An XPS Investigation of Thermal Degradation and Charring of PMMA Clay Nanocomposites

Poly(methyl methacrylate)–clay nanocomposites have been studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It is clear that as the polymer undergoes thermal degradation, the clay accumulates at the surface and the barrier properties which result from this clay accumulation have been described as the reason for the decreased heat release rate for nanocomposites. The surface composition of the clay changes as the nanocomposite is heated and the changes are affected by the organic-modification that were applied to the clay in order to prepare the nanocomposite

Comparative study of Al-Mg-Ti(-Sc-Zr) alloys fabricated by cold metal transfer and electron beam additive manufacturing

This thesis presents the results of a comparative study of Al-Mg-Ti(-Sc-Zr) alloys fabricated by two different wire-based additive manufacturing technologies. It presents the performance of the selected Al alloys fabricated by different wire-based AM and reveals the influence of the Sc and Zr on the Al alloys fabricated by wire-based AM

Bilateral penile crural fractures due to traumatic injuries: A rare case report and literature review

Penile crural fractures caused by traumatic injuries are rare urological emergencies similar to urethral bulb injuries. This case report discusses the findings of a 59-year-old patient who presented to our emergency department 12 h after an electric bicycle accident. Clinical examination revealed an elevated body temperature, bruised perineal skin, tender penis, and swollen scrotum. Imaging confirmed a penile fracture at the bilateral crus of the penis without considerable urethral trauma. The patient underwent conservative treatment and was followed up on an outpatient basis for approximately three months. Consequently, the patient is relieved of penile pain, has regained erectile function, and reports a satisfactory sexual life. Moreover, this study discusses the efficacy of conservative treatment combined with outpatient follow-up in managing bilateral penile crural fractures

Determination of the Role of Microcystis aeruginosa in Toxin Generation Based on Phosphoproteomic Profiles

Microcystis aeruginosa is the most common species responsible for toxic cyanobacterial blooms and is considered a significant contributor to the production of cyanotoxins, particularly the potent liver toxins called microcystins. Numerous studies investigating Microcystis spp. blooms have revealed their deleterious effects in freshwater environments. However, the available knowledge regarding the global phosphoproteomics of M. aeruginosa and their regulatory roles in toxin generation is limited. In this study, we conducted comparative phosphoproteomic profiling of non-toxic and toxin-producing strains of M. aeruginosa. We identified 59 phosphorylation sites in 37 proteins in a non-toxic strain and 26 phosphorylation sites in 18 proteins in a toxin-producing strain. The analysis of protein phosphorylation abundances and functions in redox homeostasis, energy metabolism, light absorption and photosynthesis showed marked differences between the non-toxic and toxin-producing strains of M. aeruginosa, indicating that these processes are strongly related to toxin generation. Moreover, the protein-protein interaction results indicated that BJ0JVG8 can directly interact with the PemK-like toxin protein B0JQN8. Thus, the phosphorylation of B0JQN8 appears to be associated with the regulatory roles of toxins in physiological activity

Solution treatment-induced re-precipitation behavior in a selective laser melted Ti-12Mo-6Zr-2Fe alloy

Solution treatment (ST) can be considered as an effective method with multifunctional effects on the material properties. However, re-precipitation effect of ST on the selective laser melted (SLM) Ti-12Mo-6Zr-2Fe (TMZF) alloy have not been revealed. In this work, microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of SLM TMZF before and after a ST were studied. Triggered by the element diffusion-driven factor, as-fabricated (AF) samples with full β-Ti phase transformed into ST samples with α″-Ti phase and β-Ti phase during ST. Moreover, re-precipitation effect caused by α″-Ti phase significantly improved the mechanical properties of SLM TMZF.</p

Functional Specialization of Duplicated AGAMOUS Homologs in Regulating Floral Organ Development of Medicago truncatula

The C function gene AGAMOUS (AG) encodes for a MADS-box transcription factor required for floral organ identity and floral meristem (FM) determinacy in angiosperms. Unlike Arabidopsis, most legume plants possess two AG homologs arose by an ancient genome duplication event. Recently, two euAGAMOUS genes, MtAGa and MtAGb, were characterized and shown to fulfill the C function activity in the model legume Medicago truncatula. Here, we reported the isolation and characterization of a new mtaga allele by screening the Medicago Tnt1 insertion mutant collection. We found that MtAGa was not only required for controlling the stamen and carpel identity but also affected pod and seed development. Genetic analysis indicated that MtAGa and MtAGb redundantly control Medicago floral organ identity, but have minimal distinct functions in regulating stamen and carpel development in a dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, the stamens and carpels are mostly converted to numerous vexillum-like petals in the double mutant of mtaga mtagb, which is distinguished from Arabidopsis ag. Further qRT-PCR analysis in different mtag mutants revealed that MtAGa and MtAGb can repress the expression of putative A and B function genes as well as MtWUS, but promote putative D function genes expression in M. truncatula. In addition, we found that the abnormal dorsal petal phenotype observed in the mtaga mtagb double mutant is associated with the upregulation of CYCLOIDEA (CYC)-like TCP genes. Taken together, our data suggest that the redundant MtAGa and MtAGb genes of M. truncatula employ a conserved mechanism of action similar to Arabidopsis in determining floral organ identity and FM determinacy but may have evolved distinct function in regulating floral symmetry by coordinating with specific floral dorsoventral identity factors

Solution treatment-induced re-precipitation behavior in a selective laser melted Ti-12Mo-6Zr-2Fe alloy

Solution treatment (ST) can be considered as an effective method with multifunctional effects on the material properties. However, re-precipitation effect of ST on the selective laser melted (SLM) Ti-12Mo-6Zr-2Fe (TMZF) alloy have not been revealed. In this work, microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of SLM TMZF before and after a ST were studied. Triggered by the element diffusion-driven factor, as-fabricated (AF) samples with full β-Ti phase transformed into ST samples with α″-Ti phase and β-Ti phase during ST. Moreover, re-precipitation effect caused by α″-Ti phase significantly improved the mechanical properties of SLM TMZF.</p

DocEE: A large-scale and fine-grained benchmark for document-level event extraction

Ministry of Education, Singapore under its Academic Research Funding Tier

Dynamics of Bacterial Community Diversity and Structure in the Terminal Reservoir of the South-To-North Water Diversion Project in China

The South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP) is the largest water transfer project in the world, and its purpose is to relax water constraints in a region facing severe water scarcity. Bacterial communities from these reservoirs are important to human health, and analyzing their diversity and structure is crucial to water safety. Here, we investigated the dynamics of bacterial communities and their relationship with environmental parameters in the terminal reservoir (Miyun Reservoir) of the Middle Route of the SNWDP by high-throughput sequencing technology. Our results showed that Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Bacterioidetes were the most abundant phyla in the water column, and the community composition fluctuated seasonally. Moreover, the detected diversity of the bacterial community composition provided novel insights into the ongoing biogeochemical processes. The temperature was positively correlated with the dominant bacteria, with other factors, including the total dissolved solids, total phosphorus, dissolved oxygen and total nitrogen, shaping the structure and distribution of the microbial community. Furthermore, the metagenome showed broad phylogenetic diversity, indicating that organisms were involved in multiple essential environmental processes. This work is important for building a database to understand how microbial communities change after water transfers