Principles of equal-channel angular pressing as a processing tool for grain refinement

During the last decade, equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) has emerged as a widely-known procedure for the fabrication of ultrafine-grained metals and alloys. This review examines recent developments related to the use of ECAP for grain refinement including modifying conventional ECAP to increase the process efficiency and techniques for up-scaling the procedure and for the processing of hard-to-deform materials. Special attention is given to the basic principles of ECAP processing including the strain imposed in ECAP, the slip systems and shearing patterns associated with ECAP and the major experimental factors that influence ECAP including the die geometry and pressing regimes. It is demonstrated that all of these fundamental and experimental parameters play an essential role in microstructural refinement during the pressing operation. Attention is directed to the significant features of the microstructures produced by ECAP in single crystals, polycrystalline materials with both a single phase and multi-phases, and metal-matrix composites. It is shown that the formation of ultrafine grains in metals and alloys underlies a very significant enhancement in their mechanical and functional properties. Nevertheless, it is demonstrated also that, in order to achieve advanced properties after processing by ECAP, it is necessary to control a wide range of microstructural parameters including the grain boundary misorientations, the crystallographic texture and the distributions of any second phases. Significant progress has been made in the development of ECAP in recent years, thereby suggesting there are excellent prospects for the future successful incorporation of the ECAP process into commercial manufacturing operations.     

Advances in liquid based photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) collectors

In order to get more power and heat from PV/T system, it is necessary to cool the PV cell and decrease its temperature. This is not an easy task especially in hot and humid climate areas. There is a lack of an effective cooling strategy of PV/T panels. The liquid based photovoltaic thermal collector systems are practically more desirable and effective than air based systems. Temperature fluctuation in liquid based PV/T is much less than the air based PV/T collectors which subjected to variation in solar radiation levels. In this study a review of the available literature on PV/T collector systems which utilize water and refrigerant (working fluid) as heat removal medium for different applications has been conducted. Future direction of water-cooled and refrigerant hybrid photovoltaic thermal systems was presented. This study revealed that the direct expansion solar-assisted heat pump system achieved better cooling effect of the PV/T collector.     

Novel magnetic nanomaterials inspired by magnetotactic bacteria: Topical review

Magnetotactic bacteria, known to produce magnetic nanocrystals with uniform shapes and sizes at physiological conditions, serve as an inspiration and source of a number of biological macromolecules used for the biomimetic synthesis of a variety of magnetic nanomaterials. This review discusses the current state of understanding of magnetosome biomineralization in magnetotactic bacteria, as well as the ways in which iron biomineralization processes can be utilized for tailored in vivo formation of complex magnetic nanomaterials, not occurring in magnetotactic bacteria naturally. The review assesses the current efforts on in vitro synthesis of a variety of magnetic nanoparticles using bioinspired approaches by utilizing mineralization proteins from magnetotactic bacteria, and surveys biomimetic strategies for the rational synthesis of various magnetic nanomaterials under ambient conditions. Finally, this review presents magnetic characterization of nanoparticles, highlighting differences in magnetic behavior between magnetic nanoparticles produced using bioinspired in vivo and in vitro strategies, compared to those produced using conventional methods. This in turn impacts their utility in a wide range of applications for magnetic nanoparticles, which are examined in detail, where bioinspired synthesis methods have potentially provided added advantages.     

Nanostructured severe plastic deformation processed titanium for orthodontic mini-implants

Titanium mini-implants have been successfully used as anchorage devices in Orthodontics. Commercially pure titanium (cpTi) was recently replaced by Ti-6Al-4 V alloy as the mini-implant material base due to the higher strength properties of the alloy. However, the lower corrosion resistance and the lower biocompatibility have been lowering the success rate of Ti-6Al-4 V mini-implants. Nanostructured titanium (nTi) is commercially pure titanium that was nanostructured by a specific technique of severe plastic deformation. It is bioinert, does not contain potentially toxic or allergic additives, and has higher specific strength properties than any other titanium applied in medical implants. The higher strength properties associated to the higher biocompatibility make nTi potentially useful for orthodontic mini-implant applications, theoretically overcoming cpTi and Ti-6Al-4 V mini-implants. The purposes of the this work were to process nTi, to mechanically compare cpTi, Ti-6Al-4 V, and nTi mini-implants by torque test, and to evaluate both the surface morphology and the fracture surface characteristics of them by SEM. Torque test results showed significant increase in the maximum torque resistance of nTi mini-implants when compared to cpTi mini-implants, and no statistical difference between Ti-6Al-4 V and nTi mini-implants. SEM analysis demonstrated smooth surface morphology and transgranular fracture aspect for nTi mini-implants. Since nanostructured titanium mini-implants have mechanical properties comparable to titanium alloy mini-implants, and biocompatibility comparable to commercially pure titanium mini-implants, it is suggestive that nanostructured titanium can replace Ti-6Al-4 V alloy as the material base for mini-implants.     

Double-resonance quartz crystal oscillator and excitation of a resonator immersed in liquid media

In this work we propose a novel circuit design: a double-resonance oscillator. Its oscillation shows two oscillation modes: frequency locking to the quartz crystal resonance and LC resonance oscillation. Transition of the oscillation mode and the strength of oscillation are analyzed and reviewed for the fundamental mode in comparison with a Colpitts oscillator. The experimental results support the estimates of negative resistance for the double-resonance oscillator compared with the LC oscillator.     

Short‐term stability in the intermediate region between quartz crystal oscillation and LC oscillation

In a quartz crystal oscillator circuit, an LC resonance circuit was inserted that enabled major enlargement of the variable range of frequency compared with the conventional Colpitts or Pierce quartz crystal oscillator. The short‐term stability of the oscillation was measured with Allan variance in the intermediate region between the quartz resonance and LC resonance, showing higher stability compared with the common LC oscillator. The analytical result is presented showing continuous transition from the quartz resonance to the LC resonance. © 2012 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The Inhibitory Response to PI3K/AKT Pathway Inhibitors MK-2206 and Buparlisib Is Related to Genetic Differences in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Cell Lines

The aberrant activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/ protein kinase B (AKT) pathway is common in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC). The application of inhibitors against PI3K and AKT has been considered as a therapeutic option. We investigated PDAC cell lines exposed to increasing concentrations of MK-2206 (an AKT1/2/3 inhibitor) and Buparlisib (a pan-PI3K inhibitor). Cell proliferation, metabolic activity, biomass, and apoptosis/necrosis were evaluated. Further, whole-exome sequencing (WES) and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) were performed to analyze the recurrent aberrations and expression profiles of the inhibitor target genes and the genes frequently mutated in PDAC (Kirsten rat sarcoma virus (KRAS), Tumor protein p53 (TP53)). MK-2206 and Buparlisib demonstrated pronounced cytotoxic effects and limited cell-line-specific effects in cell death induction. WES revealed two sequence variants within the direct target genes (PIK3CA c.1143C > G in Colo357 and PIK3CD c.2480C > G in Capan-1), but a direct link to the Buparlisib response was not observed. RNA-seq demonstrated that the expression level of the inhibitor target genes did not affect the efficacy of the corresponding inhibitors. Moreover, increased resistance to MK-2206 was observed in the analyzed cell lines carrying a KRAS variant. Further, increased resistance to both inhibitors was observed in SU.86.86 carrying two TP53 missense variants. Additionally, the presence of the PIK3CA c.1143C > G in KRAS-variant-carrying cell lines was observed to correlate with increased sensitivity to Buparlisib. In conclusion, the present study reveals the distinct antitumor effects of PI3K/AKT pathway inhibitors against PDAC cell lines. Aberrations in specific target genes, as well as KRAS and TP53, individually or together, affect the efficacy of the two PI3K/AKT pathway inhibitors.