Abstract Herein, the effect of current on the solidification microstructure and properties of 35CrMo structural steel has been studied. The effect of an electric field on the solidification structure ...of an ingot was investigated by immersing two parallel electrodes into the free surface of molten steel. Using the interaction between the current and melt as well as the Lorentz force generated by its own induced magnetic field, the whole region of the melt was covered with an eddy current. The numerical simulation of the ingot solidification process has been carried out and its influence on the inner flow field during the ingot solidification control process discussed. The results showed that an applied electric field caused turbulence inside the ingot, which drove the molten alloys to rotate and stir, refined the solidification structure, reduced the solidification defects, such as shrinkage cavity and segregation, and increased from 549.9 MPa at the top edge of the ingot and 411.4 MPa at the middle edge to 560.2 and 510.2 MPa, respectively. In addition, the electric field made the hardness and strength of each part of the ingot more uniform and improved the quality of its rigidity for the steel production process.
An agar-degrading bacterium, strain LGH, was isolated and identified as Cohnella sp. This strain had a capability of utilizing agar as a sole carbon source for growth and showed a strong agarolytic ...activity. A novel endo-type β-agarase gene agaW, encoding a primary translation product of 891 amino acids, including a 26 amino acid signal peptide, was cloned and identified from a genomic library of strain LGH. The AgaW belonged to the glycoside hydrolase (GH) GH50 family, with less than 39 % amino acid sequence similarity with any known protein, and hydrolyzed agarose into neoagarotetraose as the major end product and neoagarobiose as the minor end product through other neoagarooligosaccharide intermediates, such as neoagarohexaose.
The proper disposal and utilization of sludge is a critical issue around the world. This study aims to evaluate the potential of sludge extracts as inhibitors against chloride-induced corrosion of ...low-carbon steel. Acidic extract (ACE), alkaline extract (ALE) and water extract (WE) were obtained from pretreated sludge using nitric acid, sodium hydroxide and deionized water as extractants, respectively. Steel specimens were pre-passivated in simulated concrete pore solutions (SCPS) with and without sludge extracts. After the addition of chloride, electrochemical tests and surface analyses were performed. Results show that ACE has the highest phosphate and organic nitrogen contents, followed by ALE and WE. Electrochemical tests revealed enhanced corrosion resistance in SCPS with sludge extracts. ACE and ALE demonstrated higher corrosion inhibition efficiencies at 89.2% and 87.4%, attributed to synergistic effect of phosphate and organic ammonia nitrogen. WE exhibited reduced efficiency (69.8%) due to its low phosphate content. After long-term storage, the efficiency of WE declined significantly compared to ACE and ALE, probably due to the degradation of organic corrosion inhibition components. Mott-Schottky analysis indicated improved oxide passive film formation with all extracts, but phosphates may diminish this effect, necessitating further investigation.
In this letter, organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) with various interface modification conditions are fabricated and characterized. In addition to chemically homogeneous dielectric surfaces to ...enhance electrical characteristics of devices, morphologically homogeneous surfaces are also needed to achieve good device-to-device uniformity of OTFTs. The different charge trap densities at the dielectric interface and in pentacene film is responsible.
The effects of laser shock peening and vacuum carbonitriding on strength and plasticity of 20Cr2Mn2Mo were investigated. Uniaxial tension tests were carried out and the microstructures were analyzed ...by optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, electron backscatter diffraction, and transmission electron microscope. The phase composition was characterized by X-ray diffraction. The results revealed that the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of samples were increased by 10.63% and 4.15%, respectively, after compound treatment due to the formation of large volume fraction of grain boundaries, high-density dislocations, and second-phase particles. However, the plasticity was only decreased by 0.99%, which was benefited from gradient structures induced by laser shock peening. The improvement of strength was mainly attributed to Orowan strengthening and dislocation strengthening. The grain refinement had little influence on the improvement of strength.
•The compound treatment introduces an excellent balance of strength and ductility.•The formation of gradient structures improves strength without sacrifice of ductility.•Orawan and dislocation strengthening dominate the improvement of strength.
Plants grown with vermicompost amendments are known to be harmful to sap-sucking insects, but the underlying mechanism remains to be determined. Here we investigated the feeding behavior of
Kuwayama ...on
(L.) Burm. F using the electrical penetration graph technique. Plants were grown in soil with different vermicompost rates (0%, 20%, 40%, and 60%
/
). Additionally, plants were tested for the activity of salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) pathway-related enzymes. When compared to the control, vermicompost treatments (40% and 60%) decreased duration of phloem sap feeding and increased duration of the pathway phase of
, and the 60% vermicompost made it more difficult for
to reach and gain access to phloem sap. Enzymatic assays indicated that the 40% amendment rate increased phenylalanine ammonia lyase (involved in the SA pathway) and polyphenol oxidase (involved in the JA pathway), while the 60% amendment rate increased -1,3-glucanases (involved in the SA pathway) and lipoxygenase (involved in the JA pathway). The 20% amendment rate had no effect on feeding or enzyme activities. This study revealed that vermicompost amendments can reduce the efficiency of
feeding, which may result from increased plant resistance via the SA and JA pathway.
The development and utilization of 3p-block based MOFs as fluorescent materials has attracted significant attention in recent years. Herein, we have successfully constructed a versatile luminescent ...Ga-MOF (SNNU-63) with a 3d10 configuration and a large ligand twist configuration. Interestingly, the as-synthesized Ga-MOF exhibits excellent luminescence property and a good material for blue light-emitting diode (LED). At 80 K, this Ga-MOF shows multi-emission centers at 381, 462, and 494 nm. As a ratiometric thermometer, this Ga-MOF exhibits an excellent temperature sensing property with high relative sensitivity (Sm = 2.60 % K−1 at 110 K). The fluorescence intensity ratio I381/I494 shows a very good fit for the Boltzmann results (80–240 K). Moreover, the luminescent Ga-MOF exhibits an excellent selective detection of Fe3+ over other metal ions in aqueous an medium, and the limit of detection (LOD) towards Fe3+ ions is calculated to be 1.227 × 10−4 M. This work presents a versatile luminescent Ga-MOF material as a blue LED and fluorescent probe for low-temperature and selective Fe3+ sensing.
R-spondin 2 (RSPO2) drives the potentiation of Wnt signaling and is implicated in tumorigenesis in multiple cancers, but its role in ovarian cancer has not been investigated. Here, we reported that ...RSPO2 promoted the growth and metastasis of ovarian cancer through the activation of FAK/Src signaling cascades. RSPO2 enhanced the autophosphorylation of FAK and Src through a unique dual receptors mechanism. First, RSPO2-LGR4 interaction prevented the endocytic degradation of LGR4 and promoted LGR4-mediated translocation of Src to the plasma membrane. Second, RSPO2 directly bound to integrin β3 as a ligand and enhanced the stability of integrins, and both actions potentiated autoactivation of FAK and/or Src in ovarian cancer cells. RSPO2 expression was increased in ovarian tumors and was associated with poor prognosis in patients. Our study highlights the importance of RSPO2 in ovarian tumor progression and suggests that targeting RSPO2/FAK/Src cascades may constitute potential approaches to inhibit the progression of aggressive ovarian cancer.
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•RSPO2 plays an oncogenic role in ovarian cancer progression•RSPO2 acts as a FAK/Src activator instead of as a Wnt agonist in ovarian cancer•RSPO2 promotes the LGR4-mediated Src autoactivation•RSPO2 binds to integrin β3 as a ligand to potentiate the activation of FAK
Cell biology; Cancer
The effect of heat treatment on the mechanical properties and microstructure of refractory nickel alloy GH3536 obtained by selective laser melting is determined. Growth in the quenching temperature ...is accompanied by lowering of the ultimate strength and of the yield limit under static tension, while the elongation increases. After 1-h quenching from 1100°C and 10-h aging at 700°C the fracture behavior of the alloy changes from brittle one to ductile one, the strength and the hardness decrease, and the ductility grows by about a factor of 3.5 as compared to the initial condition.
