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The development of heterojunctions with a strong bonding interface between metals and non-metals has attracted much attention owing to their great potential for use in lightweight structures. Laser joining technology, which emerged as a fast and reliable method, has proven its feasibility and unique advantages in joining metal to polymer matrix composites. Herein, an optimized laser joining configuration has been employed to realize high-quality joining of titanium alloy and carbon fiber-reinforced composite. Cross-sectional microstructures of laser-produced joints reveal that micro-bubbles near the interface have been effectively suppressed and eliminated due to the continual clamping pressure applied to the joined area during the joining process. Tensile tests suggest that the joint strength increases with structure density on a titanium alloy surface, and the greatest fracture strength of joints reaches more than 60 MPa even after experiencing a high–low temperature alternating aging test. For higher structure density (>95%), the joints fail by the fracture of parent plastics near the joined area due to the tensile-loading-induced peel stress at the edges of the overlap region. Otherwise, the joints fail by interfacial shear fracture with breakage when the structure density is lower than 91.5%. The obtained high-performance heterojunctions show great potential in the aerospace and automotive fields.

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Background: Increased serum NSE levels were found in a substantial proportion (30%-69%) of patients with NSCLC, but little is known about the clinical properties of neuron specific enolase (NSE). Objective: We aimed to access the level of serum NSE to predict the prognosis and treatment response in advanced or metastatic non-neuroendocrine non-small cell lung cancer. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 363 patients with advanced and metastatic NSCLC (without neuroendocrine immunohistochemistry stain and brain metastasis) between January 2011 and October 2016. The serum NSE level was measured before initiation of treatment. Results: According to the X-tile program, the optimum cut-off value for NSE level was 26.1 ng/ml. Patients with elevated NSE level (≥26.1 ng/ml) showed significantly shorter progression-free survival (PFS) (median PFS, 4.31 months vs 9.93 months; P < 0.001) and significantly shorter overall survival (OS) (median OS, 8.13 months vs 17.11 months; P < 0.001). In subgroup analysis, patients with elevated NSE level (≥26.1 ng/ml) showed significantly shorter PFS than those with low NSE level (<26.1ng/ml) in EGFR mutations group and EGFR-wide type group (6.58 months vs 16.02 months, P = 0.0016; 3.42 months vs 7.46 months, P < 0.001, respectively). In terms of OS, the patients with elevated NSE was also significantly shorter than those with low NSE in EGFR mutations group and EGFR-wide type group (9.51 months vs 27.73 months, P < 0.001; 7.76 months vs 13.55 months, P < 0.001, respectively). Univariate and multivariate analysis demonstrated that elevated NSE level was independent prognostic factors for short PFS (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.40 (1.71-3.38), P < 0.001; HR = 1.81 (1.28-2.56), P = 0.001, respectively) and OS (HR, 2.40 (1.71-3.37), P < 0.001; HR, 1.76 (1.24-2.50), P = 0.002, respectively). Conclusion: The survival of NSCLC with elevated serum NSE level was shorter than that of NSCLC with low NSE level. Serum NSE level is a predictor of treatment and independent prognostic factor.