Characterization, preparation, and reuse of metallic powders for laser powder bed fusion: a review

Laser powder bed fusion(L-PBF) has attracted significant attention in both the industry and academic fields since its inception, providing unprecedented advantages to fabricate complex-shaped metallic components. The printing quality and performance of L-PBF alloys are infuenced by numerous variables consisting of feedstock powders, manufacturing process,and post-treatment. As the starting materials, metallic powders play a critical role in infuencing the fabrication cost, printing consistency, and properties. Given their deterministic roles, the present review aims to retrospect the recent progress on metallic powders for L-PBF including characterization, preparation, and reuse. The powder characterization mainly serves for printing consistency while powder preparation and reuse are introduced to reduce the fabrication costs.Various powder characterization and preparation methods are presented in the beginning by analyzing the measurement principles, advantages, and limitations. Subsequently, the effect of powder reuse on the powder characteristics and mechanical performance of L-PBF parts is analyzed, focusing on steels, nickel-based superalloys, titanium and titanium alloys, and aluminum alloys. The evolution trends of powders and L-PBF parts vary depending on specific alloy systems, which makes the proposal of a unified reuse protocol infeasible. Finally,perspectives are presented to cater to the increased applications of L-PBF technologies for future investigations. The present state-of-the-art work can pave the way for the broad industrial applications of L-PBF by enhancing printing consistency and reducing the total costs from the perspective of powders.

On-spot preparation of EDTA solution for the treatment of band keratopathy:a case report

Dear Editor,We report a case of band keratopathy who experienced several ocular surgeries,secondary uveitis and glaucoma which eventually led to severe band keratopathy.We use commonly-used vacuum blood collection tubes with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid dipotassium salt(EDTA-K2)to prepare chelation solution on-spot to remove the calcium deposits on the corneal surface.It is proved to be relatively safety,efficacy,cost-effective.

Common Artifacts and Remedies in Histological Preparations

The importance of the accuracy of preparing biological specimen as histological sections that can be examined under a microscope lies in reflecting a true image of the tissue that includes all its components, which are used in scientific research or for the purpose of diagnosing various diseases of the body. Despite this, some cellular structures within the tissue may suffer from some alterations that result from the appearance of defects during any stage of preparing these microscopic sections, which alter or interfere with the precise cellular structures and morphology that constitute the tissue and thus give a different image for tissue features and cause confusion in the work histopathologist in the diagnosis. There are several reasons that can cause a misdiagnosis of the sample that occurs during the surgical separation process or after separation during the stages of microscopic preparation techniques from fixation stage, tissue processing, embedding or microtomy, staining until mounting procedures. The constant need to identify these defects and their causes in addition to try to reduce them is one of the biggest challenges evident in pathology laboratories. Therefore, this study aims to review the most common defects that occur in any stage of tissue processing, with an explanation of their causes and appropriate ways to avoid them.

Enhancing vertically stacked skin display compactness via discrete layer preparation

The discrete preparation of functional layers followed by lamination for all-organic active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes enables an ultrahigh aperture ratio and reliable conformability,promising significant potential for nextgeneration skin-like displays.

Preparation and Thermal Stability of AlMoON Based Solar Selective Absorption Coating

AlMoON based solar selective absorption coatings were deposited on stainless steel substrate by magnetron sputtering.The coatings included infrared reflection layer Mo,absorption layer AlMoN,absorption layer AlMoON and antireflection layer AlMoO from bottom to top.The surface of the deposited coatings is flat without obvious defects.The absorptivity and emissivity are 0.896 and 0.09,respectively,and the quality factor is 9.96.After heat treatment at 500℃-36 h,the surface roughness of the coating increases,a small number of cracks and other defects appear,and the broken part is still attached to the coating surface.A certain degree of element diffusion occurs in the coatings,resulting in the decline of the optical properties of the coatings.The absorptivity and emissivity are 0.883 and 0.131,respectively,the quality factor is 7.06,and the PC value is 0.0335.The coatings do not fail under this condition and have certain thermal stability.

Research Progress of Bowel Preparation for Colonoscopy

Colorectal cancer ranks third in the global cancer data in 2020. Colorectal scope is the most effective method to diagnose colorectal diseases such as benign and malignant colorectal tumors. The poor quality of intestinal preparation causes an increased rate of missed diagnosis of colorectal tumors, reduces the rate of cecal intubation for colorectal examination, increases the discomfort, and reduces the compliance of re-examination. Therefore, we should try our best to improve the quality of intestinal preparation. This study reviewed the latest advances related to the preoperative preparation for colonoscopy. Recent research shows that smartphone apps can provide more detailed education and guidance on bowel preparation;Pre-packaged foods are more suitable as a way to eat before colonoscopy. The use of smaller doses, better taste of cathartic agents, and some auxiliary measures, combined with the patient’s situation to provide personalized intestinal preparation measures to improve the quality of intestinal preparation. Starting from the quality of colonoscopy bowel preparation, continuous improvement of patients’ tolerance to bowel preparation, continuous improvement of bowel preparation plan based on individual factors’ needs, and better communication with examined subjects by using existing scientific information technology, may be the hot spot of colonoscopy bowel preparation research in the next few years.

Progress in preparation of AlN-reinforced magnesium matrix composites:A review

As a ceramic material,AlN has very good thermophysical and mechanical properties.In addition,AlN is an effective refining agent for Mg alloys because it has a lattice constant similar to that of Mg.Therefore,AlN is an ideal reinforcement for magnesium matrix composites(MMCs),and is attracting increasing attention.This review addresses the development of preparation technologies for AlN-reinforced Mg matrix composites.The mainstream preparation techniques include stir casting,melt infiltration,powder metallurgy,and in-situ methods.In addition,the advantages and disadvantages of these techniques are analyzed in depth,and it is pointed out that the next direction for the preparation of high-performance AlN-reinforced MMCs is less aluminization and multiple technologies integration.

Preparation and properties of rapeseed straw based porous carbon materials

The conversion of rapeseed straw into biochar not only effectively mitigates pollution from traditional straw burning but also aligns with China’s sustainable agricultural development goals. A significant quantity of rapeseed stalks is frequently burned in fields, leading to severe air pollution characterized by black smoke and residue, resulting in a substantial waste of straw resources. To address this issue, rapeseed straw form Nanchi Village, Puzhen Town, Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province, was utilized as a precursor and KOH was employed as an activator to produce porous activated carbon by pyrolysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), elemental analyzer, infrared spectroscopy, specific surface area analysis, and other instruments were employed to characterize the porous activated carbon produced under various temperature gradients and activator concentrations. The microelement composition, structure, specific surface area, and pore size of biochar produced under varying conditions were analyzed to determine the optimal preparation parameters. Furthermore, the adsorption efficiency for tetracycline in wastewater was evaluated using a three-factor, three-level orthogonal experimental design. The results showed that the interior of the activated carbon was porous, while the exterior contained oxygenated functional groups that facilitated the adsorption of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other elements. The optimal carbonization temperature and KOH concentration for activated carbon were determined to be 400°C and 0.5, respectively. The optimal adsorption conditions were identified as pH value of 7, an initial tetracycline concentration of 30 mg/L, a biochar dosage of 0.2 g, an adsorption time of 60 min, and a removal rate of 98.53%. The factors influencing the adsorption of tetracycline onto rapeseed straw biochar were ranked as initial tetracycline concentration>adsorption reaction time>biochar dasage. The findings will provide valuable references for research on biochar performance and the treatment of tetracycline contamination in water.

Analysis of the History and Current Situation of the Development of General Practice Teaching Clinics in China

A summary of the exploration of the teaching mode of the general practice teaching clinic, a summary of the deficiencies of the teaching clinic and a summary of the significance of the establishment of the general practice teaching clinic are presented with a view to promoting the development of general practice and cultivating more excellent successors in general practice.

Culturally competent care across borders: Implementing culturally responsive teaching for nurses in diverse workforces

The migration of healthcare professionals,including nurses,is a global phenomenon.It is driven by various factors,including the pursuit of better opportunities,living conditions,and professional development,as well as political instability or conflict in their home countries.The World Health Organization(WHO)has noted that high-income countries often rely on foreign-trained nurses to fill gaps in their healthcare systems[1].For instance,as of 2021,over 40%(52 million)of all nurses in the United States(US)were expatriates[2].In the United Kingdom(UK),the percentage of expatriate nurses was even higher,reaching approximately 18%in 2021[3].Owing to globalization and migration,healthcare providers must possess cultural competence to deliver improved care[4,5].Culturally responsive teaching(CRT)is rooted in the idea that culture plays a vital role in shaping people’s behaviors,beliefs,values,and communication styles[6].Furthermore,these cultural factors influence patients’perspectives on health,illness,healing,and their preferences for care and communication[7].By recognizing and embracing these cultural differences,nurses can provide more effective and compassionate care to their diverse patient population[8].

Preparation of single atom catalysts for high sensitive gas sensing

Single atom catalysts(SACs)have garnered significant attention in the field of catalysis over the past decade due to their exceptional atom utilization efficiency and distinct physical and chemical properties.For the semiconductor-based electrical gas sensor,the core is the catalysis process of target gas molecules on the sensitive materials.In this context,the SACs offer great potential for highly sensitive and selective gas sensing,however,only some of the bubbles come to the surface.To facilitate practical applications,we present a comprehensive review of the preparation strategies for SACs,with a focus on overcoming the challenges of aggregation and low loading.Extensive research efforts have been devoted to investigating the gas sensing mechanism,exploring sensitive materials,optimizing device structures,and refining signal post-processing techniques.Finally,the challenges and future perspectives on the SACs based gas sensing are presented.

Exploration on Teaching Reform of Synthetic Biology Course Based on the New Engineering Concept

Synthetic biology is a new frontier of life science,which aims to design,transform and even synthesize organisms with engineering design concept.Doing a good job in the teaching of"synthetic biology"is of great significance to the cultivation and reserve of biotechnology professionals in China,and also has an important impact on students' employment competitiveness.Under the background of"new engineering",the course reform of"synthetic biology"was carried out in terms of the construction of teaching staff,teaching methods,students' participation and the innovation of course content,and specific reform suggestions were put forward,hoping to effectively promote the sustainable development of"synthetic biology"and effectively improve the quality of education.

Practical effect of different teaching modes in teaching gastrointestinal surgery nursing

BACKGROUND With the continuous development and progress of medical technology,the position of surgical nursing in the field of clinical medicine is becoming in-creasingly prominent.As an important branch of the surgical field,the nursing requirements and difficulty of gastrointestinal surgery are also increasing.In order to improve the teaching quality of nursing care in gastrointestinal surgery,many educators and researchers are actively exploring new teaching methods.Among them,the teaching method case-based learning(CBL),scene-simulated learning(SSL),task-based learning(TBL),combining self-evaluation and training mode is considered as an effective method.This method aims to help students to better master knowledge and skills and improve their comprehensive quality by cultivating their self-evaluation ability.AIM To explore the practical effect of CBL-SSL-TBL combined with training mode and student self-assessment in nursing teaching of gastrointestinal surgery.METHODS Seventy-one nursing interns in our hospital from December 2020 to December 2021 were selected.According to different teaching modes,they were divided into observation group CBL-SSL-TBL combined with training mode combined with student self-assessment and control group(conventional teaching mode),of which 36 were in observation group and 35 were in control group.The results of operational skills,theoretical knowledge,nursing students'satisfaction,learning effectiveness questionnaire and teaching effect were compared between the two groups.RESULTS Compared between the two groups,the operational skills and theoretical knowledge scores of the observation group were higher than those of the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).Compared between the two groups,the total satisfaction ratio of the observation group was higher than that of the control group,the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).Compared between the two groups,the observation group was lower than the control group in the questionnaire results of learning efficacy,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).Compared between the two groups,the proportion of thinking ability,subjective initiative and understanding of theoretical knowledge in the observation group was higher than that in the control group,the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).CONCLUSION The use of CBL-SSL-TBL combined with training mode and student self-assessment in gastrointestinal surgery nursing teaching can improve the operational skills of nursing interns,theoretical knowledge and satisfaction scores of nursing students,improve the results of learning efficiency questionnaire and teaching effect,which can be popularized in clinical teaching.

The preparation and properties of N-doped carbon materials and their use for sodium storage

Defect engineering by heteroatom doping gives carbon materials some new characteristics such as a different electronic structure and a high electrochemical activity,making them suitable for high-performance applications.N-doping has been widely investigated because of its similar atom radius to carbon,high electronegativity as well as many different configurations.We summarize the preparation methods and properties of N-doped carbon materials,and discuss their possible use in sodium ion storage.The relationships between N content/configuration and crystallinity,electronic conductivity,wettability,chemical reactivity as well as sodium ion storage performance are discussed.

Exploration of Teaching Reform of Food Machinery and Equipment Course Based on New Engineering Concept

The new engineering concept aims to train high-quality engineering talents to meet the needs of future science and technology and industrial development through the reform of education and teaching.Under the background of"new engineering",by introducing cutting-edge knowledge of the industry and interdisciplinary integration,adopting innovative teaching methods such as project-driven teaching and flipped classroom,strengthening experimental teaching and school-enterprise cooperation,and establishing comprehensive evaluation and feedback mechanism,Food Machinery and Equipment course is reformed to improve the teaching quality and train high-quality engineering talents to meet the needs of modern food processing industry.

Insight into demand-driven preparation of single-atomic mediators for lithium–sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur(Li-S) batteries have attracted considerable attention as one of the most appealing energy storage systems.Strenuous efforts have been devoted to tackling the tremendous challenges,mainly pertaining to the severe shuttle effect,sluggish redox kinetics and lithium dendritic growth.Single-atomic mediators as promising candidates exhibit impressive performance in addressing these intractable issues.Related research often utilizes a trial-and-error approach,proposing solutions to fabricate single-atomic materials with diversified features.However,comprehensive review articles especially targeting demand-driven preparation are still in a nascent stage.Inspired by these considerations,this review summarizes the design of single-atomic mediators based on the application case-studies in LiS batteries and other metal-sulfur systems.Emerging preparation routes represented by chemical vapor deposition technology are introduced in a demand-oriented classification.Finally,future research directions are proposed to foster the advancement of single-atomic mediators in Li-S realm.

Research on Blended Teaching Mode:A Case Study of Floristry

In order to better carry out research on education and teaching,the author consulted relevant literature on blended teaching mode from 2011-2021 through CNKI,Web of Science and other websites,summarized and analyzed the research status of blended teaching mode,in order to lay a good foundation for studying blended teaching mode in course teaching.

Novel wood-plastic composite fabricated via modified steel slag:Preparation,mechanical and flammability properties

A novel method was developed to enhance the utilization rate of steel slag(SS).Through treatment of SS with phosphoric acid and aminopropyl triethoxysilane(KH550),we obtained modified SS(MSS),which was used to prepare MSS/wood-plastic composites(MSS/WPCs)by replacing talcum powder(TP).The composites were fabricated through melting blending and hot pressing.Their mechanical and combustion properties,which comprise heat release,smoke release,and thermal stability,were systematically investigated.MSS can improve the mechanical strength of the composites through grafting reactions between wood powder and thermoplastics.Notably,MSS/WPC#50(16wt%MSS)with an MSS-to-TP mass ratio of 1:1 exhibited optimal comprehensive performance.Compared with those of WPC#0 without MSS,the tensile,flexural,and impact strengths of MSS/WPC#50 were increased by 18.5%,12.8%,and 18.0%,respectively.Moreover,the MSS/WPC#50 sample achieved the highest limited oxygen index of 22.5%,the highest vertical burning rating at the V-1 level,and the lowest horizontal burning rate at 44.2 mm/min.The formation of a dense and stable char layer led to improved thermal stability and a considerable reduction in heat and smoke releases of MSS/WPC#50.However,the partial replacement of TP with MSS slightly compromised the mechanical and flame-retardant properties,possibly due to the weak grafting caused by SS powder agglomeration.These findings suggest the suitability of MSS/WPCs for high-value-added applications as decorative panels indoors or outdoors.

Effects of site preparation methods on soil physical properties and outplanting success of coniferous seedlings in boreal forests

This study assessed the effect of patch scarification and mounding on the physical properties of the root layer and the success of tree planting in various types of forests.This study was conducted on 12 forest sites in taiga forests of the European part of Russia.A total of 54 plots were set up to assess seedling survival;root collar diameter,height,and heigh increment were measured for 240 seedlings to assess growth.In the rooting layer,240 soil samples were taken to determine physical properties.The study showed that soil treatment methods had no effect on bulk density and total porosity in Cladina sites.However,reduced soil moisture was noted,particularly in mounds,resulting in increased aeration.In Myrtillus sites,there were increased bulk density,reduced soil moisture,and total porosity in the mounds.Mounding treatment in Polytrichum sites resulted in reduced soil moisture and increased aeration porosity.In the Myrtillus and Polytrichum sites,patch scarification had no effects on physical properties.In Polytrichum sites,survival rates,heights,and heigh increments of bareroot Norway spruce seedlings in mounds were higher than in patches;however,the same did not apply to diameter.In Cladina and Myrtillus sites,there was no difference in growth for bareroot and containerised seedlings with different soil treatments.Growing conditions and soil types should be considered when applying different soil treatment methods to ensure high survival rates and successful seedling growth.

A Structured Method of Teaching Epidural Block reduces the incidence of accidental dural puncture in inexperienced trainees.

Background: The rate of accidental dural puncture is particularly high during the period of training, especially in novices. The structured epidural teaching model (SETM) includes three standardized video lessons, the construction of a 3D epidural module by trainees and practical training by using an epidural simulator with and without the CompuFlo™ Epidural instrument. In this study we report the retrospective analysis of the accidental dural puncture rate of inexperienced trainees during their 6 months clinical practice rotation in obstetrics before and after the introduction of the SETM in our Institution. Method: We evaluated the incidence of accidental dural puncture before the introduction of the SETM methodology and afterwards by analyzing our departmental database from February 2019 to January 2023. All epidural blocks were executed by trainees who had never previously performed an epidural block and were about to begin their obstetrics rotation. Results: We analyzed 7415 epidurals: 3703 were performed before the introduction of the SETM methodology (control group) and 3712 afterwards (study group). The incidence of accidental dural puncture was 0.37% for the control group and 0.13% for the study group (p<.05). The probability of making an accidental dural puncture was 64% (OR: 0.36) lower for trainees who had the training than for those who did not. Conclusions: After the introduction of the structured teaching method, we observed a significant reduction of accidental dural puncture during the training period. We hope that our observation will encourage a constructive discussion among experts about the need to use standardized and validated tools as a valuable aid in teaching epidural anesthesia.