A bio-inspired gelatin-based pH- and thermal-sensitive magnetic hydrogel for in vitro chemo/hyperthermia treatment of breast cancer cells

Gelatin (Gel)-based pH- and thermal-responsive magnetic hydrogels (MH-1 and MH-2) were designed and developed as novel drug delivery systems (DDSs) for cancer chemo/hyperthermia therapy. For this goal, Gel was functionalized with methacrylic anhydride (GelMA), and then copolymerized with (2-dimethylaminoethyl) methacrylate (DMAEMA) monomer in the presence of methacrylate-end capped magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as well as triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA; as crosslinker). Afterward, a thiol-end capped poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm-SH) was synthesized through an atom transfer radical polymerization technique, and then attached onto the hydrogel through “thiol-ene” click grafting. The preliminary performances of developed MHs for chemo/hyperthermia therapy of human breast cancer was investigated through the loading of doxorubicin hydrochloride (Dox) as an anticancer agent followed by cytotoxicity measurement of drug-loaded DDSs using MTT assay by both chemo- and chemo/hyperthermia-therapies. Owing to porous morphologies of the fabricated magnetic hydrogels according to scanning electron microscopy images and strong physicochemical interactions (e.g., hydrogen bonding) the drug loading capacities of the MH-1 and MH-2 were obtained as 72 ± 1.4 and 77 ± 1.8, respectively. The DDSs exhibited acceptable pH- and thermal-triggered drug release behaviors. The MTT assay results revealed that the combination of hyperthermia therapy and chemotherapy has synergic effect on the anticancer activities of the developed DDSs.     

A Case Study on Fatigue Failure of a Transmission Gearbox Input Shaft

In this paper, a root cause analysis of premature failure of a gearbox input shaft, manufactured of AISI 1045-H, was performed through standard procedures for failure analysis. Shaft failed on cross oil hole through a helical fracture and therefore did not meet bogie 100,000 cycles during the verification with 10 Hz frequency cyclic testing. The fracture in the oil hole implied evidence of fatigue (i.e., beach marks on the fracture surface were clearly visible). Prior to improving the fatigue life and suggesting required remedial actions, mechanism of failure has to be understood, especially the initiating point of cracking. To this end, chemical analysis, microstructural characterization, fractography, hardness measurements, and finite element simulation were used to assess the nature of fracture in detail. The fractography analysis showed that fatigue beach marks originate from transition zone of the case on the cross oil hole. This is possibly due to the fact that torsional strength in this area is lower than torsional fatigue strength which leads to fatigue crack initiation, crack growth, and final fracture. At the end of this paper, proper remedial actions have been proposed.     

High Gain Modified Dual-Band and Dual-Circularly Polarized Array Antenna

Wireless Personal Communications - A novel design of double-layer dual-band circularly polarized array antennas (DDCPAAs) is presented in this paper. First, a DDCP single antenna is introduced as...     

The effects of thermo-mechanical parameters on the microstructure of Thixocast A356 aluminum alloy

In general, semi solid Thixocast (A356) alloys are consisted of extensive globular -Al regions, which are surrounded by eutectic (β) phase. The better formability, higher toughness and structure free porosities, gas cavities and shrinkages are the important advantages of this globular structure. In addition the thermo-mechanical processing is known as one of the most effective processing techniques to control the final mechanical properties. Accordingly, in present work the effects of strain rate and the deformation temperature on the microstructure (morphology of Si phase) of Thixocast aluminum (A356) alloy have been studied. In this regard, hot compression tests at 450, 500 and 540 °C with strain rate of 0.0001, 0.0005, 0.001 and 0.01 s⁻¹ have been performed. The results showed an extensive change in the morphology of eutectic Si fibers through breaking and spheroidization processes.     

An investigation to the effect of deformation-heat treatment cycle on the eutectic morphology and mechanical properties of a Thixocast A356 alloy

The influences of deformation, heat treatment temperature and holding time on morphology and size distribution of Si containing eutectic phases of Thixocast Al-7Si-0.4 Mg alloy were investigated. The novel thermo-mechanical treatment consisted of initial cold working practice followed by a solution heat treatment at 540 °C for durations ranging from 2 min to 120 min followed by water quenching. Optical and scanning electron microscopes were used to study the influence of process parameters on microstructure evolution. Also, final mechanical properties were investigated using hardness test. The results indicate that, under appropriate conditions it is possible to achieve an ultrafine grain microstructure with the eutectic Si fibers fragmented and spheroidized in the entire microstructure. It was also found that, an agglomeration of sphrodized particles occurs and is governed by Ostwald ripening mechanism.     

Drought Occurrence Probability Analysis Using Multivariate Standardized Drought Index and Copula Function Under Climate Change

This study aims to investigate the effect of climate change on the probability of drought occurrence in central Iran. To this end, a new drought index called Multivariate Standardized Drought Index (MSDI) was developed, which is composed of the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the Standardized Soil Moisture Index (SSI). The required data included precipitation, temperature (from CRU TS), and soil moisture (from the ESA CCA SM product) on a monthly time scale for the 1980–2016 period. Moreover, future climate data were downloaded from CMIP6 models under the latest SSPs-RCPs emission scenarios (SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5) for the 2020–2056 period. Based on the normalized root mean square error (NRMSE), Cramer-von mises statistic (S_n), and Nash Sutcliffe (NS) evaluation criteria, the Galambos and Clayton functions were selected to derive copula-based joint distribution functions in both periods. The results showed that more severe and longer droughts will occur in the future compared to the historical period and in particular under the SSP5-8.5 scenario. From the derived joint return period, a drought event with defined severity or duration will happen in a shorter return period as compared with the historical period. In other words, the joint return period indicated a higher probability of drought occurrence in the future period. Moreover, the joint return period analysis revealed that the return period of mild droughts will remain the same, while it will decrease for extreme droughts in the future.

     

Effect of Bonding Temperature on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of WC–Co/Steel Diffusion Brazed Joint

In this work, the diffusion brazing of AISI 4145 steel to WC–Co cemented carbide using RBCuZn-D interlayer with bonding temperature values of 930, 960, 990 and 1020 °C was studied. The microstructure of the joint zone was evaluated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Vickers microhardness and shear strength tests were performed to investigate mechanical behaviors of the brazed joints. The XRD and SEM results indicated that with increase of bonding temperature, the elements readily diffused along the interface and formed various compounds such as γ, α and β and Co₃W₃C. The results also showed that with the increase of bonding temperature from 930 to 960 °C, a sound metallurgical bond was produced, however in higher bonding temperatures (990 and 1020 °C) a decrease in mechanical properties of the joints was observed which could be due to the excessive zinc evaporation, interface heterogeneity and voids formation. The maximum shear strength of 425 MPa was obtained for the bond made at 960 °C.     

Application of response surface methodology to drive GTN model parameters and determine the FLD of tailor welded blank

Tailor welded blanks (TWBs) have found great usage in auto industries; however there are some drawbacks, low formability and weld line movement, which hinder their applications. Prediction of their formability through forming limit diagrams (FLDs) enables one to consider the effects of forming parameters on forming behavior of TWBs. Different numerical approaches have been applied to predict the experimental FLD of these blanks. In the present research Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman (GTN) model was applied as failure criterion. The parameters of GTN model were firstly derived for both thin and thick monolithic blanks of studied TWB by application of response surface methodology. Then experimental method of obtaining FLD was simulated and FLD of transversely welded TWB was predicted using Abaqus software. The results indicate that the FLD of studied TWB is lower than those related to the parent sheets and there is an appropriate agreement between the predicted and experimental FLDs of the studied TWB.