Fabrication, Sinterability, and Mechanical Properties of Lead Zirconate Titanate/Silver Composites

High-toughness and high-strength lead zirconate titanate (PZT) composites that contain fine silver particles were successfully fabricated at low sintering temperatures. Addition of silver to a PZT matrix did not result in unwanted reaction phases; however, some silver diffused toward the perovskite crystal structure. A small quantity of silver accelerated the sinterability of the PZT composites. The formation of oxygen vacancies due to the partial substitution of silver appeared to enhance the sinterability of the PZT. Fracture toughness depended on the size and degree of sphericity of the silver particles, and SEM observations on crack propagation suggested that the toughening mechanism in the PZT/Ag composites involves crack bridging resulting from the ductile behavior of silver particles. It is proposed that high fracture strength in PZT/1 to 5 vol% Ag composites results from the relaxation of transformation-induced internal stress by the silver particles.     

Synergistic alloying effect on microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of Cu precipitation-strengthened ferritic alloys

We report the influence of alloying elements (Ni, Al and Mn) on the microstructural evolution of Cu-rich nanoprecipitates and the mechanical properties of Fe–Cu-based ferritic alloys. It was found that individual additions of Ni and Al do not give rise to an obvious strengthening effect, compared with the binary Fe–Cu parent alloy, although Ni segregates at the precipitate/matrix interface and Al partitions into Cu-rich precipitates. In contrast, the co-addition of Ni and Al results in the formation of core–shell nanoprecipitates with a Cu-rich core and a B2 Ni–Al shell, leading to a dramatic improvement in strength. The coarsening rate of the core–shell precipitates is about two orders of magnitude lower than that of monolithic Cu-rich precipitates in the binary and ternary Fe–Cu alloys. Reinforcement of the B2 Ni–Al shells by Mn partitioning further improves the strength of the precipitation-strengthened alloys by forming ultrastable and high number density core–shell nanoprecipitates.     

Reduced Claudin-12 Expression Predicts Poor Prognosis in Cervical Cancer

Background: Within the claudin (CLDN) family, CLDN12 mRNA expression is altered in various types of cancer, but its clinicopathological relevance has yet to be established due to the absence of specific antibodies (Abs) with broad applications. Methods: We generated a monoclonal Ab (mAb) against human/mouse CLDN12 and verified its specificity. By performing immunohistochemical staining and semiquantification, we evaluated the relationship between CLDN12 expression and clinicopathological parameters in tissues from 138 cases of cervical cancer. Results: Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses revealed that the established mAb selectively recognized the CLDN12 protein. Twenty six of the 138 cases (18.8%) showed low CLDN12 expression, and the disease-specific survival (DSS) and recurrence-free survival rates were significantly decreased compared with those in the high CLDN12 expression group. We also demonstrated, via univariable and multivariable analyses, that the low CLDN12 expression represents a significant prognostic factor for the DSS of cervical cancer patients (HR 3.412, p = 0.002 and HR 2.615, p = 0.029, respectively). Conclusions: It can be concluded that a reduced CLDN12 expression predicts a poor outcome for cervical cancer. The novel anti-CLDN12 mAb could be a valuable tool to evaluate the biological relevance of the CLDN12 expression in diverse cancer types and other diseases.     

An improved control method of buried-type IPM bearingless motors considering magnetic saturation and magnetic pull variation

An improved control method of the buried-type interior permanent magnet (IPM) bearingless motors has been presented. It is shown that the conventional method is not applicable to this type of IPM bearingless motor for loaded conditions. In IPM bearingless motors, the armature reaction flux is present due to high magnetic permeance with thin permanent magnets and small airgap length. An increase in d-axis flux linkage is caused by armature reaction as a torque-component flux is increased. Thus, it is likely that magnetic saturation occurs in the stator teeth. In addition, a magnetic attractive force caused by the displacement force factor is dependent on the armature reaction flux. A new decoupling controller for the IPM bearingless motor considering magnetic saturation is proposed in this paper. It also considers the influence of magnetic attractive force variations. In addition, a new parameter identification method for the decoupling controller is also proposed. The new controller is found quite suitable to realize successful stable operation of the experimental IPM bearingless motor.     

Anti-aging effects of caloric restriction: Involvement of neuroendocrine adaptation by peripheral signaling

Many hormonal signals from peripheral tissues contribute to the regulation of energy homeostasis and food intake. These regulators including leptin, insulin, and ghrelin, modulate the orexigenic and anorexigenic neuropeptide expression in hypothalamic nuclei. The anti-aging effects of caloric restriction have been explained from an evolutional viewpoint of the adaptive response of the neuroendocrine and metabolic response systems to maximize survival during periods of food shortage. In organisms, excess energy is stored in adipose tissues as a triglyceride preparation for such survival situations. Adipose tissue has recently been recognized as an endocrine organ, and leptin, as secreted by adipocyte, seems to be an especially important factor for the adaptive response to fasting and neuroendocrine alterations under caloric restriction. In this review, we discuss the potential involvement of neuroendocrine modulators in longevity and the anti-aging effects of caloric restriction.     

Sample preparation of GaN-based materials on a sapphire substrate for STEM analysis

In this work, a detailed TEM sample preparation recipe based on a wedge polishing technique for GaN-based materials is presented. The obtained samples have atomically flat surfaces without any obvious surface damages such as the formation of amorphous layers. A composition estimation of Al(x)Ga(1-x)N from Z-contrast STEM imaging is carried out using these samples. The results are in good accord with the nominal composition.     

Recovering high dynamic range by Multi-Exposure Retinex

The matter of generating high dynamic range (HDR) image from a number of differently exposed pictures arises to satisfy the needs of high-quality imaging and industrial applications. A number of HDR image generation algorithms have been proposed in the past. However, the HDR radiance map recovered by these classical methods cannot completely exclude the noisy pixels in the input images and thus are unable to produce the optimal result with highest possible SNR. In this paper we are going to introduce a new HDR generation algorithm based on the Multi-Exposure Retinex model deduced in this paper for HDR image composition. The luminance component L and the reflectance R are synthesized independently before being combined together. A novel R image composition method is introduced to help the composed result image reach the highest possible SNR. The method is tested on grey-level images in this paper, but it can be easily extended to the color-image version.