling and grinding of zirconia ceramics. And the other aspect is non-traditional machining of zirconia ceramics, which primarily focuses on material removal rate and machined surface quality of zirconia ceramics using the electrical discharge machining (EDM) by assisting electrode method. The machinability and machining quality of zirconia composite ceramics by EDM with the adding conductive phase method have also been analyzed. Furthermore, for the auxiliary machining methods, the effects of ultrasonic vibration-assisted machining (UVAM) and laser-assisted machining (LAM) of zirconia ceramics are comparatively analyzed and elaborated. Subsequently, the research progress of traditional and non-traditional machining of zirconia ceramics is summarized and discussed. Finally, different machining methods of zirconia ceramics were prospected, and their future development trends were discussed, which provides a reference for further improving the machining efficiency and accuracy of zirconia ceramics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Antitumor effects obtained by autologous Lewis lung cancer cell vaccine engineered to secrete mouse interleukin 27 by means of cationic liposome. Correction to: Cellular immunotherapy using irradiated lung cancer cell vaccine co-expressing GM-CSF and IL-18 can induce significant antitumor effects. [Extracted from the article]

Brassinolide (BR) is the "sixth class" plant hormone, which plays an important role in various physiological and biochemical processes of plants. The wide variety of functions of Pinellia ternata means that there is huge demand for it and thus it is in short supply. This paper mainly assessed the changes of yield and quality in P. ternata at different stages after BR treatments by principal component analysis, in order to improve the yield and quality of P. ternata and at the same time determine the best harvest time. The results showed that the tuber yield of P. ternata was significantly increased by BR treatments at different stages (except for the 15th day). After the 15th, 45th, 60th, 75th, 90th, and 105th day of treatments, the tuber yield of P. ternata reached peak values at 0.10 (0.65 g), 0.50 (1.97 g), 0.50 (1.98 g), 1.00 (2.37 g), 1.00 (2.84 g), and 2.00 mg/L (3.76 g) BR treatment, respectively. The optimal harvest time was the 75th day after 0.10, 0.50, and 1.00 mg/L BR treatments, which not only significantly improved the yield of P. ternata, but also retained high level of total alkaloids in the tubers (20.89, 5.37, and 13.44%) and bulbils (9.74, 20.42, and 13.62%), high total flavone content in the tubers (17.66, 16.26, and 12.74%) and bulbils (52.63, 12.79, and 38.69%), and high β-sitosterol content in the tubers (25.26, 16.65, and 0.62%) of P. ternata, compared with the control, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution has received more attention from many countries and scientists due to its high threat to human health. However, air pollution prediction remains a challenging task because of its nonstationarity, randomness, and nonlinearity. In this research, a novel hybrid system is successfully developed for PM2.5 concentration prediction and its application in health effects and economic loss assessment. First, an efficient data mining method is adopted to capture and extract the primary characteristic of PM2.5 dataset and alleviate the noises' adverse effects. Second, Harris hawks optimization algorithm is introduced to tune the extreme learning machine model with high prediction accuracy, then the optimized extreme learning machine can be established to obtain the forecasting values of PM2.5 series. Next, PM2.5‐related health effects and economic costs was estimated based on the predicted PM2.5 values, the related health effects, and environmental value assessment methods. Several experiments are designed using three daily PM2.5 datasets from Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang. Lastly, the corresponding experimental results showed that this proposed system can not only provide early warning information for environmental management, assist in the formulation of effective measures to reduce air pollutant emissions, and prevent health problems but also help for further research and application in different fields, such as health issues due to PM2.5 pollutant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although the whole tumor cell vaccine can provide the best source of immunizing antigens, there is still a limitation that most tumors are not naturally immunogenic. Tumor cells genetically modified to secrete immune activating cytokines have been proved to be more immunogenic. IL-18 could augment proliferation of T cells and cytotoxicity of NK cells. GM-CSF could stimulate dendritic cells, macrophages and enhance presentation of tumor antigens. In our study, we used mouse GM-CSF combined with IL-18 to modify Lewis lung cancer LL/2, then investigated whether vaccination could suppress tumor growth and promote survival. Methods: The Lewis lung cancer LL/2 was transfected with co-expressing mouse GM-CSF and IL-18 plasmid by cationic liposome, then irradiated with a sublethal dose X ray (100 Gy) to prepare vaccines. Mice were subcutaneously immunized with this inactivated vaccine and then inoculated with autologous LL/2 to estimate the antitumor efficacy. Results: The studies reported here showed that LL/2 tumor cell vaccine modified by a co-expressing mouse GM-CSF and IL-18 plasmid could significantly inhibit tumor growth and increased survival of the mice bearing LL/2 tumor whether prophylactic or adoptive immunotherapy in vivo. A significant reduction of proliferation and increase of apoptosis were also observed in the tumor treated with vaccine of co-expressing GM-CSF and IL-18. The potent antitumor effect correlated with higher secretion levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-18, GM-CSF, interferon-γ in serum, the proliferation of CD4+ IFN-γ+, CD8+ IFN-γ+ T lymphocytes in spleen and the infiltration of CD4+, CD8+ T in tumor. Furthermore, the mechanism of tumor-specific immune response was further proved by 51Cr cytotoxicity assay in vitro and depletion of CD4, CD8, NK immune cell subsets in vivo. The results suggested that the antitumor mechanism was mainly depended on CD4+, CD8+ T lymphocytes. Conclusions: These results provide a new insight into therapeutic mechanisms of IL-18 plus GM-CSF modified tumor cell vaccine and provide a potential clinical cancer immunotherapeutic agent for improved antitumor immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors reported an error in Fig 5 of this article, graphs presenting FCM and immunofluorescent for CD4T, CD8T and NK cell of the Control Groups (LL2, LL2-irradation, MCS-irradiation) were inadvertently duplicated from another parallel experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]