Study of metal distributions in YBa2Cu3O7-x/Ag2O composites

The micro proton-induced x-ray emission technique has been used to study the elemental distribution profiles of high- composites on varying the content. Measurements revealed that Ag agglomeration starts to appear in samples with , becoming prominent at 50 wt%. These results are further supported by x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements performed on the same samples. The XRD results identified a crystalline Ag phase to be present in all of the samples (7-50 wt% ), a crystalline phase in the 25 and 50 wt% samples and no evidence for Ag replacing Cu or orthogonal-to-tetragonal transformatio

Dysregulated Epstein-Barr virus infection in patients with CIDP

Ubiquitous viruses have frequently been proposed as a cause or trigger of chronic immune-mediated diseases. Infections are reported to be temporally associated with clinical exacerbations in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). We examined immunological parameters of herpesvirus infections in untreated patients with CIDP compared to demographically matched controls. Patients with CIDP were uniformly seropositive for EBV-specific IgG and the disease was associated with a moderately enhanced IgG reactivity to EBV-encoded antigens expressed during both B cell transformation and productive viral replication. Moreover, cellular EBV copy numbers were 3-fold increased in patients with CIDP. In contrast, humoral immune responses to other herpesviruses (HCMV, HSV) as well as virus-specific IgM responses were unchanged in CIDP. These data indicate that host-pathogen interactions during chronic EBV infection are dysregulated in treatment-naïve patients with CIDP

Strength-ductility trade-off via SiC nanoparticle dispersion in A356 aluminium matrix

A process was developed to disperse β-SiC nanoparticles (NPs), with a high propensity to agglomerate, within a matrix of A356 aluminum alloy. A suitable dispersion of 1 wt% SiC NPs in the A356 matrix was obtained through a hybrid process including a solid-state modification on the surface of the NPs, a two-step stirring process in the semi-solid and then the liquid-state, and a final hot-rolling process for fragmentation of the brittle eutectic silicon phase and porosity elimination. Titanium and nickel where used as the nanoparticle SiC surface modifiers. Both modifiers were found to improve the mechanical properties of the resulting material, however, the highest improvement was found from the nickel surface modification. For the nickel modification, compared to the non- reinforced rolled alloy, more than a 77%, 85%, and 70% increase in ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS), and strain % at the break, respectively were found with respect to the unreinforced rolled A356. For the rolled nanocomposite containing 1 wt % SiCnp and nickel modification, an average YS, UTS, and strain % at the break of 277 MPa, 380 MPa, and 16.4% were obtained, respectively, which are unique and considerable property improvements for A356 alloy