Anomalous oxidation of Fe-Si alloys under a low oxygen pressure at 800 °C

The authors acknowledge financial support by NSFC of China under the research projects (Nos. 50971129 and 51371183).Abstract The oxidation of three Fe-xSi alloys (x = 5, 9, 13 at.%) under 10−20 atm O2 at 800 °C formed in all cases SiO2 layers. For Fe-5Si this layer broke down and healed up periodically forming an anomalous internal oxidation zone with spherical and net-shaped SiO2 particles. The SiO2 layer formed on the other two alloys spalled off due to the growth and thermal stress accumulated. The critical silicon content needed for its external oxidation on Fe-Si alloys calculated according to an extension of Wagner's theory under the present experimental conditions is significantly smaller than the experimental results.PostprintPeer reviewe

Construction and functional analysis of nattokinase-producing cucumber obtained by the CRISPR-Cas9 system

Nattokinase (NK) is effective in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Cucumber is rich in nutrients with low sugar content and is safe for consumption. The aim of this study was to construct a therapeutic cucumber that can express NK, which can prevent and alleviate cardiovascular diseases by consumption. Because the Bitter fruit ( Bt ) gene contributes to bitter taste but has no obvious effect on the growth and development of cucumber, so the NK-producing cucumber was constructed by replacing the Bt gene with NK by using CRISPR/Cas9. The pZHY988-Cas9-sgRNA and pX6-LHA-U6-NK-T-RHA vectors were constructed and transformed into Agrobacterium tumefaciens EHA105, which was transformed into cucumber by floral dip method. The crude extract of NK-producing cucumber had significant thrombolytic activity in vitro . In addition, treatment with the crude extract significantly delayed thrombus tail appearance, and the thrombin time of mice was much longer than that of normal mice. The degrees of coagulation and blood viscosity as well as hemorheological properties improved significantly after crude extract treatment. These findings show that NK-producing cucumber can effectively alleviate thrombosis and improve blood biochemical parameters, providing a new direction for diet therapy against cardiovascular diseases

Anomalous oxidation of Fe-Si alloys under a low oxygen pressure at 800 °C

Abstract The oxidation of three Fe-xSi alloys (x = 5, 9, 13 at.%) under 10−20 atm O2 at 800 °C formed in all cases SiO2 layers. For Fe-5Si this layer broke down and healed up periodically forming an anomalous internal oxidation zone with spherical and net-shaped SiO2 particles. The SiO2 layer formed on the other two alloys spalled off due to the growth and thermal stress accumulated. The critical silicon content needed for its external oxidation on Fe-Si alloys calculated according to an extension of Wagner's theory under the present experimental conditions is significantly smaller than the experimental results.</p