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Fretting wear has an adverse impact on the fatigue life of turbine blade roots. The current work is to comparatively investigate the fretting wear behaviour of the nickel-based superalloy surfaces produced by polishing and creep-feed profile grinding, respectively, in terms of surface/subsurface fretting damage, the friction coefficient, wear volume and wear rate. Experimental results show that the granulated tribolayer aggravates the workpiece wear, while the flat compacted tribolayer enhances the wear resistance ability of workpiece, irrespective of whether the workpiece is processed by polishing or grinding. However, the wear behaviors of tribolayers are different. For the polished surface, when the normal load exceeds 100 N, the main defects are crack, rupture, delamination and peeling of workpiece materials; the wear mechanism changes from severe oxidative wear to fatigue wear and abrasive wear when the loads increase from 50 to 180 N. As for the ground surface, the main wear mechanism is abrasive wear. Particularly, the ground surface possesses better wear-resistant ability than the polished surface because the former has the lower values in coefficient friction (0.23), wear volume (0.06×106 μm3) and wear rate (0.25×10-16 Pa-1). Finally, an illustration is given to characterize the evolution of wear debris on such nickel-based superalloy on the ground surface.

Introduction Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)1α has been shown to be activated and induces a glycolytic shift under hypoxic condition, however, little attention was paid to the role of HIF1α-actuated fructolysis in hypoxia-induced heart injury. Objectives In this study, we aim to explore the molecular mechanisms of miR-155-mediated fructose metabolism in hypoxic cardiac fibroblasts (CFs). Methods Immunostaining, western blot and quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) were performed to detect the expression of glucose transporter 5 (GLUT5), ketohexokinase (KHK)-A and KHK-C in miR-155−/− and miR-155wt CFs under normoxia or hypoxia. A microarray analysis of circRNAs was performed to identify circHIF1α. Then CoIP, RIP and mass spectrometry analysis were performed and identified SKIV2L2 (MTR4) and transformer 2 alpha (TRA2A), a member of the transformer 2 homolog family. pAd-SKIV2L2 was administrated after coronary artery ligation to investigate whether SKIV2L2 can provide a protective effect on the infarcted heart. Results When both miR-155−/− and miR-155wt CFs were exposed to hypoxia for 24 h, these two cells exhibited an increased glycolysis and decreased glycogen synthesis, and the expression of KHK-A and KHK-C, the central fructose-metabolizing enzyme, was upregulated. Mechanistically, miR-155 deletion in CFs enhanced SKIV2L2 expression and its interaction with TRA2A, which suppresses the alternative splicing of HIF1α pre-mRNA to form circHIF1α, and then decreased circHIF1α contributed to the activation of fructose metabolism through increasing the production of the KHK-C isoform. Finally, exogenous delivery of SKIV2L2 reduced myocardial damage in the infarcted heart. Conclusion In this study, we demonstrated that miR-155 deletion facilitates the activation of fructose metabolism in hypoxic CFs through regulating alternative splicing of HIF1α pre-mRNA and thus circHIF1ɑ formation.

Compared to conventional grinding, ultrasonic face grinding of SiC ceramic with vibration amplitude more than 3 μm has been proved to improve the machining efficiency but usually face the problem of reducing the workpiece surface quality. The material removal mechanism and ground surface quality by ultrasonic face grinding using minor vibration amplitude (less than 1 μm) still remains uncertain and needs to be further investigated. In the present work, experiments of ultrasonic face grinding of SiC ceramic are carried out to study the influence of processing parameters (e.g. depth of cut, wheel speed and ultrasonic vibration amplitude) on the surface finish. The results show that both the grinding forces and ground surface roughness increase significantly with the increase of depth of cut and the decrease of wheel speed. However, with the increase of ultrasonic vibration amplitude, the grinding forces decrease rapidly first and then keep steady, and the ground surface roughness shows three variation stages: dropping, climbing and stabilizing, which achieves the smallest value of 0.04 μm at the amplitude of 0.216 μm. From the analysis of acquired workpiece surface morphology and image processing result, the proportion of chunks and pits on the workpiece surface is reduced due to ductile removal in case of ultrasonic vibration amplitude less than 0.2 μm, but increases when the amplitude is more than 0.2 μm because the material is removed in brittle domain. Finally, a sample machined at relatively high wheel speed and minor vibration amplitude is provided to support the findings. The proposed investigation provides a new approach to achieve mirror surface of SiC ceramic using ultrasonic face grinding.

The B6Ca2 and B8Ca2 clusters adopt interesting inverse sandwich architectures, featuring a prolate B6 (or perfect B8) ring jammed with two capping Ca atoms. Both clusters show the high thermodynamic stability due to the double (σ and π) electronic delocalization. In present paper, we computationally studied the hydrogen storage of them. The results suggest that each Ca site in B6Ca2 and B8Ca2 clusters could store up six H2, yielding a gravimetric density of 14.2 wt% for B6Ca2 and 12.6 wt% for B8Ca2. The average adsorption energy for H2-adsorbed B6Ca2 and B8Ca2 complexes is within the scope of 0.12–0.15 eV per H2 at wB97XD level, hinting that two clusters could reversibly store and release hydrogen, which is positively confirmed by the Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics simulations. Both B6Ca2 and B8Ca2 nanoclusters are feasible hydrogen storage media under the ambient condition.

To control the spread of COVID-19, rigorous restrictions have been implemented in China, resulting in a great reduction in pollutant emissions. In this study, we evaluated the air quality in the Yangtze River Delta during the COVID-19 lockdown period using satellite and ground-based data, including particle matter (PM), trace gases, water-soluble ions (WSIs) and black carbon (BC). We found that the impacts of lockdown policy on air quality cannot be accurately assessed using MODIS aerosol optical depth (AOD) data, whereas the tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) vertical column density can well reflect the influences of these restrictions on human activities. Compared to the pre-COVID period, the PM2.5, PM10, NO2, carbon monoxide (CO), BC and WSIs during the lockdown in Suzhou were observed to decrease by 37.2%, 38.3%, 64.5%, 26.1%, 53.3% and 58.6%, respectively, while the sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3) increased by 1.5% and 104.7%. The WSIs ranked in the order of NO3− > NH4+ > SO42- > Cl− > Ca2+ > K+ > Mg2+ > Na+ during the lockdown period. By comparisons with the ion concentrations during the pre-COVID period, we found that the ions NO3−, NH4+, SO42−, Cl−, Ca2+, K+ and Na+ decreased by 66.3%, 48.8%, 52.9%, 56.9%, 57.9% and 76.3%, respectively, during the lockdown, in contrast to Mg2+, which increased by 30.2%. The lockdown policy was found to have great impacts on the diurnal variations of Cl−, SO42−, Na+ and Ca2+., Graphical absract Image, graphical abstract

The substitutional solute atom induced local lattice distortion (LLD) in dilute metal solid solution was believed to be uniform that may even be modeled by using soap bubble raft. Contrary to this conventional picture, we report in this manuscript that the Mo induced LLD in dilute Ti-Mo solid solution is highly non-uniform as evidenced by our first principles calculations. The non-uniform LLD is ascribed to the Jahn-Teller splitting of the degenerated d states of Mo atom. We propose that the substitutional solid solutions with non-uniform LLD should satisfy two conditions. With which, the solid-solutions suffering from non-uniform LLD are predicted. The non-uniform LLD is expected to result in non-spherical stress field around the solute atom, and, therefore, challenges the application of classical solid solution hardening model to this kind of solid solutions., Comment: 8 pages and 4 figures

Highlights • T-cell responses in term of frequency and intensity are clearly distinct between mild illness and severe pneumonia patients. • High levels of IFNᵧ production observed with all CoV proteins support that SARS-CoV-2 elicit potent memory immune responses. • Recent history of COVID-19 did not hamper viral memory T-cell pool against common viruses., Adaptive Immune responses generated by SARS-CoV-2 virus in convalescent patients according to disease severity remain poorly characterized. To this end, we designed a prospective study (NCT04365322) that included 60 COVID-19 convalescent patients (1-month post infection) in two cohorts respectively entitled mild illness and severe pneumonia. The monitoring of peripheral immune responses was performed using IFNᵧ ELISpot assay. The serology index of each patient was investigated at the same time. Patients with severe pneumonia were older and had more comorbidities than patients with mild illness. T-cell responses in term of frequency and intensity were clearly distinct between mild illness and severe pneumonia patients. Furthermore, our results demonstrated that recent history of COVID-19 did not hamper viral memory T-cell pool against common viruses (Cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr-virus and Flu-virus). The presence of potent adaptive immunity even in patients who underwent severe pneumonia sustain the rationale for the development of protective therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2.

The B6Be2 and B8Be2 clusters, adopting fascinating inverse sandwich-like geometries, were recently predicted with quantum chemical calculations. Both systems exhibit the high stability and double aromaticity with 4σ/6π or 6σ/6π delocalized electrons. The hydrogen storage of two systems is studied in the present paper. Our calculations show that B6Be2 and B8Be2 clusters have the ultra-high capacity hydrogen storage, each Be site can bound up with seven H2 molecules, corresponding to a gravimetric density of 25.3 wt percentage (wt%) for B6Be2 and 21.1 wt% for B8Be2, respectively, which far exceeds the target (5.5 wt%) proposed by the US department of energy (DOE) in 2017. The average absorption energies of 0.10–0.45 eV/H2 for B6Be2 and 0.11–0.50 eV/H2 for B8Be2 at the wB97XD level suggest that both systems are ideal for reversible hydrogen storage and release. The reversibility of H2 molecules on B6Be2 and B8Be2 complexes are faithfully demonstrated with the Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations. The Be-doped boron nanostructure is a promising candidate for ultra-high hydrogen storage materials.

Comparative study was conducted on the grindability of wrought GH4169, equiaxial cast K403, directionally solidified cast DZ408 and single crystal DD6 superalloys by using the brown alumina wheels during the creep feed grinding process with regard to the grinding force, grinding ratio, wheel wear and surface integrity. The grinding forces were found to increase in the following order: DD6, GH4169, K403 and DZ408; and DD6 alloy had the largest grinding ratio, followed by GH4169, K403 and DZ408. In addition, the workpiece material adhesion and grain wear flats were found to be the main pattern of wheel wear in the grinding of DZ408, K403 and GH4169 alloys, while it was the wheel clogging for DD6 alloy. Irrespective of the workpiece material, the microhardness alternation of subsurface induced by thermal effect dominated over the mechanical effect with the increasing material removal rate (up to 6 mm3/(mm s)) and the softened level was 10–16.5 % to a depth of around 40 μm in this study. The surface defects, the highly deformed subsurface and the generation of micro cracks within the workpiece were found to be the main types of damage induced by the grinding operation. These results can provide insights into the effect of workpiece material on the grindability of different nickel-based superalloys in the investigation.

Precipitates, including silicides and Ti3Al (α2) phase, and alloying elements distribution in a near α titanium alloy Ti65 (Ti-5.8Al-4.0Sn-3.5Zr-0.5Mo-0.3Nb- 1.0Ta-0.4Si-0.8W-0.05C) after solution treatment and aging process were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atom probe tomography (APT). Quantitative composition analysis and TEM observation indicate that the silicides fit to (Ti, Zr)6(Si, Sn)3. Zr exhibits a β-stabilizing effect in near α titanium alloys but is weaker than other β stabilizing elements. The enriching tendency of the alloying elements in the retained β phase is in the order of Zr

For a sparse optimization problem with an L 1 norm objective function subject to an L ∞ norm inequality constraint, this paper finds that there is a piecewise linear relationship between the L 1 norm objective functional values and the L ∞ norm constraint specifications. This piecewise linear relationship is proved mathematically. Also, computer numerical simulations on a set of signal vectors verify the validity of this result. This result can provide a guidance for system analysts to define the specification on the L ∞ norm specification.

CdSiP2 (CSP) with outstanding mid-infrared nonlinear optical properties in the 3–5 μm and 8–12 μm windows has always been expected for application requirement, whereas the inadequate of absorption losses cannot be ignored as practical usage. The defect formation energies, electronic structure characteristics, structure distortion and related optical properties of CSP with some traditional and basic dopants M= (Mg, Al, Cu, Fe, and Mn) substituting Cd or Si sites are investigated by employing density functional theory (DFT). The calculations show that the energetically and thermally stable states in CSP crystals are Mg0, Al1+, Cu4+, Fe4+, Mn4+ at Cd sites and FeSi1+ at SiP2 reference states. Fe and Mn dopants at Cd sites bring abundant valences, including 0, +1, +2 and +4 charged states, and result in a mean absorption spectrum increase. New peaks appear in the density of states as the CuCd4+, FeCd4+, and MnCd4+ take shape, and thus affect the absorption spectrum. According to the calculation results, highly localized d orbitals of dopants should be mainly responsible for the absorption aberrance, because they not only lead to a mean absorption spectrum increase, but also bring new absorption peaks affecting the conversion efficiency along X/Y or Z directions.