Preparation and Microstructure of Machinable Al\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e/Mica Composite by Ball Milling and Hot-Press Sintering

A machinable α-Al2O3/mica composite was prepared by hot-press sintering. In this experiment, a mica-contained glass ceramic in the MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-F glassy system was employed and the base glass powders were obtained by traditional melting-quenched method. Then, α-Al2O3 milling swarf was introduced by medium α-alumina milling ball to the glass powders. The test results indicate that the composites consist of mica crystal and mullite crystal, which are precipitated in the base glass. The α-Al2O3 shows an irregular polygon, which is inlayed in the base material. With the decrease of size of the base glass powders, the boundaries of composites among the sintered powders gradually vanish. The mica crystals in the composite also show an interlocking characteristic, which is a prerequisite of mica-contained glass ceramics with good machinability. Under different pressures, the tendency of preferred orientation is decreased with the reduction in grain size of glass powders, and the microstructure is proved to be consistent, significantly decreasing the composite’s hardness. Therefore, the machinability of the composite is improved

Effects of Colloidal NanoSiO2 on Fly Ash Hydration

The influences of colloidal nanoSiO₂ (CNS) addition on fly ash hydration and microstructure development of cement–fly ash pastes were investigated. The results revealed that fly ash hydration is accelerated by CNS at early age thus enhancing the early age strength of the materials. However, the pozzolanic reaction of fly ash at later age is significantly hindered due to the reduced CH content resulting from CNS hydration and the hindered cement hydration, as well as due to a layer of dense, low Ca/Si hydrate coating around fly ash particles. The results and discussions explain why the cementitious materials containing nanoSiO₂ had a lower strength gain at later ages. Methods of mitigating the adverse effect of nanoSiO₂ on cement/FA hydration at later ages were proposed

Modification Effects of Colloidal NanoSiO₂ on Cement Hydration and its Gel Property

To understand the effects of colloidal nanoSiO₂ (CNS) on cement hydration and gel properties in the early and later age, hydration heat, calcium morphology, hydroxide content, non-evaporable water (NEW) content and nanoscale mechanical properties were measured. Some comparison studies were conducted on silica fume (SF) paste, as well. Results revealed that the accelerating effect of CNS on hydration in the early age is achieved by the acceleration of cement dissolution and hydrate nucleation on reacted nanoSiO₂ particles. Although cement hydration can be greatly accelerated by CNS in the early age, its later age hydration is hindered. The NEW content of CNS-added paste experiences a higher rate of increase initially, but gradually becomes smaller than that of the control paste due to changes in the gel structure, making NEW content an unsuitable method for monitoring the hydration of CNS-added paste. However, nanoindentation results revealed that CNS modifies the gel structure to increase the high-stiffness C–S–H gel content

Novel Evidence for the Formation of Semi-Permeable Membrane Surrounding the Portland Cement Particles During the Induction Period

This letter presents strong novel evidence for the semi-permeable membrane surrounding Portland cement during the induction period. In the cement hydration, heat curve obtained through high-resolution differential scanning calorimetry under isothermal conditions, one main and some other smaller endothermic peaks were detected. These endothermic peaks are believed to be caused by the osmotic expansion that occurs after the semi-permeable membrane forms, not the precipitation of calcium hydroxide or the imbibition of water during the induction period

AtomNet-Aided OTUD7B Inhibitor Discovery and Validation

Protein deubiquitinases play critical pathophysiological roles in cancer. Among all deubiquitinases, an oncogenic function for OTUD7B has been established in genetic NSCLC murine models. However, few deubiquitinase inhibitors have been developed due to technical challenges. Here, we report a putative small molecule OTUD7B inhibitor obtained from an AI-aided screen of a 4 million compound library. We validated the effects of the OTUD7B inhibitor (7Bi) in reducing Akt-pS473 signals in multiple NSCLC and HEK293 cells by blocking OTUD7B-governed GβL deubiquitination in cells, as well as inhibiting OTUD7B-mediated cleavage of K11-linked di-ub in an in vitro enzyme assay. Furthermore, we report in leukemia cells, either genetic depletion or 7Bi-mediated pharmacological inhibition of OTUD7B reduces Akt-pS473 via inhibiting the OTUD7B/GβL signaling axis. Together, our study identifies the first putative OTUD7B inhibitor showing activities both in cells and in vitro, with promising applications as a therapeutic agent in treating cancer with OTUD7B overexpression

A Molecular Design Approach Towards Elastic and Multifunctional Polymer Electronics

Next-generation wearable electronics require enhanced mechanical robustness and device complexity. Besides previously reported softness and stretchability, desired merits for practical use include elasticity, solvent resistance, facile patternability and high charge carrier mobility. Here, we show a molecular design concept that simultaneously achieves all these targeted properties in both polymeric semiconductors and dielectrics, without compromising electrical performance. This is enabled by covalently-embedded in-situ rubber matrix (iRUM) formation through good mixing of iRUM precursors with polymer electronic materials, and finely-controlled composite film morphology built on azide crosslinking chemistry which leverages different reactivities with C–H and C=C bonds. The high covalent crosslinking density results in both superior elasticity and solvent resistance. When applied in stretchable transistors, the iRUM-semiconductor film retained its mobility after stretching to 100% strain, and exhibited record-high mobility retention of 1 cm2 V−1 s−1 after 1000 stretching-releasing cycles at 50% strain. The cycling life was stably extended to 5000 cycles, five times longer than all reported semiconductors. Furthermore, we fabricated elastic transistors via consecutively photo-patterning of the dielectric and semiconducting layers, demonstrating the potential of solution-processed multilayer device manufacturing. The iRUM represents a molecule-level design approach towards robust skin-inspired electronics

Toll‐like receptor‐mediated IRE1α activation as a therapeutic target for inflammatory arthritis

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102185/1/embj2013183-sup-0004-SourceData-S4.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102185/2/embj2013183-sup-0001.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102185/3/embj2013183-sup-0008-SourceData-S8.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102185/4/embj2013183-sup-0005-SourceData-S5.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102185/5/embj2013183-sup-0001-SourceData-S1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102185/6/embj2013183-sup-0009-SourceData-S9.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102185/7/embj2013183-sup-0006-SourceData-S6.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102185/8/embj2013183-sup-0002-SourceData-S2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102185/9/embj2013183-sup-0010-SourceData-S10.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102185/10/embj2013183-sup-0007-SourceData-S7.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102185/11/embj2013183-sup-0003-SourceData-S3.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102185/12/embj2013183.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102185/13/embj2013183.reviewer_comments.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102185/14/embj2013183-sup-0011-SourceData-S11.pd

Thermal adaptation of the elderly during summer in a hot humid area: Psychological, behavioral, and physiological responses

Elderly demand for thermal comfort and energy conservation in senior citizen centers is increasing in an aging society. To reveal the thermal responses of the elderly in a warm summer environment, a field study involving experimental measurements was conducted in Chongqing, China. The study included 333 subjects in 17 residential buildings and 119 subjects in 6 elderly nursing homes; it showed that elderly persons as passive users of air conditioners preferred cooling by natural ventilation. The mean thermal sensation vote was lower than estimates obtained from the PMV model in warm environments. The physiological responses of eight elderly subjects (65 ± 3) were measured in a climate chamber at 18 °C and 34 °C and compared with those from eight college students (22 ± 1) and eight middle-aged subjects (50 ± 5). In this chamber, oral temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate of elderly and middle-aged persons were determined to be almost constant as the air temperature was changed to a hot/cold environment for 30 min, a different result from that of the young subjects. However, the skin temperature for all age groups showed variation with air temperature, suggesting skin temperature as an optimal monitoring parameter for the entire population