A growth-regulating factor 7(GRF7)-mediated gene regulatory network promotes leaf growth and expansion in sugarcane

Knowledge of the function of growth-regulating factors(GRFs)in sugarcane(Saccharum officinarum and S.spontaneum)growth and development could assist breeders in selecting desirable plant architectures.However,limited information about GRFs is available in Saccharum due to their polyploidy.In this study,22 GRFs were identified in the two species and their conserved domains,gene structures,chromosome location,and synteny were characterized.GRF7 expression varied among tissues and responded to diurnal rhythm.SsGRF7-YFP was localized preferentially in the nucleus and appears to act as a transcriptional cofactor.SsGRF7 positively regulated the size and length of rice leaves,possibly by regulating cell size and plant hormones.Of seven potential transcription factors binding to the SsGRF7 promoter in S.spontaneum,four showed positive expression patterns,and two showed negative expression patterns relative to SsGRF7.

Failure Envelopes of Wide-Shallow Composite Bucket Foundation for Offshore Wind Turbines in Silty Sand

The wide-shallow composite bucket foundation(WSCBF) is a new type of offshore wind power foundation that can be built on land and rapidly installed offshore, there by effectively reducing the construction time and costs of offshore wind power foundation. In this study, the horizontal bearing capacity is calculated by finite element simulation and compared with test results to verify the validity of results. In this process, the vertical load and bending load are respectively calculated by the finite element simulation. Under the vertical load effect, the bucket foundation and the soil inside are regarded as a whole, and the corresponding buckling failure mode is obtained. The ultimate vertical bearing capacity is calculated using empirical and theoretical formulas; the theoretical formula is also revised by finite element results. Under bending load, the rotational center of the composite bucket foundation(in a region close to the bucket bottom) gradually moves from the left of the central axis(reverse to loading direction) to the nearby compartment boards along the loading direction. The H–M envelope line shows a linear relationship, and it is determined that the vertical and bending ultimate bearing capacities can be improved by an appropriate vertical load.

Factors Influencing Strength of Super Absorbent Polymer(SAP)Concrete

Super absorbent polymers (SAPs) are gradually being applied in concrete production as internal curing agents. SAP can effectively reduce early age autogenous shrinkage of concrete, alleviate the hazards caused by concrete cracking and improve its freeze–thaw resistance. However, the relationships between SAP dosage, SAP particle size and the water–cement ratio of concrete have certain influences on the evolution of the compressive strength of SAP-incorporated concrete. In this study, experiments were conducted to investigate the relationships between the water–cement ratio of concrete, the SAP dosage and SAP particle size. The significant factors influencing concrete strength are determined and equations are proposed for predicting the strength of SAP-incorporated concrete at 3, 7 and 28 days. The findings from this study, such as the SAP dosage should not be larger than 0.2%, are expected to form a theoretical basis for the rational use of SAP as an additive to concrete. © 2017, Tianjin University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Seismic Performance of High-Strength Short Concrete Column with High-Strength Stirrups Constraints

The seismic performance of four short concrete columns was investigated under low cycle and repeated loads, including the failure characteristics, hysteretic behavior, rigidity degeneracy and steel-bar stress. The influences of reinforcement strength, stirrup ratio and shear span ratio were also compared. Test results reveal that the restriction effect of stirrups can improve the peak stress, so the bearing capacity of specimen can be improved; for the high-strength short concrete column with high-strength stirrups, it was more reasonable to use ultimate displacement angle to reflect the ductility of the specimen, and the yield strength of high-strength stirrups should be devalued when calculating the stirrup characteristic value; the seismic performance of short column would be improved with the increase of volume–stirrup ratio and shear span ratio; the high-strength stirrups and high-strength longitudinal reinforcements did not yield when the load acting on the specimen reached the peak value, which brought adequate safety stock to these short columns. © 2017, Tianjin University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Experimental Study on Tilt Adjustment Technique of Tripod Bucket Jacket Foundation for Offshore Wind Turbine in Sand

For the tripod bucket jacket foundations used in offshore wind turbines, the probable critical tilt angles should be avoidedduring tilt adjustment operation. Thus, these critical values must be identified by engineers, and remedial techniques mustbe established prior to the occurrence of the problem. Model tests were carried out for typical tilting conditions of tripodbucket foundations, which were allowed to tilt freely at various penetration depths without interruption by manualoperation. After the foundation ceased its tilting, some measures, such as water pumping, water injection, air injection, or acombination of the above methods, were enabled for adjustment. The research results showed two critical values in thetilting state of the tripod bucket jacket foundation, namely the terminal and allowable angles. In the installation condition,the terminal angle was negatively correlated with the initial penetration depth, but the opposite was observed with theremoval condition. The allowable angle was less than or equal to the terminal angle. The allowable angle in the installationwas related to the terminal angle. The critical angles all varied linearly with the initial penetration depth. When tiltingduring installation, adjustment measures can be used in the order of high drum pumping, low drum water injection, highdrum pumping and low drum water injection, air injection, and exhaust. When tilting during removal, the sequential use oflow drum water injection, air, and exhaust was applied. For buckets that were sensitive to angle changes, adjustmentmeasures of the “point injection” mode can be selected.

Load Transferring Mechanism on Transition Section of Composite Bucket Foundation for Offshore Wind Turbines

The composite bucket foundation (CBF) is a new kind of foundation which has been applied in the offshore wind industry. A reasonable connection pattern between the tower and the CBF top cover is crucial for load transmissions from the superstructure. Therefore, it is essential to choose an optimum structure type for the transition section. The line type and the arc transition section models were established by ABAQUS, and the internal forces of cross section were extracted along the height direction. Specifically, the force transfer mechanism for different types of the transition sections was investigated comparatively with monotonic as well as composite loadings. The results show that the curved transition structure exhibits the better mechanical characteristics under the monotonic and composite loadings, and the reason can be illustrated that its specific arc-shape structure can effectively convert the tremendous bending moment from the turbine tower into the limited tensile and compressive stresses downwards, without the occurrence of force concentration. © 2017, Tianjin University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Optimal Skirt Spacing for Subsea Skirted Foundation Considering Floating Stability

A hydraulics model is built in Moses to find the optimal internal skirt spacing for the maximum floating stability of the skirted foundation. The results show that the increase in the internal skirts’ number can help improve the floating stability of the skirted foundation. However, with the increase in the internal skirts’ number, the improvement of floating stability becomes more and more weak. In this study, an optimal number of four are found for the internal skirt spacing. Moreover, to testify the feasibility of internal skirt spacing, a practical project is modeled, which indicates that the optimal internal skirt spacing can satisfy the requirements of towing. © 2017, Tianjin University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

海上风电螺旋桩侧向承载能力分析

The rapid development of offshore wind power and the need to move to deeper sea areas while reducing costs per kilowatt necessitate the employment of a new jacket and helical pile combination.This new combination combines the advantages of both jacket structures and helical piles and provides a superior bearing capacity and installation efficiency compared to conventional pile foundations.Foundations account for 25%-34%of the overall cost of construction,but the use of this new foundation would be highly significant for the further development of offshore wind power.This study presents numerical results for the horizontal bearing capacity when horizontal displacement is applied,focusing on the bearing capacity and characteristics of the helical pile jacket foundation as well as the differences between the bearing mechanisms and failure modes of normal pile and helical pile types.ABAQUS model parameters are obtained through trial calculations based on actual engineering data,and the finite element model(FEM)is validated using data from a model experiment.Subsequently,different FEMs are established,and numerical results are compared and presented.Through a comparison between a normal pile jacket foundation and a helical pile jacket foundation with different helical blade numbers,the differences in the bearing mechanisms and failure modes are revealed.The failure of the normal pile jacket foundation is instantaneous and sudden,whereas that of the helical pile foundation is incremental and accumulative.These data highlight the most significant contributions and vulnerabilities of the one-pile side of the foundation and suggest that the addition of blades on the one-pile side is the most effective way of improving the foundation’s bearing performance.In addition,the interaction between the compression side and tension side is analyzed in relation to differing the relative magnitudes of their bearing capacities.

Influences of Installment Tensioning Technology on Bearing Capacity of Rectangular Prestressed Concrete Beam

To obtain the relationship between use of installment tensioning technology and the bearing capacity of prestressed concrete beams, tensile and cyclic loading tests are conducted on five rectangular prestressed concreted specimens. Two types of prestressed tensioning methods are adopted in the tests, one uses installment tensioning technology to tension beams on days 4, 12, and 8, 12, respectively, and the other adopts the conventional method to tension the beam on day 28 only. The age of concrete, number of times tensioned, and the prestress value of early tensioning are considered in tests. Results show that use of installment tensioning technology has no effect on the bending failure pattern of prestressed concrete beams, but it reduces prestress loss and increases crack and yield loads. © 2017, Tianjin University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Study on Portfolios Models with Evolutionary Programming

This paper is trying to make some improvement to Markowitz＇s Mean-Variance Model. In this paper, we try to solve the model of portfolio by using Evolutionary Programming under the condition of the covariance matrix which is a non-positive matrix, and design a new method which can improve Markowitz＇s model. At last, we give an illustrative example with the new method.

Clinical features of seizures after cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and its effect on outcome among Chinese Han population

background and purpose Clinical features of epileptic seizures after cerebral venous sinus thrombosis(CVST)among Chinese patients are not known,and it is still controversial whether seizures would affect the outcome of CVST.Methods In a Chinese hospital-based study of consecutive patients with CVST between 2003 and 2015,we described the clinical features of seizures and determined the predictors of seizure onset using multivariable logistic regression analysis.We also compared the in-hospital case-fatality and short-term functional outcome(modified Rankin Scale(mRS)at discharge)in patients with versus without seizures using ordinal regression analysis.results Among 151 patients with CVST,52(34.4%)presented seizures,of which 42(80.8%)were generalised seizures.Male gender(OR 6.32,95% CI 2.06 to 19.35,p=0.001),motor deficits(OR 4.89,95% CI 1.52 to 15.68,p=0.008),intracerebral haemorrhage(OR 3.93,95% CI 1.16 to 13.26,p=0.027),cerebral infarction(OR 3.78,95% CI 1.15 to 12.36,p=0.029)and superior sagittal sinus thrombosis(OR 3.38,95% CI 91.16 to 9.86,p=0.026)were independent predictors for seizures.The overall in-hospital case-fatality rate was 2.0%(3/151),and 21(13.9%)had mRS>2 at discharge.Compared with patients without seizures,patients with seizures were more likely to have a worse outcome(p=0.02)at discharge,independent of age,gender,clinical presentation,clot burden and presence of parenchymal lesions.conclusions In Chinese Han patients,compared with patients without seizures,patients with seizures after CVST had a worse outcome.Risk factors such as male gender,paresis,parenchymal lesion and superior sagittal sinus thrombosis were independently associated with seizure onset after CVST.Generalised seizure was the main form of seizures after CVST,which was obviously different to seizures after strokes of arterial origin.