Strain fields of Ms >6.0 earthquakes in Menyuan, Qinghai, China

In predicting earthquakes, it is a major challenge to capture the time factor and spatial isoline anomalies, and understand their physical processes, of the seismic strain field before a strong earthquake. In this study, the seismic strain field was used as representative of seismic activity. The natural orthogonal function expansion method was used to calculate the seismic strain field before the Menyuan Ms 6.4 earthquakes in 1986 and 2016, and the Ms 6.9 earthquake in 2022. Time factor and spatial isoline anomaly of the strain field before each earthquake was extracted. We also compared the evolution of the strain field with numerical simulation results under the tectonic stress system at the source. The results showed that the time factor before the earthquakes had high or low value anomalies, exceeding the mean square error of the stable background. The anomalies were concentrated in the first four typical fields of the strain field, which has multiple components. The abnormal contribution rate of the first typical field is the largest (accounting for 42%–49% of the total field). The long- and medium-term anomalies appear 3-4, and 1-2 years before the earthquake, respectively. There were no short or immediate-term anomalies within 3 months of the earthquake. In addition, during the evolution of the strain field, the abnormal area of the spatial isoline changed with the change in time. Usually, the intersection area of the two isoseismic lines of strain accumulation and strain release becomes a potential location for strong earthquakes. Finally, we found that the high strain field values of the 1986 and 2016 Ms 6.4 earthquakes were equivalent to the numerical simulation results, while the high strain field values of the 2022 Menyuan Ms 6.9 earthquakes were slightly different, but within the accepted error range. These results indicate that the two methods are consistent. We have shown that the natural orgthagonal method can be used to obtain the spatiotemporal anomaly information of strain field preceding strong earthquakes

Long-term oncologic outcomes of radiotherapy combined with maximal androgen blockade for localized, high-risk prostate cancer

Abstract Background To assess the oncologic outcomes of radiation therapy (RT) combined with maximal androgen blockade (MAB) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) kinetics in patients with localized, high-risk prostate carcinoma (PCa). Methods Three-hundred twenty individuals with localized PCa who underwent RT + MAB in 2001–2015 were evaluated retrospectively. All patients had received 36 months of MAB therapy and 45 Gy of pelvic irradiation, plus a dose-escalated external beam radiation therapy (DE-EBRT) boost to 76~81 Gy (MAB + EBRT group), or a low-dose-rate prostate permanent brachytherapy (LDR-PPB) boost to 110 Gy with I-125 (MAB + EBRT + PPB group). Results Follow-up median is 90 months, ranging from 12 to 186 months; 117 (36.6%) and 203 (63.4%) cases underwent MAB + EBRT and MAB + EBRT + PPB, respectively. Multivariate Cox regression showed that the PPB regimen and PSA kinetics were positive indicators of oncologic outcomes. Compared with MAB + EBRT, MAB + EBRT + PPB remarkably improved PSA kinetics more pronouncedly: PSA nadir (1.3 ± 0.7 vs 0.11 ± 0.06 ng/mL); time of PSA decrease to nadir (7.5 ± 1.8 vs 3.2 ± 2.1 months); PSA doubling time (PSADT; 15.6 ± 4.2 vs 22.6 ± 6.1 months); decrease in PSA (84.6 ± 6.2% vs 95.8 ± 3.4%). Additionally, median times of several important oncologic events were prolonged in the MAB + EBRT + PPB group compared with the MAB + EBRT group: overall survival (OS; 12.3 vs 9.1 years, P < 0.001), biochemical recurrence-free survival (BRFS; 9.8 vs 6.5 years, P < 0.001), skeletal-related event (SRE; 10.4 vs 8.2 years, P < 0.001), and cytotoxic chemotherapy (CCT; 11.6 vs 8.8 years, P = 0.007). Conclusion MAB + EBRT + PPB is extremely effective in patients with localized, high-risk PCa, indicating that PPB may play a synergistic role in improving PSA kinetics and independently predicts oncologic outcomes

Ultrastable Cu‐Based Dual‐Channel Heterowire for the Switchable Electro‐/Photocatalytic Reduction of CO2

Abstract Catalytic conversion of CO2 into high value‐added chemicals using renewable energy is an attractive strategy for the management of CO2. However, achieving both efficiency and product selectivity remains a great challenge. Herein, a brand‐new family of 1D dual‐channel heterowires, Cu NWs@MOFs are constructed by coating metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) on Cu nanowires (Cu NWs) for electro‐/photocatalytic CO2 reductions, where Cu NWs act as an electron channel to directionally transmit electrons, and the MOF cover acts as a molecule/photon channel to control the products and/or undertake photoelectric conversion. Through changing the type of MOF cover, the 1D heterowire is switched between electrocatalyst and photocatalyst for the reduction of CO2 with excellent selectivity, adjustable products, and the highest stability among the Cu‐based CO2RR catalysts, which leads to heterometallic MOF covered 1D composite, and especially the first 1D/1D‐type Mott–Schottky heterojunction. Considering the diversity of MOF materials, the ultrastable heterowires offer a highly promising and feasible solution for CO2 reduction

Microstructure Evolution and Toughening Mechanism of a Nb-18Si-5HfC Eutectic Alloy Created by Selective Laser Melting

Because of their superior mechanical performance at ultra-high temperatures, refractory niobium–silicon-based alloys are attractive high-temperature structural alloys, particularly as structural components in gas turbine engines. However, the development of niobium–silicon-based alloys for applications is limited because of the trade-off between room temperature fracture toughness and high-temperature strength. Here, we report on the fabrication of a Nb-18Si alloy with dispersion of hafnium carbide (HfC) particles through selective laser melting (SLM). XRD and SEM-BSE were used to examine the effects of scanning speed on the microstructure and the phase structure of the deposited Nb-18Si-5HfC alloy. The results show that when the scanning speed rises, the solid solubility of the solid solution improves, the interlamellar spacing of eutectics slowly decrease into nano-scale magnitude, and the corresponding hafnium carbide distribution becomes more uniform. We also discover the hafnium carbide particles dispersion in the inter-lamella structure, which contributes to its high fracture toughness property of 20.7 MPa∙m1/2 at room temperature. Hardness and fracture toughness are simultaneously improved because of the control of microstructure morphology and carbide distribution

Tuning the microstructure, martensitic transformation and superelastic properties of EBF3-fabricated NiTi shape memory alloy using interlayer remelting

In this work, different interlayer remelting strategies are applied to regulate the microstructure evolution, martensitic transformation, and superelastic features of NiTi shape memory alloys prepared using the EBF3 additive manufacturing technique. The NiTi deposits prepared under different remelting beam currents are all composed of the B2 austenite, residual B19′ martensite, and submicron-scale Ti4Ni2Ox precipitates, and exhibit a one-step phase transformation (B2 ↔ B19′). Meanwhile, the crystallographic orientation, grain boundaries, and residual strain of these alloys present a distinct variation with the application of different remelting beam currents. During mechanical testing, the critical stress (σMs) of the EBF3-fabricated NiTi alloys was seen to possess a significant dependence on the martensitic transformation behavior, namely with the amount of B19′ martensite and the corresponding Ms. However, the broadening and stabilization of lamellar martensite created by dislocation pile-ups and plastic deformation in the cyclic loading–unloading procedure is the key reason for the deterioration of the superelastic response of the NiTi deposits. This work confirms that the mechanical and functional performances of NiTi alloys produced via EBF3-technique can be modified upon the application of proper interlayer remelting strategies, which can be extrapolated to the directed energy deposition of shape memory alloys or other metal components