Effect of Ca modification on the elemental composition,microstructure and tensile properties of Al-7Si-0.3Mg alloy

The effect of Ca addition on the elemental composition, microstructure, Brinell hardness and tensile properties of Al-7Si-0.3Mg alloy were investigated. The residual content of Ca in the alloy linearly increased with the amount of Ca added to the melt. The optimal microstructure and properties were obtained by adding 0.06wt% Ca to Al-7Si-0.3Mg alloy. The secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) of the primary α phase decreased from 44.41 μm to 19.4 μm, and the eutectic Si changed from coarse plates to fine coral. The length of the Fe-rich phase (β-Al₅FeSi) decreased from 30.2 μm to 3.8 μm, and the Brinell hardness can reach to 66.9. The ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation of the resulting alloy increased from 159.5 MPa, 79 MPa, and 2.5% to 212 MPa, 86.5 MPa, and 4.5%, respectively. The addition of Ca can effectively refine the primary α phase and modify the eutectic Si phase, likely because Ca enrichment at the front of the solid-liquid interface led to undercooling of the alloy, reduced the growth rate of the primary α phase, and refined the grain size. Also, it could increase the latent heat of crystallization, undercooling, and the nucleation rate of eutectic Si, which was beneficial to the improvement of the morphology of eutectic Si.     

Plant genetics: increased outcrossing in hothead mutants

Arising from: S. J. Lolle, J. L. Victor, J. M. Young & R. E. Pruitt 434, 505-509 (2005); Lolle et al. reply. Lolle et al. report that loss-of-function alleles of the HOTHEAD (HTH) gene in Arabidopsis thaliana are genetically unstable, giving rise to wild-type revertants. On the basis of the reversion of many other genetic markers in hth plants, they suggested a model in which a cache of extragenomic information could cause genes to revert to the genotype of previous generations. In our attempts to reproduce this phenomenon, we discovered that hth mutants show a marked tendency to outcross (unlike wild-type A. thaliana, which is almost exclusively self-fertilizing). Moreover, when hth plants are grown in isolation, their genetic inheritance is completely stable. These results may provide an alternative explanation for the genome wide non-mendelian inheritance reported by Lolle et al.     

干湿循环下花岗岩残积土胶结物溶蚀-微结构演化规律与力学行为

花岗岩残积土中的游离氧化铁粒间胶结作用使其具有高结构性和水敏性. 因此，在干湿循环过程中，粒间胶结氧化物被溶蚀，残积土表现出结构崩解重组和复杂的剪切变形特性. 为进一步研究干湿循环过程中花岗岩残积土中游离氧化铁溶蚀造成的土体组构变化及其对力学性能弱化的影响，进行一系列的宏微观试验以揭示不同干湿循环次数（0、1、2、4）下残积土的复杂力学特性. 研究结果表明，随着干湿循环次数的增加，花岗岩残积土的应力-应变关系将由弱应变硬化型逐渐转变为应变软化状态. 微观分析表明游离氧化铁会促使黏土颗粒胶结形成团聚体，随着干湿循环的进行其含量逐渐降低最终趋于稳定. 此外，原状残积土粒度分布（PSD）曲线呈现明显的双峰，然后在干湿循环或去除氧化铁后转变为单峰曲线. 反复干湿循环会削弱残积土的胶结结构特性，进而导致土体出现明显的软化特征. 在剪切过程中，残积土首先表现出剪切收缩特性，随后出现明显的扩张趋势. 随着干湿循环次数增加，残积土的有效黏聚力逐渐减小，但有效内摩擦角呈现逐渐增加的趋势. 干湿循环过程中花岗岩残积土复杂的力学性能特点是不可逆的体积收缩和胶粒含量的变化以及微裂缝发展之间的耦合效应.     

煤矿开采集中应力和构造应力对巷道底鼓的影响

本论文采用边界元——有限元耦合应力分析方法,对美国King No.4煤矿中第四采区巷道底鼓与采空区和水平地质构造应力之间的关系进行了探讨。基于计算结果,本文发现较大的采空区范围以及较大的水平地质构造应力是导致该区域巷道底鼓的重要原因等结论。     

Ciliated hepatic foregut cyst： report of first case in China and review of literature

Objective: To report the first case of ciliated hepatic foregut cyst in China, and review of literature to introduce the characteristics of this disease for doctors to recognize this disease.Method: Report the clinical procedure of diagnosis and treatment for the first case of ciliated hepatic foregut cyst in China, and to review the embryologic genesis, incidence,clinical manifestation, radiologic features and therapeutic principle of this disease. Results: We performed the resection for ciliated hepatic foregut cyst under laparoscopy; the patient recovered well after the procedure. Conclusion: Ciliated hepatic foregut cyst is quite rare clinically, belongs to non-parasitic,solitary and unilocular cystic lesion, is always less than 4cm in diameter, mostly seen in the left lobe, and has the tendency of malignant change. It should be removed as soon as diagnosed.     

Study on interleukin-18 gene transfer into human breast cancer cells to prevent tumorigenicity

To study the effect of interleukin-18 gene transfection on the tumorigenesis of breast cancer cell line Bacp37, human breast cancer cell line Bcap37 were transfected with Lipofectamine and selected by G418. The biological expression of rhIL-18 was tested by RT-PCR and ELISA method; nude mice were injected with Bcap37 cell with or without the hIL-18 gene. The hIL-18 cDNA was successfully integrated into Bcap37 cell; 126.3+/-4.5 pg hIL-18 secreted by one million transduced cells in 24 hours. Nude mice injected with IL-18 gene engineered Bcap37 cell had no tumor growth. These findings indicated that human breast cancer cells were successfully modified by the gene of IL-18 cytokine; the IL-18 gene engineered Bcap37 cells secreted hIL-18 and lost their tumorigenicity. The Bcap37 cells transduced with IL-18 gene may be used as breast cancer vaccine.     

Genetic diversity revealed by genomic SSR and EST-SSR markers among common wheat, spelt and compectum

In this study, two SSR molecular markers, named genomic-SSR and EST-SSR, are used to measure the genetic diversity among three hexaploid wheat populations, which include 28 common wheat ( Triticum aestivum L. ), 13 spelt ( Triticum spelta L. ),and 11 compactum ( Triticum compactum Host. ). The results show that common wheat has the highest genetic polymorphism, followed by spelt and then compactum. The mean genetic distance between the populations is higher than that within a population, and similar tendency is detected for individual genomes A, B and D. Therefore, spelt and compactum can be used as potential germplasms for wheat breeding, especially for enriching the genetic variation in genome D. As compared with spelt, the genetic diversity between common wheat and compactum is much smaller, indicating a closer consanguine relationship between these two species. Although the polymorphism revealed by EST-SSR is lower than that by genomic-SSR, it can effectively differentiate diverse genotypes as well. Together with our present results, it is concluded that EST-SSR marker is an ideal marker for assessing the genetic diversity in wheat. Meanwhile, the origin and evolution of hexaploid wheat is also analyzed and discussed.     

Inducible nitric oxide synthase expression is related to angiogenesis,bcl—2 and cell proliferation in hepatocellular carcinoma

In this study,we examined the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS) and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) by immunohistochemical staining in 76 tissue sections collected from bepa-tocellular carcinoma(HCC) patients undergoing hepatectomy.Microvascular density (MVD) was determined by counting endothelial cells immunostained using anti-CD34 antibody.We performed DNA-flow cytometric analyses to elucidate the impact of iNOS and VEGF expression on the cell cycle of HCC.Most of the HCC cells that invaded stroma were markedly immunostained by iNOS antibody.The iNOS stain intensity of the liv-er tissue close to the tumor edge was stronger than that of HCC tissue,and the strongest was the hepatocytes colser to the tumor tissue.However,iNOS expression in 10 normal hepatic samples was undetectable.VEGF positive expression ratio was 84.8% in iNOS positive expression cases,and the ratio was 35.3% in negative cases.There was significant correlation(P=0.000) between iNOS and VEGF expression.Moreover,iNOS expression was significantly associated with bcl-2 and MVD,but without p53 expression.DNA-flow cytometric analyses showed that combined expression of iNOS and VEGF had significant impact on the cell cycle in HCC.PI(Proliferating Index) and SPF(S-phase fraction)in the combined positive expression of iNOS and VEGF group was significantly higher than that in the combined negative group.The present findings suggested that iNOS expression was significantly associated with angiogenesis,bcl-2 and cell proliferation of HCC.     

Non-invasive scanning ion-selective electrode technique and its applications to the research of higher plants

The process of various ions and molecules getting into and out of cells is critical for plant survival. The non-invasive scanning ion-selective electrode technique (SIET) is a non-invasive method to obtain the information of ions/molecules across membranes in plant. This technique can measure the absolute concentration of ions and molecules, and also their fluxes and directions of movement. The samples to be analyzed can be a single cell, a piece of tissue, a whole organ and even an intact seedling. This article reviews the recent progress made in plant physiology by using this technique and discusses its potentials in future studies on plant physiology.