Formation of a Corrosion-Resistant Layer on Steel by Reaction with a Si3N 4 ― Al2O3 Composite under the Conditions of Light-Thermal Treatment

The formation of a surface layer on low-alloyed steel during light-thermal treatment with a composite material based on Si₃N₄ Al₂O₃ was investigated. The working surfaces were studied using metallographic, x-ray diffraction, and electron-probe microanalysis. It was found that the corrosion-resistant phases Al₂SiO₅, (Fe, Cr)₂O₃, (Cr, Al) ₂O₃, and NiCrO₄ formed in the alloyed layer, increasing its microhardness by 2-5 times and its corrosion resistance in sea water by more than two orders of magnitude.     

Congratulations to Vladimir Viktorovich Baulin

Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering -     

Enhanced antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticles obtained by electrochemical synthesis in poly(amide-hydroxyurethane) media

In the present study, we report enhanced antimicrobial properties of 29 and 23 nm silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) obtained by electrochemical synthesis in poly(amide-hydroxyurethane) media. Antibacterial activity assessed by disk diffusion method indicates that silver nanoparticles produced inhibition zones for both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus depending on silver concentration. The bacterial growth curve performed in the presence of silver nanoparticles showed a stronger antibacterial effect at lower concentrations than those described in the earlier reports. The effect was both dose and size dependent and was more pronounced against Gram negative bacteria than Gram positive one. The smallest Ag NPs used had a bactericidal effect resulting in killing E. coli cells. Scanning electron microscopy analysis indicated major damage and morphology changes of the silver nanoparticles treated bacterial cells. The major mechanism responsible for the antibacterial effect probably consists in clusters formation and nanoparticles anchorage to the bacterial cell surface.     

Porous ceramics based on diatomite: Mechanical properties and evolution of morphology after deformation

Journal of Electroceramics - The work is devoted to the study of the mechanical properties of porous ceramics based on diatomite, which has high porosity, adsorption capacity, weak thermal and...     

Improvement of copper–molybdenum ore beneficiation using a combined flotation and biohydrometallurgy method

The authors present the results of analysis of material composition and experimental investigations of acid and biohydrometallurgical leaching of middlings on grain size, pH level, leaching process duration, temperature and slurry density. The rational parameters of flotation and acid-bacterial leaching of middlings providing an efficient release of valuable components from mineral complexes and recovery to flotation concentrate and leaching solution have been determined. A combined flowsheet and a beneficiation process for bulk flotation middlings of copper–molybdenum ore have been suggested, which include middlings grinding, sulfide minerals flotation, bacterial leaching of sulfide flotation tailings, liquid-phase extraction of dissolved copper and electrolysis of re-extraction eluates. The suggested combined method of cleaning of middlings of copper–molybdenum ores beneficiation provides the total copper recovery increase by 0.8% with a reduction of the cost price of saleable material by 0.5%.     

Maternal inhalation of carbon black nanoparticles induces neurodevelopmental changes in mouse offspring

Background

Engineered nanoparticles are smaller than 100 nm and designed to improve or creating even new physico-chemical properties. Consequently, toxicological properties of materials may change as size reaches the nm size-range. We examined outcomes related to the central nervous system in the offspring following maternal inhalation exposure to nanosized carbon black particles (Printex 90).

Methods

Time-mated mice (NMRI) were exposed by inhalation, for 45 min/day to 0, 4.6 or 37 mg/m³ aerosolized carbon black on gestation days 4–18, i.e. for a total of 15 days. Outcomes included maternal lung inflammation (differential cell count in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and Saa3 mRNA expression in lung tissue), offspring neurohistopathology and behaviour in the open field test.

Results

Carbon black exposure did not cause lung inflammation in the exposed females, measured 11 or 28–29 days post-exposure. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression levels were dose-dependently increased in astrocytes around blood vessels in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus in six weeks old offspring, indicative of reactive astrogliosis. Also enlarged lysosomal granules were observed in brain perivascular macrophages (PVMs) in the prenatally exposed offspring. The number of parvalbumin-positive interneurons and the expression levels of parvalbumin were decreased in the motor and prefrontal cortices at weaning and 120 days of age in the prenatally exposed offspring. In the open field test, behaviour was dose-dependently altered following maternal exposure to Printex 90, at 90 days of age. Prenatally exposed female offspring moved a longer total distance, and especially males spent significantly longer time in the central zone of the maze. In the offspring, the described effects were long-lasting as they were present at all time points investigated.

Conclusion

The present study reports for the first time that maternal inhalation exposure to Printex 90 carbon black induced dose-dependent denaturation of PVM and reactive astrocytes, similarly to the findings observed following maternal exposure to Printex 90 by airway instillation. Of note, some of the observed effects have striking similarities with those observed in mouse models of neurodevelopmental disorders.

     

Step-by-Step Immune Activation for Suicide Gene Therapy Reinforcement

Gene-directed enzyme prodrug gene therapy (GDEPT) theoretically represents a useful method to carry out chemotherapy for cancer with minimal side effects through the formation of a chemotherapeutic agent inside cancer cells. However, despite great efforts, promising preliminary results, and a long period of time (over 25 years) since the first mention of this method, GDEPT has not yet reached the clinic. There is a growing consensus that optimal cancer therapies should generate robust tumor-specific immune responses. The advent of checkpoint immunotherapy has yielded new highly promising avenues of study in cancer therapy. For such therapy, it seems reasonable to use combinations of different immunomodulators alongside traditional methods, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, as well as GDEPT. In this review, we focused on non-viral gene immunotherapy systems combining the intratumoral production of toxins diffused by GDEPT and immunomodulatory molecules. Special attention was paid to the applications and mechanisms of action of the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM–CSF), a cytokine that is widely used but shows contradictory effects. Another method to enhance the formation of stable immune responses in a tumor, the use of danger signals, is also discussed. The process of dying from GDEPT cancer cells initiates danger signaling by releasing damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) that exert immature dendritic cells by increasing antigen uptake, maturation, and antigen presentation to cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. We hypothesized that the combined action of this danger signal and GM–CSF issued from the same dying cancer cell within a limited space would focus on a limited pool of immature dendritic cells, thus acting synergistically and enhancing their maturation and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte attraction potential. We also discuss the problem of enhancing the cancer specificity of the combined GDEPT–GM–CSF–danger signal system by means of artificial cancer specific promoters or a modified delivery system.     

Einsatz von perowskitischen Hohlfasermembranen in einem Mikrowellenplasma

For the first time the combination of a separation process with a plasma process was successfully tested. In this case, a mixed‐conducting perovskite membrane separates the oxygen. At 1 kW a permeation of 2.24 mL min^?1cm^?2 could be achieved. Corresponding perovskite membranes have been manufactured as hollow fibers with a very good CO₂ stability. The hollow fibers showed a constant permeation over more than 200 h. Furthermore, a spinning process with a sulphur‐free polymer binder has been established.