Microstructure and finite element analysis of hot continuous rolling of doped tungsten rod

The microstructures of doped tungsten deformed by multi-pass hot continuous rolling were investigated, and the stress and strain fields were simulated by finite element(FE) method. After the continuous rolling, the grains of the tungsten rod were refined, and the microhardness was improved; however, a ring region of abnormal grain growth was present at a distance of about 3/5 R(R is the radius of the rod) from the center of the cross section. FE modeling results showed that the equivalent residual strains were minimum around the region of abnormal grain growth; this was due to the release of strain energy by severe plastic deformation, leading a situation where the migration force of grain boundaries was higher than the pinning force of potassium bubbles. By decreasing the initial rolling temperature and rolling speeds, the inhomogeneity of the equivalent residual stain decreased, improving the microstructure uniformity of the doped tungsten.

MiR-301a promotes embryonic stem cell differentiation to cardiomyocytes

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide.Tissue repair after pathological injury in the heart remains a major challenge due to the limited regenerative ability of cardiomyocytes in adults.Stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes provide a promising source for the cell transplantation-based treatment of injured hearts.AIM To explore the function and mechanisms of miR-301a in regulating cardiomyocyte differentiation of mouse embryonic stem(mES)cells,and provide experimental evidence for applying miR-301a to the cardiomyocyte differentiation induction from stem cells.METHODS mES cells with or without overexpression of miR-301a were applied for all functional assays.The hanging drop technique was applied to form embryoid bodies from mES cells.Cardiac markers including GATA-4,TBX5,MEF2C,andα-actinin were used to determine cardiomyocyte differentiation from mES cells.RESULTS High expression of miR-301a was detected in the heart from late embryonic to neonatal mice.Overexpression of miR-301a in mES cells significantly induced the expression of cardiac transcription factors,thereby promoting cardiomyocyte differentiation and beating cardiomyocyte clone formation.PTEN is a target gene of miR-301a in cardiomyocytes.PTEN-regulated PI3K-AKT-mTOR-Stat3 signaling showed involvement in regulating miR-301a-promoted cardiomyocyte differentiation from mES cells.CONCLUSION MiR-301a is capable of promoting embryonic stem cell differentiation to cardiomyocytes.

Biomedical titanium alloys and their additive manufacturing

Titanium and its alloys have been widely used for biomedical applications due to their better biomechanical and biochemical compatibility than other metallic materials such as stainless steels and Co-based alloys.A brief review on the development of the b-type titanium alloys with high strength and low elastic modulus is given and the use of additive manufacturing technologies to produce porous titanium alloy parts,using Ti-6Al-4V as a reference,and its potential in fabricating biomedica replacements are discussed in this paper.

Effect of HIP Treatment on Fatigue Notch Sensitivity of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy Fabricated by Electron Beam Melting

The effect of hot isostatic pressing(HIP)treatment on the fatigue notch sensitivity of Ti-6A1-4V alloy fabricated by electron beam melting(EBM)was investigated.The results indicate that the fatigue notch sensitivity of the as-fabricated samples is much lower than that of HIPed samples.The variation of α lamella thickness and the distribution of pore defects have an effect on the fatigue strength in smooth and notched EBM Ti-6A1-4V samples,resulting in the divergence of the as-fabricated and HIPed samples on fatigue notch sensitivity.

Effect of HIP Treatment on Fatigue Crack Growth Behavior of Ti–6Al–4V Alloy Fabricated by Electron Beam Melting

The effect of hot isostatic pressing treatment on the fatigue crack growth behavior of Ti-6Al-4V alloy fabricated by electron beam melting was investigated. The results indicate that the fatigue crack growth rate of the HIPed samples is higher than that of the as-fabricated one under certain stress intensity factor （AK 〈 18 MPa m^1/2）. With further increase in AK, the fatigue crack growth rates of the studied two samples become similar. The variation of α lamella thickness and the pore defects distribution have an effect on the fatigue crack growth rates in the studied samples, and the latter plays the dominant role.

Improved Corrosion Resistance of Selective Laser Melted Ti–5Cu Alloy Using Atomized Ti–5Cu Powder

The different types of metal powder used for selective laser melting(SLM) process would cause distinct corrosion behavior due to the uniformity of the obtained microstructure.The SLM-produced Ti–5Cu alloy using atomized Ti–5Cu metal powder(SLMed Ti–5Cu) in this work reveals a relatively uniform microstructure with overwhelming acicular α/α′ phase and shows great advantages on corrosion resistance compared with the SLM-produced Ti–5Cu alloy using the mixture powder(SLMedM Ti–5Cu).The effect of the micro-galvanic cells decreases due to the undetectable Ti2Cu phase in the microstructure of the SLMed Ti–5Cu.An apparent passivation behavior was observed for SLMed Ti–5Cu instead of severe pitting phenomenon for the SLMed-M Ti–5Cu.The charge transfer resistance of SLMed Ti–5Cu in this work is 10.09 ± 2.63 MΩ cm2, which is significantly higher than that of SLMed-M Ti–5Cu(4.76 MΩ cm2).The above result indicates the atomized Ti–5Cu powder plays an important role in the formation of the uniform microstructure of SLMed product, thereby enhancing its corrosion resistance in Hank’s solution at 37 ℃.

Identification of a novel mutation in the SRD5A2 gene of one patient with 46,XY disorder of sex development

Dear Editor, 46,XY disorder of sex development （DSD） is characterized by a female phenotype in an individual with a normal 46,XY karyotype.1 The clinical phenotTpe of 46,XY DSD is characterized by bilateral undescended testes and a normal female appearance, including breasts, female external genitalia, and other secondary sex characteristics, but the absence of a uterus or ovaries.2 Development of the male external genitalia in the fetal period depends on the biosynthesis of testosterone （T）, the conversion ofT into dihydrotestosterone （DHT） by steroid 5α-reductase type 2 （SRD5A2）, and the response of functionally active androgen receptors in genital tissues） The disruption of any of these stages will block the differentiation of internal and external genitalia and cause 46,XY DSD.

Uniaxial Strain-Induced Grain Boundary Migration in Titanium

The mechanical response of a bi-crystal model with a 90°grain boundary under external compressive and tensile loading parallel to the boundary plane normal was investigated with molecular dynamics simulations.The grain boundary was found to migrate along two opposite directions upon compressive and tensile straining,with the formation of inter-connected coherent twin boundary and basal/prismatic boundary.The atomic details of such grain boundary migration were unraveled,which indicated the role of interface dislocations.The temperature effect was also discussed.