PS-PVD thermal/environmental barrier coatings with novel microstructures

Plasma spray physical vapor deposition (PS-PVD) technology has attracted increasing attention due to it promising potential in processing advanced functional coatings such as thermal/environmental barrier coatings (TBCs) by flexibly tailoring the coating microstructure architecture in a broad range. In this work, yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) TBCs with a novel quasi-columnar structure was prepared by co-deposition of vapor phase and nano-clusters using PS-PVD and the associated deposition mechanism was discussed. The thermo-physical and mechanical properties, sintering resistance and thermal shock life of the coating were investigated. The thermal conductivity is in a range of 0.7~1.0 W/mk between 200 °C and 1200 °C and the average life is ~4000 cycles during thermal shock testing in which the coating surface was heated to 1200 °C within 20 s and held at the temperature for 5 min by gas flame. Noted that the quasi-columnar TBC revealed much better resistance to glassy CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 (CMAS) adsorption than those TBCs produced by air plasma spray (APS) and electron beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) and some attempts were made to understand the related mechanisms. Ytterbium silicate/mullite/Si environmental barrier coatings (EBCs) were sprayed onto SiC ceramic matrix composites (CMC) by PS-PVD. The dense ytterbium silicate coating deposited at 65 kw is mainly composed of ytterbium disilicate resulting from vapor-phase deposition, whereas the layered coating at 40 kw is mainly ytterbium monosilicate from liquid deposition

An association of a simultaneous nuclear and cytoplasmic localization of Fra-1 with breast malignancy

BACKGROUND: Overexpression of Fra-1 in fibroblasts causes anchorage-independent cell growth and oncogenic transformation. A high level of Fra-1 expression is found in various tumors and tumorigenic cell lines, suggesting that Fra-1 may be involved in malignant progression. This study aimed to investigate the significance of Fra-1 expression in breast carcinogenesis. METHODS: The expression of Fra-1 was investigated by immunohistochemistry in neoplastic breast diseases ranging from benign fibroadenoma to very aggressive undifferentiated carcinoma. The correlations of Fra-1 expression with other indicators of breast carcinoma prognosis (ER, PR and ErbB2 receptors) were analyzed. RESULTS: All neoplastic breast tissues, either benign or malignant breast tissues, were nuclear immunoreactive for Fra-1-recognizing antibody. The pattern of Fra-1 expression by benign neoplastic cells was predominantly nuclear. However, the nuclear/cytoplasmic concomitant immunoreactivity was observed in all types of breast carcinomas. A clear shift in Fra-1 immunoreactivity, from an exclusively nuclear to a simultaneous nuclear and cytoplasmic localization was noticed in ~90% of breast carcinomas. CONCLUSION: The overall expression, pattern and intensity of Fra-1 proteins were correlated with breast oncogenesis. Overexpression of Fra-1, leading to a persistent high cytoplasmic accumulation, may play a role in the process of breast carcinogenesis

Study on the Informatization Construction of Public Stomatological Medical Institutions in China

With the deepening of healthcare system reform in China, the competition in the oral healthcare market is becoming stronger day by day. The public hospital is the main body of the medical service system in China, its degree of informatization greatly affects rational market competition and then affects the allocation of resources and the quality of medical service. By analyzing the problems existing in the current informatization of China’s public stomatological medical institutions, this paper discusses how to strengthen the informatization of China’s public stomatological medical institutions, and puts forward targeted optimization measures, to provide a reference for the innovation and development of smart hospital construction of the stomatological industry

Inhibition of MicroRNA-124 Reduces Cardiomyocyte Apoptosis Following Myocardial Infarction via Targeting STAT3

Background/Aims: MicroRNAs play an important role in regulating myocardial infarction (MI)-induced cardiac injury. MicroRNA-124 (miR-124) plays a vital role in regulating cellular proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Although the alteration of miR-124 was confirmed in peripheral blood of MI patients, little is known regarding the biological functions of miR-124 in cardiomyocytes. This study was designed to explore the role of miR-124 in MI and its underlying mechanisms. Methods: Real-time PCR was used to quantify the microRNAs levels. TUNEL and Flow cytometry were performed to measure cell apoptosis. Western blot analysis was employed to detect expression of Bcl-2, Bax, Caspase-3 and STAT3 proteins. Results: We revealed that miR-124 was significantly up-regulated in a mice model of MI and in neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs) with H2O2 treatment. H2O2 treatment induced cardiomyocyte injury with reduced cell viability and enhanced apoptotic cell death, whereas silencing expression of miR-124 by AMO-124 (antisense inhibitor oligodeoxyribonucleotides) alleviated these deleterious changes. AMO-124 decreased the expression of Bax and cleaved-caspase-3 and upregulated the expression of Bcl-2 in H2O2-treated NRVMs. Besides, AMO-124 improved mitochondrial dysfunction of NRVMs induced by H2O2 treatment. Moreover, antagomir-124 markedly decreased the infarct area and apoptotic cardiomyocytes and improved cardiac function in MI mice. Furthermore, we identified STAT3 as a direct target of miR-124, and downregulation of miR-124 ameliorated the diminished levels of STAT3 and p-STAT3 (Tyr705) in response to H2O2 or MI. STAT3 inhibitor, stattic, was shown to attenuate the elevation of p-STAT3 in NRVMs with AMO-124 transfection. Inhibiting of STAT3 activity by stattic abrogated protective effects of AMO-124 on H2O2-induced cardiomyocytes apoptosis. Conclusion: Taken together, our data demonstrate that downregulation of miR-124 inhibits MI-induced apoptosis through upregulating STAT3, which suggests the therapeutic potential of miR-124 for myocardial infarction

Climate change : strategies for mitigation and adaptation

The sustainability of life on Earth is under increasing threat due to humaninduced climate change. This perilous change in the Earth's climate is caused by increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, primarily due to emissions associated with burning fossil fuels. Over the next two to three decades, the effects of climate change, such as heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, storms, and floods, are expected to worsen, posing greater risks to human health and global stability. These trends call for the implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies. Pollution and environmental degradation exacerbate existing problems and make people and nature more susceptible to the effects of climate change. In this review, we examine the current state of global climate change from different perspectives. We summarize evidence of climate change in Earth’s spheres, discuss emission pathways and drivers of climate change, and analyze the impact of climate change on environmental and human health. We also explore strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation and highlight key challenges for reversing and adapting to global climate change

Effects of Fiber Shape on Mechanical Properties of Fiber Assemblies

The effects of fiber shape on the mechanical responses of fiber assemblies under compression, tension, and shear deformations are numerically investigated using the discrete element method (DEM). Simulations of the compression of ring-shaped fibers are consistent with experimental results, verifying the discrete element method code. In the compressive tests of S-shaped fibers, pressure exhibits a nonmonotonic dependence on fiber curvature; while in the tensile tests, yield tensile stress generally decreases with increasing fiber curvature. In the shear tests, yield shear stress decreases with increasing fiber curvature for the S-shaped fibers, and the smallest yield shear stresses and the smallest coordination numbers are obtained for U-shaped and Z-shaped fibers. It is interesting to observe that for the assemblies of various fiber shapes, yield shear stress increases with increasing maximum Feret diameter of the fibers, which characterizes the largest dimension of a fiber between two parallel tangential lines. These novel observations of the effects of fiber shape provide some guidelines for material designs with the fibers

Comparisons of Combined Oxidant Capacity and Redox-Weighted Oxidant Capacity in Their Association with Increasing Levels of COVID-19 Infection

Background: Ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are substances with oxidizing ability in the atmosphere. Only considering the impact of a single substance is not comprehensive. However, people’s understanding of “total oxidation capacity” (Ox) and “weighted average oxidation” (Oxwt) is limited. Objectives: This investigation aims to assess the impact of Ox and Oxwt on the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). We also compared the relationship between the different calculation methods of Ox and Oxwt and the COVID-19 infection rate. Method: We recorded confirmed COVID-19 cases and daily pollutant concentrations (O3 and NO2) in 34 provincial capital cities in China. The generalized additive model (GAM) was used to analyze the nonlinear relationship between confirmed COVID-19 cases and Ox and Oxwt. Result: Our results indicated that the correlation between Ox and COVID-19 was more sensitive than Oxwt. The hysteresis effect of Ox and Oxwt decreased with time. The most obvious statistical data was observed in Central China and South China. A 10 µg m−3 increase in mean Ox concentrations were related to a 23.1% (95%CI: 11.4%, 36.2%) increase, and a 10 µg m−3 increase in average Oxwt concentration was related to 10.7% (95%CI: 5.2%, 16.8%) increase in COVID-19. In conclusion, our research results show that Ox and Oxwt can better replace the single pollutant research on O3 and NO2, which is used as a new idea for future epidemiological research