Treating Arterial Ageing in Patients with Diabetes: From Mechanisms to Effective Drugs

Diabetes mellitus is a major healthcare problem. It is not only characterized by hyperglycemia and chronic complications, but in longer lasting diabetes and a longer living population, it is also associated with accelerated arterial ageing, which importantly contributes to cardiovascular complications. The accelerated arterial ageing in patients with diabetes should be considered separately from arterial ageing in patients without diabetes. Basic and clinical research have allowed better insight into the mechanisms of arterial ageing. In a simplified mechanistic way, it could be considered that the three tightly connected cornerstone characteristics of arterial ageing in patients with diabetes are: phenotypic presentation as endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness, and the underlying basic ageing-facilitating mechanism represented as the impaired expression of genetic longevity pathways. Currently, specific drugs for preventing/treating arterial ageing are not available. Therefore, we aimed to review the capacity of available drugs, particularly antidiabetic drugs, to interfere with the arterial ageing process. In the near future, these characteristics could help to guide therapy in patients with diabetes. Overall, it appears that arterial ageing could become a new target in diabetes. The expanding knowledge regarding the capability of antidiabetic drugs and other available drugs to inhibit/delay arterial aging is therefore essential.     

Investigating the effect of water-mixing nitrogen atmospheric pressure plasma jet on polyether-ether-ketone and time stability under different conditions

Possessing excellent properties including good biocompatibility, high strength, and stiffness, polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) has significant application values in medical and industrial fields. However, the relatively poor wettability and low adhesion limit its further applications. Atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) has been utilized for adjusting PEEK properties, but better hydrophilization effect and time stability after treatment are still urgently needed. In this paper, we employ a water-mixing nitrogen (N₂ H₂O) APPJ to process PEEK, and surface wettability can be effectively improved (contact angle ~18° within 2 min, distance between sample and nozzle outlet: 10 mm) without inducing obvious microstructure damages. Additionally, after storing for 40 days, the sample treated by N₂ H₂O APPJ also possessed better wettability (~54°) compared with that treated by N₂ APPJ (~65°). On the basis of this low-damage and high-efficient modification method, we perform aging experiments under different conditions (different temperatures 25, −10°C; and low vacuum condition: 50 kPa) to determine a relatively optimum storing condition for this method. The experiment results indicate that low temperature and vacuum are conducive to retaining the plasma-induced wettability (~34°). The treatment method and storing conditions for PEEK presented here may facilitate the application of PEEK in various fields.     

面向老龄化社会的产品服务系统设计赋能

目的 针对面向老龄化社会的产品及产品服务系统设计,将赋能的设计理念和价值引入其中,探索设计结果提升老年人能动性和参与性的赋能品质,为设计师开展设计赋能实践提供参考.方法 以设计教学中的学生设计方案作为研究材料,邀请设计研究者参与工作坊,对设计结果的赋能属性进行分析,并通过聚类获得类别化的设计属性,产生了能描述赋能品质的属性词汇表.结果 总结了包含5组形容词组的设计赋能品质集,这一集合包含"顺应性"和"激励性"两个面向.结论 研究结果为设计师进行老龄化设计提供了知识参考,有助于提升设计师的赋能意识.揭示了设计赋能充满矛盾性的品质,提出面向老龄化的设计赋能需要在"顺应"和"激励"之间找到平衡.     

Corrosion behavior of under‐, peak‐, and over‐aged 6063 alloy: A comparative study

The mechanical property of age‐hardenable Al‐alloys is governed by the state of ageing, which determines the microstructure and consequently, their corrosion behavior which is a vital aspect for a number of applications. This article presents a comparative assessment of corrosion behavior of under‐, peak‐ and over‐aged Al‐Mg‐Si alloy. Corrosion characteristics have been determined via immersion tests in 0.1 M ortho‐phosphoric acid solution and intergranular corrosion (IGC) tests. Corroded surfaces are examined by field emission scanning electron micrographs‐energy dispersive spectroscopy and 3D optical profilometer. The obtained results reveal that the corrosion rate at a specific immersion time as well as the depth of IGC increases in the order for under‐, peak‐, and over‐aged states. Irrespective of the state of ageing, corrosion loss increases linearly but the rate of corrosion decreases rapidly with increasing immersion time. The dominant mode of corrosion in under‐aged alloy is identified as localized pitting, while peak‐aged is highly susceptible to IGC in contrast extensive pitting corrosion is observed for over‐aged alloy. The observed differences in corrosion behavior are explained considering characteristics of precipitates. Formation of β (Mg₂Si) in case of over‐aged alloy and presence of inclusions like AlFeMnSi particles are found to accelerate pitting corrosion.     

碳纤维/乙烯基酯树脂复合材料拉伸性能研究

研究了碳纤维进行氧化处理、铺层形式,以及紫外光照射和不同溶液介质浸泡处理等,对碳纤维/乙烯基酯树脂复合材料拉伸性能的影响。结果表明:碳纤维最佳氧化工艺为浓硝酸氧化1 h,空气氧化温度250℃,空气氧化30 min。碳纤维最佳铺层设计为[0°,0°,45°]2s。随紫外光照射时间增加,复合材料拉伸强度呈先增后降趋势,120 h时达最大值。溶液介质浸泡会降低复合材料的拉伸强度。温度相同溶液介质不同时,复合材料在NaOH溶液中拉伸强度降低程度最大,温度提高会加速复合材料失效老化。     

直流电对7B04铝合金固溶与时效组织和性能的影响

本文采用拉伸试验、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和透射电子显微镜(TEM)等手段,研究了7B04铝合金在施加和不施加直流电条件下,经470℃固溶和100-140℃时效处理后的组织和力学性能。与传统的T6处理(470 oC/30 min+120 oC/24h)相比,固溶和/或时效处理时施加500A的电流,可显著提高GPII区的析出密度,进而提高峰时效状态下的拉伸强度和延伸率。固溶过程中施加直流电可将随后时效合金达到峰值强度的时间明显缩短12h。     

The influence of stresses on ageing kinetics of 3Y- and 4Y- stabilized zirconia

Hydrothermal ageing is one of the most important limiting factors for the use of yttria-stabilized zirconia ceramics in contact with water-containing environments. It consists in the transformation of tetragonal phase to monoclinic phase, initiates on the surface of zirconia in the presence of water, and leads to roughening and potentially to micro-cracking and loss of integrity. The present work seeks to explore the influence of applied and residual mechanical stresses on the ageing kinetics of 3Y- and 4Y-TZP. Residual stresses were obtained by rough polishing. A subsequent Annealing step was employed for the preparation of samples free of residual stresses. All samples were submitted to in situ 3-points bending tests in water vapour atmosphere inside an autoclave at 134 °C, allowing surfaces with a mechanical stress gradient to be exposed to hydrothermal ageing. The evolution of the monoclinic fraction with time and stress was then analyzed using Mehl-Avrami-Johnson equation.     

Fe-Cr-Ni系不锈钢在热老化和退火过程中铁素体调幅分解的相场法研究

用基于Cahn-Hilliard方程的相场法研究了Fe-Cr-Ni系不锈钢中的铁素体在热老化和后续退火过程中调幅分解的演化过程，结果表明：在热老化过程中调幅分解生成相连的网络状α'相，调幅分解引起的Cr成分波动的波长和振幅都随着热老化时间的延长而增大；在随后的退火过程中α'相逐渐溶解而Cr成分波动的振幅迅速减小，但是波长继续增大。还讨论了热老化时的调幅分解对铁素体纳米压痕硬度的影响以及退火温度对调幅分解回复(α'相溶解)所需时间的影响，结果表明：铁素体的纳米压痕硬度主要与调幅分解的振幅有关，且随着振幅的增大而提高。同时，提高退火温度能显著缩短调幅分解回复所需的时间，退火回复时间与退火温度之间有Arrhenius形式的关系。