Customized heat treatment process enabled excellent mechanical properties in wire arc additively manufactured Mg-RE-Zn-Zr alloys

Customized heat treatment is essential for enhancing the mechanical properties of additively manufactured metallic materials,especially for alloys with complex phase constituents and heterogenous microstructure.However,the interrelated evolutions of different microstructure features make it difficult to establish optimal heat treatment processes.Herein,we proposed a method for customized heat treatment process exploration and establishment to overcome this challenge for such kind of alloys,and a wire arc additively manufactured(WAAM)Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Zr alloy with layered heterostructure was used for feasibility verification.Through this method,the optimal microstructures(fine grain,controllable amount of long period stacking ordered(LPSO)structure and nano-scaleβ'precipitates)and the corresponding customized heat treatment processes(520°C/30 min+200°C/48 h)were obtained to achieve a good combination of a high strength of 364 MPa and a considerable elongation of 6.2%,which surpassed those of other state-of-the-art WAAM-processed Mg alloys.Furthermore,we evidenced that the favorable effect of the undeformed LPSO structures on the mechanical properties was emphasized only when the nano-scaleβ'precipitates were present.It is believed that the findings promote the application of magnesium alloy workpieces and help to establish customized heat treatment processes for additively manufactured materials.

Inhibition of FLT3:A Prototype for Molecular Targeted Therapy in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Modern therapy of acute myeloid leukemia(AML)began in 1973 with the first report of the successful combination of daunorubicin and cytarabine,which led to complete remission in approximately 45%of patients.Accurate AML diagnosis was dependent on morphology,aided initially only by cytochemistry.Unlike acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL),immunophenotyping offered little in the diagnosis of AML,at least during the 1970s and 1980s.The advent of reliable cytogenetics changed the entire prognostic outlook of AML.With karyotypic analysis,different groups of AML could be classified and stratified for various therapies.Unique mutational profiling was a major advance in further categorizing AML patients,aided by the immunophenotypic identification of antigenic markers on the cells.All these advances were occurring as the understanding of the importance of the tumor burden—known as minimal residual disease(MRD)—became crucial for the management of AML patients.The efficacy of MRD has rapidly progressed in the past decade,from a specificity of 103 with immunophenotyping to 104 with polymerase chain reaction(PCR),which is only appropriate for some patients with AML,and finally to 105 or even 106 cells with the extraordinary sensitivity of next-generation sequencing(NGS).All of these advances have promoted the concept of personalized medicine,which has led to the advent of targeted agents that can accurately be used for specific diagnostic subtypes.Responses can be predicted and measured accurately.Such targeted agents have now become a cornerstone in the management of AML,increasing effi-cacy and dramatically reducing toxicity.The focus of this review is on one of the most well-studied targeted agents in AML:the FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3(FLT3)inhibitors,which have impacted the prognostication and therapeutics of AML.This review selectively discusses the FLT3 inhibitors in detail,as a model for the other burgeoning targeted agents that have already been approved,as well as those that are currently in development.

Very Early C-Reactive Protein Levels after Acute Myocardial Infarction Predict Early Outcome and Late Prognosis

Objectives: C-reactive protein (CRP) blood levels are associated with atherosclerosis and increased incidence of coronary events. Aim: To evaluate the utility for risk stratification of very early blood CRP levels, during the first 6 hours after the onset of chest pain, in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods: 118 patients with AMI, 88 men, age 63.3 ± 8 yrs, were evaluated, and CRP was assessed within the first 6 hours after the onset of chest pains. Results: CRP level in all patients was 15.7 ± 14.1 mg/L. Its level increased with higher Killip class, 11.2 ± 5 mg/L in class 1, and 62 ± 7 mg/L in class 4 (p 40% (p < 0.01). Higher CRP values were found in patients with 3 vessel coronary artery diseases 20.7 ± 8 mg/L, vs. 8.7 ± 4 mg/L with 2 and 1 vessel disease (p < 0.05). Patients with in-hospital complications had higher CRP, 33.7 ± 10 mg/L vs. 12.1 ± 5 mg/L in those without (p < 0.001). Eight patients died at one-year follow-up. The CRP levels on admission in patients who died during the first year of follow-up, 45.2 ± 7.7 mg/L were higher than those in the survivors without adverse events, 11.6 ± 5 mg/L (p < 0.001). Admission CRP level in patients re-admitted with unstable angina, re-infarction or those who had coronary bypass surgery was similar to that in those who were not. Conclusions: Very early blood CRP levels in patients with AMI predict functional capacity, systolic left ventricular function, extent of coronary artery disease, early and short term complications and 1-year mortality but not recurrent myocardial ischemic events.

A “Fine Structure Constant” for Inertia

We try to find a physical source for the inertial force, which contradicts the acceleration of an object. We find that when an object is accelerated, its gravitational field curves, and the stress force created in this curved field acts on the object against the accelerating force, thus supplying part of the inertial force that contradicts the acceleration. We also find that this force includes a term which is similar to the “fine structure constant” used in quantum mechanics. As well, we find that this term equals unity for a black hole object. Further work is needed in order to find whether the complete inertial force can be found in this way. The experimental results that may prove this approach are still very limited.

Investigating Road Safety Management Systems in the European Countries: Patterns and Particularities

A road safety management (RSM) system can be defined as “a complex institutional structure that involves cooperating and interacting bodies which support the tasks and processes necessary for the prevention and reduction of road traffic injuries”. RSM should promote the road safety progress of the country. However, the details of this relationship are generally lacking. This study explored the RSM systems in European countries based on the information collected through interviews with experts and officials, in each country, and using a “good practice” criteria questionnaire. The dataset included 14 countries with fifty items related to five RSM areas: institutional organization;policy formulation and adoption;policy implementation and funding;monitoring and evaluation;scientific support, information and capacity building. Cluster analyses and correlations were used to identify country groups with similar RSM components, to recognize typical RSM structures if available and to examine the relationship between RSM and road safety performance of the countries. The findings showed that all the countries are different when RSM systems are considered as a whole, making it impossible to identify typical RSM structures or a single best working model at a national level. However, it is possible to compare countries when the RSM areas are considered separately, where the clusters of countries recognized by the study present the patterns common for those European countries. Across the analyses, a number of countries with a consistently higher and lower availability of the RSM components were identified, enabling a final countries’ ranking into a number of groups. The latter actually reflects the level of RSM in the country, in terms of its correspondence to the “good practice” criteria. A further analysis indicated a positive correlation between the higher level of the RSM system and better safety performance of the countries.

A novel freemium code SAND(v1.0)for generation of randomly packed beds

The main current approaches for generation of the packed bed models are based on rigid body dynamics(RBD)and Newton's laws(discrete element methods-DEM).This paper deals with the development and analysis of a novel code based on analytical geometry approach for the packed bed generation.The architecture and main algorithms of the novel code are described and clarified.The parameters of the packed bed generated via the novel code are compared with experimental data and packed beds generated via Blender(RBD),Yade(DEM).The novel code demonstrates many advantages,such as good correlation with experimental data,no overlaps between pellets in the packed bed,and a low computational time for packed bed generation.The packed bed model can be directly exported in.step format.Other advantages are also demonstrated and clarified.The novel code is attached to this paper and can be freely used by engineers and scientists.

Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) techniques for energy and powersystems: Review, challenges and opportunities

Despite widespread adoption and outstanding performance, machine learning models are considered as ‘‘blackboxes’’, since it is very difficult to understand how such models operate in practice. Therefore, in the powersystems field, which requires a high level of accountability, it is hard for experts to trust and justify decisionsand recommendations made by these models. Meanwhile, in the last couple of years, Explainable ArtificialIntelligence (XAI) techniques have been developed to improve the explainability of machine learning models,such that their output can be better understood. In this light, it is the purpose of this paper to highlight thepotential of using XAI for power system applications. We first present the common challenges of using XAI insuch applications and then review and analyze the recent works on this topic, and the on-going trends in theresearch community. We hope that this paper will trigger fruitful discussions and encourage further researchon this important emerging topic.

Droplet Raman laser coupled to a standard fiber

We fabricate a tapered fiber coupler, position it near an ultrahigh-Q resonator made from a microdroplet, and experimentally measure stimulated Raman emission. We then calculate the molecular vibrational mode associated with each of the Raman lines and present it in a movie. Our Raman laser lines show themselves at a threshold of 160 μW input power, the cold-cavity quality factor is 250 million, and mode volume is 23 μm^3. Both pump and Raman laser modes overlap with the liquid phase instead of just residually extending to the fluid.

From capture to transport:A review of engineered surfaces for fog collection

Collecting microscale water droplets suspended in the wind,that is,fog,using permeable surfaces is a promising solution to the worldwide problem of water scarcity and is of great interest to industries,such as mist elimination and recapturing water in cooling towers.In the past few decades,this topic has attracted a drastically increasing number of researchers across a wide range of subjects.However,many aspects remain unclear,such as the definition and process of fog collection,fog collection determined from the perspectives of both the fog capture process and the liquid transport process,and how surface characteristics affect fog collection performance.In this review,we introduce and discuss fog collection from the perspectives of aerodynamics-governed fog-capturing processes and interfacial-phenomena-determined liquid transport processes.Then,an emphasis is given to the design and engineering of permeable surfaces at different length scales to optimize the fog collection performance,including the dimension,morphology,and arrangement of wires at the millimetric scale,unidirectional spreading,and Laplace pressure gradient induced by asymmetric surface geometry and nano-/microstructures.At last,a brief outlook of future research directions is provided.

Standards of admission capillary blood glucose levels in cesarean born neonates

Background:Neonatal hypoglycemia (NH) and cutoffs remain undefined.Our center screens all cesareandelivered (CD) neonates for NH.We sought to define standards of admission capillary blood glucose levels (ACBGLs) in CD neonates who were at the lowest risk for hypoglycemia.Methods:Of 4947 neonates,519 met all 14 inclusion criteria.These highly-selected neonates were apparently the healthiest,least-stressed,earliest to be admitted to nursery and at lowest-risk for hypoglycemia.For each CD,cord blood gases and glucose were determined and each infant was screened for blood glucose at nursery admission.Results:Sampling age was 41.6±15.3 minutes,a mean ACBGL of 52.3±10.7 mg/dL,and percentiles as follows:1st percentile,29.2;3rd,33.6;5th,35.0;10th,39.0;25th,46.0;50th,51.0;75th,58.0;90th,67.0;95th,71.0;97th,73.0,and 99th,84.4.ACBGL rose significantly with increasing gestational age (P=0.004),increasing cord blood glucose (P<0.001),decreasing cord blood pH (P<0.001) and decreasing sampling age (P=4).027).Conclusions:Setting uniform ACBGL cutoffs for NH definition is unachievable due to the enormous heterogeneity among newborns.Hence,we provide group-based ACBGL standards in CD neonates.We propose setting ACBGL cutoffs for use in CD neonates:1) hypoglycemia:ACBGL <5th percentile (<35 mg/dL);and 2) interventional hypoglycemia:ACBGL <1st percentile (<30 mg/dL).

Near index matching enables solid diffractive optical element fabrication via additive manufacturing

Diffractive optical elements(DOEs)have a wide range of applications in optics and photonics,thanks to their capability to perform complex wavefront shaping in a compact form.However,widespread applicability of DOEs is still limited,because existing fabrication methods are cumbersome and expensive.Here,we present a simple and cost-effective fabrication approach for solid,high-performance DOEs.The method is based on conjugating two nearly refractive index-matched solidifiable transparent materials.The index matching allows for extreme scaling up of the elements in the axial dimension,which enables simple fabrication of a template using commercially available 3D printing at tens-of-micrometer resolution.We demonstrated the approach by fabricating and using DOEs serving as microlens arrays,vortex plates,including for highly sensitive applications such as vector beam generation and super-resolution microscopy using MINSTED,and phase-masks for three-dimensional single-molecule localization microscopy.Beyond the advantage of making DOEs widely accessible by drastically simplifying their production,the method also overcomes difficulties faced by existing methods in fabricating highly complex elements,such as high-order vortex plates,and spectrum-encoding phase masks for microscopy.

Enhancing the performance of porous silicon biosensors:the interplay of nanostructure design and microfluidic integration

This work presents the development and design of aptasensor employing porous silicon(PSi)Fabry‒Pérot thin films that are suitable for use as optical transducers for the detection of lactoferrin(LF),which is a protein biomarker secreted at elevated levels during gastrointestinal(GI)inflammatory disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease and chronic pancreatitis.To overcome the primary limitation associated with PSi biosensors—namely,their relatively poor sensitivity due to issues related to complex mass transfer phenomena and reaction kinetics—we employed two strategic approaches:First,we sought to optimize the porous nanostructure with respect to factors including layer thickness,pore diameter,and capture probe density.Second,we leveraged convection properties by integrating the resulting biosensor into a 3D-printed microfluidic system that also had one of two different micromixer architectures(i.e.,staggered herringbone micromixers or microimpellers)embedded.We demonstrated that tailoring the PSi aptasensor significantly improved its performance,achieving a limit of detection(LOD)of 50 nM—which is>1 order of magnitude lower than that achieved using previously-developed biosensors of this type.Moreover,integration into microfluidic systems that incorporated passive and active micromixers further enhanced the aptasensor’s sensitivity,achieving an additional reduction in the LOD by yet another order of magnitude.These advancements demonstrate the potential of combining PSi-based optical transducers with microfluidic technology to create sensitive label-free biosensing platforms for the detection of GI inflammatory biomarkers.