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A comprehensive study utilizing first-principles calculations has examined the heterogeneous nucleation of TiN on Al2O3 in steel and the impact of alloying elements on this process. Additionally, the study delved into how this nucleation affects local corrosion activity. The findings indicate that alloying elements such as Cr, Mn, Mo, and V tend to concentrate at the Al2O3 (0001)/TiN (001) interface, enhancing the interface's stability, thereby favoring the heterogeneous nucleation of TiN on Al2O3. Consequently, the nucleation leads to the formation of interfaces, namely Al2O3 (0001)/TiN (001) and TiN (100)/bcc-Fe (100), which are less prone to adsorbing chloride ions, replacing the Al2O3(0001)/bcc-Fe (110) interface that can stably adsorb chloride ions, consequently reducing the adsorption of chloride ions at grain boundaries. Moreover, it is difficult for Cr atoms to incorporate into the TiN structure, while Ti atoms readily replace Cr in CrN. TiN exhibits a lower formation energy compared to CrN, and the precipitation of TiN mitigates the formation of Cr-depleted zones, thereby inhibiting local corrosion.

Recent studies have found that in the absence of Cr carbide precipitation, co-segregation of Cr and other elements at the interface between α-Fe and γ-Fe can also lead to the formation of Cr-depleted zones, leading to intergranular corrosion. The study employed three-dimensional atomic probes, focused ion beams, and high-throughput first-principles calculation techniques to investigate the impact of Ni atoms on the α-Fe/γ-Fe interface of UNS S32205 duplex stainless steels. The goal was to analyze the formation of Cr-depleted zones and interface corrosion resistance. The results indicate that both Ni and Cr atoms are segregated at the interface between α-Fe and γ-Fe phases; The strong interaction between Ni and Cr atoms hinders Cr segregation at the interface and slows down the formation of Cr-depleted zones; co-segregation of Ni and Cr can improve the stability of the α-Fe/γ-Fe phase interface, reduce the generation of microcracks, and reduce the stability of Cl atom adsorption in the cracks. This establishes the theoretical basis for further suppressing the formation of Cr-depleted zones and preventing intergranular corrosion.

Abstract SLMO2 is a lipid transporter that transports phosphatidylserine to the interior of mitochondria, also known as PRELID3B, which plays an important role in lipid metabolism. It has also been reported to be involved in the growth process of breast and lung tumors. However, its functions and underlying mechanisms in cancer progress remain elusive, and the potential as pan-cancer biomarker and therapeutic target remains unexplored. Using the TCGA project and GEO database, we performed pan-cancer analysis of SLMO2, which including the expression pattern, prognostic value, mutation landscape, methylation modification, protein–protein interaction network and the relationship between SLMO2 expression and immune infiltration. KEGG enrichment analysis was also performed to predict function and relevant cellular pathways of SLMO2. In addition, proliferation and migration assays were performed to detect the proliferation and metastasis capacity of breast cancer and lung cancer cells. In our study, we found that SLMO2 was overexpressed in pan-cancer and the elevated expression of SLMO2 was correlated with poorer prognosis. SLMO2 mutations were distributed in a variety of tumors and correlated with prognosis. Promoter methylation analysis showed that SLMO2 methylation levels were lower in most tumors compared with normal tissues, while a few tumors showed increased methylation levels of SLMO2. SLMO2 expression was also positively correlated with immune infiltration of MDSCs. Further pathway enrichment analysis indicated that SLMO2 was involved in regulating of cytoplasmic transport and other oncogenic processes. In vitro experiments have shown that SLMO2 promotes the proliferation and migration of breast cancer and lung cancer cells. In conclusion, our findings suggested that SLMO2 was a potential prognostic and immunological marker in pan-cancer. This study suggested a potential strategy for targeting SLMO2 to treat tumors, including manipulating tumor growth or the tumor microenvironment, especially the infiltration of MDSC.

Certain types of cationic metal ions, such as Mn2+ are able to activate immune functions via the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway, showing potential applications in eliciting antitumor immunity. How anionic ions interact with immune cells remains largely unknown. Herein, selecting from a range of cationic and anionic ions, we were excited to discover that MoO42− could act as a cGAS-STING agonist and further confirmed the capability of Mn2+ to activate the cGAS-STING pathway. Inspired by such findings, we synthesized manganese molybdate nanoparticles with polyethylene glycol modification (MMP NDs) for cancer metalloimmunotherapy. Meanwhile, MMP NDs could consume glutathione (GSH) over-expressed in tumors and induce ferroptosis owing to high-valence Mo and Mn to elicit tumor-specific immune responses, which was further amplified by MMP-triggered the cGAS-STING activation. In turn, activated CD8+ T cells to secrete high levels of interferon γ (IFN-γ) and reduced GPX4 expression in tumor cells to trigger ferroptosis-specific lipid peroxidation, which constituted a “cycle” of therapy. As a result, the metalloimmunotherapy with systemic administration of MMP NDs offered a remarkable tumor inhibition effect for a variety of tumor models. Our work for the first time discovered the ability of anionic metal ions to activate the immune system and rationally designed bimetallic oxide nanostructures as a multifunctional therapeutic nanoplatform for tumor immunotherapy.

The design of magnetic insulation coating structure has always been a challenge for high-performance soft magnetic composites (SMCs). In this work, we prepared Fe–Si SMCs with silicate/nano-Fe composite coating successfully by in-situ oxidation method combined with spark plasma sintering (SPS). The formation mechanism of the composite coating and its effect on the electro-magnetic properties of Fe–Si SMCs were investigated. The results showed that a uniform Fe2O3 coating can be obtained by reactions between Fe and H2O/O2 during in-situ oxidation process, and became thicker with the increased oxidation time. After sintering, the oxide coating was transformed into a composite coating composed of Fe2SiO4 with excellent insulation and nano-Fe with high ferromagnetism, which resulted from the interfacial reaction between Fe2O3 coating and Fe–Si core. The increased oxidation time led to the gradually thicker composite coating, and resulted in a linear decrease in saturation magnetization, indicating good controllability of the coating. However, excessive oxidation time led to the increased eddy current loss as well as the core loss due to the weakened resistivity. Thus, the Fe–Si SMCs exhibited high saturation magnetic induction (1.66T) and very low core loss (643.9 kW/m3 at 0.1 T/50 kHz) especially when the oxidation time was 1 h.

Al–Ti–O inclusions in aluminum deoxidized and titanium (Ti)-alloyed steel aggravate the submerged nozzle clogging and instability of the continuous casting process, lowering the cleanliness of casting billet. In the present investigation, the removal behavior of the oxide inclusions in aluminum deoxidized IF steel and Ti-alloyed welding wire steel by microporous/fused MgO foam ceramic filter (PMF/FMF) and the improvement of the steel cleanliness were comparatively investigated. It is found that MgO foam ceramic filters immersed in Al deoxidized steel effectively reduced its number density of Al2O3 inclusions and total oxygen (TO) content, by use of forming Al–Mg–O spinel interface reaction layer between the filters and tested steel. Furthermore, the cleanliness increase of Ti-alloyed steel immersed by the filters, due to formation of a more complete and continuous Al–Mg–Ti–O spinel layer on their surface, was bigger compared with that in Ti-free steel, with sporadically distributed Al–Mg–O spinel of interface layer on the surface of filters immersed in Ti-free steel. This is ascribed to the higher Ti content and some liquid inclusion of MgO–Al2O3-TiOX in Ti-alloyed steel, enhancing the reaction of the MgO of aggregates in the filters with Al, Ti, and O and deposition of other solid MgO–Al2O3-TiOX on the surface of the filter, respectively. In addition, the better purification efficiency of the PMF on tested steel compared with the FMF, was due to its higher porosity, roughness and more liquid phase components of the matrix in PMF, which improve the reaction of filter with liquid steel, and raise its adsorption capacity with Al2O3-based inclusions in the steel, forming Al–Mg–O spinel interface layer to removal the oxide inclusions.

To improve the property and service life of continuous casting copper mould, Ni–Co–CeO2 composite coatings were prepared on the surface of the copper plate by electroplating technology. The effect of CeO2 addition on the phase composition, microstructure, hardness, wear resistance at 600 °C and corrosion resistance of the coatings was studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) combined with an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), microhardness tester, electrochemical workstation, high-temperature friction and wear tester. The results indicated that the appropriate amount of CeO2 can increase the Co content of Ni–Co–CeO2 composite coatings with a kind of dense cellular surface structure. CeO2 particles accelerated the deposition rate of the coatings and the coatings thickened with an increase of CeO2 particles added in the bath. The maximum Vickers hardness of Ni–Co–CeO2 composite coating was obtained after 5 g/L CeO2 was added in the electroplating bath, which was 51% higher than that of Ni–Co alloy coating. The corrosion rate of Ni–Co–CeO2 (10 g/L) composite coating was 83% lower than that of Ni–Co alloy coating, and the impedance of the coating was much higher than that of the others. Ni–Co–CeO2 composite coatings with uniform structure exhibit excellent high-temperature wear resistance at 600 °C. The minimum wear volume appeared in the Ni–Co–CeO2 (10 g/L) composite coating, which was 40% lower than that of Ni–Co alloy coating. The high-temperature wear resistance at 600 °C and corrosion resistance of the Ni–Co–CeO2 coatings have been improved because of the CeO2 particle addition.

The control of low Ti content is vital to reducing the adverse effects of TiN inclusions on fatigue life of bearing steel. Compared with the strict Ti content control of raw materials, the Ti content control by interaction between refining slag and bearing steel costs less. The effect of interaction between slag and steel on the Ti content of bearing steel was explored by equilibrium tests and the thermodynamic calculation based on the ion and molecule coexistence theory. The results show that the driving force for the reaction of the Ti and Al in steel and the SiO2 in slag increases with the decrease of the slag basicity, but the driving force for the reduction of TiO2 in slag by Al in steel also increases. Therefore, low Ti content in bearing steel can be obtained by appropriately reducing the basicity and TiO2 content of refining slag and Al content in steel, and properly increasing the Al2O3 content in the slag. For the compositional design of CaO–SiO2–Al2O3-0.1wt%TiO2-1wt%MgO refining slag used for low Ti bearing steel, the slag basicity should be less than 2 and Al2O3 content is 30–50%, or the slag basicity is 3 and Al2O3 content is decreased to 30-40wt%.

Directional regional grouting to transform aquifers is one of the effective ways to prevent and control mine water hazards. In order to study the diffusion law of grouting slurry in directional areas, a three-dimensional simulation test system for directional area grouting has been independently developed. The system is mainly composed of test bench, grouting system, water injection system, data monitoring and other subsystems, which can realize directional drilling grouting simulation, three-dimensional slurry diffusion simulation, high pressure water simulation and regional grouting simulation. The system can independently control the grouting hole unit to achieve porous and multi sequence grouting. With the help of six grouting holes, the slurry flow process is simulated under various parameters such as different grouting pressure, slurry viscosity, grouting rate, and water cement ratio. It can also achieve real-time monitoring of the slurry diffusion process in dynamic/static (high) water pressure environments. The paper takes the simulated naked hole lengths of 200 mm, 250 mm, and 300 mm as the research objects, and preliminarily explores the characteristics and effects of slurry diffusion in naked hole grouting under directional grouting. The study found that: in the case where only the naked hole length is a variable, the slurry diffusion range does not synchronously increase linearly with the linear increase of naked hole length; The slurry stone body of the short open hole is cylindrical with the drilling open hole as the axis, while the slurry stone body of the long open hole is circular with the drilling open hole as the axis; Increasing the same length of the bare hole results in a larger difference in the diffusion range of the slurry at both ends of the bare hole. At the same time, the more pressure loss there is, the smaller the diffusion distance of the slurry. Comparing the diffusion radius of the slurry obtained from the experiment with that calculated by the Maag formula, the difference between the two values is only 2.8% when the length of the grouting open hole is 200 mm. The experimental results comply with the Maag spherical diffusion theory and verified the scientificity and rationality of this experimental system.

ABSTRACTIn this work, microporous MgO refractory aggregates with nano-sized pores were prepared by in situ decomposition method using Mg(OH)2 as raw material. The effects of firing temperatures (1600–1700°C) and compacting pressures (100–200 MPa) on the microstructures and properties of microporous MgO refractory aggregates were thoroughly studied. The results showed that the microporous MgO refractory aggregates contained two types of pore structures, which were intra-particle pores with pore sizes of 180.0–230.0 nm formed by in situ decomposition of Mg(OH)2 and inter-particle pores with pore sizes of 1.5–3.0 μm derived from particle packing between Mg(OH)2 pseudomorph particles, respectively. Besides, the firing temperatures had a great influence on the intra-particle pore size and microcrystallite size. And the compacting pressures not only influenced the intra-particle pore size via packing behaviors but also affected the inner firing behaviors of the pseudomorph particles due to the increase in H2O vapor pressure. Overall, at a compacting pressure of 150 MPa and firing temperature of 1650°C, the sample had the best comprehensive performance with a bulk density of 1.92 g/cm3, a compressive strength of 11.9 MPa, an apparent porosity of 45.0%, a relative aggregate tube strength of 25.2% and a median pore size of 262.3 nm.

The microstructure and mechanical properties of the novel cryogenic high-Mn austenitic steel weld metals with different cerium (Ce) contents were investigated via electron back-scattered diffraction, scanning and spherical aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy, and cryogenic impact and tensile test. The results indicated that the crystallographic grain size was significantly refined, and the relative frequency of high-angle grain boundaries increased with the increase of Ce content. Ce element addition could modify the main inclusions from irregular Al2O3 into regular Ce-containing inclusions. Meanwhile, the inclusions gradually became fine and dispersed, and the volume fraction of inclusions decreased with the increase of Ce content from 0 to 870 ppm. The increase of Ce content continuously improved cryogenic impact toughness from 82 J to 116 J, and yield strength, tensile strength and total elongation all increased to different degrees. We found that in addition to the beneficial changes in inclusion modification, grain refinement and increase in the proportion of high-angle grain boundaries, the solid solution of Ce also played a crucial role in the mechanical properties.

Microstructure, texture, mechanical properties, and magnetic properties of low carbon and silicon non-oriented electrical steels annealed at 800 °C, 820 °C, and 860 °C were studied. Fine precipitates (Al, Si, Mn)xNy-P, a small quantity of (Al, Si, Mn)xNy, and the aforementioned composite precipitates containing MnS were detected in the samples annealed at 820 °C and 860 °C. Compared with the samples annealed at 820 °C, the number density of precipitates decreased by 20% and the average size increased by 25 nm in the samples annealed at 860 °C. The average grain size was 22 μm, 26 μm and 46 μm in the samples annealed at 800 °C, 820 °C, and 860 °C, respectively. The magnetic induction increased by 0.027 T after the annealing temperature of the samples increased from 800 °C to 820 °C. The iron loss reduced 0.94 W/kg when the annealing temperature increased from 800 °C to 860 °C. The tensile strength and yield strength of the samples decreased by 21 MPa and 40 MPa when the annealing temperature increased. The loss iron was 4.27 W/kg(P1.5/50) and magnetic induction was 1.764 T(B50) for the samples annealed at 860 °C. Magnetic properties of the experimental samples were superior to the same grade of commercially available steels.

As the low thermal shock and slag-penetration resistance of the magnesia castables cause the premature failure of tundish flow-control devices leading to the pollution of steel, the microporous magnesia with high closed porosity and intergranular CaZrO3 phase was utilized for simultaneously enhancing the high-temperature performance. The thermomechanical stress and slag corrosion tests indicated that since the micro-closed pores effectively relieved the thermal stress and CaZrO3 absorbed massive crack-propagation energy, the cold modulus of rupture and residual strength ratio respectively reached 14.4 MPa and 73.4% after thermal shock cycles, nearly half higher than that of the fused magnesia based castables. Meanwhile, the synergistic effect of micro-closed pores and intergranular CaZrO3 phase significantly reduced the slag-wettability, improved the interfacial energy and dihedral angle, leading to the decline of slag penetration indice (decreased by ∼34.8%). This study suggests a potential approach to generate new magnesia based castables in tundish for making clean steel.

Spinal cord regeneration after a spinal cord injury (SCI) remains a difficult challenge due to the complicated inflammatory microenvironment and neuronal damage at the injury sites. In this study, retinoic acid (RA) and curcumin (Cur) were co-loaded with bovine serum albumin (BSA) self-assembly to obtain RA@BSA@Cur nanoparticles (NPs) for SCI treatment. Cur, as an antioxidant drug, facilitated reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging, and decreased the amount of inflammatory factors secreted by macrophages, while RA could enhance neurite extensions and neural differentiation. The constructed RA@BSA@Cur NPs not only induced polarization of macrophages toward pro-regenerative phenotypes and markedly reduced the inflammatory response of macrophages or microglia, but also increased neurite length in PC12 cells and neuronal differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, improved the differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) into β3-tubulin+ neurons, and reversed the pro-astrocyte differentiation effect of inflammatory cytokines on NSCs. In vivo experiments revealed that RA@BSA@Cur NPs regulated the phenotypic polarization of macrophages, inhibited the release of inflammatory mediators, promoted functional neuron regeneration and motor function, and further inhibited scar tissue formation. This study highlighted that the BSA-based biomimetic nanomaterials could be used as ROS scavengers and nerve regeneration promoters for treating SCI.

The interaction between molten iron and refractory is of great significance to understand the damage of refractory in steelmaking processes. In this work, the interactions between the molten iron and three kinds of magnesia aggregates: No. 1 containing CaZrO3-ZrO2 intergranular phase (mainly CaZrO3), No. 2 containing ZrO2-MgAl2O4 intergranular phase (mainly ZrO2) and No. 3 fused magnesia, were studied by the sessile drop method at 1823 K under two kinds of oxygen partial pressures of PO2 ≈ 1.87 × 10−1 Pa and PO2 ≈ 1.87 × 10−3 Pa. It was found that the interaction mechanism between molten iron and substrate was almost the same under the two oxygen partial pressures. No. 2 substrate had a larger interacted area with molten iron due to its physical properties and chemical composition and more amount of slag was formed between them. The oxygen was easy to be released from the closed pores in No. 2 substrate so that the molten iron on No. 2 substrate had higher oxygen content, resulting in the decreases of the contact angle and the surface tension of molten iron. Accordingly, No. 2 substrate was penetrated most seriously. The intergranular phase of No. 1 substrate was more resistant to FeO corrosion than that of No. 2 substrate. The FeO penetration into No. 3 substrate was mainly along the grain boundary. The larger bulk density and grain size of No. 3 substrate could reduce the FeO penetration.

Summary: Amino acid (aa) metabolism is closely correlated with the pathogenesis of psoriasis; however, details on aa transportation during this process are barely known. Here, we find that SLC38A5, a sodium-dependent neutral aa transporter that counter-transports protons, is markedly upregulated in the psoriatic skin of both human patients and mouse models. SLC38A5 deficiency significantly ameliorates the pathogenesis of psoriasis, indicating a pathogenic role of SLC38A5. Surprisingly, SLC38A5 is almost exclusively expressed in dendritic cells (DCs) when analyzing the psoriatic lesion and mainly locates on the lysosome. Mechanistically, SLC38A5 potentiates lysosomal acidification, which dictates the cleavage and activation of TLR7 with ensuing production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-23 (IL-23) and IL-1β from DCs and eventually aggravates psoriatic inflammation. In summary, this work uncovers an auxiliary mechanism in driving lysosomal acidification, provides inspiring insights for DC biology and psoriasis etiology, and reveals SLC38A5 as a promising therapeutic target for treating psoriasis.

Transplantation of neural stem cells (NSCs) has been proved to promote functional rehabilitation of brain lesions including ischemic stroke. However, the therapeutic effects of NSC transplantation are limited by the low survival and differentiation rates of NSCs due to the harsh environment in the brain after ischemic stroke. Here, we employed NSCs derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells together with exosomes extracted from NSCs to treat cerebral ischemia induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion in mice. The results showed that NSC-derived exosomes significantly reduced the inflammatory response, alleviated oxidative stress after NSC transplantation, and facilitated NSCs differentiation in vivo. The combination of NSCs with exosomes ameliorated the injury of brain tissue including cerebral infarction, neuronal death, and glial scarring, and promoted the recovery of motor function. To explore the underlying mechanisms, we analyzed the miRNA profiles of NSC-derived exosomes and the potential downstream genes. Our study provided the rationale for the clinical application of NSC-derived exosomes as a supportive adjuvant for NSC transplantation after stroke.

Accelerating the dissolution rate of lime in converter slag at the initial stage of steelmaking is conducive to the rapid slagging. In this work, partially calcined limestone with a core–shell structure was prepared, and the dissolution behaviors of lime, partially calcined limestone bearing ∼28 wt% CO2, and limestone in converter slag were studied. The results showed that the formation of 2CaO·SiO2 layer slows down the dissolution of lime. Different from lime, the CO2 bubbles produced by the limestone decomposition could destroy the 2CaO·SiO2 layer and accelerate the dissolutions of limestone and partially calcined limestone. Compared with limestone, the slag temperature drop near the surface is less, and no stagnation stage occurs during the dissolution of partially calcined limestone due to the existence of decomposed lime surface layer. The most rapid dissolution rate and the higher substitution ratio of lime imply that the partially calcined limestone slagging mode would be more promising than limestone and lime.

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has attracted widespread interest in biomedicine, owing to its novel and noninvasive therapeutic method triggered by ultrasound (US). Herein, the Ti3C2 MXene nanosheets (Ti3C2 NSs) are developed as good sonosensitizers via a two-step method of chemical exfoliation and high-temperature treatment. With the high-temperature treatment, the oxygen defect of Ti3C2 MXene nanosheets (H–Ti3C2 NSs) is greatly increased. Therefore, the electron (e−) and hole (h+) generated by US can be separated faster due to the improved degree of oxidation, and then the recombination of e−-h+ can be prevented with the abundant oxygen defect under US irradiation, which induced the sonodynamic efficiency greatly to improve around 3.7-fold compared with Ti3C2 NSs without high-temperature treatment. After PEGylation, the H–Ti3C2-PEG NSs show good stability and biocompatibility. In vitro studies exhibit that the inherent property of mild photothermal effect can promote the endocytosis of H–Ti3C2-PEG NSs, which can improve the SDT efficacy. In vivo studies further display that the increased blood supply by the mild photothermal effect can significantly relieve hypoxia in the tumor microenvironment, showing photothermal therapy (PTT) enhanced SDT. Most importantly, the H–Ti3C2-PEG NSs can be biodegraded and excreted out of the body, showing no significant long-term toxicity. Our work develops the defective H–Ti3C2 NSs as high-efficiency and safe sonosensitizers for photothermal-enhanced SDT of cancer, extending the biomedical application of MXene-based nanoplatforms.

Rare earth resource is a national strategic resource, which plays an essential role in the field of high technology research and development. In this paper, we aim to use remote sensing quantitative inversion prospecting technology, use surface-to-surface mode, and model inversion and evaluation through convolutional neural network model to achieve a new research method for large-scale, low-cost, rapid and efficient exploration of ion-adsorbed rare earth ore. The results show that the RE2O3 content of samples has significant negative correlation with the second, third and fourth band of GF-2 image, but has no significant correlation with the first band of GF-2 image; the convolution neural network model can be used to reconstruct the RE2O3 content. The content distribution map of RE2O3 obtained by inversion is similar to that of geochemical map, which indicates that the convolution neural network model can be used to invert the RE2O3 content in the sampling area. The quantitative inversion results show that the content distribution characteristics of ion adsorption rare earth ore in the study area are basically consistent with the actual situation; there are two main high anomaly areas in the study area. The high anomaly area I is a known mining area, and the high anomaly area II can be a prospective area of ion adsorption type rare earth deposit. It shows that the remote sensing quantitative inversion prospecting method of ion adsorption type rare earth deposit based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) model is feasible.

The influences of deoxidation process and VOD slag compositions on the behavior of inclusions during refining of Ti–Nb bearing Fe–21%Cr ferrite stainless steels were studied in the present work. The results indicated that the main oxide inclusions by the Al–Si complex deoxidization were MgO·Al2O3. And the main inclusions after Ti addition were MgO·Al2O3–TiOx and Al2O3–TiN complex inclusions. After calcium treatment, the main inclusions became spherical MgO·Al2O3–CaO and Al2O3–SiO2–CaO combined with TiOx and TiN. As the basicity of refining slag was increased from 2.5 to 4.0, the number density of inclusions in the steel reduced, while the average particle size of inclusions increased. When the basicity of CaO–SiO2–(15–20%) Al2O3–10%MgO–5%CaF2 refining slag was 3.5, the number of large inclusions would decrease with the deceasing of the Al2O3 content in the refining slag, and the amount of inclusions in molten steel decreased and the size of most inclusions was distributed within 1–2 μm.

Abstract Gas‐mediated sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has the potential to become an effective strategy to improve the therapeutic outcome and survival rate of cancer patients. Herein, titanium sulfide nanosheets (TiSX NSs) are prepared as cascade bioreactors for sequential gas–sonodynamic cancer therapy. TiSX NSs themselves as hydrogen sulfide (H2S) donors can burst release H2S gas. Following H2S generation, TiSX NSs are gradually degraded to become S‐defective and partly oxidized into TiOX on their surface, which endows TiSX NSs with high sonodynamic properties under ultrasound (US) irradiation. In vitro and in vivo experiments show the excellent therapeutic effects of TiSX NSs. In detail, large amounts of H2S gas and reactive oxygen species (ROS) can simultaneously inhibit mitochondrial respiration and ATP synthesis, leading to cancer cell apoptosis. Of note, H2S gas also plays important roles in modulating and activating the immune system to effectively inhibit pulmonary metastasis. Finally, the metabolizable TiSX NSs are excreted out of the body without inducing any significant long‐term toxicity. Collectively, this work establishes a cascade bioreactor of TiSX NSs with satisfactory H2S release ability and excellent ROS generation properties under US irradiation for programmed gas–sonodynamic cancer therapy.

The composition analysis, inclusion and microstructure characterizations for two ingots processed by Ar gas protective electroslag remelting (ESR) and vacuum ESR as well as thermodynamic calculation were carried out to explore mechanisms of cleanliness improvement and microstructure refinement of ingot processed by vacuum ESR. The results show that compared with the ingot processed by Ar gas protective ESR, the Al pickup in ingot processed by vacuum ESR is less due to the lower Al2O3 activity in molten slag resulted by fluoride vaporization from molten slag. During Ar gas protective ESR, only Al deoxidation occurs in molten steel. But, the new equilibriums among liquid steel, inclusions and gas phase are established, and C deoxidation could occur upon 1635 °C during vacuum ESR. The inclusions size in vacuum ESR ingot is finer because the time for Al2O3 inclusion growth is shorter. The C deoxidation and less steel reoxidation resulted by slag-steel interaction during vacuum ESR contributes to the lower oxygen content in vacuum ESR ingot. Furthermore, because of more uniform temperature distribution in molten slag pool, the smaller SDAS is acquired in vacuum ESR ingot. The higher cleanliness, microstructure refinement and smaller size of carbides contribute to the performance improvement in vacuum ESR ingot. Keywords: Vacuum, Electroslag remelting, C deoxidation, Cleanliness, Microstructure

Recent studies have shown that PPP1R14B was highly expressed in tumor tissues and patients with high expression of PPP1R14B had poor survival rates. However, the function and mechanisms of PPP1R14B in tumor progression remain ill defined. There was also lack of pan-cancer evidence for the relationship between PPP1R14B and various tumor types based on abundant clinical data. We used the TCGA project and GEO databases to perform pan-cancer analysis of PPP1R14B, including expression differences, correlations between expression levels and survival, genetic alteration, immune infiltration, and relevant cellular pathways, to investigate the functions and potential mechanisms of PPP1R14B in the pathogenesis or clinical prognosis of different cancers. Herein, we found that PPP1R14B was involved in the prognosis of pan-cancer and closely related to immune infiltration. Increased PPP1R14B expression correlated with poor prognosis and increased immune infiltration levels in myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). Our studies suggest that PPP1R14B can be used as a prognostic biomarker for pan-cancer. Our findings may provide an antitumor strategy targeting PPP1R14B, including manipulation of tumor cell growth or the tumor microenvironment, especially myeloid-derived suppressor cell infiltration.

The effect of target phosphorus (P) content on the precipitates, microstructure, texture, magnetic properties, and mechanical properties of low-carbon (C) and low-silicon (Si) non-oriented electrical steel (NOES) was investigated and the influence mechanism was clarified. The results indicate that the precipitates in the steels are mainly aluminum (Al)-manganese (Mn)-Si-bearing complex nitrides ((Al,Si,Mn)xNy) and P-bearing complex nitrides ((Al,Si,Mn)xNy-P). Increasing target phosphorus content in the steels decreases (Al,Si,Mn)xNy, and increases (Al,Si,Mn)xNy-P. The number density of the precipitates is the lowest, and the average size of the precipitates and grain size of the finished steel is the largest in the samples with target P content at the 0.14% level (0.14%P-targeted). The average grain size and microstructure homogeneity of the steels are influenced by the addition of phosphorus. The content of the {111} component decreases, and the favorable texture increases after phosphorus is added to the steel. The magnetic induction of the steel is improved. Grain refinement and microstructure inhomogeneity lead to an iron loss increase after target phosphorus content increases in the steel. The best magnetic induction B50 is 1.765 T in the 0.14%P-targeted samples. The tensile strength and yield strength are improved owing to solid solution strengthening and the grain refinement effect of phosphorus added to the steels.

A transient three-dimensional comprehensive numerical model was established to study ion transport caused by diffusion, convection, and electro-migration in the electro-refining process for scrap-metal recycling. The Poisson–Nernst–Planck equations were used to define ion transport within the electrolyte, while the Naiver–Stokes equations and the energy equation were employed to describe fluid flow and heat transfer. In addition, the Butler-Volmer formulation was used to represent the kinetics of the electrochemical reaction. The comparison between the measured and simulated data indicates the reliability of the model. Under the action of diffusion and electro-migration, the positive copper ion moves from the anode to the cathode, while the negative sulfate ion migrates in the opposite direction. The distribution of the ion concentration, however, greatly changes if the fluid flow is taken into account. The ion concentration around the anode and the rate of the electrochemical reaction that occurs at the anode surface are reduced by the fluid flow. The proposed computational framework offers a valuable basis for future research and development in the field of scrap-metal recycling technology.

Novel diagnostic tools are a major challenge for brucellosis research, especially in developing countries. Herein, we established a handheld quantum dot (QD) immunochromatographic device for the fast detection of brucellosis antibodies in the field. Total bacterial protein extracted from Brucella 104M served as labelling and coating antigen. QD labelling and immunochromatography methods were used to optimise reaction conditions, labelling conditions, reaction temperature and storage temperature. QD test strips were employed to test brucellosis serum to determine their sensitivity, specificity and stability. Test strips were compared with Rose Bengal test, standard agglutination test and colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay. Labelled Brucella total protein displayed good specificity and no cross-reactivity. The concentration of labelled total bacterial protein was 3.9 mg/ml, the coating concentration was 2.0 mg/ ml, and the serum titre with the lowest detection sensitivity was 1:25. The optimal reaction temperature for the test strip was 25-30°C. The test strip was stable after storage at room temperature and the repeatability was high, with a coefficient of variation of 4.0%. After testing 199 serum samples, the sensitivity of the QD test strip was 98.53%, the specificity was 93.57%, and the coincidence rate with the standard agglutination test was 96.98%. The developed QD immunochromatographic method can be used for rapid detection and preliminary screening of brucellosis in the field.

The layered oxyselenide BiCuSeO was recently discovered to be a promising high thermoelectric material due to its intrinsically low thermal conductivity. However, the rather high electrical resistivity of undoped BiCuSeO may preclude its potential thermoelectric applications. Herein, we achieved enhanced thermoelectric performance in rare-earth Sm-doped BiCuSeO by the band structure engineering. The replacement of Bi3+ by Sm3+ leads to the improvement of electrical conductivity, from 34 S cm−1 for pristine BiCuSeO to 79 S cm−1 for that of Bi0.94Sm0.06CuSeO at 873 K. Coupled with the large Seebeck coefficient (251 μVK−1) and relatively low thermal conductivity (0.58 Wm−1K−1), the figure of merit ZT is significantly increased from 0.49 for pristine BiCuSeO to 0.74 for Bi0.94Sm0.06CuSeO at 873 K. According to the first-principles calculation, the enhanced thermoelectric properties was ascribed to the decreased band gap by the substitution of Sm. Upon 10%Sm substitution, the band gap of BiCuSeO decreases from 0.50 eV to 0.34 eV, which promotes the density of states near the Fermi level. The present study suggests that rare-earth element can be effective in modifying the band structure of BiCuSeO and thus improving its electronic transport properties. Keywords: Sm-doping, Thermoelectric properties, Band structure, First-principles calculation

To efficiently reduce heat loss in high-temperature furnaces, the use of a working lining with low thermal conductivity, in lightweight refractories is a significant development. Conventional lightweight refractories focus on the fabrication of Al2O3-based, spinel-based, or Al2O3-spinel based refractories with micro-sized closed pores. In this study, lightweight magnesia-based aggregates with smaller nano-sized pores were fabricated by the decomposition of magnesite by using nano-sized Al2O3 and ZrO2 as additives. The lightweight magnesia containing nano-sized intracrystalline pores (100–300 nm) had a relatively low thermal conductivity of 4.539 W⋅m−1K−1 at 500 °C with a bulk density of 3.37 g/cm3 and a closed porosity of 4.3%. Moreover, the formation mechanism of nano-sized intracrystalline pores was proposed, and the effect of nano-sized additives on the sintering properties was discussed. We concluded that nano-sized Al2O3 and ZrO2 raise the number of nano-sized intracrystalline pores by increasing their migration distance required to separate from the magnesia grains. With the joint addition of nano-sized Al2O3 and ZrO2, the lightweight magnesia possessed the lowest thermal conductivity, as well as excellent strength, owing to the generation of intergranular MgAl2O4 spinel. Furthermore, the nano-sized Al2O3 and ZrO2 also promoted the sintering of magnesia resulting in the formation of cation vacancies (VMg⁎⁎). Keywords: Lightweight refractories, Magnesia, Nano-sized intracrystalline pores, Sintering

In this study, niobium was added into grain-oriented silicon steels, four Nb-bearing hot-rolled bands with Nb content range from 0–0.025 wt% were prepared and a detailed study of the micro characterization (microstructure, texture and precipitates) of hot-rolled bands was carried out by various analysis methods, such as EBSD and TEM. The results indicate that the precipitates in Nb-free steel are MnS and AlN; however, in the Nb-bearing steel they are MnS, AlN and Nb(C, N). The precipitates are finer and more dispersed in Nb-bearing steel, and a stronger pining force was obtained, which contributes to the finer microstructure and less recrystallization fractions of the hot-rolled bands. A larger volume fraction and stronger intensity of Goss texture is presented in steel with 0.025 wt% Nb due to the effective inhibiting effect. However, it has little effect on the changes of microstructure and texture when the Nb content is more than 0.009 wt%.

The study aimed to identify a moderate degree of Ce addition to improve the toughness in the simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone (CGHAZ) of high-strength low-alloy steels, based on the effect of the Ce content on particle characteristics, microstructure and impact toughness. Three steels with 0.012 wt.%, 0.050 wt.% and 0.086 wt.% Ce content were subjected to 100 kJ/cm heat input in their thermal welding cycles. The particles and microstructures in the simulated CGHAZ of each steel were characterized and the impact-absorbance energy levels were measured at −20 °C. The results indicated that Ce2O2S inclusion compounds were gradually modified to CexSy-CeP and CeP with the increasing of the Ce content. A higher fraction of acicular ferrite was formed in the 0.012 wt.%-Ce-treated steel due to the lower mismatch between Ce2O2S and α-Fe. Furthermore, a lower fraction of M-A constituent was obtained in the 0.012 wt.%-Ce-treated steel. As a result, superior toughness and a typical amount of ductile fracture were detected in the simulated CGHAZ of the 0.012 wt.%-Ce-treated steel. Compared with the 0.012 wt.%-Ce-treated steel, a smaller prior austenite grain was observed in the 0.086 wt.%-Ce-treated steel because of the segregation of CeP at the grain boundary. However, the larger size and density of CeP led to poor toughness in the CGHAZ of the 0.086 wt.%-Ce-treated steel.

Every year a large amount of scrap can be produced from the Bi _2 Te _3 -based alloys when processing. A clean, new vacuum distillation method is proposed to purify Te from the scrap of Bi _2 Te _3 -based alloys. In this work, the saturated vapor pressure, distillation rate and separation coefficient of each metal element in Bi _2 Te _3 -based alloys are theoretically analyzed. The effects of distillation temperature and time on the volatilization and condensation behavior of elements are studied under the dynamic vacuum of 0.1 Pa. According to the research results, a multi-stage distillation method is proposed, and Te was purified from 41.53% to 98.88% while the total impurity content was reduced to 1.12% through this procedure. Moreover, Te of the scrap of Bi _2 Te _3 -based alloys can be separated and recovered effectively via this three-step vacuum distillation. The results lay the foundation for the industrial purification of Te and provide a low-cost, simple and green recycling process of thermoelectric scrap, which has important practical significance.

The effects of Nb content on precipitation, microstructure, texture and magnetic properties of primary recrystallized grain-oriented silicon steel were investigated by various methods. The results show that the precipitates in primary recrystallized sheets are mainly MnS, Nb(C,N), composite precipitates of MnS and AlN, and composite precipitates of Nb(C,N) and AlN. Adding niobium could refine the primary recrystallized microstructure. The steel with 0.009 wt% Nb possesses the finest and the most dispersed precipitates, which contributes to the finest primary recrystallized microstructure due to the strong pinning force. Adding niobium is beneficial to obtain large volume fraction favorable texture for grain-oriented silicon steel, and the effect of Nb addition is not obvious when the content is higher than 0.009 wt%. After final annealing, the steel with 0.009 wt% Nb shows the best magnetic properties, B800 = 1.872 T, P1.7/50 = 1.25 W/kg.

The viscosity of slag is a key factor affecting metallurgical efficiency and recycling, such as metal-slag reaction and separation, as well as slag wool processing. In order to comprehensively clarify the variation of the slag viscosity, various data mining methods have been employed to predict the viscosity of the slag. In this study, a more advanced dual-stage predictive modeling approach is proposed in order to accurately analyze and predict the viscosity of slag. Compared with the traditional single data mining approach, the proposed method performs better with a higher recall rate and low misclassification rate. The simulation results show that temperature, SiO2, Al2O3, P2O5, and CaO have greater influences on the slag’s viscosity. The critical temperature for onset of the important influence of slag composition is 980 °C. Furthermore, it is found that SiO2 and P2O5 have positive correlations with slag’s viscosity, while temperature, Al2O3, and CaO have negative correlations. A two-equation model of six-degree polynomial combined with Arrhenius formula is also established for the purpose of providing theoretical guidance for industrial application and reutilization of slag.

Besides the thermoelectric properties, mechanically robust is also very important for applications in TEGs. Up to now, no studies have been reported to investigate the mechanical properties of BiCuSeO oxyselenides. In this work, the results of hardness test of pristine and Ba/Pb doped BiCuSeO are presented here. These data may help to further evaluate the mechanical properties of BiCuSeO based ceramics.

The characteristics of primary carbides in a commercial-sized (one ton) electroslag remelting (ESR) ingot of AISI H13 steel were investigated. The interaction between the primary carbides and inclusions was also clarified. The results indicate that there are two types of primary carbides, V-rich and Mo-rich primary carbides, in the H13 ESR ingot. The quantity, the area fraction, and the size of the two primary carbides tend to decrease from the center of the H13 ESR ingot to the outer surface. Additionally, the V-rich primary carbide is obviously larger than the Mo-rich primary carbide. The Al2O3 inclusion can promote the precipitation of the V-rich primary carbide, while the MnS inclusion encourages the precipitation of Mo-rich primary carbide. The CaO∙Al2O3 inclusion cannot act as the nucleation site for the precipitation of the two primary carbides. The solid fraction that the V-rich primary carbide begins to precipitate ranges from 0.965 to 0.983, and that for the Mo-rich primary carbide and the MnS inclusion change from 0.9990 to 0.9998 and from 0.989 to 0.990, respectively.

A slag treatment method was proposed to recycle rejected electrolytic manganese metal. To improve the sulfur removal ratio, computational fluid dynamics and experimental studies of the sulfur transfer behavior during the refining process were carried out. Experiments of slag-metal reaction for desulfurization were carried out using an electric resistance furnace at temperatures ranging from 1773 K to 1923 K. A transient three-dimensional coupled numerical model was established to represent the three-phase flow, heat and mass transfer in the experiment. The desulfurization rate was described by a metallurgical kinetics module, which was related to the slag composition, the interfacial tension coefficient, the flow and the temperature of the melt. The predicted sulfur content agreed reasonably well with the measured data. The temperature of the fluids at the outer side of the crucible was higher than that at the center, resulting in a larger sulfur partition ratio and a more vigorous flow. The sulfur transfer rate was higher at the outer edge of the molten slag−molten manganese interface. The sulfur removal ratio increased from 51.4% to 85.1% with a change in heating temperature from 1773 K to 1873 K, and slightly dropped to 83.3% when the heating temperature increased to 1923 K. The heating temperature of 1873 K is the optimal choice for recycling in the present work.

The evolution of precipitates and texture was investigated in Nb-Cr-bearing decarburized specimens after normalizing at different temperatures. Enough inhibitors, including Nb(C,N), were obtained, of 20~40 nm in size. Increasing normalizing annealing temperature leads to the number density of the precipitates decreasing and that of mean size increasing. The Goss texture content in the decarburized specimens decreases in different degrees compared with the normalized ones. The minimum Goss texture and maximum ∑9 grain boundaries were obtained in the decarburized specimen normalizing at 950 °C and in this specimen, enough fine dispersed inhibitors, weak but relative stable Goss texture and uniform grain size will be beneficial for Goss grains growth in secondary recrystallization, according to the coincidence site lattice theory.

Electrical conductivity is one of the most basic physical–chemical properties of oxide-based melts and plays an important role in the materials and metallurgical industries. Especially with the metallurgical melt, molten slag, existing research studies related to slag conductivity mainly used traditional experimental measurement approaches. Meanwhile, the idea of data-driven decision making has been widely used in many fields instead of expert experience. Therefore, this study proposed an innovative approach based on big data mining methods to investigate the computational simulation and prediction of electrical conductivity. Specific mechanisms are discussed to explain the findings of our proposed approach. Experimental results show slag conductivity can be predicted through constructing predictive models, and the Gradient Boosting Decision Tree (GBDT) model is the best prediction model with 90% accuracy and more than 88% sensitivity. The robustness result of the GBDT model demonstrates the reliability of prediction outcomes. It is concluded that the conductivity of slag systems is mainly affected by TiO2, FeO, SiO2, and CaO. TiO2 and FeO are positively correlated with conductivity, while SiO2 and CaO have negative correlations with conductivity.

A novel method of cryorolling martensite for fabricating ultrafine grained low-carbon steel with attractive strength was proposed. The results indicate that ultrafine-grain structured steel could be manufactured by cryorolling and the subsequent annealing of martensite. The mean ferrite size of 132.0 nm and the tensile strength of 978.1 MPa were obtained in a specimen with a reduction of 70% in thickness. There were peak value and valley value in the strength and grain size of ferrite with the increase of reduction from 50% to 80%, respectively. The further growth of ferrite grain at 80% reduction is attributed to the heavier distortion energy at large reduction, which activates the secondary recrystallization of ferrite. Furthermore, the distribution of ferrite grains became more uniform with increasing of reduction from 50% to 70%. Additionally, the amount of lamellar dislocation cell substructure increased with the reduction at liquid nitrogen temperature.

In this paper, the effect of cold deformation on the microstructures and mechanical properties of 316LN austenitic stainless steel (ASS) was investigated. The results indicated that the content of martensite increased as the cold rolling reduction also increased. Meanwhile, the density of the grain boundary in the untransformed austenite structure of CR samples increased as the cold reduction increased from 10% to 40%, leading to a decreased size of the untransformed austenite structure. These two factors contribute to the improvement of strength and the decrease of ductility. High yield strengths (780–968 MPa) with reasonable elongations (30.8–27.4%) were achieved through 20–30% cold rolling. The 10–30% cold-rolled (CR) samples with good ductility had a good strain hardening ability, exhibiting a three-stage strain hardening behavior.

The structural evolution and segregation in a dual alloy made by electroslag remelting (ESR) was investigated by various analytical techniques. The results show that the macrostructure of the ingot consists of two crystallization structures: one is a quite narrow, fine, equiaxed grain region at the edge and the other is a columnar grain region, which plays a leading role. The typical columnar structure shows no discontinuity between the CrMoV, NiCrMoV, and transition zones. The average secondary arm-spacing is coarsened from 35.3 to 49.2 μm and 61.5 μm from the bottom to the top of the ingot. The distinctive features of the structure are attributed to the different cooling conditions during the ESR process. The Ni, Cr, and C contents markedly increase in the transition zone (TZ) and show a slight increase from the bottom to the top and from the surface to the center of the ESR ingot due to the partition ratios, gravity segregation, the thermal buoyancy flow, the solutal buoyancy flow, and the inward Lorentz force. Less dendrite segregation exists in the CrMoV zone and the transition zone due to a stronger cooling rate (11.1 and 4.5 °C/s) and lower Cr and C contents. The precipitation of carbides was observed in the ingot due to a lower solid solubility of the carbon element in the α phase.

The oxidation kinetics of low valence titanium and iron in Ti-bearing blast furnace slag were investigated, the activation energies were calculated, which are 461.1 and 437.3 kJ/mol, respectively. The results illustrate that the oxidation process of Ti3+ in the slag is controlled by chemical reactions. However, the chemical reaction between oxygen and iron, between slag and gas, is the determining step of the iron oxidation process. The effects of the isothermal oxidation on the content of Fe2O3, FeM, FeO, and FeT in the slag are discussed. The Fe2+ and Ti3+ in the molten slag were oxidized at high temperatures. Oxygen affinity of the slag can be described using oxygen capacity. The oxygen capacity of Ti-bearing blast furnace slag was investigated during the dynamic oxidation process, the results indicates that the oxygen capacity of the slag decreased with increasing oxidation time during the dynamic oxidation process.

Over the past several years, volunteered geographic information (VGI) has expanded rapidly. VGI collection has been proven to serve as a highly successful means of acquiring timely and detailed global spatial data. However, VGI includes several special properties. For example, the contributor’s reputation affects the quality of objects edited, and a geographic object may have multiple versions. The existing spatio-temporal data model cannot describe the unique properties of VGI. Therefore, a spatio-temporal VGI model considering trust-related information is presented in this paper. In this model, central elements of the VGI environment, e.g., geographic entity, entity state, state version, contributor, reputation, geographic event, and edit event, and their interaction mechanisms are analysed. Major VGI objects and relations are determined using the object-oriented method and trust-related operations, and their relationships are analysed, and nine linkage rules among trust-related operations are found to maintain the consistency of corresponding data. A prototype system for the spatio-temporal VGI model is presented, and the effectiveness of the model is verified.