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Background: Immune responses, especially type 2 immunity, might be related to the prevalence of thyroid nodules, while the key regulators and potential pathways are remaining largely unknown. In addition, the immune status of individuals could be affected by mixed metabolic background. Herein our aim was to investigate the adjusted association between ultrasound-diagnosed low risk thyroid nodules and immune responses, excluding the interference of metabolic effects on immunity. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 1764 subjects who underwent a thorough thyroid ultrasound examination. To eliminate the interference of confounders, we used propensity score matching (PSM) to match age, gender, cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking, parameters that are related with metabolic syndrome (MetS). Then the potential effectors of immune responses involved in the laboratorial assays were evaluated. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to assess the independent predictors of thyroid nodules in a multivariate manner. Results: The 1172 subjects were remained after PSM, and differences of demographic background between subjects with and without thyroid nodules were eliminated. Metabolic parameters comprising blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein and serum uric acid were shown no significant difference between post-PSM subjects with and without thyroid nodules. Among the biochemistry and hematological parameters, white blood cell count and the positive rate of eosinophil percentage were increased in subjects with thyroid nodules than in those without thyroid nodules. In contrast, the positive rate of basophil percentage was lower in subjects with thyroid nodules than in those without thyroid nodules. In addition, the thyroid function test results showed that subjects with thyroid nodules had higher positive rates of antithyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) and antithyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) than subjects without thyroid nodules. The logistic regression analysis indicated that the positive value of TgAb as well as high level of white blood cell count and BMI could serve as independent risk factors of thyroid nodules. Conclusions: The type 2 immune responses mediated by increased level of eosinophils, along with positive value of TgAb and TPOAb were associated with the presence of thyroid nodules. In addition, the potential role of basophils in protecting against thyroid nodules and the pathogenesis of immune-metabolic status remains to be elucidated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isothermal hot compression tests were conducted on the 6063 aluminum alloy using a Gleeble-3810 thermal simulator at four different strain rates (0.01, 0.1, 1, and 10 s–1) and five different temperatures (300, 350, 400, 450, and 500°C). Based on the constitutive relationship to process the experimental data, processing maps were produced to evaluate the efficiency of power dissipation (η) and identify regimes with flow instability. Processing maps were produced for two regions with relatively high η at a strain of 0.6, namely (300–320)°C/(0.01–0.02) s–1 and (400–500)°C/(0.01–1) s–1. There were also two unstable regions at (300–325)°C/(0.06–1.5) s–1 and (350–500)°C/(3–10) s–1. The microstructures observed by optical microscopy and electron back-scattered diffraction maps indicated that the deformed samples only underwent dynamic recovery under deformation conditions of (300–320)°C/(0.01–0.02) s–1, while at 500°C/0.01 s–1 the samples showed a high degree of dynamic recrystallization and then produced new equiaxed fine grains. At high strain rates, the precipitates had a pinning effect on dislocations, leading to stress concentration. Local plastic deformation occurred, resulting in thermoplastic instability. Therefore, the optimum processing conditions for the 6063 aluminum alloy determined from true stress-strain curves, processing maps, and microstructural analysis were 500°C/0.01 s–1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better understand cavitation nucleation and crack initiation in 35CrMo steel during high-temperature tensile processing and the effect of stress triaxiality on its fracture behaviors, uniaxial and notch high-temperature tensile tests were performed. The microstructure, fracture morphology, fracture strain, and stress triaxiality of the tested 35CrMo steel were then characterized and discussed. The results showed that crack formation in 35CrMo steel included stages of nucleation, growth, and microcavity aggregation. Scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy demonstrated that crack formation was closely related to the presence of steel inclusions. High-temperature tensile testing of samples with different notch radii showed that the fracture strain of 35CrMo steel was decreased with increasing stress triaxiality, that is, increased stress levels corresponded to decreased material plasticity. In addition, the recrystallization degree was decreased with increased stress triaxiality, and the grain size growth was slowed. The failure of 35CrMo steel occurred via ductile fracture, and low stress triaxiality, and high temperature conditions induced large and deep dimples on the fracture surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]