Reinforcing connection within collective housing: a new vision of Red Steel City

Red Steel City is a historical residential complex built 64 year ago for the first workers of the Iron & Steel Complex in Wuhan, China, under the help design guidance of the former Soviet Union. Equipped with educational and medical facilities, this “City” nearly meets every need of the residents. Where residents worked boosted the development of steel, which is considered a prerequisite for industrialization, and where they lived became the template for the era when China was finding its footing in its incredible drive to industrialization. The original plan of Red Steel City did not consider practical conditions like varying family structures and the oversized courtyard space, which could be interpreted as a waste in a high-density city. The old workers have moved away, and it is proposed to be young professionals housing. Due to the shifting of users, sensitive intervention is needed to meet new demands. By proposing modular plug-in building units that better accommodate changing user needs, in addition to the separated buildings operating as loops to complete the enclosure of the courtyards and the modification of residential units to a proper scale, living spaces for various sized families are created, playground toolkits are also presented in the courtyards to activate this community. The new skin added to the existing facade offers alternative circulation and different scale shared space for residents, while the old facade surfaces become flexible walls. The intervention informs an organic system for collective living, the connections are made both physically and mentally, which would trigger spontaneous contributions by residents

Regulatory NK cells mediated between immunosuppressive monocytes and dysfunctional T cells in chronic HBV infection

Background and aims HBV infection represents a major health problem worldwide, but the immunological mechanisms by which HBV causes chronic persistent infection remain only partly understood. Recently, cell subsets with suppressive features have been recognised among monocytes and natural killer (NK) cells. Here we examine the effects of HBV on monocytes and NK cells. Methods Monocytes and NK cells derived from chronic HBV-infected patients and healthy controls were purified and characterised for phenotype, gene expression and cytokines secretion by flow cytometry, quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR, ELISA and western blotting. Culture and coculture of monocytes and NK cells were used to determine NK cell activation, using intracellular cytokines staining. Results In chronic HBV infection, monocytes express higher levels of PD-L1, HLA-E, interleukin (IL)-10 and TGF-β, and NK cells express higher levels of PD-1, CD94 and IL-10, compared with healthy individuals. HBV employs hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) to induce suppressive monocytes with HLA-E, PD-L1, IL-10 and TGF-β expression via the MyD88/NFκ B signalling pathway. HBV-treated monocytes induce NK cells to produce IL-10, via PD-L1 and HLA-E signals. Such NK cells inhibit autologous T cell activation. Conclusions Our findings reveal an immunosuppressive cascade, in which HBV generates suppressive monocytes, which initiate regulatory NK cells differentiation resulting in T cell inhibition

Effect of layer thickness on crack suppression in laser engineered net shaping of ceramic structure

Laser engineered net shaping (LENS) has been innovatively applied to direct additive manufacturing of ceramics in recent years. Using this technique, neat ceramic powder without binders can be completely melted and solidified, obtaining compact and high-purity netshaped ceramic structures rapidly. However, existing LENS process for fabricating ceramics suffers from cracking defect due to intrinsic brittleness of ceramics and high temperature gradient in deposition. Here we reported the effect of layer thickness on cracking in LENS of ceramic structure, which indicates that cracks can be effectively suppressed by reasonably optimizing process parameters. Pure Al2O3 structures with different layer thickness were fabricated by LENS system and their microstructure were analyzed to figure out the crack suppressing mechanism of optimizing layer thickness. Results indicate that cracks of fabricated specimen decreases obviously with the increase of layer thickness. Reduction of grain boundary defects and increase of transverse grain ratio are the main mechanism of crack suppression.Published versio

Effects of 12-Year Nitrogen Addition and Mowing on Plant-Soil Micronutrients in a Typical Steppe

Changes in soil micronutrient availability may have adverse consequences on grassland productivity, yet it’s still largely unclear how concurrent human practices, such as fertilization and mowing, affect micronutrient cycling in the plant-soil systems. Here, we measured six essential micronutrient (Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Co and Mo) contents in both plant pool (separated as aboveground plant parts, litter, and belowground roots) at the community level and soil pool (0–10 cm depth) after 12-year consecutive nitrogen (N) addition (0, 2, 10, and 50 g N m−2 year−1) and mowing in a typical steppe of the Mongolian Plateau. The results show that (i) medium-N (10 g m−2 year−1) and high-N (50 g m−2 year−1) addition rates significantly increased contents of soil-available Fe (+310.0%, averaging across the two N addition rates), Mn (+149.2%), Co (+123.6%) and Mo (+73.9%) irrespective of mowing treatment, whereas these addition treatments usually decreased contents of soil total Fe (−8.9%), Mn (−21.6%), Cu (−15.9%), Zn (−19.5%), Co (−16.4%) and Mo (−34.7%). (ii) Contents of Fe in aboveground plant parts, litter, and roots significantly decreased, whereas plant Mn increased with N addition. Contents of above ground plant Cu, Zn, Co, and Mo significantly decreased at high-N addition rate, whereas contents of micronutrients in roots and litters, except for Fe, generally increased with N addition. Moreover, the total amount of micronutrients in the plant pool (contents × biomass) significantly increased at the medium-N addition rate but decreased at the high-N addition rate. All N addition rates significantly enlarged the pool of litter micronutrients, and roots could hold more micronutrients under N addition, especially combined with mowing treatment. Importantly, although mowing could regulate the effects of N addition on variables (i) and (ii), the effects were weaker overall than those of N addition. (iii) Changes in root micronutrients, except for Mn, could explain corresponding changes in plant micronutrients (R2: 0.19–0.56, all p < 0.01), and significant linear correlations were also observed between soil-available Fe and Fe in plant and roots. Aboveground plant Mn was significantly correlated with soil-available Mn, while Co and Mo in roots were also significantly correlated with soil-available Co and Mo. These results indicate that soil micronutrient supply capacity may decrease due to a decrease in total micronutrient contents after long-term N addition and mowing. They also suggest that different magnitude responses of soil micronutrients in plants (i.e., litters, roots) and soil should be considered when comprehensively examining nutrient cycling in grassland ecosystems

Effects of TiO2 Doping on Microstructure and Properties of Directed Laser Deposition Alumina/Aluminum Titanate Composites

10.1080/17452759.2019.1622987Virtual and Physical Prototyping144371-38

Research progress in additive manufacturing of melt growth ceramics by laser directed energy deposition

Melt growth ceramics (MGC) is a new type of ceramic material with microstructure obtained by melting and solidification of raw materials. The clean and high-strength bonding interface shared by atoms makes it have excellent high-temperature mechanical properties and microstructure stability close to the melting point. It shows great application potential in the field of high thrust weight ratio aero-engine and heavy gas turbine hot end components in the future. Laser directed energy deposition (LDED) technology can effectively overcome the limitations of traditional preparation methods of MGC in terms of cycle, energy consumption and structural complexity. It provides a new solution for direct additive manufacturing of MGC components, and has become a research hotspot at home and abroad. Based on the introduction of the process principle of LDED technology, the microstructure characteristics and properties of different MGCs prepared by this technology at home and abroad were summarized in this paper, and the main research on the control of microstructure and cracking behaviour was comprehensively discussed. Based on the existing research progress, the development trend and key scientific problems to be further solved in this field were discussed. It was pointed out that inhibiting cracking and improving microstructure and properties are the primary problems faced at present. The development of materials and new processes is the key to breaking through the existing bottleneck and promote the development and application of MGC-LDED

Microstructure and Wear Resistance of TiCp/Ti6Al4V Composite Coatings by Follow-Up Ultrasonic-Assisted Laser Additive Manufacturing

With the increasing demand for the high agility and fast response of high-level equipment in the aerospace and energy power fields, it is increasingly urgent to improve the performance of the high-temperature and wear resistance of the corresponding high-level components. Ceramic-reinforced titanium matrix composites have excellent high-temperature and wear resistance, but, in laser additive manufacturing, the primary ceramic phase is coarse, and the morphology of the ceramic phase is difficult to control, which limits their further development. In this investigation, a follow-up ultrasonic-assisted laser-additive-manufacturing method was proposed to prepare a 30 wt.% TiC/Ti6Al4V composite coating on a Ti6Al4V surface. Under the effects of ultrasonic cavitation and acoustic streaming, the content of the unmelted TiC was reduced, the dendritic primary TiC in the solidification process was broken and the distribution uniformity of the primary TiC was improved. The content of the unmelted TiC in the composite coating decreased significantly under ultrasonic action, and it was only 50.23% of that without ultrasonic action. At the same time, the average size of the dendritic primary TiC in the composite coating decreased from 61.59 μm to 27.04 μm, which was 56.10% smaller than that without ultrasonic action. The average microhardness of the composite coating reached the maximum of 656.70 HV0.2 under ultrasonic power, and it was 83.21% higher than that of the Ti6Al4V substrate, and 26.44% higher than that of the composite coating without ultrasonic power. Due to the ultrasonic-cavitation and acoustic-streaming effects, the content of the unmelted TiC obviously decreased, so that the average friction coefficient of the composite coating increased, and the wear mechanism changed from abrasive wear to adhesive wear

MRI-measured periprostatic adipose tissue volume as a prognostic predictor in prostate cancer patients undergoing laparoscopic radical prostatectomy

ABSTRACTPeriprostatic adipose tissue (PPAT) has been reported to play an important role in prostate cancer (PCa) progression, however, the association between PPAT amount and prognosis of patients who underwent laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) still remains unclear. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the association between the PPAT volume and the prognosis of PCa patients after LRP. We retrospectively analyzed data of 189 PCa patients who underwent LRP in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital from July 2010 to August 2021. Volumes of PPAT and prostate were measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and normalized PPAT volume was computed (PPAT volume divided by prostate volume). Patients were then stratified into the high-PPAT group (n = 95) and low-PPAT group (n = 94) by the median of normalized PPAT volume (73%). The high-PPAT group had significantly higher Gleason score (total score 8 or more, 39.0% vs. 4.3%, p 73%) (hazard ratio 1.787 [1.075–3.156], p = 0.002) were independent risk factors for BCR post-operatively. In conclusion, MRI-measured PPAT volume is of significant prognostic value for PCa patients undergoing LRP