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Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of Al2O3 mass fraction on the corrosive-wear and electrochemical performance of NiTi coating in 3.5% NaCl solution. Design/methodology/approach: The NiTi–xAl2O3 coatings were fabricated on S355 steel by laser cladding, and their corrosive-wear and electrochemical performance were investigated using a wear tester and electrochemical workstation, respectively. Findings: The wear rates of NiTi–5%Al2O3, –10%Al2O3 and –15%Al2O3 coatings are 82.33, 54.23 and 30.10 µm3 mm−1 N−1, respectively, showing that the wear resistance of NiTi–15%Al2O3 coating is the best. The wear mechanism is abrasive wear, which is attributed to the increase of coating hardness by the Al2O3 addition. The polarization resistance of NiTi–5%Al2O3, –10%Al2O3 and –15%Al2O3 coatings is 3,639, 5,125 and 10,024 O cm2, respectively, exhibiting that the NiTi–15% Al2O3 coating has the best corrosion resistance. Originality/value: The roles of Al2O3 in the corrosive-wear and electrochemical performance of NiTi–xAl2O3 coating were revealed through the experimental investigation. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-02-2024-0044/ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), a member of the Asteraceae family, is widely used in traditional herbal medicine. This review summarized agronomic conditions, genetic diversity, clinical application, and phytochemicals and pharmacological properties of safflower. The genetic diversity of the plant is rich. Abundant in secondary metabolites like flavonoids, phenols, alkaloids, polysaccharides, fatty acids, polyacetylene, and other bioactive components, the medicinal plant is effective for treating cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and respiratory diseases. Especially, Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HYSA) has a variety of pharmacological effects. In terms of treatment and prevention of some space sickness in space travel, safflower could be a potential therapeutic agent. Further studies are still required to support the development of safflower in medicine. Our review indicates that safflower is an important medicinal plant and research prospects regarding safflower are very broad and worthy of further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ni625-xTiC coatings were prepared on 45 steel by laser cladding to improve its corrosive-wear and electrochemical performances. The microstructure, phase composition and hardness of obtained coatings were analyzed using a super-depth field microscope, x-ray diffraction, and microhardness tester, respectively. The effects of TiC mass fraction on the corrosive-wear and electrochemical behaviors in 3.5% NaCl solution were investigated. The results show that the Ni625-xTiC coatings are mainly composed of γ-Ni, TiC, Cr23C6, Cr7C3, Fe3Mo, FeTi and Nb2C phases, and the coating hardness increases with the TiC mass fraction, which is 3 times that of substrate. The wear rates of Ni625-0%TiC, -5%TiC, -10%TiC and -15%TiC coatings are 65.86, 55.09, 47.92 and 42.15 μm3 mm−1 N−1, respectively, showing that the wear resistance of Ni625-15%TiC coating is the best. The wear mechanism is primary abrasive wear, accompanied with adhesive wear and pitting corrosion. Moreover, the polarization resistance Rp of Ni625-0%TiC, -5%TiC, -10%TiC and -15%TiC coatings is 1.136 × 105, 1.459 × 105, 8.619 × 104, 5.698 × 104 Ω cm2, respectively, showing that the Ni625-5%TiC has the best corrosion resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia that can result in adverse cardiovascular outcomes but is often difficult to detect. The use of machine learning (ML) algorithms for detecting AF has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. This study aims to systematically evaluate and summarize the overall diagnostic accuracy of the ML algorithms in detecting AF in electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. Methods: The searched databases included PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Google Scholar. The selected studies were subjected to a meta-analysis of diagnostic accuracy to synthesize the sensitivity and specificity. Results: A total of 14 studies were included, and the forest plot of the meta-analysis showed that the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 97% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.94-0.99) and 97% (95% CI: 0.95-0.99), respectively. Compared to traditional machine learning (TML) algorithms (sensitivity: 91.5%), deep learning (DL) algorithms (sensitivity: 98.1%) showed superior performance. Using multiple datasets and public datasets alone or in combination demonstrated slightly better performance than using a single dataset and proprietary datasets. Conclusions: ML algorithms are effective for detecting AF from ECGs. DL algorithms, particularly those based on convolutional neural networks (CNN), demonstrate superior performance in AF detection compared to TML algorithms. The integration of ML algorithms can help wearable devices diagnose AF earlier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a casting improvement process to enable the casting of Al-Cu alloy cylinder heads to achieve the required quality. The hot tearing defects generated in the fire face of the cylinder head during casting were simulated using MAGMA software. The simulation results show that the large wall thickness transition difference in the fire face of the cylinder head is the reason for the large temperature and stress gradient during solidification. Therefore, the first solution was optimised by forming the fire face as a whole into a flat plate, but the fire face centre area stress is still too high. The second optimisation option optimises the cold iron structure of the fire face, the probability of cracking in the fire face is reduced to 17%. These results have important reference significance for the optimisation of the Al-Cu alloy cylinder head hot tearing problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant and fruit surfaces are covered with cuticle wax and provide a protective barrier against biotic and abiotic stresses. Cuticle wax consists of very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) and their derivatives. β-Ketoacyl-CoA synthase (KCS) is a key enzyme in the synthesis of VLCFAs and provides a precursor for the synthesis of cuticle wax, but the KCS gene family was yet to be reported in the passion fruit (Passiflora edulis). In this study, thirty-two KCS genes were identified in the passion fruit genome and phylogenetically grouped as KCS1 -like, FAE1 -like, FDH -like, and CER6 -like. Furthermore, thirty-one PeKCS genes were positioned on seven chromosomes, while one PeKCS was localized to the unassembled genomic scaffold. The cis -element analysis provides insight into the possible role of PeKCS genes in phytohormones and stress responses. Syntenic analysis revealed that gene duplication played a crucial role in the expansion of the PeKCS gene family and underwent a strong purifying selection. All PeKCS proteins shared similar 3D structures, and a protein–protein interaction network was predicted with known Arabidopsis proteins. There were twenty putative ped-miRNAs which were also predicted that belong to nine families targeting thirteen PeKCS genes. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotation results were highly associated with fatty acid synthase and elongase activity, lipid metabolism, stress responses, and plant-pathogen interaction. The highly enriched transcription factors (TFs) including ERF, MYB, Dof, C2H2, TCP, LBD, NAC, and bHLH were predicted in PeKCS genes. qRT-PCR expression analysis revealed that most PeKCS genes were highly upregulated in leaves including PeKCS2, PeKCS4, PeKCS8, PeKCS13 , and PeKCS9 but not in stem and roots tissues under drought stress conditions compared with controls. Notably, most PeKCS genes were upregulated at 9th dpi under Fusarium kyushuense biotic stress condition compared to controls. This study provides a basis for further understanding the functions of KCS genes, improving wax and VLCFA biosynthesis, and improvement of passion fruit resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the second harmonic generation (SHG) method, a non-linear ultrasonic technique, is employed to investigate the interface debonding of steel-concrete composites. The quadratic parameter of non-linear constitutive relationship for the steel-concrete composites is adopted as a measure of the debonding between a steel component and a concrete component. The quadratic parameter is calculated based on the amplitude measurements of probing ultrasonic waves and the corresponding second harmonic generated by the non-linear response of the debonded steelconcrete interface. The ultrasonic experiments are conducted on both scaled-down laboratory samples and full-size structures. Results from both experiments show that the defined parameter is highly correlated with the debonding condition of the composite interface, indicating an excellent feasibility for its use in the detection of the variation of interface microstructure. The SHG experimental results are further compared with results from the amplitude attenuation, a conventional ultrasonic method. It is shown that the change in the defined parameter is orders of magnitude larger than the traditional attenuation coefficient. The results of the comparison demonstrate the higher sensitivity of the developed SHG method in terms of the assessment of interface debonding of steel-concrete composites, particularly in the early phase of structural deterioration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel set of multifunctional optically active π-conjugated polymers incorporating perylenyl moieties, were designed and synthesized. Chirality transfer and amplification from chiral unit to the mainchain backbone in dilute solution was achieved, which was closely related to the stereocenter in the pendant of a π-conjugated polymer. In addition, annealed films of these polymers exhibited near-infrared emission by direct absorption of visible light, resulting from the introduction of a strong fluorophore perylenyl moiety. Such a design strategy opens up new perspectives for the future development of novel optically active materials with near-infrared emission for photonic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islanding detection is a significant technical barrier to the distributed generation (DG) industry. When islanding occurs, the inverter current of DG has a strong correlation with load voltage of DG. With respect to the correlation, this paper proposes an islanding detection method (IDM) based on periodic matching of the sequence perturbation. In this periodic code matching detection method, a periodic sequence is introduced to perturb the inverter current amplitude. The IDM can be achieved by calculating periodic matching degree between the islanding detection coefficient and the sequence. The influence on IDM imposed by sequence characteristics and load variation is also discussed in this paper. According to IEEE Std. 1547, an islanding detection model is designed and simulated in this paper. The simulation and experiment results indicate a strong ability to anti-harmonic noise when the 1-0 non-zeroing sequence with six bits is selected as the perturbation sequence. The proposed method introduces little damage to grid. In the normal range of voltage and frequency, this method can detect the islanding of DG reliably and effectively even if load varies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]