Layered Ti-Al metal composite (LMC) fabricated by hot-pressing and hot-rolling process displays higher ductility than that of both components. In this paper, a combination of digital image ...correlation (DIC) and X-ray tomography revealed that strain delocalization and constrained crack distribution are the origin of extraordinary tensile ductility. Strain delocalization was derived from the transfer of strain partitioning between Ti and Al layer, which relieved effectively the strain localization of LMC. Furthermore, the extensive cracks of LMC were restricted in the interface due to constraint effect. Layered architecture constrained the distribution of cracks and significantly relieved the strain localization. Meanwhile, the transfer of strain partitioning and constrained crack distribution were believed to inhibit the strain localization of Ti and change the deformation mechanisms of Ti. Our finding enriches current understanding about simultaneously improving the strength and ductility by structural design.
Purpose
To assess the efficacy and safety of drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) in liver cancer patients with different times of previous conventional transarterial ...chemoembolization (cTACE) treatments.
Methods
367 liver cancer patients about to receive DEB-TACE treatment were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. All patients were divided into no previous cTACE group (NPC group), 1–2 times previous cTACE group (PC group) and triple or above previous cTACE group (TPC group) according to the times of previous cTACE treatments.
Results
There was no difference in complete response (CR) (
P
= 0.671) and objective response rate (ORR) (
P
= 0.062) among three groups. Additionally, no difference in overall survival (OS) among groups (
P
= 0.899) was found. As to liver function, most liver function indexes were deteriorative at 1 week after DEB-TACE operation, but returned to baseline at 1–3 months after DEB-TACE operation in all three groups, while percentage of abnormal total bile acid (TBA) patients was higher in TPC group than NPC and PC groups at 1–3 month post-DEB-TACE (
P
= 0.018). As for safety profiles, the incidence of pain during DEB-TACE operation was lower in TPC group compared to NPC and PC groups (
P
= 0.005), while no difference of other adverse events was found during and 1 month post-DEB-TACE treatment among three groups.
Conclusion
DEB-TACE treatment was equally efficient and tolerated in liver cancer patients with different times of previous cTACE treatments.
Our understanding of when and how humans adapted to living on the Tibetan Plateau at altitudes above 2000 to 3000 meters has been constrained by a paucity of archaeological data. Here we report data ...sets from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau indicating that the first villages were established only by 5200 calendar years before the present (cal yr B.P.). Using these data, we tested the hypothesis that a novel agropastoral economy facilitated year-round living at higher altitudes since 3600 cal yr B.P. This successful subsistence strategy facilitated the adaptation of farmers-herders to the challenges of global temperature decline during the late Holocene.
In this study, an inexact two-stage water resources management model was developed for multi-regional water resources planning in the Nansihu lake Basin, China. Four planning districts, four water ...users, and five water sources were considered in the optimization model, with net system benefit, recourse cost, water supply cost, and wastewater treatment cost being analyzed. Methods of interval-parameter programming (IPP) and two-stage stochastic programming (TSP) were incorporated into the model to tackle uncertainties described by both interval values and probability distributions. A number of scenarios corresponding to different river inflow levels were examined, and the results indicated that different inflow levels could lead to different water allocation schemes with varied system benefit and system-failure risk. In general, the developed model can provide an effective linkage between economic benefits and the associated penalties attributed to the violation of predefined policies. The modeling results were valuable for supporting the adjustment or justification of the existing water allocation schemes within a complicated water resources system under uncertainty.
•An inexact two-stage programming model was proposed for multi-regional water resources management in Nansihu lake basin.•Four planning districts, four water users, and five water sources were considered.•Net system benefit, recourse cost, water supply cost, and wastewater treatment cost were analyzed.•Uncertainties were expressed as both discrete intervals and probability distributions.
The growing energy crisis and severe atmospheric pollution have put much pressure on the Chinese government and resulted in a lot of revolutionary changes. Considering the upcoming new environmental ...and carbon tax, how would the tax reform affect the power sector; which types and how much of the different power generation technologies would be added are important questions that need to be answered by decision makers. In this study, a deterministic optimization model is proposed for determining the optimal power mix through the introduction of environmental and carbon taxes. A case study of Hebei Province in China is provided to illustrate the effects of these two taxes. The capacity additions of different generation technologies, air pollutants and CO2 emission amounts, system costs, and regional power security under different tax levels are profoundly examined. The modeling results indicate that such tax policies could significantly improve to the power mix adjustment as well as the quality of the ambient air quality. Higher tax levels would promote the development of renewable power generation. Meanwhile, different degrees of CO2 and air pollutant emission reduction can be achieved. The modeling results could help the decision makers identify the satisfactory tax levels in the future.
•A deterministic model is developed for optimization of power mix.•In-depth analysis of the effects of new environmental and carbon tax.•Power mix adjustment, CO2/air pollutant emissions reduction can be achieved.
•AlNiCoCuFeNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) was fabricated on Mg substrates using laser cladding.•No serious dilution of the HEA composition occurred in the top-layer of the coating.•The phenomenon of Cu ...rejection was analysed based on Gibbs free energy.•Solidification behaviour of the HEA was studied using the Kurz–Giovanola–Trivedi and the Gaümann models.
The AlCoCrCuFeNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) was fabricated on pure magnesium substrates by means of laser cladding using a direct blown powder method. The coating can be categorised into two layers, a top AlCoCrCuFeNi HEA layer and a lower composite layer that consists of some partially melted HEA powders in an Mg based matrix. A metallurgically bonded interface was obtained between the Mg substrate and the HEA coating, with epitaxial crystals formed at the melting boundary of the substrate. In the solidification of the HEA alloy, some Cu was rejected into the Mg melt, however, no serious dilution of the HEA composition occurred in the top layer of the coating. The phenomenon of Cu rejection was analysed based on Gibbs free energy. Moreover, the solidification behaviour of the HEA was studied using the Kurz–Giovanola–Trivedi and the Gaümann models with modifications for multi-component alloys.
There are limited data comparing the prognosis and fertility outcomes of the patients with early cervical cancer treated by trans-vaginal radical trachelectomy (VRT) or abdominal radical ...trachelectomy (ART).The objective of this study was to compare the surgical and pathologic characteristics, the prognosis and fertility outcomes of the patients treated by VRT or ART.
Matched-case study based on a prospectively maintained database of patients underwent radical trachelectomy in 10 centres of China was designed to compare the prognosis and fertility outcomes of the patients treated by VRT or ART.
Totally 150 cases, 77 in the VRT and 73 in the ART group, were included. VRT and ART provide similar surgical and pathological outcomes except larger specimens obtained by ART. In the ART group, no patient developed recurrent diseases, but, in the VRT group, 7 (9.8%) patients developed recurrent diseases and 2 (1.6%) patients died of the tumours (P=0.035). The rate of pregnancy in the VRT group was significantly higher than those of ART (39.5% vs 8.8%; P=0.003). The patients with tumour size >2 cm showed significant higher recurrent rate (11.6% vs 2.4%, P<0.05) and lower pregnant rate (12.5% vs 32.1%, P=0.094) compared with the patients with tumour size <2 cm.
Patients treated by ART obtained better oncology results, but their fertility outcomes were unfavourable compared with VRT. Tumour size <2 cm should be emphasised as an indication for radical trachelectomy for improving the outcome of fertility and prognosis.
An ultra-strong and ductile Mg-8.2Gd-3.8Y-1Zn-0.4Zr (wt pct) alloy was developed by using hot extrusion to modify the microstructure
via
forced-air cooling and an artificial aging treatment. A ...superior strength–ductility balance was obtained that had a tensile yield strength of 466 MPa and an elongation to failure of 14.5 pct. The local strain evolution during the
in situ
testing of the ultra-strong and ductile alloy was quantitatively analyzed with high-resolution electron backscattered diffraction and digital image correlation. The fracture behavior during the tensile test was characterized by synchrotron X-ray tomography along with SEM and STEM observations. The alloy showed a bimodal microstructure, consisting of dynamically recrystallized (DRXed) grains with random orientations and elongated hot-worked grains with
10
1
¯
0
parallel to the extrusion direction. The DRXed grains were deformed by the basal 〈a〉 slip and the hot-worked grains were deformed by the prismatic 〈a〉 slip dominantly. The strain evolution analysis indicated that the multilayered structure relaxed the strain localization
via
strain transfer from the DRXed to the hot-worked regions, which led to the high ductility of the alloy. Precipitation of the γ′ on basal planes and the β′ phases on the prismatic planes of the α-Mg generated closed volumes, which enhanced the strength by pinning dislocations effectively, and contributed to the high ductility by impeding the propagation of micro-cracks inside the grains. The deformation incompatibility between the hot-worked grains and the arched block-shaped long-period stacking ordered (LPSO) phases induced the crack initiation and propagation, which fractured the alloy.
We present here a detailed study of the oxidation resistance of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene. The results reveal that CVD graphene shows an excellent performance as a passivation layer ...below 200°C, but the protection ability degenerates rapidly with increasing the air temperature. Our work demonstrates for the first time that the most adverse effect on the degeneration of oxidation resistance in high temperature air comes from wrinkles but not others, such as Cu grain boundaries, periodic surface depressions due to Cu surface reconstruction induced by the graphene overlay, graphene domain boundaries, which are always believed the primary factor for inferior quality of the CVD graphene at present. In addition, we found that the distribution of the wrinkles in CVD graphene depended on the Cu crystal structure, and the results of the Electron-backscatter diffraction indicate that the folded wrinkles always appear on Cu (001) facets, while the standing collapsed wrinkles appear more easily on the Cu (111) facets.
The Epidemiology of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Coleman, Helen G.; Xie, Shao-Hua; Lagergren, Jesper
Gastroenterology (New York, N.Y. 1943),
January 2018, 2018-01-00, 20180101, 2018, Volume:
154, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) has increased in many Western countries and is higher in men than women. Some risk factors for EAC have been identified—mainly gastroesophageal reflux ...disease, Barrett’s esophagus, obesity, and tobacco smoking. It is not clear whether interventions to address these factors can reduce risk of EAC, although some evidence exists for smoking cessation. Although consumption of alcohol is not associated with EAC risk, other exposures, such as physical activity, nutrition, and medication use, require further study. Genetic variants have been associated with risk for EAC, but their overall contribution is low. Studies are needed to investigate associations between risk factors and the molecular subtypes of EAC. The prognosis for patients with EAC has slightly improved, but remains poor—screening and surveillance trials of high-risk individuals are needed.
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