Tumor-Infiltrating Immune Cells and PD-L1 as Prognostic Biomarkers in Primary Esophageal Small Cell Carcinoma

Primary esophageal small cell carcinoma (PESCC) is a weakly prevalent but lethal malignancy with early metastasis and a poor prognosis. Currently, neither effective prognostic indicators nor curative therapies are available for PESCC. Immunotherapy has now evolved into one of the most promising therapies for cancer patients. Tumor-infiltrating immune cells which are integral to the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) are recognized as highly important for prognosis prediction, while the responsiveness to immune checkpoint blockade may be subject to the features of TIME. In this study, we aim to identify the TIME and provide indication for the applicability of immune checkpoint therapy in PESCC. We found that PD-L1 expression was detected in 33.33% (27/81) of all the patients, mostly exhibiting a stroma-only pattern and that it was positively associated with tumor-infiltrating immune cells (CD4(+), CD8(+), and CD163(+)). In 74.07% of PD-L1-positive specimens, PD-L1(+)CD163(+) cells were colocalized more with CD4(+) than CD8(+) T cells. 83.95% (68/81) of all the specimens were infiltrated with more CD4(+) than CD8(+) T cells. Further analysis showed FoxP3(+) Tregs constituted 13-27% of the total CD4(+) T cell population. The Kaplan--Meier analysis indicated several factors that contribute to poor survival, including negative PD-L1 expression, rich CD4 expression, rich FoxP3 expression, a low CD8/CD4 ratio, and a high FoxP3/CD8 ratio. A nomogram model was constructed and showed good performance for survival prediction. These results highlight that a suppressive TIME contributes to poor survival of patients with PESCC. TIME analyses might be a promising approach to evaluate the possibility and effect of immune checkpoint-based immunotherapeutics in PESCC patients

Experimental Research on Mechanical Property and Environmental Safety of an Industrial Residue Waste Subgrade Material

In order to promote the sustainable use of oil shale residues, a novel subgrade material (SOF) composed of silty clay, oil shale ash residue, and fly ash was developed. The aim of this paper is to study the mechanical behavior and environmental impact of SOF, which is regarded as the safety assessment and prediction for the application of this novel material. To this purpose, the road performance, dynamic properties, and environment impact tests are conducted. In terms of the road performance, the test results of SOF exceed the standard requirement, especially for CBR (California bearing ratio), which can maintain good performance at bad conditions of low compaction degree and being soaked for a long time. The dynamic properties under cyclic loadings are better than most of original and stabilized soils. The shear strength parameters and the anti-damage mechanism are also discussed; research results show that the friction of SOF mostly contributes to shear strength under high stress conditions, while its cohesion tends to play a more important role under low stress conditions. According to the deformation variation, the accumulation settlement of SOF under vehicle loadings after several years is predicted, which is far lower than the limit of expressway and Grade I highway. Furthermore, the chemical stability and toxicity of SOF leachates are environmentally friendly, which are in line with the benchmarks of Class II surface water and Class III ground water. All the experimental results manifest that SOF used as subgrade filling has good application potential and safety

Evaluation of operation regulation ability of a power plant unit in heating season

In order to further improve the operation level of thermal power units directly regulated by the power grid, the regulation capacity of a power plant unit is comprehensively analyzed and evaluated from the aspects of heating capacity, minimum startup mode of the whole plant, heating state and load capacity, etc., to provide support for the accurate dispatching of the unit

Effect of Activation Modes on the Property Characterization of Crumb Rubber Powder from Waste Tires and Performance Analysis of Activated Rubber-Modified Asphalt Binder

The rubber molecular chain in waste vulcanized tire rubber will be crosslinked to form a network structure that would be difficult to degrade in asphalt. Crumb rubber treated by desulfurization activation could form active groups on the surface by interrupting the crosslinking bond to improve the compatibility between crumb rubber powder and asphalt. To explore the influence of activation modes on crumb rubber powder and the corresponding rubber-modified asphalt binder, crumb rubber powder was firstly activated through three commonly used activation methods and asphalt binder samples modified by activated crumb rubber powder were also prepared. The basic properties of activated crumb rubber powder were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, and conventional tests were used to study the conventional physical properties of the asphalt binder. The infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis showed that the crumb rubber powder was mainly composed of alkanes, alkenes, sulfonic acids, aromatics, and a little silica rubber and antioxidant zinc oxide, which is suitable for asphalt modification. The simple heat activation treatment method is not enough to greatly destroy the cross-linking structure of crumb rubber powder, but the “C=C” bond was destroyed more seriously. Under the action of adjuvants, the polysulfide cross-linking bond could be broken in crumb rubber powder. The heat treatment and chemical treatment could not achieve the purpose of reducing the viscosity and improving the compatibility of rubber asphalt binder through desulfurization activation. The mechanochemical treatment would help to improve the performance of crumb-rubber-powder-modified asphalt binder. The data correlation analysis based on the grey relational degree can provide a reference for the selection of activated crumb rubber powder for different application requirements in the asphalt modification procedure

Effect of Desulfurization Process Variables on the Properties of Crumb Rubber Modified Asphalt

A large number of waste tires are in urgent need of effective treatment, and breaking waste tires into crumb rubber powder for modifying asphalt has been proved as a good idea to solve waste tires. Crumb rubber modified asphalt not only has good high and low temperature performance, durability, and aging resistance but can also reduce pavement noise and diseases, which has wide application prospects. In this study, crumb rubber powder was desulfurized by mechanochemical method to prepare desulfurized crumb rubber modified asphalt. During the desulfurization process of crumb rubber, the effects of desulfurization process variables including desulfurizer type, desulfurizer content, and desulfurization mixing temperature and time were considered, and then the physical properties of modified asphalt were tested. The test results showed that after mixing crumb rubber powder with desulfurizer, the viscosity of crumb rubber powder modified asphalt can be reduced. Moreover, the storage stability of crumb rubber powder modified asphalt could also be improved by mixing crumb rubber with desulfurizer. Based on the physical properties of crumb rubber powder modified asphalt, the desulfurization process of selected organic disulfide (OD) desulfurizer was optimized as follows: the OD desulfurizer content was 3%, the desulfurization mixing temperature was 160 °C, and the mixing time was 30 min. In addition, Fourier infrared spectroscopy analysis was carried out to explore the modification mechanism of desulfurized crumb rubber powder modified asphalt. There is no fracture and formation of chemical bonds, and the modification of asphalt by crumb rubber powder is mainly physical modification

Improving Electromagnetic Interference Shielding While Retaining Mechanical Properties of Carbon Fiber-Based Composites by Introducing Carbon Nanofiber Sheet into Laminate Structure

The demands for carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRCs) are growing in the aviation industry for fuel consumption savings, despite the increasing risk of electromagnetic interference (EMI). In this work, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) sheets were prepared by electrospinning. Carbon nanofiber (CNF) sheets were obtained by the carbonization of PAN sheets. The laminate structures of the CF reinforced bismaleimide (BMI)-based composites were specially designed by introducing two thin CNF sheets in the upper and bottom plies, according to EMI shielding theory. The results showed that the introduction of CNF sheets led to a substantial increase in the EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) by 35.0% compared with CFRCs free of CNF sheets. The dominant EMI shielding mechanism was reflection. Noticeably, the introduction of CNF sheets did not impact the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of CFRCs, indicating that the strategy provided in this work was feasible for fabricating CFRCs with a high EMI shielding performance without sacrificing their mechanical properties. Therefore, the satisfactory EMI shielding and ILSS properties, coupled with a high service temperature, made BMI-based composites a promising candidate in some specific fields, such as high-speed aircrafts and missiles

Study on Preparation and Performance of Foamed Lightweight Soil Grouting Material for Goaf Treatment

The harm goafs and other underground cavities cause to roads, which could lead to secondary geological hazards, has attracted increased attention. This study focuses on developing and evaluating the effectiveness of foamed lightweight soil grouting material for goaf treatment. The study examines the foam stability of different foaming agent dilution ratios by analyzing foam density, foaming ratio, settlement distance, and bleeding volume. The results show that there is no significant variation in foam settlement distance for different dilution ratios, and the difference in foaming ratio does not exceed 0.4 times. However, the bleeding volume is positively correlated with the dilution ratio of the foaming agent. At a dilution ratio of 60×, the bleeding volume is about 1.5 times greater than that at 40×, which reduces foam stability. Furthermore, an appropriate amount of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate improves both the foaming ability of the foaming agent and the stability of the foam. Additionally, this study investigates how the water–solid ratio affects the basic physical properties, water absorption, and stability of foamed lightweight soil. Foamed lightweight soil with target volumetric weights of 6.0 kN/m3 and 7.0 kN/m3 meet the flow value requirement of 170~190 mm when the water–solid ratio ranges are set at 1:1.6~1:1.9 and 1:1.9~1:2.0, respectively. With an increasing proportion of solids in the water–solid ratio, the unconfined compressive strength initially increases and then decreases after 7 and 28 days, reaching its maximum value when the water–solid ratio is between 1:1.7 and 1:1.8. The values of unconfined compressive strength at 28 days are approximately 1.5–2 times higher than those at 7 days. When the water ratio is excessively high, the water absorption rate of foamed lightweight soil increases, resulting in the formation of connected pores inside the material. Therefore, the water–solid ratio should not be set at 1:1.6. During the dry–wet cycle test, the unconfined compressive strength of foamed lightweight soil decreases, but the rate of strength loss is relatively low. The prepared foamed lightweight soil meets the durability requirements during dry–wet cycles. The outcomes of this study may aid the development of enhanced approaches for goaf treatment using foamed lightweight soil grout material

Progress on improving strength-toughness of ultra-high strength martensitic steels for aerospace applications: a review

Ultra-high strength steels are the crucial irreplaceable materials in the fields of aerospace, national defense and military industries. Unfortunately, it is challenging to achieve the requirements of vital components because of the strength-toughness trade-off of ultra-high strength steels. In this review, three types of conventional ultra-high strength martensitic steels are systematically summarized. These are: (i) low alloy ultra-high strength steels; (ii) ultra-high strength maraging steels; and (iii) Co–Ni secondary hardening steels. The main influencing factors of mechanical properties of ultra-high strength steels and the exploration on strengthening/toughening are discussed. In particular, the design concept based on the synergistic precipitation of low lattice misfit nano-particles and the formation of martensite matrix with high-density dislocations is a promising approach to develop novel ultra-high strength steels. Finally, some suggestions on the traditional design methods and future development of ultra-high strength steels are put forward and an outlook on future work is offered. This provides guidance for the development of novel ultra-high strength steels with excellent comprehensive performance