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The ultrasound-assisted extraction was carried out to separate the total cardiac glycoside from the milk of Calotropis gigantea, and the extraction factors was optimized by response surface method using the Box–Behnken design (BBD) on total cardiac glycoside extraction was determined and optimized. A quadratic polynomial parameter mathematical model was established. Under the optimized conditions of ethanol concentration = 40% (vol), liquid-material ratio = 40 : 1, ultrasound power = 420 W and ultrasonic time = 30 min, the total cardiac glycoside yield is 12.75%, which is very close to the predicted value of 12.48%. The model predicts the experimental data well and has a high determination coefficient (R2 = 0.992). The variables that have a greater influence on the extraction yield were selected as ultrasonic power, ultrasonic time, ethanol concentration and liquid-material ratio, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of different forming process on the microstructure, martensitic transformation, and mechanical properties of the Ni50Mn34In14Co2 (numbers indicate at.%) alloys were investigated in detail. The results show that the microstructure of Ni50Mn34In14Co2 alloy consists of the matrix and the second phase by powder hot forging technology under the forces in different directions and spark plasma sintering (SPS), and the prepared sample has obvious preferred orientation by applied force in the three directions. The grain and the second phase of prepared sample were obviously refined by the hot forging technology. The martensitic transformation behavior was almost unchanged by different forming process. In addition, the shape memory effect of prepared Ni50Mn34In14Co2 alloy was significantly enhanced by different forming processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study set out to probe into the effect and mechanism of miR-144-3p on radiosensitivity of gastric cancer (GC) cells. Methods: Cancer tissue and paracancerous tissue of GC patients admitted to our hospital were collected, their miR-144-3p expression was tested, GC cells were transfected, and survival and biological behavior of those cells under radiation were detected. Results: After detection, miR-144-3p expression was down-regulated in GC tissue, while ZEB1 was up-regulated. There was no remarkable difference in the survival fraction of cells in each group before receiving radiation, but that of tumor cells decreased obviously (p < 0.05) after radiation exposure. Survival fraction of cells overexpressing miR-144-3p or silencing ZEB1 decreased more obviously, while the inhibition of miR-144-3p or overexpressing ZEB1 was weaker. Biological behavior of cells under 6 Gy radiation was detected. It was found that miR-144-3p overexpression or silencing ZEB1 dramatically inhibited the proliferation activity of GC cells under 6 Gy radiation, increased the levels of pro-apoptotic Bax and caspase-3 proteins (p < 0.05) and decreased the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 level (p < 0.05), resulting in an increase in the apoptosis rate of cells. miR-144-3p was confirmed to be ZEB1 targeting site by dual luciferase report. Moreover, rescue experiments prove that it can increase the radiosensitivity of GC cells by regulating ZEB1 expression. Conclusion: miR-144-3p expression was down-regulated in GC, and it can increase the radiosensitivity of those cells by inhibiting ZEB1 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of Zr content on the martensitic transformation behavior and shape memory effect (SME) was investigated to develop Ti–Nb–Zr high-temperature shape memory alloys. The addition of Zr decreases the peak temperature of the reverse martensitic transformation (Ap) by 19οC with 1 at % increase of Zr in the Ti–16Nb–xZr (x = 0–8) alloys, while it improves the stability of martensitic transformation by suppressing the formation of ω phase. At the same time, SME is enhanced greatly owing to the solution strengthening effect of Zr and the increase in the theoretical limit of transformation strain. The optimal Zr content for getting a high martensitic transformation temperature, an enhanced phase transformation stability and a good SME is determined to be 6 at %, where the martensitic transformation onset temperature (Ms) is 252οC and shape recovery ratio at the pre-strain of 8 is 90%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing of wind energy, it is necessary to develop an energy storage system to level the wave of wind power, and to develop a fault current limiter for improvement of the LVRT capability of the wind farm. An innovative idea to deal with the above problem is to develop a superconducting fault current limiter-magnetic energy storage system (SFCL-MES). In this paper, we report the progress of the superconducting coil for a 1-MJ/0.5-MVA FCL-SMES system. The coil consisted of 46 double pancakes, in which 8 pancakes were made of YBCO tapes and the others were made of Bi2223 tapes; the inductance of the coil was 13.3 H, and its rated current was 388 A while the maximum magnetic field was 3.5 T. This coil had been used for a FCL-SMES system, which was installed and tested at a wind farm connected to the live power grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The active ω phase formation decreases the martensitic transformation temperatures sharply and can even suppress the martensitic transformation during thermal cycling in Ti-Nb-based alloys. No ω phase is observed in the present Ti-15.8Nb-4.94Al-0.06Sc alloy when it is annealed at 650 °C for 4 h or subsequently aged at 200 and 250 °C for 2 h. The exclusion of ω phase remarkably improves the stability of phase transformation temperatures during thermal cycling. The martensitic transformation start temperature of the present alloy decreases by 30 °C but tends to be stable gradually during the 20 thermal cycles, owing to the saturation of lattice defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ni-Mn-Ga Heusler-type ferromagnetic shape memory alloys are attractive materials for micro-actuator, but the relatively poor ductility and low strength of Ni-Mn-Ga alloys have triggered a great deal of interest. In this study, we attempt to introduce some ductile second phase in the alloy by partially substituting Ti for Ga and constraint aging treatment. The results show that the martensitic transformation temperature first decreases and then increases slightly with the increasing of constraint-aging temperature, which can be attributed to the decrease of Ni content in the matrix and strengthening effect of the second particles. It is found that the amount of the Ni-rich precipitates by constraint-aged samples is more and the size of the second phase particle is smaller than that of the free-aged samples. The compressive stress and ductility can be significantly improved by the constraint-aging treatment, and the maximum compressive stress for constraint-aging alloy is about 1400 MPa, which is the highest value up to date compared with the 400 MPa in solution-treated Ni-Mn-Ga-Ti alloy and about 900 MPa in Ni-Mn-Ga-Ti alloy free-aged at 1073 K for 3 h. Scanning electron microscopy observations of fracture surfaces confirm that the Ni-rich second phase play a key role in improving the compression stress and ductility of Ni-Mn-Ga-Ti alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ni53Mn23.5Ga18.5Ti5 ferromagnetic shape memory alloy has been aged under 2% constant-strain at various temperatures for 3 h, and the microstructure and martensitic transformation behaviors have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It was found that after constant-strain aging, the amount of the Ni-rich precipitates with lenticular morphology is higher and the size of the second-phase particle is smaller when compared to that of the conventional aged samples. The martensitic transformation temperatures first decrease remarkably with the increase of aging temperature, and then increase when the aging temperature exceeds 973 K, which can be attributed to the change of the Ni-content in the matrix as well as the strengthening effect by fine Ni3Ti precipitates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal properties, crystalline structure and shape memory effects of poly( l-lactide) (PLLA) and poly( l-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PCLA) copolymers are systematically investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and tensile tests. The effects of the deformation strain on the shape recovery rate and recovery stress are also revealed. The polymers have the PLLA crystal and the amorphous phase, which are served as the fixed phase and reversible phase, respectively. The shape recovery rate and the recovery stress are significantly affected by the compositions and the deformation strain. With the increase of the deformation strain, the shape recovery rate decrease and higher shape recovery rate can be obtained in the polymers which have higher ε-CL content. However, the variation of recovery stress with the deformation strain is quite different and the maximum recovery stress of all polymers exceeds 3 MPa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Heusler Ni50Mn29Ga16Gd5 alloy with a high transformation temperature has been obtained by substituting 5 at% Gd for Ga in a ternary Ni50Mn29Ga21 ferromagnetic shape memory alloy. The microstructure and phase transformations in the Ni50Mn29Ga16Gd5 alloy have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. It is shown that the microstructure of the Ni50Mn29Ga16Gd5 alloy consists of matrix and hexagonal Gd (Ni,Mn)4Ga phase, which indicates a eutectic structure composed of these two phases. One-step thermoelastic martensitic transformation occurs in this quaternary alloy. Ni50Mn29Ga16Gd5 alloy exhibits a martensite transformation start temperature up to 524 K, approximately 200 K higher than that of Ni50Mn29Ga21 alloy. At room temperature, non-modulated martensite with twin substructure is observed in Ni50Mn29Ga16Gd5 alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce a non-uniform tolerance parameter (TP) strategy (the tolerance parameter is characterized by the proportion between the unused capacity and the capacity of a vertex) and study how the non-uniform TP strategy influences the response of scale-free (SF) networks to cascading failures. Different from constant TP in previous work of Motter and Lai (ML), the TP in the proposed strategy scales as a power-law function of vertex degree with an exponent b. The simulations show that under low construction costs D, when b>0 the tolerance of SF networks can be greatly improved, especially at moderate values of b; When b<0 the tolerance gets worse, compared with the case of constant TP in the ML model. While for high D the tolerance declines slightly with the b, namely b<0 is helpful to the tolerance, and b>0 is harmful. Because for smaller b the cascade of the network is mainly induced by failures of most high-degree vertices; while for larger b, the cascade attributes to damage of most low-degree vertices. Furthermore, we find that the non-uniform TP strategy can cause changes of the structure and the load-degree correlation in the network after the cascade. These results might give insights for the design of both network capacity to improve network robustness under limitation of small cost, and for the design of strategies to defend cascading failures of networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, 1 at% Y was added to Ti-50.7at%Ni alloy to prepare Ti-50.2Ni-1Y alloy and the effects of rare earth Y addition on the microstructure and martensitic transformation behavior of Ti-50.7at%Ni alloy was investigated by optical microscope, scanning electronic microscope (SEM) X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results show the microstructure of Ti-50.2Ni-1Y alloy is different with that of Ti-50.7at.%Ni alloy, and its microstructure consists of B19′martensite and the Y-rich phase, which may be YNi phase. One-step martensitic transformation occurs in Ti-50.2Ni-1Y ternary alloy. The phase transformation temperatures increase rapidly with Y addition, and the increase of Ms is about 85°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate cascade defense and control in scale free networks via navigation strategy. It is found that with an appropriate parameter a, which is tunable in controlling the effect of degree in the navigation strategy, one can reduce the risk of cascade break down. By checking the distribution of efficient betweenness centrality (EBC) and the average EBC of vertices with degree k, the validity can be guaranteed. Despite the advantage of cascade defense, the degree based navigation strategy may also lead to lower network efficiency. To avoid this disadvantage, we propose a new navigation strategy. Importantly and interestingly, the new strategy can defend cascade break down effectively even without reducing the network efficiency. Distribution of the EBC and EBC-degree correlation of the new strategy are also investigated to explain the effectiveness in cascade defense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate mixed bicycle flow using the multi-value cellular automata (CA) model. Two types of bicycles with different maximum speed are considered in the system. The system of mixed bicycles is investigated under both deterministic and stochastic regimes. It is shown under the deterministic case that there appear multiple states both in congested flow and free flow regions. Analytical analysis is carried out and is in good agreement with the simulation results. Under the stochastic case, the multiple states effect disappears only when both slow and fast bicycles are randomized. Spacetime plots are presented to show the evolution of mixed bicycle flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Segregation effects commonly exist in granular mixtures with difference in size, shape or density. In mixed traffic flow, slow vehicle and fast vehicle, as two types of particles, have different desired speed. We investigate the segregation along the road in mixed traffic flow by using a symmetric two-lane cellular automata model. A parameter D, which quantifies the degree of segregation, is defined. We study the density dependency of the parameter at different randomization probability. Simulation results show that segregation is more obviously in free flow region. We argue that the overtaking maneuvers have similar effect as percolation in granular flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many patients who require allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) lack a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched donor. Here, we report a protocol for haploidentical allo-HSCT that combines granulocyte-colony stimulating factor primed bone marrow (G-BM) and peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) without in vitro T-cell depletion (TCD). In this study, 171 patients, including 86 in high-risk group, underwent transplantation from haploidentical family donors. All patients achieved sustained, full donor chimerism. One hundred and eleven patients were alive in remission at a median of 682 (253–1502) days. The cumulative incidence of grade III–IV acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) was 23% and that of extensive chronic GVHD, 47%; these were not influenced by HLA disparity. Patients younger than 15 years had less grade III–IV acute GVHD than older patients (P=0.044). The 2-year probability of relapse was 12% for standard-risk disease and 39% for high-risk disease. The 2-year probability of leukemia-free survival (LFS) was 68% for standard-risk patients and 42% for high-risk patients (P=0.0009). Grade III–IV acute GVHD was associated with better LFS (P=0.0017). The results require confirmation and show that G-BM combined with PBSC from haploidentical family donors, without in vitro TCD, may be used as a good source of stem cells for allo-HSCT.Bone Marrow Transplantation (2006) 38, 291–297. doi:10.1038/sj.bmt.1705445 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor on "Effect of aging on transformation behavior and shape memory effect of a CuAlNb high temperature shape memory alloy," by Z. Y. Gao, Y. Wu, Y. X. Tong, W. Cai,Y. F. Zheng, and L. C. Zhao in the August 2006 issue is presented.

The article determines the magnetic-field induced strain (MFIS) along the direction of Ni50.5Mn26.2Ga23.4 single crystal at different temperatures. It is interesting to find that the MFIS between the temperature of Ms and Mf is larger than the MFIS below Mf. The specimen used in this study was cut from a bulk single crystal with composition of Ni50.5Mn26.2Ga23.4. The single crystal was grown in the direction according to the cubic parent phase using a Czochralski instrument with a cold crucible system. The magnetic field induced strain was measured by a strain-gauge attached to the sample which was placed in a furnace between the electromagnets.