Based on current specifications, a modified bond test considering the effect of cyclic temperature is proposed to test and quantitatively evaluate the bonding performance of hot applied sealants. ...Innovatively, the modified bond test simulates the effect of cyclic temperature by designing a hot-cold cycle procedure. Based on hot-cold cycle procedure, new indexes, maximum tensile stress (σ
n
) and tensile separation stiffness (K
n
), are proposed for further analysis. Based on the modified bond test, a corresponding new evaluation method is established. The maximum tensile stress should meet the minimum bond strength requirement. The tensile separation stiffness increase (ΔK) is adopted as a quantitative evaluation index for the bonding performance of sealants. Finally, the current specification bond test and the modified bond test are performed on three sealants and the differences between these two tests are compared, the rationality and practicality of the modified test and new evaluation method are verified.
Asphalt-filler interaction plays a key role in the performances of asphalt mastic and asphalt mixture. However, the current studies ignore the filler critical volume fraction that has significant ...effects on asphalt-filler interaction ability. There is also lacking quantitative comparison of evaluation indices within filler critical volume fraction. In this study, two kinds of virgin asphalt binders and three kinds of mineral fillers were selected to fabricate asphalt mastics, and the dynamic shear rheological properties of virgin asphalt binders and asphalt mastics were measured, and the interaction evaluation indices complex viscosity coefficient Δη*, intrinsic viscosity η, complex modulus coefficient ΔG*, K-B-G*, Einstein coefficient K
E
, L-A-δ and K-B-δ were quantitatively compared. The results indicate that complex viscosity coefficient Δη* and intrinsic viscosity η are not suitable for evaluation of asphalt-filler interaction ability. ΔG* and K-B-G* can evaluate the differences of asphalt and different fillers interaction ability based on the same kind of asphalt binder. Nevertheless, ΔG* and K-B-G* cannot differentiate the effects of asphalt binder on asphalt-filler interaction ability well. Although Einstein coefficient K
E
can evaluate asphalt-filler interaction ability, the Einstein coefficient K
E
is fitting results, and cannot distinguish the interaction ability under different filler volume fractions. L-A-δ and K-B-δ can differentiate the interaction ability of different asphalt binders and fillers well, and also the sensitivity factors of index K-B-δ are greater than L-A-δ. Therefore, K-B-δ is the most suitable for evaluating asphalt and filler interaction ability. Based on the evaluation index K-B-δ, asphalt-filler interaction ability increases initially and decreases afterwards with an increase in filler concentration within filler critical volume fraction.
The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of fines on the drying crack resistance of composite soil stabiliser-stabilised gravel soil (CSSSGS) using the following laboratory tests: ...indirect tensile strength (ITS), indirect tensile resilient modulus (ITRM), and drying shrinkage (DS). The indirect tensile failure strain (ITFS), which was calculated according to the ITS and ITRM, was used to replace the direct tensile failure strain (DTFS). The DS energy anti-cracking coefficient (DSEAC) and the ratio of ITFS to DS strain (R
ID
) were used to estimate the crack resistance of CSSSGS with varying fines contents. This study showed that the values of these two indices decreased with the increase in fines content and water loss time, indicating that fines content and water loss adversely affect the crack resistance of CSSSGS.
•Small myofibrillar structural proteins degradation initiated fish softening.•More giant myofibrillar structural proteins degraded during later storage.•Desmin and titin contributed more to softening ...comparatively.
Softening is always a problem in fish preservation. This study was aimed to investigate the role of myofibrillar structural proteins degradation in fish softening. The changes of myofibrillar structural proteins, muscle ultrastructure, myofibril fragmentation, and shear force were studied. The results indicated that during the superchilled preservation of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), small (low-molecular-weight) myofibrillar structural proteins like desmin and troponin-T initiated textural deterioration, leading to Z-disk weakening and actin loosening. In contrast, giant (high-molecular-weight) myofibrillar structural proteins like titin and nebulin were degraded in more amount in the later storage, contributing to Z-disk and M-band disassembly and vague of light and dark regions (I and A bands). Compared to each other, desmin and titin played more important part in softening. All these changes were involved in the increase of muscle fibril segments and the sharp decrease of shear force.
The value of circulating microRNA (miR)-155 for breast cancer (BC) diagnosis may differ in different studies. Therefore, we conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the ...potential application of circulating miR-155 in the diagnosis of BC.
Articles published before December 2023 and in English were searched in these databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Medline, EMBASE and Google Scholar. A summary of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratios (PLR), negative likelihood ratios (NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were calculated from the true positive (TP), true negative (TN), false positive (FP) and false negative (FN) of each study. Additionally, the summary receive-operating characteristics (SROC) curve was constructed to summarize the TP and FP rates.
The pooled parameters calculated were as follows: sensitivity, 0.93 (95% CI: 0.83-0.97); specificity, 0.85 (95% CI: 0.74-0.92); PLR, 6.4 (95% CI: 3.4-11.9); NLR, 0.09 (95% CI: 0.04-0.20); and DOR, 74 (95% CI: 22-247). The analysis showed a significant heterogeneity (sensitivity, I
= 95.19%,
< 0.001; specificity, I
= 95.29%,
< 0.001; DOR, I
= 92.9%,
< 0.001). The SROC curve was with an area under curve (AUC) of 0.95 (95% CI: 0.93-0.97).
Circulating miR-155 has a potential in the diagnosis of BC.
The saltwater hard clam Mercenaria mercenaria (M. mercenaria) as a representative of low-value shellfish, enhancing its flavor quality, is the key to enter the high-end market. Nevertheless, there ...has not been reported research on the flavor quality of M. mercenaria. This study compared the flavor quality of selective and non-selective saltwater hard clams of M. mercenaria by using various indicators: proximate component, free amino acids, nucleotides, and metabolomic analysis. The results indicated that selective breeding contributed to the significant improvement contents of crude protein, flavor-associated free amino acids (glutamic acid, aspartic acid, proline, etc.), and nucleotides (AMP) (P < 0.05). Then, the metabolome was utilized to assess the metabolite changes in the pre/post-selective breeding of M. mercenaria and further understand the flavor characteristics and metabolic status. In the metabolomics assay, among the 3143 quantified metabolites, a total of 102 peaks were identified as significantly different metabolites (SDMs) between the selective and non-selective varieties of M. mercenaria (VIP > 1 and P < 0.05). These results can provide new insights for future research on improving the quality of saltwater bivalves through selective breeding.
Fish texture is important for consumers and degradation of myofibrillar structural proteins could cause softening. However, the role of endogenous proteases in degrading was not clear. In this study, ...protease inhibitors (Ac-DEVD-CHO, E−64 and EDTA-2Na) were used to distinguish the role of endogenous caspase-3, cathepsin B and L, and calpain. Results showed that caspase-3 and calpain had relatively high activity at initial ice-storage and decreased quickly afterwards, while cathepsins increased firstly and then fluctuated. Titin, nebulin and troponin-T were partially degraded by caspase-3 firstly. However subsequently, only titin and troponin-T were affected by cathepsins and calpain. Desmin showed a different degradation pattern. It was influenced by calpain significantly but not by caspase-3. Less than 2.5% of desmin remained after storage. Myofibril fragmentation index and shear force indicated that caspase-3-induced degradation occurred at initial ice-storage, while cathepsins had the greatest importance in texture softening during the whole storage.
•Role of endogenous caspase-3, cathepsins and calpain were specified in ice storage.•Caspase-3 initiated degradation of titin, nebulin and troponin-T in fish.•Calpain mainly degraded desmin and desmin remained lower than 2.5% finally.•Cathepsins contributed the most for the fish softening during whole ice storage.
•We used a simple and inexpensive method to obtain the composite of graphene @ gold nanorods (G@GNRs).•We used a simple method to measure the nonlinear optical properties of the G@GNRs.•Compared with ...single graphene and GNRs, the G@GNRs nanocomposites exhibits many advantages.
The methods of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and seed-mediated growth were used to obtain graphene and gold nanorods (GNRs), respectively. We fabricate graphene @ gold nanorods (G@GNRs) nanocomposites by successively using dropping and transferring methods Through SEM, Raman spectra and TEM analysis, the number of graphene layers is 6–7. The diameter of gold nanorods (GNRs) is about 10nm and the average aspect ratio is 6.5. In addition, we systematically investigate their nonlinear optical responses by using open-aperture Z-scan technique. In contrast with graphene and GNRs, the G@GNRs nanocomposites exhibit excellent nonlinear optical response with a modulation depth of about 51% and a saturable intensity of about 6.23 GW/cm2. The results suggest that the G@GNRs nanocomposites could potentially be used as an optical modulator in pulsed laser generation.
The effect of various metastases patterns on the prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma (AD) remains unknown. The purpose of our retrospective study is to determine whether various metastases patterns have ...a prognostic impact on patients with organ metastatic lung AD. Patient data was extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. The Kaplan-Meier method was chosen for the evaluation of overall survival (OS) rate. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses were conducted to evaluate independent prognostic factors. In the SEER database, 12,228 patients with IV lung AD were retrieved in total. And 78.78% of those patients (9633/12,228) suffered from one of brain, lung, liver or bone metastasis due to disease progression. It was found that the most common site in patients with metastatic lung AD was brain (21.20%), and the least common site of metastasis was liver (3.50%). Patients who suffered single lung metastatic showed relatively good OS, and the median survival time was 11 months (95% CI 0.470-0.516). For those with 2 metastatic sites, data analysis suggested that the median survival times of patients with bone and lung metastasis (10 months; 95% CI 0.469-0.542) were better than others. For those with 3 metastatic sites, data analysis suggested that metastatic pattern had no effect on the OS. Brain is the most common single metastasis site of lung AD. Compared with the other 3 metastatic sites, patients with lung metastasis had better survival results. Deeper knowledge of metastatic patterns will help doctors to better understand the prognosis and formulate more appropriate treatment plans.
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