Species identification of biological ingredients in herbal product, Gurigumu-7, based on DNA barcoding and shotgun metagenomics

Accurate identification the species composition in mixtures poses a significant challenge, especially in processed mixtures comprising multiple species, such as those found in food and pharmaceuticals. Therefore, we have attempted to utilize shotgun metabarcoding technology to tackle this issue. In this study, the method was initially established using two mock samples of the Mongolian compound preparation Gurigumu-7 (G-7), which was then applied to three pharmaceutical products and 12 hospital-made preparations. A total of 119.72 Gb of raw data sets were obtained through shotgun metagenomic sequencing. By combining ITS2, matK, and rbcL, all the labeled bio-ingredients specified in the G-7 prescription can be detected, although some species may not be detectable in all samples. The prevalent substitution of Akebia quinata can be found in all the pharmaceutical and hospital samples, except for YN02 and YN12. The toxic alternative to Akebia quinata, Aristolochia manshuriensis, was exclusively identified in the YN02 sample. To further confirm this result, we validated it in YN02 using HPLC and real-time PCR with TaqMan probes. The results showed that aristolochic acid A (AAA) was detected in YN02 using HPLC, and the ITS2 sequence of Aristolochia manshuriensis has been validated in YN02 through qPCR and the use of a TaqMan probe. This study confirms that shotgun metabarcoding can effectively identify the biological components in Mongolian medicine compound preparation G-7. It also demonstrates the method’s potential to be utilized as a general identification technique for mixtures containing a variety of plants

Study on the Relationship between High Temperature Mechanical Properties and Precipitates Evolution of 7085 Al Alloy after Long Time Thermal Exposures

The requirement for 7085 Al alloy as large airframe parts has been increasing due to its low quenching sensitivity and high strength. However, the relationship between high temperature mechanical properties and the evolution of precipitates in hot environments is still unclear. In this work, thermal exposure followed by tensile tests were conducted on the 7085 Al alloy at various temperatures (100 °C, 125 °C, 150 °C and 175 °C). Variations of hardness, electrical conductivity and tensile properties were investigated. The evolution of the nano scale precipitates was also quantitatively characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that the hardness and electrical conductivity of the alloy are more sensitive to the temperature than to the time. The strength decreases continuously with the increase of temperature due to the transformation from η′ to η phase during the process. Furthermore, the main η phase in the alloy transformed from V3 and V4 to V1 and V2 variants when the temperature was 125 °C. Additionally, with increasing the temperature, the average precipitate radius increased, meanwhile the volume fraction and number density of the precipitates decreased. The strengthening effect of nano scale precipitates on tensile properties of the alloy was calculated and analyzed

Thermal stability of Al-Cu-Mg-Ag hub forgings

The room temperature tensile properties and elevated temperature tensile properties of peak aged Al-Cu-Mg-Ag hub forgings after different heat exposure temperatures and heat exposure time were tested，and the thermal stabilities of the forgings at different temperatures were compared and analyzed. The results show that Al-Cu-Mg-Ag forgings exhibit good thermal stability. After exposure at 150 ℃ for 1 to 100 h，there were no significant changes in room temperature tensile properties and elevated temperature tensile properties. Short time heat exposure at 150-200 ℃ for 1 h does not reduce the overall performance，but the strength of Al-Cu-Mg-Ag forgings decreases with the increase of heat exposure temperature and the extension of heat exposure time. After 100 h of exposure at 200 ℃ and 250 ℃，the room temperature yield strength remains 61.1% and 37.2 %，and the room temperature tensile strength remains 77.8% and 60.8%，the elevated temperature yield strength remains 61.6% and 42.8%，and the elevated temperature tensile strength remains 67.5% and 47.6%，respectively. The main precipitates of Al-Cu-Mg-Ag forgings are Ω phase and θ′ phase. Under the experimental conditions of Kt=1 and R=0.1，the room temperature fatigue limit after 200 ℃/10 h heat exposure is 278 MPa，which is 10.6% lower than the fatigue limit of 311 MPa before heat exposure

Research progress and development tendency of ultra-high strength aluminum alloys

Ultra-high strength aluminum alloy has achieved extensive application in the nuclear，aerospace，and aviation industries because of its high specific strength and low density. The fifth generation of ultra-high strength aluminum alloy has been produced，and in comparison to the fourth generation’s 600 MPa level，its ultimate strength has been consistently redefined and increased from 650-700 MPa to 750 MPa or even 800 MPa. This paper reviews the history of the research on aluminum alloys with ultra-high strengths and introduces the current state of development both domestically and internationally. The key issues and recent research development are further explored，including computer simulation，thermal deformation，heat treatment，homogenization，melting，and casting，as well as composition design. Finally，combined with the development needs of future equipment and domestic technology status，it is pointed out that in-depth study of basic theory to solve the problem of comprehensive performance matching，the promotion and application of special materials in specific application scenarios are the development trend and important direction of ultra-high strength aluminum alloy

Effect of Er on Microstructure and Corrosion Behavior of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu–Sc–Zr Aluminum Alloys

In this study, the influence of Er addition on the microstructure, type transformation of second phases, and corrosion resistance of an Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy were explored. The results revealed that the added Er element could significantly refine the alloy grains and change the second-phase composition at the grain boundary of the alloy. In the as-cast state, the Er element significantly enhanced the corrosion resistance of the alloy due to its refining effect on the grains and second phases at the grain boundary. The addition of the alloying element Er to the investigated alloy changed the type of corrosion attack on the alloy’s surface. In the presence of Er, the dominant type of corrosion attack is pitting corrosion, while the alloy without Er is prone to intergranular corrosion attack. After a solution treatment, the Al8Cu4Er phase was formed, in which the interaction with the Cu element and the competitive growth relation to the Al3Er phase were the key factors influencing the corrosion resistance of the alloy. The anodic corrosion mechanism of the Al8Cu4Er and Al3Er phases evidently lowered the alloy corrosion rate, and the depth of the corrosion pit declined from 197 μm to 155 μm; however, further improvement of corrosion resistance was restricted by the morphology and size of the Al8Cu4Er phase after its formation and growth; therefore, adjusting the matching design of the Cu and Er elements can allow Er to improve the corrosion resistance of the Al–Zn–Mg–Cu aluminum alloy to the greatest extent

Oxidative esterification of aldehydes with alcohols using imidazolium perrhenate

Four imidazolium perrhenates were synthesized, characterized and used as efficient catalysts for the oxidative esterification of benzaldehydes with alcohols. The perrhenates showed high catalytic activity toward oxidative esterifications, whereas good yields could be obtained for a series of aldehyde and alcohol substrates. The results indicate that the steric effects of functional groups on the aromatic ring play important roles in the formation of esters. Moreover, the alkyl structures of the alcohols also dramatically affect the product yields

Integrated modeling of the gradient structure evolution during surface mechanical grinding treatment: Formation mechanism and mechanical properties

Gradient nanostructured materials are regarded as a promising class of architectures with tunable mechanical properties, primarily dependent on the optimization of well-controlled fabrication parameters. In this paper, a microvariable-based constitutive model is incorporated into an integrated finite analysis technique. This approach correlates the fabrication parameters of surface mechanical grinding treatment (SMGT) with the corresponding measured mechanical properties of gradient structured (GS) materials, quantifying the relationship between process parameters, microstructure, and mechanical properties. Through theoretical prediction and experimental verification, it is observed that grain refinement, mechanical strength, and surface hardness are enhanced by increasing processing times and reducing path spacing. The yield stress of the fabricated GS material ranges from 126.8 MPa to 162.2 MPa, an increase of above 2.5 times compared to the original material, with a slight decrease in uniform elongation by a factor of 25.8 %, indicative of an excellent strength-ductility trade-off. The underlying mechanism for improved strength-ductility synergy is discussed, focusing on the importance of the tunable spatial distribution of grain size. This work sheds light on the potential application of gradient nanograined structures at an industrial scale and advances the fundamental understanding of strengthening mechanisms in gradient nanostructures

Complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of Alboglossiphonia lata Oka, 1910 (Rhynchobdellida: Glossiphoniidae) and its phylogenetic analysis

The complete mitochondrial genome of Alboglossiphonia lata (basionym: Glossiphonia lata), sourced from a biodiversity hotspot of China, has been determined and reported in this study. It was 15,236 bp in length and consisted of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes and three control regions. The mitogenome was deposited GenBank under the accession number PP165800. A. lata and other species within the Glossiphoniidae family were clustered together with high bootstrap values. The mitochondrial genome of A. lata provides valuable molecular data for further phylogenetic research on the Glossiphoniidae family

Overcoming strength–ductility trade-off in shape–performance integrated fabrication by incremental sheet forming

The integrated fabrication of accurate forming shapes and micro–macro properties of metal components have promoted carbon neutrality in industrial manufacturing. We found that the multi-stage incremental sheet forming (MISF) process can achieve shape–performance integrated fabrication of thin-walled parts. However, the performance-influencing mechanism of the MISF approach remains unknown, and the methods for mechanical property prediction have received little attention. Therefore, MISF strategies were investigated for a square copper part through experiments, microstructural analysis, and theoretical predictions. The parts formed with different strategies had the same shape, but their strength–ductility synergy increased with the number of stages. In addition, the MISF-produced copper demonstrated an outstanding strength–ductility trade-off, where the yield stress with the optimized strategy was improved to 231.7 MPa, an increase of over 2.6 times compared with that of the raw material, with a uniform elongation of 20.5 %. A microstructural analysis was performed to investigate the material reinforcement mechanism attributable to dislocation accumulation, which decreased with an increasing number of stages. Based on the deformation procedures and microstructure evolution, an efficient theoretical model of the MISF mechanical properties was proposed for the first time using a dislocation-based constitutive function, where the effectiveness was improved by considering the back stress. This work demonstrates the practicality of the shape–performance integrated fabrication of thin-walled parts and sheds light on the application of the MISF technique