Studies on the reaction of greenhouse soils to the growth of plants

The size and distribution of interphase precipitates in micro-alloyed steels is a crucial micro-structural feature to control for obtaining the necessary strength in low-cost automotive sheets. In order to optimize both alloy chemistry and thermal processing an enhanced understanding of the interphase precipitation mechanism is required. It is proposed that the evolution of inter-sheet spacing of MC carbides during the γ→α+MC transformation can be explained considering the interfacial segregation and the corresponding dissipation of Gibbs energy inside the moving interphase boundary. The inter-sheet spacing of interphase precipitates is controlled by a complex interplay between the interfacial energy and interfacial segregation, this is presented in form of an analytical model. It is shown that the general trend of refining inter-sheet spacing with growing ferrite half-thickness can be well predicted by the proposed model

Quasi in-situ analysis of geometrically necessary dislocation density in α-fibre and γ-fibre during static recrystallization in cold-rolled low-carbon Ti-V bearing microalloyed steel

In the present study, cold-rolled low-carbon steel is annealed at three different conditions: 700 oC for 0 s, 800 oC for 0 s and 800 oC for 2 min at the heating rate of ~10 oC/s. Recrystallization behaviour on sample surface is studied using a heated stage Scanning Electron Microscopy and Electron Backscattered Diffraction. For the lower annealing temperature of 700 oC with no dwell, almost no recrystallization is observed and microstructure resembles the as-received deformed material with the exception of occasional sub-micron sized nuclei. For the annealing conditions of 800 oC 0 s and 800 oC 2 min, onset and evolution of recrystallization is observed in-situ as a function of the initial as-cold rolled texture. Slower recovery rate of alpha fibre than gamma fibre is observed and confirmed by lower drop in average geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density for un-recrystallized alpha fibres (1.1E+14 m-2 for 700 oC 0 s , 1.4E+14 m-2 for 800 oC 0 s and 4.5E+14 m-2 for 800 oC 2 min) than for un-recrystallized gamma fibre grains (3.0E+14 m-2 for 700 oC 0 s , 6.2E+14 m-2 for 800 oC 0 s and 9.8E+14 m-2 for 800 oC 2 min) during annealing. Strong gamma texture in recrystallized matrix is found for annealing conditions of 800 oC 0 s and 800 oC 2 min. From TEM characterisation it was shown that sub-grain boundaries are decorated with fine precipitates (diameter d < 15 nm) of titanium-vanadium carbides (Ti,V)C for the annealing condition of 700 oC 0 s, which suggests that these precipitates play a major overall role in retardation of the recrystallization kinetics

A Gibbs Energy Balance Model for Growth Via Diffusional Growth-Ledges

Growth ledges are commonly observed on interphase boundaries during diffusional phase transformations and are of great importance for understanding inter-sheet spacing of interphase precipitates. A simple model based on Gibbs Energy Balance (GEB) for describing growth kinetics via diffusional growth-ledges of height λ is presented for the case of ferrite growth into austenite. The model is validated against the case of austenite to ferrite transformation involving interphase precipitation in a V, Mn, Si alloyed HSLA steel where, λ is assumed to be equal to the inter-sheet spacing of interphase carbide precipitates. The presented model provides a computationally efficient and versatile method for predicting the ledge height, λ, and the growth kinetics of ferrite from initial nucleation through to final soft impingement considering the evolution of solute drag at growth ledge risers. It is suggested that the intrinsic mobility of growth ledge risers is: M_m^αR=0.58exp((-140×〖10〗^3)/RT) mmol.J^(-1) s^(-1), with R the gas constant and T the absolute temperature in K

Correlative analysis of interaction between recrystallization and precipitation during sub-critical annealing of cold-rolled low-carbon V and Ti–V bearing microalloyed steels

In this paper a new insight into fundamentals of static recrystallization, precipitation and their interaction during sub-critical annealing of three cold-rolled low-carbon microalloyed steel grades is presented. The grades under investigation are a base grade containing V as a microalloying element, a Ti+ grade containing Ti as microalloying element added into the base grade, and a Ti+Mn+ grade containing additional Mn added into the Ti+ grade. The cold-rolled steels are sub-critically annealed inside a muffle furnace to simulate industrial continuous annealing parameters in order to investigate the interaction between recrystallization and precipitation across transient stages of the annealing process as a function of temperature and time. The Zener pinning of precipitates and solute drag force of Mn on the recrystallization process are calculated and compared with measured values obtained from experimental studies on the recrystallization kinetics. Results suggest that the recrystallization kinetics is fastest in the base grade. For the Ti+ grade, fine (< 15 nm) (Ti,V)(C/N) particles retard the recrystallization kinetics. For the Ti+ and Ti+Mn+ grades, solute drag effect of Mn solute atoms for dwell time longer than 2 min at annealing temperature of 800 oC is negligible

Dry mass input into fruits can be predicted by fine root morphology of pepper cultivars exposed to varied lighting spectra

Many pepper cultivars can be raised under artificial lighting in a plant factory. An easily measured parameter is needed to fast predict fruit loading in pepper cultivars. In this study, four pepper cultivars with contrasting manners in growth and fruiting were cultured under three light-emitting diode (LED) spectra in comparison with a sunlight control. It was found that the red-light spectrum (71.7% red-, 13.7% green-, 14.6% blue-lights) increased over 40% of dry mass in fruits, while the green-light spectrum (26.2% red-, 56.4% green-, 17.4% blue-lights) induced no fruiting compared to the control. Only two cultivars responded by fine root morphology, which was characterized as smaller surface-area and fewer tip-number in the blue-light spectrum (7.8% red-, 33.7% green-, 48.5% blue-lights) than in red LED light. Tip-number showed a negative correlation with fruit dry-mass in three cultivars, while fine root diameter increased with dry mass in fruits. In conclusion, fine root tip-number can be used as a predictor of fruit dry-mass in pepper cultivars high in fruit quality or yield. The red-colour light was recommended for raising pepper cultivars in a plant factory with the purpose of greater fruit productivity

Probing Product Description Generation via Posterior Distillation

In product description generation (PDG), the user-cared aspect is critical for the recommendation system, which can not only improve user's experiences but also obtain more clicks. High-quality customer reviews can be considered as an ideal source to mine user-cared aspects. However, in reality, a large number of new products (known as long-tailed commodities) cannot gather sufficient amount of customer reviews, which brings a big challenge in the product description generation task. Existing works tend to generate the product description solely based on item information, i.e., product attributes or title words, which leads to tedious contents and cannot attract customers effectively. To tackle this problem, we propose an adaptive posterior network based on Transformer architecture that can utilize user-cared information from customer reviews. Specifically, we first extend the self-attentive Transformer encoder to encode product titles and attributes. Then, we apply an adaptive posterior distillation module to utilize useful review information, which integrates user-cared aspects to the generation process. Finally, we apply a Transformer-based decoding phase with copy mechanism to automatically generate the product description. Besides, we also collect a large-scare Chinese product description dataset to support our work and further research in this field. Experimental results show that our model is superior to traditional generative models in both automatic indicators and human evaluation

Disruption of Smad7 Promotes ANG II-Mediated Renal Inflammation and Fibrosis via Sp1-TGF-β/Smad3-NF.κB-Dependent Mechanisms in Mice

Smad7 is an inhibitory Smad and plays a protective role in obstructive and diabetic kidney disease. However, the role and mechanisms of Smad7 in hypertensive nephropathy remains unexplored. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the role and regulatory mechanisms of Smad7 in ANG II-induced hypertensive nephropathy. Smad7 gene knockout (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice received a subcutaneous infusion of ANG II or control saline for 4 weeks via osmotic mini-pumps. ANG II infusion produced equivalent hypertension in Smad7 KO and WT mice; however, Smad7 KO mice exhibited more severe renal functional injury as shown by increased proteinuria and reduced renal function (both p<0.05) when compared with Smad7 WT mice. Enhanced renal injury in Smad7 KO mice was associated with more progressive renal fibrosis with elevated TGF-β/Smad3 signalling. Smad7 KO mice also showed more profound renal inflammation including increased macrophage infiltration, enhanced IL-1β and TNF-α expression, and a marked activation of NF-κB signaling (all p<0.01). Further studies revealed that enhanced ANG II-mediated renal inflammation and fibrosis in Smad7 KO mice were also associated with up-regulation of Sp1 but downregulation of miR-29b expression. Taken together, the present study revealed that enhanced Sp1-TGF-β1/Smad3-NF-κB signaling and loss of miR-29 may be mechanisms by which deletion of Smad7 promotes ANG II-mediated renal fibrosis and inflammation. Thus, Smad7 may play a protective role in ANG II-induced hypertensive kidney disease. © 2013 Liu et al.published_or_final_versio

Etiology and Clinical Features of Full-Term Neonatal Bacterial Meningitis: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study

Objective: Neonatal bacterial meningitis is a severe infectious disease with a high risk of neurodevelopmental sequelae. The causative pathogens may be related to specific clinical features of the disease. Therefore, this study aimed at determining the pathogen-specific and clinical features of bacterial meningitis in full-term neonates.Methods: We enrolled neonates from the Shanghai Neonate Meningitis Cohort (2005–2017), which is a multicenter retrospective cohort that recruits almost all full-term neonates in Shanghai who underwent lumbar puncture. Patient history and clinical examination results were extracted from the computer-documented information systems of four hospitals. The trends of pathogen distribution were analyzed and differences in the clinical manifestations, treatment, and clinical outcomes at discharge were compared according to the causative pathogen. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the pathogen-specific risk of neurological complications.Results: In total, 518 cases of neonatal meningitis, including 189 proven cases, were included. Group B Streptococcus (GBS) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) were the leading pathogens in proven cases of early-onset and late-onset neonatal meningitis, respectively. The proportion of early-onset and late-onset GBS and late-onset E. coli meningitis cases increased gradually. GBS meningitis had the highest risk of neurological complications, whereas the overall incidence of hydrocephalus and brain abscess in E. coli was higher than that in GBS.Conclusions: Rates of neonatal GBS and E. coli meningitis were high in 2005–2017 in Shanghai, and the risk of neurological complications was also high. Therefore, active prevention, rational use of antibiotics, and continuous monitoring of GBS and E. coli in neonates should be initiated in Shanghai

Zn Diffusion and α-Fe(Zn) Layer Growth During Annealing of Zn-Coated B Steel

Direct hot press forming of Zn-coated 22MnB5 steels is impeded by micro-cracks that occur in the substrate due to the presence of Zn during the forming process. A study was therefore undertaken to quantify concentration of Zn across the α-Fe(Zn) coating and on grain boundaries in the α-Fe(Zn) layer and the underlying γ-Fe(Zn) substrate after isothermal annealing of Zn-coated 22MnB5 at 1173 K (900 °C) and to link the Zn distribution to the amount and type of micro-cracks observed in deformed samples. Finite difference model was developed to describe Zn diffusion and the growth of the α-Fe(Zn) layer. The penetration of Zn into the γ-Fe(Zn) substrate after 600 seconds annealing at 1173 K (900 °C) through bulk diffusion is estimated to be 3 μm, and the diffusion depth of Zn on the γ-Fe(Zn) grain boundaries is estimated to be 6 μm, which is significantly shorter than the maximum length (15 to 50 μm) of the micro-cracks formed in the severely stressed conditions, indicating that the Zn diffusion into the γ-Fe(Zn) from the α-Fe(Zn) during annealing is not correlated to the depth of micro-cracks. On the other hand, the maximum amount of Zn present in α-Fe(Zn) layer decreases with annealing time as the layer grows and Zn oxidizes, and the amount of Zn-enriched areas inside the α-Fe(Zn) layer is reduced leading to reduced length of cracking. Solid-Metal-Induced Embrittlement mechanism is proposed to explain the benefit of extended annealing on reduced depth of micro-crack penetration into the γ-Fe(Zn) substrate