EPMA

Mg alloy AZ31B was directly bonded to SK7 with a low alloy content, DP980 with a high Mn content, 316L with a high Cr and high Ni content by laser-gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) and hybrid direct lap welding. The results showed that the tensile loads of AZ31B/SK7 and AZ31B/DP980 joints were 283 N/mm and 285 N/mm respectively, while the tensile load of AZ31B/316L joint was only 115 N/mm. The fracture and interface microstructures were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), and identified through X-ray diffractometry (XRD)...

To achieve better process control of silicon (Si) alloy production using aluminum as a reductant of calcium silicate (CaO-SiO2 ) slag, it is necessary to understand the reaction phenomena concerning the behavior of formed phases at the metal-slag interface during conversion. The interfacial interaction behavior of non-agitated melt was investigated using the sessile drop method for varying time and temperature, followed by EPMA phase analysis at the vicinity of the metal-slag interface. The most remarkable features of the reaction were the accumulation of solid calcium aluminate product layers at the Al alloy-slag interface and spontaneous emulsion of Si-alloy droplets in the slag phase...

The development of Li-ion battery cases requires superior electrical conductivity, strength, and corrosion resistance for both cathode and anode to enhance safety and performance. Among the various battery case materials, super duplex stainless steel (SDSS), which is composed of austenite and ferrite as two-phase stainless steel, exhibits outstanding strength and corrosion resistance. However, stainless steel, which is an iron-based material, tends to have lower electrical conductivity. Nevertheless, nickel-plating SDSS can achieve excellent electrical conductivity, making it suitable for Li-ion battery cases...

CHALLENGE IN THE FRAMEWORK OF PREDICTIVE PREVENTIVE AND PERSONALISED MEDICINE: In recent years, we have been witnessing a change in the performance of hospital pharmacists, aimed at increasing their participation in the pharmacotherapeutic process of patients. The drug cycle, characterised as multidisciplinary, is very complex. It is essential for the multidisciplinary team to have a broad vision of the medication system in order to guarantee safety and quality.Considering the challenges of current healthcare systems and paradigm shift from reactive to predictive medicine, a new professional environment should be created to promote the implementation of Predictive, Preventive and Personalised Medicine in healthcare...

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The reciprocal promotion of cancer and stroke occurs due to changes in shared risk factors, such as metabolic pathways and molecular targets, creating a "vicious cycle." Cancer plays a direct or indirect role in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke (IS), along with the reactive medical approach used in the treatment and clinical management of IS patients, resulting in clinical challenges associated with occult cancer in these patients. The lack of reliable and simple tools hinders the effectiveness of the predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine (PPPM/3PM) approach...

RELEVANCE: The proteasome is a crucial mechanism that regulates protein fate and eliminates misfolded proteins, playing a significant role in cellular processes. In the context of lung cancer, the proteasome's regulatory function is closely associated with the disease's pathophysiology, revealing multiple connections within the cell. Therefore, studying proteasome inhibitors as a means to identify potential pathways in carcinogenesis and metastatic progression is crucial in in-depth insight into its molecular mechanism and discovery of new therapeutic target to improve its therapy, and establishing effective biomarkers for patient stratification, predictive diagnosis, prognostic assessment, and personalized treatment for lung squamous carcinoma in the framework of predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine (PPPM; 3P medicine)...

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies reported leucocyte telomere length (LTL) and frailty were associated with mortality, but it remains unclear whether frailty serves as a mediator in the relationship between leucocyte telomere length and mortality risk. This study aimed to evaluate how measuring LTL and frailty can support early monitoring and prevention of risk of mortality from the prospective of predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine (PPPM/3PM). METHODS: We included 440,551 participants from the UK Biobank between the baseline visit (2006-2010) and November 30, 2022...

Worldwide stroke is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of death and disability combined. The estimated global economic burden by stroke is over US$891 billion per year. Within three decades (1990-2019), the incidence increased by 70%, deaths by 43%, prevalence by 102%, and DALYs by 143%. Of over 100 million people affected by stroke, about 76% are ischemic stroke (IS) patients recorded worldwide. Contextually, ischemic stroke moves into particular focus of multi-professional groups including researchers, healthcare industry, economists, and policy-makers...

BACKGROUND: The effects of psychological factors on suboptimal health status (SHS) have been widely described; however, mechanisms behind the complex relationships among the Big Five personality traits and SHS are unclear. Identifying people with specific traits who are susceptible to SHS will help improve life quality and reduce the chronic disease burden under the framework of predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine (PPPM / 3PM). This study investigated the relationships among personality traits and SHS...

PURPOSE: We developed an Infant Retinal Intelligent Diagnosis System (IRIDS), an automated system to aid early diagnosis and monitoring of infantile fundus diseases and health conditions to satisfy urgent needs of ophthalmologists. METHODS: We developed IRIDS by combining convolutional neural networks and transformer structures, using a dataset of 7697 retinal images (1089 infants) from four hospitals. It identifies nine fundus diseases and conditions, namely, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) (mild ROP, moderate ROP, and severe ROP), retinoblastoma (RB), retinitis pigmentosa (RP), Coats disease, coloboma of the choroid, congenital retinal fold (CRF), and normal...

UNLABELLED: Multidisciplinary team from three universities based in the "Centro" Region of Portugal developed diverse approaches as parts of a project dedicated to enhancing and expanding Predictive, Preventive, and Personalized Medicine (3PM) in the Region. In a sense, outcomes acted as a proof-of-concept, in that they demonstrated the feasibility, but also the relevance of the approaches. The accomplishments comprise defining a new regional strategy for implementing 3PM within the Region, training of human resources in genomic sequencing, and generating good practices handbooks dedicated to diagnostic testing via next-generation sequencing, to legal and ethical concerns, and to knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship, aimed at increasing literacy on 3PM approaches...

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a global health burden which carries lifelong morbidity affecting all age groups in populations with the disease-specific peak of the age groups ranging between 15 and 35 years, which are of great economic importance for the society. An accelerating incidence of IBD is reported for newly industrialised countries, whereas stabilising incidence but increasing prevalence is typical for countries with a Westernised lifestyle, such as the European area and the USA. Although the aetiology of IBD is largely unknown, the interplay between the genetic, environmental, immunological, and microbial components is decisive for the disease manifestation, course, severity and individual outcomes...

The assembly of Ga alloys with Ni or Ni alloy has been widely developed for various low-temperature applications in recent years. In the constituent Ni-Ga binary system, however, the phase equilibrium with the phase "NiGa5 " and its stability has scarcely been investigated. The present study used the diffusion couple technique combined with SEM-EPMA and XRD analysis to examine the phase stability and the homogeneity range of the phase. The results show that "NiGa5 " is a stable phase in the binary system with little homogeneity range and suggest that the peritectic reaction L+Ni3Ga7→NiGa5 lies between 112...

Research on how thermal exposure affects the microstructure and mechanical properties of the Ti-48Al-3Nb-1.5Ta (at. %) alloy, which is prepared via powder hot isostatic pressing (P-HIP), is essential since this low-density alloy shows promise for use in high-temperature applications, particularly for aero-engines, which require long-term stable service. In this study, a P-HIP Ti-48Al-3Nb-1.5Ta (at. %) alloy was exposed to high temperatures for long durations. The phase, microstructure and mechanical properties of the P-HIP Ti-48Al-3Nb-1...

The present study addresses the enhancement of fracture toughness of martensitic stainless steel (MSS) spot welds by utilizing through electroplating of Ni on MSS sheets. The equilibrium and non-equilibrium solidification modelling showed that by Ni coating with 50 μm thick on 1.5 mm thick MSSs, the solidification mode changes from δ-ferrite to γ-austenite, leading to a weld nugget (WN) dominated by austenite grains. Moreover, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) showed that the other phases (martensite, δ-ferrite) appeared in band areas of WN owing to incomplete mixing of MSS and the Ni-coating...

Normally, various minerals exist in quartz as inclusions. In this study, methods such as gem microscopy, polarizing microscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) were used to systematically study the gemological characteristics and inclusions in green rutilated quartz from Inner Mongolia. Results show that the sample appears green due to the chaotic distribution of green inclusions in the shape of hair filaments. Combined with the chemical composition, the inclusions are Ca-Fe-rich amphiboles with compositions very close to those of the end-member ferro-actinolite...

In this work, a reliable and robust in situ non-matrix-matched calibration method is proposed for element composition determination in scheelite samples. With external calibration against the silicate glass standard reference material NIST SRM 610, the concentrations of both major elements (Ca and W) and trace elements (Si, Fe, Mo, Y, rare earth elements, etc.) in scheelite are determined using an ArF 193 nm excimer nanosecond laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS). Here, the ablation was performed by hole drilling under a helium (He) environment using a laser spot size of 35 μm and a laser repetition of 5 Hz, and the aerosols were then transported to a quadrupole ICP-MS by a mixture of He and make-up gas argon (Ar) with a total gas flow rate of 1...

BACKGROUND: The Suboptimal Health Status Questionnaire-25 (SHSQ-25) is a distinctive medical psychometric diagnostic tool designed for the early detection of chronic diseases. However, the synaptic connections between the 25 symptomatic items and their relevance in supporting the monitoring of suboptimal health outcomes, which are precursors for chronic diseases, have not been thoroughly evaluated within the framework of predictive, preventive, and personalised medicine (PPPM/3PM). This baseline study explores the internal structure of the SHSQ-25 and demonstrates its discriminatory power to predict optimal and suboptimal health status (SHS) and develop photogenic representations of their distinct relationship patterns...

BACKGROUND: Intravenous leiomyomatosis (IVL) is a rare endocrine-associated tumor with unique characteristics of intravascular invasion. This study aimed to identify reliable biomarkers to supervise the development or recurrence of IVL in the context of predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine (PPPM/3PM). METHODS: A total of 60 cases were recruited to detect differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in serum samples from IVL patients. These cases included those with recurrent IVL, non-recurrent IVL, uterine myoma, and healthy individuals without uterine myoma, with 15 cases in each category...

OBJECTIVE: Gut microbiota is closely related to sepsis. Recent studies have suggested that Prevotellaceae could be associated with intestinal inflammation; however, the causal relationship between Prevotellaceae and sepsis remains uncertain. From the perspective of predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine (PPPM), exploring the causal relationship between gut Prevotellaceae and sepsis could provide opportunity for targeted prevention and personalized treatment. METHODS: The genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary-level data of Prevotellaceae ( N  = 7738) and sepsis were obtained from the Dutch Microbiome Project and the UK Biobank (sepsis, 1380 cases; 429,985 controls)...