ALBERT

Description: The demand for heat-resistant steel has increased owing to its utility in numerous devices that must withstand high steam pressures and high temperatures, such as turbine rotors and blades in ultra-supercritical power plants. It is inevitable to join heat-resistance steel part by welding method, so it is important to maintain the toughness of the weld metals. In this study, the microstructure, low-temperature impact toughness, and fracture surface of as-welded and post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) of 2.25Cr-1Mo-0.25V weld metal were investigated. The microstructures of the as-welded and PWHT specimens are granular bainite and ferrite, respectively. This work revealed the relationship between effective microstructure nearby crack initiation origin and low temperature impact toughness for both the as-welded and PWHT specimens. The evolution of the microstructure and prior austenite was then investigated using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to observe the formation of coarse ferrite grain structures. A suggestion for enhancing the low-temperature toughness was provided based on the effect of adjusting Mn content and forming acicular ferrite.

Description: Author(s): Aaron Patz, Tianqi Li, Xinyu Liu, Jacek K. Furdyna, Ilias E. Perakis, and Jigang Wang We report direct measurements of hole spin lifetimes in ferromagnetic GaMnAs carried out by time- and polarization-resolved spectroscopy. Below the Curie temperature, ultrafast photoexcitation of GaMnAs with linearly polarized light is shown to create a nonequilibrium hole spin population via dynami... [Phys. Rev. B 91, 155108] Published Wed Apr 08, 2015

Description: Deep learning is robust to the perturbation of a point cloud, which is an important data form in the Internet of Things. However, it cannot effectively capture the local information of the point cloud and recognize the fine-grained features of an object. Different levels of features in the deep learning network are integrated to obtain local information, but this strategy increases network complexity. This paper proposes an effective point cloud encoding method that facilitates the deep learning network to utilize the local information. An axis-aligned cube is used to search for a local region that represents the local information. All of the points in the local region are available to construct the feature representation of each point. These feature representations are then input to a deep learning network. Two well-known datasets, ModelNet40 shape classification benchmark and Stanford 3D Indoor Semantics Dataset, are used to test the performance of the proposed method. Compared with other methods with complicated structures, the proposed method with only a simple deep learning network, can achieve a higher accuracy in 3D object classification and semantic segmentation.

Description: Fraxinus mandshurica Rupr. (hereafter “F. mandshurica”) is known as one of northeast China′s important, valuable hardwood timber species. However, tissue culture and micropropagation of the species are difficult and have low efficiency, limiting asexual propagation. In this manuscript, stem explants were utilized to establish an effective regeneration system through adventitious bud organogenesis. The factors influencing callus regeneration in vitro were determined, and callus regeneration technology was established. The mechanism of adventitious bud formation was analyzed. Thidiazuron (TDZ) played a crucial role in the formation of adventitious buds. Elevated concentrations of TDZ were beneficial to callus induction and low concentrations of 6-benzyladenine (BA) led to loose state callus formation. The order of callus induction rates for different explants was stem cotyledon (100%) 〉 segment (98.54%) 〉 hypocotyl (92.56%) 〉 root (50.71%). The effects of exogenous addition of 6-BA and TDZ on the endogenous hormone content of plants during the regeneration of adventitious buds were also assessed, as well as the expression characteristics of genes related to the regeneration pathway. The comprehensive analysis results showed that the suitable medium for callus induction and adventitious bud differentiation was c12 medium (MSB5 + 30 g/L sucrose + 7 g/L Agar + 5 mg/L 6-BA + 8 mg/L TDZ + 2 mg/L glycine + 0.1 mg/L IBA + 5% coconut water). The induction rates of callus and adventitious buds were 99.15% and 33.33%. The addition of 2.4 mg/L of the DNA demethylation reagent 5-azacytidine (5-aza) and 0.15 mg/L of the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) increased the rates of adventitious bud induction by 17.78% over the control. This further laid the foundation for large-scale cultivation of excellent varieties and genetic transformation techniques.

Description: In this study, crumpled graphene balls (CGB), a kind of nano-material, was used as an additive to improve the tribological properties of base oil. Nano-magnesium silicate hydroxide (MSH)/CGB composites were prepared by ultrasound-assisted liquid-phase exfoliation. The loading of MSH significantly increased the number of pleats and reduced the lamellar thickness of CGB. Then, in order to improve the compatibility with the base oil, the MSH/CGB composites were decorated with oleic acid and stearic acid to get modified lipophilic composites (ML-MSH/CGB). The ML-MSH/CGB were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, the tribological properties of the ML-MSH/CGB in base oils were investigated using a ball-on-disc setup tribometer. It indicated that the fantastic tribological behavior of the ML-MSH/CGB in base oil may contribute to a smaller and extremely wrinkled laminated structure. Furthermore, the base oil with 0.005 wt% ML-MSH/CGB composites exhibited the best anti-friction effect, and its average friction coefficient, wearing capacity and wear scar diameter were reduced by 25.4%, 22.1% and 16.7%, respectively. The introduction of ML-MSH/CGB composed materials is an excellent strategy to optimize the friction performance of lubricating oil.

Description: Introduction: T-cell lymphomas are lymphoid malignancies with aggressive clinical course and poor prognosis. The etiology remains to be elucidated, and no uniformed therapeutic strategies have been achieved. Increasing evidence has shown that aberrant activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (STAT3) and suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) may be associated with the development of T-cell lymphomas. The Hedgehog (Hh) pathway, aberrantly activated in a number of tumors, has been extensively studied with respect to its interaction with other oncogenic pathways. It has been established that inhibition of Hh pathway has antitumor efficacy in T-cell lymphoma cells. Gli1 inhibitor GANT61 is a promising Hh pathway inhibitor against cancer therapy. We speculated that GANT61 has antitumor activity for T-cell Lymphoma cells and the activity is associated with down-regulation of phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3) and SOCS3. This study investigated the inhibitory effects and the mechanism of action of GANT61 on T-cell lymphoma cells. Methods: The paraffin-embedded tissues from thirty-five T-cell lymphoma patients were collected prior to therapeutic intervention. The expression of Gli1, p-STAT3 and SOCS3 in T-cell lymphoma tissues and cell lines (Jurkat, Karpass299 and Myla3676 cells) was investigated by Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western-blot respectively. Reactive hyperplasia of lymph node tissues and peripheral blood T cells from healthy volunteers served as control respectively. Cytotoxicity of GANT61 on the three cells was assessed by the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay after a 48-hour GANT61 treatment at different concentrations, and half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values were calculated respectively. Effect of GANT61 on apoptosis of these cells was evaluated by AnexinV-PE/7AAD assay, and protein expression of Gli1, p-STAT3, STAT3 and SOCS3 was detected by Western-blot after a 24-hour GANT61 treatment at different concentrations. To confirm the specific role of Gli1, lentivirus-mediated RNA interference was carried out to knockdown Gli1 gene in the three cells. Proliferation and apoptosis of normal and stable transfected siGli1 cells were assessed by CCK8 assay and AnexinV/7AAD assay respectively. Protein expression of Gli1, p-STAT3 and SOCS3 was assessed by Western-blot analysis after the genetically intervention. Results: Western-blot and IHC analysis showed that the expression of Gli1, p-STAT3 and SOCS3 protein was up-regulated in T-cell lymphoma cells and tissues compared with peripheral blood T cells from healthy volunteers and tissues from patients with reactive hyperplasia of lymph node respectively (Figure 1A-B). Moreover, the interaction of p-STAT3 and Gli1 in Jurkat, Myla3676 and Karpass299 cells were observed in the Western- blot analysis of Co-Immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) (Figure 1C). Viability of Jurkat, Karpass299 and Myla3676 cells decreased in a dose-dependent manner after a 48-hour incubation of GANT61 (Figure 2A). GANT61 induced apoptosis and decreased the protein expression of Gli1, p-STAT3 and SOCS3 in the three cells after a 24-hour treatment of GANT61 in a dose-dependent manner (Figure 2B-C). Furthermore, knockdown of Gli1 by lentivirus-mediated RNA interference inhibited the proliferation and induced apoptosis (Figure 3A-B), as well as downregulated the protein expression of Gli1, p-STAT3 and SOCS3 in these cells (Figure 3C). Conclusions: These results showed that protein expression of Gli1, p-STAT3 and SOCS3 was up-regulated in T-cell lymphoma tissues and cell lines. Inhibition of Gli1 by GANT61 or RNA interference could attenuate proliferation and induce apoptosis of Jurkat, Karpass299 and Myla3676 cells. Moreover, the p-STAT3 and SOCS3 were decreased accompanied with the inhibition of Gli1. Our findings indicated a potential mechanism for the antitumor activity of GANT61 which might inhibit viability of T-cell lymphoma cells at least partially by down-regulating p-STAT3 and SOCS3 pathways. The crosstalk between Hh pathway and STAT3 pathway in T cell lymphomas deserves more exploration. Targeting the Hh pathway may be a novel therapeutic strategy for T-cell lymphomas. Figure 1. Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 2. Figure 3. Figure 3. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Description: Introduction: The Wnt/beta-catenin pathway is aberrantly activated in B cell lymphomas, unphosphorylated beta-catenin accumulates and translocates into the nucleus, regulates the expression of c-myc, cyclinD1 and many other target genes which govern fundamental cell functions, such as proliferation, cell cycle regulation and apoptosis. Methylation is a highlight of epigenetic regulation research which also occurred in lymphoma, but the concrete mechanism of how the demethylation drug 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine affect Wnt/beta-catenin pathway is still unknown. This study was designed to illuminate the implications on Wnt/beta-catenin pathway via demethylation 5-aza in B cell lymphoma. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were obtained from samples of 30 primary CLL patients. The PBMCs contained more than 90% of CD19+ B lymphocytes, which were detected by flow cytometry and were referred to as primary CLL cells. The activation of Wnt/beta-catenin pathway and DNMT-1 of B cell lymphoma cells lines (MEC-1, LY8, Jeko-1, Grant519, mino and sp53) and the 30 patients were detected by qPCR and western blot. The expressions of beta-catenin in 20 cases of B cell lymphoma tissues were measured by IHC. The B cell lines and PBMCs from 10 primary CLL patients were given 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine in different concentrations, the effects in the pathway and apoptosis were observed by WB and flow cytometry. Results: The expressions of beta-catenin, c-myc, cyclinD1 and DNMT-1 were aberrantly higher in all cell lines we used ( MEC-1,LY8, Jeko-1, Grant519, mino and sp53 Fig.1-A,B), most primary CLL patients (Fig.1-C), and B cell lymphoma tissues (Fig.1-D). The protein expressions of beta-catenin in MEC-1 were higer than primary CLL patients. 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0¦ÌM 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine were given to the B cells lines and PBMCs from primary CLL patients for 48h, beta-catenin were found accumulated, but c-myc and cyclinD1 in the downstream were reduced (Fig.2-A,B,C,D). For further understanding of aberrant accumulation ofbeta-catenin, we extracted the nuclear protein of MEC-1, nuclear beta-catenin protein expressions were found decreased and cytoplasmic were increased (Fig.2-E). After 5-aza treatment, the apoptosis rate increased and caspase pathway were activated (Fig.2-A,F). Conclusions: The enhanced expressions of beta-catenin, c-myc, cyclinD1 in the B cell lines and the B cell lymphoma samples indicated the Wnt/beta-catenin was aberrantly activated. After 5-aza treatment with the cell lines (MEC-1, Jeko-1, LY8) and primary CLL cells, the abnormal accumulation of beta-catenin protein was observed which was discrepancy with previous reports, but the decrease of c-myc and cyclinD1 suggested the pathway was inhibited, apoptosis also occurred. The increase of totalbeta-catenin protein was supposed to be an stress reaction of the 5-aza treatment, however, the redundant beta-catenin protein in B cell lymphoma was speculated to be combined with demethylated genes and resulted in dormancy of this pathway. Our results indicated that 5-aza played a demethylation role through Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in B cell lymphoma. The data are of interest in the context of epigenetic-based therapy in B cell lymphoma. Figure 1. Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 2. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.