Negative thermal expansion (NTE) materials can compensate for the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of normal metals. Currently, it is challenging to prepare NTE metal composites facing the practical demands. We report the tunable CTEs between -0.39 and 6.19 ppm/K around room temperature in Zn/Si/Zn0.75Sn0.2Mn0.05NMn3 composites. The low-melting Zn acts as the adhesive, while Zn0.75Sn0.2Mn0.05NMn3 is the CTE compensator. Moreover, the composites have high compression strength (225 MPa) and thermal conductivity (52W/Km), showing great potentials as electronic thermal management materials. Our results suggest an effective way to realize low-CTE composites with excellent performance based on NTE compounds. (C) 2019 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

OBJECTIVETo observe the expressions of Linc-ROR and proteins in the PI3K-Akt pathway in an ectopic lesion of adenomyosis.PATIENTS AND METHODSThe expression of Linc-ROR in the ectopic endometrium, eutopic endometrium, and normal endometrium of adenomyosis was detected by qRT-PCR. Western blot was used to detect the protein expressions of PI3K-Akt in endometriosis and lesion endometriosis. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was utilized to detect cell proliferative activity. After interfering or overexpressing Linc-ROR, protein expressions of the PI3K-Akt pathway were detected by Western blot.RESULTSLinc-ROR expression in the ectopic endometrium of adenomyosis was higher than that in the eutopic endometrium and normal endometrium, and the expression level of PTEN in adenomyosis tissues was decreased, whilst expression levels of Akt, p-Akt, p-PTEN were increased. Clinical data of enrolled patients indicated that there was a relationship between Linc-ROR expression and the type and severity of dysmenorrhea of adenomyosis. However, no relationship was observed between Linc-ROR expression and age, cesarean section, uterine surgery, and menstrual cycle. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay showed that the proliferative activity of cells was significantly decreased after knockdown of Linc-ROR in the adenomyosis cells. Western blot revealed that the expression level of PTEN increased but the expression levels of p-Akt, p-PTEN and p-PDK1 decreased. Overexpression of Linc-ROR obtained the opposite results.CONCLUSIONSLinc-ROR is highly expressed in the ectopic endometrium of adenomyosis, and it can promote the proliferative activity of endometrial cells by activating the PI3K-Akt pathway.