Explore the vast range of titles available.

In recent decades, the use of controlled low-strength material (CLSM) in densely populated cities has increased. CLSM is designed for future excavation with great fluidity, appropriate early strength, and low final strength. CLSM mixtures exhibit variable strength properties and performance due to the distinctive features of wastes (i.e., combustion residues, industry slags, and construction and other solid wastes) produced from various sources. CLSM should increase early strength quickly enough to allow traffic to resume within a few hours while maintaining a low strength for future re-excavation. It is suggested that the initial mixture design for each waste reported in the literature be changed until the combination meets the application standards defined in ACI 229R-13. The effects of adjusting other ingredients (i.e., cement, water, and admixtures) in the wastes incorporated into CLSM mixtures on the strength and re-excavatability properties are also detailed and discussed in this review. From practical and economic perspectives, the supply of materials in the waste streams, transport distance, and material properties and cost are important aspects to consider before their introduction to the construction industry.

Light-Burned Magnesia (LBM) activated Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) is established as a promising and robust binder for soil stabilization. However, its durability in saline environments subjected to freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles lacks systematic investigation. To validate its potential for subgrade engineering in seasonally frozen regions, this study evaluates the mechanical and microscopic properties of LBM-GGBS solidified saline soil under F-T cycling. The effects of LBM and GGBS on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS), permeability coefficient, Cl − leaching and microstructures of solidified saline soil after different F-T cycles (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10) were examined. The results showed that increasing the LBM-GGBS content significantly enhanced the soil’s resistance to F-T cycles. With a 12% LBM-GGBS content and a GGBS/LBM ratio of 7 (determined as the optimal mix proportion), the solidified soil reached a residual strength of 3 MPa after 10 F-T cycles, which was four times the strength required for the upper base layer of highway pavement subgrade. Microscopic analysis revealed that the LBM-GGBS solidified soil exhibited a dense structure with calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H), magnesium silicate hydrate (M-S-H), hydrotalcite, and Kuzel salt as the primary reaction products. The formation of these hydration products significantly densified the structure, thereby increasing the strength and improving the F-T resistance of the solidified soil. Furthermore, ~ 75% of Cl − in the original saline soil could be stabilized even after multiple F-T cycles. These findings elucidate the micro-mechanism of chloride stabilization under freezing conditions and provide a robust theoretical foundation for utilizing LBM-GGBS to mitigate saline soil hazards in seasonally frozen regions.

Surface-textured Mo thin film is fabricated by magnetron sputtering through the adjustment of deposition parameters, which exhibits a high absorptance of 0.80 and a low emittance of 0.09. The single-layer Mo deposited on stainless steel (SS) is characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), ultra-high resolution scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscope and optical measurement. The controlled surface roughness combined with larger aspect ratio contributes much to the high absorptance and low emittance. Based on the SS/Mo coating, a spectrally selective coating (SS/Mo/Al2O3) is designed and fabricated. The coating shows an amorphous structure and exhibits an absorptance of 0.90 and an emittance of 0.08. Tauc-Lorentz and Drude free-electron models are used to modeling the optical properties of Al2O3 and Mo layers by phase-modulated spectroscopic ellipsometry.

The development of carbon capture, utilization and storage allows non-hydraulic low-lime calcium silicates capable of CO 2 activation to serve as a sustainable alternative binder. However, the diffusion and transport mechanism of CO 2 in these carbonation mediums are crucial for carbonation reaction, which heavily relies on the pore structures closely related to the water–binder ratio (w/b). This study focused on the role of w/b ratio (varying from 0.1 to 0.18) on the carbonation behavior of a carbonatable belite (β-C 2 S)-ternesite ( C 5 S 2 S ¯ ) binder prepared with 100% municipal solid waste incineration residues upon carbonation curing conditions of 65% RH , 20% CO 2 concentration, and a temperature of 20 °C. The mechanical properties, microstructure, CO 2 uptake, and phase assemblage of this binder were evaluated. The results showed that the compressive strength and CO 2 uptake were increased with increasing w/b ratios from 0.1 to 0.14, which promoted the consumption of β-C 2 S and C 5 S 2 S ¯ , leading to an increased production of calcite. At up to 0.18, however, water overflow occurred, resulting in an approximately 78% decrease in the compressive strength. Also, increasing the w/b ratio changed the volume fraction of various pore size, particularly the predominance of large capillary pores that were beneficial to CO 2 diffusion. BSE images showed that silica gel tended to distribute around the unreacted particles, while CaCO 3 preferred to accumulate in the outside space.

Context Inspired by the recent successful synthesis of the energetic compound 2,4,6-triamino-5-nitropyrimidine-1,3-dioxide (ICM-102), which displayed a good balance between high energy and sensitivity, the response of the structure and decomposition behaviors of ICM-102 to high pressure was systematically investigated using first principle calculations. ICM-102 exhibited a graphite-like layer structure, with the c -axis and the a -axis mainly contributing to the distance between the molecular planes. As the pressure increased from 1 atm to 10 GPa, this distance decreased from 3.166 to 2.689 Ǻ. The hydrogen bonds had the most contribution to the non-covalent interactions within the same molecular planes, resulting in the b -axis discontinuity. However, van der Waals interactions gradually appeared between molecular planes as the pressure increased to 2.5 GPa. Based on the analysis of crystal orbitals, the distribution of π bonds and the Laplacian bond order (LBO), it was determined that the generation mechanism of H 2 O molecules involved the cleavage of N-O c (coordinated oxygen atoms), followed by intermolecular hydrogen transfer reactions, and ultimately the formation of H 2 O molecules through competition with H atoms in the amino groups within the same molecules. More importantly, the pressure dependence of LBO values for N-O c revealed that high pressure could inhibit the ICM-102 decomposition process due to reinforcing hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions. This work will deepen our understanding of the stability of ICM-102 under high pressure and provide a helpful reference for its potential detonation applications. Methods All simulations, including geometry optimization and vibration analysis under quasi-hydrostatic pressure, were conducted using the CP2K code. The PBE function and the Goldk-Teter-Hutter (GTH) pseudopotential with the double-ζ-with-polarization (DZVP) basis set were employed. Additionally, the semiempirical dispersion correction D3 (BJ) was used to account for the intermolecular dispersion force. The simulations were performed under periodic boundary conditions, with a finest grid level cutoff set to 400 Ry for the Γ point. The Broyden-Flecher-Goldfarb-Shanno (BFGS) optimization method was used, with tighter convergence criteria applied for the subsequent calculations of infrared spectra. Finally, the wave-function analysis, such as non-covalent interaction and LBO, was conducted using the Multiwfn and VMD packages. Graphical Abstract

The microstructure and stress rupture properties of Inconel 706 alloy microalloyed with phosphorus are examined under stabilizing and unstabilizing heat treatment conditions. It was found that applying the stabilizing treatment resulted in a 98% increment in the stress rupture life and a 215% increment in the elongation tested at 650 °C/690 MPa for the alloy compared to that under the unstabilizing heat treatment condition. The stabilizing treatment led to the precipitation of rod-shaped and needle-shaped η phases at the grain boundaries. Morphologies of γ′–γ″ co-precipitates in the grain interior were noncompact form and compact form for the alloy under unstabilizing and stabilizing heat treatment conditions, respectively. Based on the microstructure characterizations, the improvement of stress rupture properties by the stabilizing treatment was attributed to the precipitation of η phases at the grain boundaries, which can hinder cracks initiation and propagation and relieve the stress concentration.

The effect of ωiso and α precipitation on microstructure, microhardness, tensile properties and impact toughness of Ti–25Nb–10Ta–1Zr–0.2Fe (TNTZF) alloy was investigated. The results showed that the solution treated TNTZF alloy with a small amount of nano-sized ωath particles in β matrix possesses tensile strength of 697 MPa, elongation of ~ 34%, Young’s modulus (YM) of 75 GPa, and impact toughness of 58.7 J/cm2. After aging at relatively lower temperatures of 400 °C, the hardness and modulus of the alloy increased significantly, while the plasticity and toughness dropped sharply due to the precipitation of ωiso phase. ωiso phase displayed an ellipsoidal morphology with high volume fraction and a size of about 50 nm after aging at 400 °C, leading to the highest hardness of 364 HV and YM of 108 GPa, along with completely embrittlement since elongation and toughness were almost zero. A brittle impact fracture morphology was observed in the alloy, which is dominated by intergranular fracture, with a mixed fracture characteristics of cleavage surfaces, terraces and tiny dimples. When aged at 550 °C, plate-like α distributed in β matrix uniformly and in β grain boundaries in parallel, resulting in the high strength of 804 MPa, as well as lowest YM of 72 GPa, elongation of 9% and toughness of 35.8 J/cm2. The fracture morphology of the alloy aged at 550 °C showed a ductile fracture mechanism with a large number of dimples.

Sesamin, a major lignan of sesame oil, was reported to have neuroprotective effects in several brain injury models. However, its protective action in maintaining blood-brain barrier （BBB） integrity has not been studied. In this study we investigated the effects of sesamin on the BBB in a mouse model of traumatic brain injury （TBI） and explored the underlying mechanisms. Adult male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to a controlled cortical impact （CCI） injury and then received sesamin （30 mg.kg-1.d-1, ip）. The mice were euthanized on the Ist and 3rd days after CCl injury and samples were collected for analysis. Sesamin treatment significantly attenuated CCl-induced brain edema on the 1st and 3rd days after the injury, evidenced by the decreases in water content, tissue hemoglobin levels, Evans blue extravasation and AQP4 expression levels in the ipsilateral cortical tissue compared with the vehicle-treated group. Furthermore, sesamin treatment significantly alleviated CCl-induced loss of the tight junction proteins ZO-1 and occludin in the brain tissues. The neuroprotective mechanisms of sesamin were further explored in cultured mouse brain microvascular bEnd.3 cells subjected to biaxial stretch injury （Sl）. Pretreatment with sesamin （50 pmol/L） significantly alleviated SI-induced loss of ZO-1 in bEnd.3 cells. Furthermore, we revealed that pretreatment with sesamin significantly attenuated Sl-induced oxidative stress and early-stage apoptosis in bEnd.3 cells by decreasing the activation of ERK, p38 and caspase-3. In conclusion, sesamin alleviates BBB disruption at least partly through its anti-oxidative and anti-apoptotic effects on endothelial cells in CCl injury. These findings suggest that sesamin may be a promising potential therapeutic intervention for preventing disruption of the BBB after TBI.

Oncolytic virotherapy is an emerging treatment modality which uses replication-competent viruses to destroy cancers without causing harm to normal tissues. By the development of molecular biotechnology, many effective viruses are adapted or engineered to make them cancer-specific, such as measles, adenovirus, herpes simplex virus and M1 virus. A successful design of virus needs a full understanding about how viral and host parameters influence the tumor load. In this paper, we propose a mathematical model on the oncolytic virotherapy incorporating viral lytic cycle and virus-specific CTL response. Thresholds for viral treatment and virus-specific CTL response are obtained. Different protocols are given depending on the thresholds. Our results also support that immune suppressive drug can enhance the oncolytic effect of virus as reported in recent literature.

The effect of ω iso and α precipitation on microstructure, microhardness, tensile properties and impact toughness of Ti–25Nb–10Ta–1Zr–0.2Fe (TNTZF) alloy was investigated. The results showed that the solution treated TNTZF alloy with a small amount of nano-sized ω ath particles in β matrix possesses tensile strength of 697 MPa, elongation of ~ 34%, Young’s modulus (YM) of 75 GPa, and impact toughness of 58.7 J/cm 2 . After aging at relatively lower temperatures of 400 °C, the hardness and modulus of the alloy increased significantly, while the plasticity and toughness dropped sharply due to the precipitation of ω iso phase. ω iso phase displayed an ellipsoidal morphology with high volume fraction and a size of about 50 nm after aging at 400 °C, leading to the highest hardness of 364 HV and YM of 108 GPa, along with completely embrittlement since elongation and toughness were almost zero. A brittle impact fracture morphology was observed in the alloy, which is dominated by intergranular fracture, with a mixed fracture characteristics of cleavage surfaces, terraces and tiny dimples. When aged at 550 °C, plate-like α distributed in β matrix uniformly and in β grain boundaries in parallel, resulting in the high strength of 804 MPa, as well as lowest YM of 72 GPa, elongation of 9% and toughness of 35.8 J/cm 2 . The fracture morphology of the alloy aged at 550 °C showed a ductile fracture mechanism with a large number of dimples.