Low-Cost Magnesium-Based Thermoelectric Materials: Progress, Challenges, and Enhancements.

Magnesium-based thermoelectric (TE) materials have attracted considerable interest due to their high ZT values, coupled with their low cost, widespread availability, nontoxicity, and low density. In this review, we provide a succinct overview of the advances and strategies pertaining to the development of Mg-based materials aimed at enhancing their performance. Following this, we delve into the major challenges posed by the severe working conditions, such as high temperature and thermal cycling, which adversely impact the behavior and long-term stability of the TE modules.

Silver-promoted ceramic conversion treatment of Ti6Al4V alloy and its mechanical performance.

In this paper, the Ti6Al4V alloy surface was modified via ceramic conversion treatment (CCT) with or without a pre-deposited silver layer. After characterizing the surface morphologies, microstructure and phase constituents of the ceramic oxide layer formed at 620 °C, we investigated the surface hardness and the cross-sectional nano-hardness profile under the oxide layer. The static load-bearing capacity of the oxide layers was examined by applying discrete loads via a Vickers indenter and observing the indentations.

Ceramic conversion treated titanium implant abutments with gold for enhanced antimicrobial activity.

Introduction: Peri-implantitis is an inflammatory process around dental implants that is characterised by bone loss that may jeopardize the long-term survival of osseo integrated dental implants. The aim of this study was to create a surface coating on titanium abutments that possesses cellular adhesion and anti-microbial properties as a post-implant placement strategy for patients at risk of peri-implantitis.

Materials And Methodsmethods: Titanium alloy Grade V stubs were coated with gold particles and then subjected to ceramic conversion treatment (CCT) at 620 °C for 3, 8 and 80 h.

A Novel Treatment to Selectively Harden Ti6Al4V Surfaces.

Various surface treatments have been developed on titanium and its alloy to improve their tribological properties. However, for some components, only specific surfaces need to be hardened rather than the whole surfaces. This study develops a duplex heat treatment including selective surface hardening by prepainting TiO powders and thermal oxidation.

High-Temperature Oxidation Behaviour of CrSi Coatings on 316 Austenitic Stainless Steel.

In this study, a closed-field unbalanced magnetron sputtering system, which is environmentally friendly and has high deposition efficiency, was used to deposit CrSi coatings on 316 austenitic stainless steel. This system utilised separate Cr and Si targets, and the appropriate content of Cr and Si of the coatings was adjusted by changing the currents applied to the targets. A series of CrSi coatings with different Si/Cr ratios were produced, and their oxidation behaviour at elevated temperatures was investigated.

A Novel Catalytic Ceramic Conversion Treatment of Zr702 to Combat Wear.

Zr and its alloys are widely used in multiple areas, including the nuclear and medical fields. Previous studies indicate that a ceramic conversion treatment (C2T) of Zr-based alloys can address the issues of low hardness, high friction, and poor wear resistance of Zr based alloys. This paper introduced a novel catalytic ceramic conversion treatment (C3T) to Zr702 by pre-depositing a catalytic film (such as silver, gold, platinum, etc.

Characterization of Magnetron Sputtered BiTe-Based Thermoelectric Thin Films.

Thermoelectric (TE) technology attracts much attention due to the fact it can convert thermal energy into electricity and vice versa. Thin-film TE materials can be synthesized on different kinds of substrates, which offer the possibility of the control of microstructure and composition to higher TE power, as well as the development of novel TE devices meeting flexible and miniature requirements. In this work, we use magnetron sputtering to deposit N-type and P-type BiTe-based thin films on silicon, glass, and Kapton HN polyimide foil.

Nanoindentation of Multifunctional Smart Composites.

Three multifunctional smart composites for next-generation applications have been studied differently through versatile nanoindentation investigation techniques. They are used in order to determine peculiarities and specific properties for the different composites and to study the charge/matrix, charge/surface, or smart functions interactions. At first, a mapping indentation test was used to check the distribution of hardness and modulus across a large region to examine any non-uniformity due to structural anomalies or changes in properties for a carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-reinforced polypropylene (PP V-2) nanocomposite.

3D Printing Processability of a Thermally Conductive Compound Based on Carbon Nanofiller-Modified Thermoplastic Polyamide 12.

A polyamide (PA) 12-based thermoplastic composite was modified with carbon nanotubes (CNTs), CNTs grafted onto chopped carbon fibers (CFs), and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) with CNTs to improve its thermal conductivity for application as a heat sink in electronic components. The carbon-based nanofillers were examined by SEM and Raman. The laser flash method was used to measure the thermal diffusivity in order to calculate the thermal conductivity.

Novel Catalytic Ceramic Conversion Treatment of Ti6Al4V for Improved Tribological and Antibacterial Properties for Biomedical Applications.

Titanium oxide layers were produced via a novel catalytic ceramic conversion treatment (CCCT, C3T) on Ti-6Al-4V. This CCCT process is carried out by applying thin catalytic films of silver and palladium onto the substrate before an already established traditional ceramic conversion treatment (CCT, C2T) is carried out. The layers were characterised using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy; surface micro-hardness and reciprocating tribological performance was assessed; antibacterial performance was also assessed with .

The Impact of Carbon Nanofibres on the Interfacial Properties of CFRPs Produced with Sized Carbon Fibres.

In this work, different amounts of CNFs were added into a complex formulation to coat the CFs surfaces via sizing in order to enhance the bonding between the fibre and the resin in the CF-reinforced polymer composites. The sized CFs bundles were characterised by SEM and Raman. The nanomechanical properties of the composite materials produced were assessed by the nanoindentation test.

Curcumin Inhibits ERK/c-Jun Expressions and Phosphorylation against Endometrial Carcinoma.

Curcumin has been shown to have anticancer effects in a variety of tumors. However, there are fewer studies on the role of curcumin in endometrial carcinoma (EC). The purpose of this experiment was to examine the inhibitory effect of curcumin on endometrial carcinoma cells and ERK/c-Jun signaling pathway.

Plasma Surface Functionalization of Carbon Nanofibres with Silver, Palladium and Platinum Nanoparticles for Cost-Effective and High-Performance Supercapacitors.

Due to their relatively low cost, large surface area and good chemical and physical properties, carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are attractive for the fabrication of electrodes for supercapacitors (SCs). However, their relatively low electrical conductivity has impeded their practical application. To this end, a novel active-screen plasma activation and deposition technology has been developed to deposit silver, platinum and palladium nanoparticles on activated CNFs surfaces to increase their specific surface area and electrical conductivity, thus improving the specific capacitance.

Effects of a single transient transfection of Ten-eleven translocation 1 catalytic domain on hepatocellular carcinoma.

Tumor suppressor genes (TSGs), including Ten-eleven translocation 1 (TET1), are hypermethylated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). TET1 catalytic domain (TET1-CD) induces genome-wide DNA demethylation to activate TSGs, but so far, anticancer effects of TET1-CD are unclear. Here we showed that after HCC cells were transiently transfected with TET1-CD, the methylation levels of TSGs, namely APC, p16, RASSF1A, SOCS1 and TET1, were distinctly reduced, and their mRNA levels were significantly increased and HCC cells proliferation, migration and invasion were suppressed, but the methylation and mRNA levels of oncogenes, namely C-myc, Bmi1, EMS1, Kpna2 and c-fos, were not significantly change.

Cytotoxic Constituents and Mechanism from Peganum harmala.

Peganum harmala L. is a traditional Chinese and Uygur medicine used to treat cancer. Bioactivity-guided fractionation was applied to determine the cytotoxic constituents from P.

[Compound amino acid combined with vitamin E for idiopathic asthenospermia].

Objective: To study the therapeutic efficacy of compound amino acid combined with vitamin E in the treatment of idiopathic asthenospermia.

Methods: This study included 120 cases of idiopathic asthenospermia treated in the Outpatient Department of our hospital between February 2014 and January 2015. We randomized the patients into a treatment group( n = 70,aged23- 43 [mean 32.

Cytotoxic indole alkaloids against human leukemia cell lines from the toxic plant Peganum harmala.

Bioactivity-guided fractionation was used to determine the cytotoxic alkaloids from the toxic plant Peganum harmala. Two novel indole alkaloids, together with ten known ones, were isolated and identified. The novel alkaloids were elucidated to be 2-(indol-3-yl)ethyl-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (2) and 3-hydroxy-3-(N-acetyl-2-aminoethyl)-6-methoxyindol-2-one (3).

Triterpenoids of sour jujube show pronounced inhibitory effect on human tumor cells and antioxidant activity.

Sour jujube is a common fruit and traditional medicine in China. Bioactivity-guided fractionation of sour jujube was used to determine the chemical identity of potent antiproliferative and antioxidant constituents. Four novel ursane-type triterpenoids, together with 8 known were isolated and identified.

In vitro and in vivo antimammary tumor activities and mechanisms of the apple total triterpenoids.

Consumption of apples has been linked to the prevention of various chronic diseases, including tumors and cardiovascular diseases. The apple total triterpenoid content (ATT) was extracted and concentrated from apple peels. The in vitro and in vivo antitumor activities, related antitumor mechanisms, were investigated.

Cytotoxic ceramides and glycerides from the roots of Livistona chinensis.

A 70% ethanol extract of the roots of Livistona chinensis has been investigated, led to the isolation of 13 compounds, including a new ceramide, (2S,3S,4R,9Z)-2-[(2R)-2-hydroxytricosanoylamino]-9-octadecene-1,3,4-triol (2), a new glycosyl ceramide, 1-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(2S,3S,4R,9Z)-2-[(2R)-2-hydroxydocosanoylamino]-9-octadecene-1,3,4-triol (3), three new monoacylglycerols, 1-(34-hydroxytetratriacontanoyl)-sn-glycerol (9), 1-[nonadeca-(9Z,12Z)-dienoyl]-sn-glycerol (10), and 1-[12-hydroxypentatriaconta-(13E,15Z)-dienoyl]-sn-glycerol (11), a new diacylglycerol, 1-(heptadeca-6Z,9Z-dienoyl)-3-(octadeca-6Z,9Z,12Z-trienoyl)-sn-glycerol (12), as well as a new diacylglycerol aminoglycoside, 1-octadecanoyl-2-nonadecanoyl-3-O-(6-amino-6-deoxy)-β-D-glucopyranosyl-sn-glycerol (13). The structures of new compounds were elucidated, based on spectroscopic, zymologic and chemical methods. Among the compounds tested, compounds 3, 4 and 13 showed significantly antiproliferative effects against the human tumor cell lines (K562, HL-60, HepG2, and CNE-1) with the IC₅₀ of 10-65 μM.

Novel indole C-glycosides from Isatis indigotica and their potential cytotoxic activity.

Two novel indole C-glycosides, which were the first reported alkaloids C-glycosides from Isatis indigotica, together with five known alkaloids were isolated. The novel alkaloids were elucidated to be indole-3-acetonitrile-4-methoxy-2-C-β-D-glucopyranoside (1) and N-methoxy-indole-3-acetonitrile-2-C-β-D-glucopyranoside (2) on the basis of spectroscopic analysis. 1 exhibited significant cytotoxic activities against human myeloid leukemia HL-60 and human liver cancer HepG2 cells with the IC(50) of 1.

[Seroepidemiologic survey of hepatitis G virus in selected population of Shanxi, Qinghai and Xinjiang Provinces (region) of China].

Objective: To observe the serological features of hepatitis G virus (HGV or GBV) in selected population of Shaanxi, Qinghai and Xinjiang Provinces (region).

Methods: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine IgG antibody against GBV (anti-GBV IgG) in serum specimens of 1469 individuals from the 3 provinces (region).

Results: The positivity rate of serum GBV-IgG antibody in ethnic minorities (4.