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Bloysacknowledged that people are “curious”afterWBDreceived second-round bidsfrom Paramount Skydance and Netflix earlier thisweek,butsaidthe premium cable brand and flagship global streamer is still working on future slates through to 2028 and beyond. [...]whilethose countriesare all set toofferlocaloriginal series(4 Blocks Zero, Banksters, Portobello and a MariaEspoisto-starringdrama about the murder of Melania Rea),Bloysconspicuously didnot mentionthe possibility ofUK originalsinthenear future He did say that “in any market you go into,the ideal situation is to have local originals”,pointing to Italy and Germany as examples. Bloysadmitted the fluctuations between the name of HBO Max – which had the HBO brand, then removed it, then re-added – had created confusion over what a Max original is.

A transversely isotropic rock, slate, was utilized to investigate the size effect and anisotropy on its deformation, tensile strength, and failure mechanism. A series of Brazilian tests were conducted on slate samples of six different sizes from 25 to 100 mm in diameter at seven different loading-foliation angles from 0° to 90°. The results indicate that the Young’s modulus in the plane of transverse isotropy increases, while the Young’s modulus and shear modulus perpendicular to the plane of transverse isotropy decrease with specimen size. The tensile strength of the slate increases with increasing loading-foliation angle, the variation of which is well captured by the Nova–Zaninetti criterion. Furthermore, the tensile strength of the slate increases with specimen size at loading-foliation angles from 0° to 45°, while it increases first and then decreases with specimen size at loading-foliation angles from 60° to 90°. A unified size-effect relation including two equations is proposed and verified against the experimental data on slate. The size-effect relation reveals the relationship among the tensile strength, specimen size, and loading-foliation angle for the transversely isotropic rock. Finally, the slate samples exhibit an increased brittle failure with specimen size, which is consistent with the observations in various isotropic rocks. It is also found that the specimen size, loading-foliation angle, and loading configuration together control the failure mechanism of transversely isotropic rocks in the Brazilian test.

Laboratory tests were performed in this study to examine the anisotropic physical and mechanical properties of the well-foliated Jiujiang slate. The P-wave velocity and the apparent Young’s modulus were found to increase remarkably with the foliation angle θ , and the compressive strength at any confining pressure varies in a typical U-shaped trend, with the maximum strength consistently attained at θ  = 90° and the minimum strength at θ  = 45°. The slate samples failed in three typical patterns relevant to the foliation angle, i.e. shear failure across foliation planes for θ  ≤ 15°, sliding along foliation planes for 30° ≤  θ  ≤ 60° and axial splitting along foliation planes for θ  = 90°. The stress–strain curves at any given foliation angle and confining pressure display an initial nonlinear phase, a linear elastic phase, a crack initiation and growth phase, as well as a rapid stress drop phase and a residual stress phase. Based on the experimental evidences, a micromechanical damage–friction model was proposed for the foliated slate by simply modelling the foliation planes as a family of elastic interfaces and by characterizing the interaction between the foliation planes and the rock matrix with a nonlinear damage evolution law associated with the inclination angle. The proposed model was applied to predict the deformational and strength behaviours of the foliated slate under triaxial compressive conditions using the material parameters calibrated with the uniaxial and/or triaxial test data, with good agreement between the model predictions and the laboratory measurements.

While poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels are generally regarded as biologically inert blank slates, concerns over PEG immunogenicity are growing, and the implications for tissue engineering are unknown. Here, we investigate these implications by immunizing mice against PEG to stimulate anti-PEG antibody production and evaluating bone defect regeneration after treatment with bone morphogenetic protein-2-loaded PEG hydrogels. Quantitative analysis reveals that PEG sensitization increases bone formation compared to naive controls, whereas histological analysis shows that PEG sensitization induces an abnormally porous bone morphology at the defect site, particularly in males. Furthermore, immune cell recruitment is higher in PEG-sensitized mice administered the PEG-based treatment than their naive counterparts. Interestingly, naive controls that were administered a PEG-based treatment also develop anti-PEG antibodies. Sex differences in bone formation and immune cell recruitment are also apparent. Overall, these findings indicate that anti-PEG immune responses can impact tissue engineering efficacy and highlight the need for further investigation. Concerns over the immunogenicity of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) are growing, and the implications for tissue engineering are unknown. Here the authors evaluate the impact of anti-PEG antibodies and PEG immunogenicity on the efficacy of a PEG hydrogel-based tissue engineering therapy.

The dominant anisotropy (foliation and bedding) of geological materials, especially of foliated metamorphic rocks such as slates, gneisses, phyllites or schists, and sedimentary rocks with bedding planes, leads to complex fracture mechanical behavior. A series of Brazilian tests on Mosel slate were conducted considering different foliation-loading angles. Fracture patterns and strength of samples were analyzed. In addition, the deformation process and failure behavior of the foliated rock samples during the Brazilian tests were simulated using the discrete element method. The influence of anisotropic strength parameters of weak planes was studied numerically. A diagram of failure mode distribution marked with typical failure fracture patterns for Brazilian tests of transverse isotropic rocks was developed, which results in better understanding of failure modes of Brazilian tests on foliated rocks and allows a more reliable interpretation of strength parameters. It reveals, how the microparameters influence the bearing capacity and failure modes of Brazilian tests for anisotropic rocks.