A coupled strain softening and hardening model for completely weathered granite in a fault zone

his study focused on exploring the specificity of mechanical behavior for completely weathered granite,as a special soil,by consolidated drained triaxial tests.The influences of dry density(1.60,1.70,1.80 and 1.90 g/cm^(3)),confining pressure(100,200,400 and 600 kPa),and moisture content(13.0%,that is,natural moisture content)were investigated in the present work.A newly developed Duncan-Chang model was established based on the experimental data and Duncan-Chang model.The influence of each parameter on the type of the proposed model curve was also evaluated.The experimental results revealed that with varying dry density and confining pressure,the deviatoric stress–strain curves have diversified characteristics including strain-softening,strain-stabilization and strain-hardening.Under high confining pressure condition,specimens with different densities all showed strain-hardening characteristic.Whereas at the low confining pressure levels,specimens with higher densities gradually transform into softening characteristics.Except for individual compression shear failure,the deformation modes of the specimens all showed swelling deformation,and all the damaged specimens maintained good integrity.Through comparing the experiment results,the strain-softening or strain-hardening behavior of CWG specimens could be predicted following the proposed model with high accuracy.Additionally,the proposed model can accurately characterize the key mechanical indicators,such as tangent modulus,peak value and residual strength,which is simple to implement and depends on fewer parameters.

Unconfined compressive strength and failure behaviour of completely weathered granite from a fault zone

Understanding the strength characteristics and deformation behaviour of the tunnel surrounding rock in a fault zone is significant for tunnel stability evaluation.In this study,a series of unconfined compression tests were conducted to investigate the mechanical characteristics and failure behaviour of completely weathered granite(CWG)from a fault zone,considering with height-diameter(h/d)ratio,dry densities(ρd)and moisture contents(ω).Based on the experimental results,a regression mathematical model of unconfined compressive strength(UCS)for CWG was developed using the Multiple Nonlinear Regression method(MNLR).The research results indicated that the UCS of the specimen with a h/d ratio of 0.6 decreased with the increase ofω.When the h/d ratio increased to 1.0,the UCS increasedωwith up to 10.5%and then decreased.Increasingρd is conducive to the improvement of the UCS at anyω.The deformation and rupture process as well as final failure modes of the specimen are controlled by h/d ratio,ρd andω,and the h/d ratio is the dominant factor affecting the final failure mode,followed byωandρd.The specimens with different h/d ratio exhibited completely different fracture mode,i.e.,typical splitting failure(h/d=0.6)and shear failure(h/d=1.0).By comparing the experimental results,this regression model for predicting UCS is accurate and reliable,and the h/d ratio is the dominant factor affecting the UCS of CWG,followed byρd and thenω.These findings provide important references for maintenance of the tunnel crossing other fault fractured zones,especially at low confining pressure or unconfined condition.

Construction and application of a three-dimensional vascular variation-based nephrometry scoring system for completely endophytic renal tumors

Background:Completely endophytic renal tumors(CERT)pose significant challenges due to their anatomical complexity and loss of visual clues about tumor location.A facile scoring model based on three-dimensional(3D)reconstructed images will assist in better assessing tumor location and vascular variations.Methods:In this retrospective study,80 patients diagnosed with CERT were included.Forty cases underwent preoperative assessment using 3D reconstructed imaging(3D-Cohort),while the remaining 40 cases were assessed using two-dimensional imaging(2D-Cohort).Vascular variations were evaluated by ascertaining the presence of renal arteries>1,prehilar branching arteries,and arteries anterior to veins.The proposed scoring system,termed RAL,encompassed three critical components:(R)adius(maximal tumor diameter in cm),(A)rtery(occurrence of arterial variations),and(L)ocation relative to the polar line.Comparison of the RAL scoring system was made with established nephrometry scoring systems.Results:A total of 48(60%)patients exhibited at least one vascular variation.In the 2D-Cohort,patients with vascular variations experienced significantly prolonged operation time,increased bleeding volume,and extended warm ischemia time compared with those without vascular variations.Conversely,the presence of vascular vari-ations did not significantly affect operative parameters in the 3D-Cohort.Furthermore,the 2D-Cohort demon-strated a notable decline in both short-and long-term estimated glomerular filtration rate(eGFR)changes com-pared with the 3D-Cohort,a trend consistent across patients with warm ischemia time≥25 min and those with vascular variations.Notably,the 2D-Cohort exhibited a larger margin of normal renal tissue compared with the 3D-Cohort.Elevated RAL scores correlated with larger tumor size,prolonged operation time,extended warm is-chemia time,and substantial postoperative eGFR decrease.The RAL scoring system displayed superior predictive capabilities in assessing postoperative eGFR changes compared with conventional nephrometry scoring systems.Conclusions:Our proposed 3D vascular variation-based nephrometry scoring system offers heightened proficiency in preoperative assessment,precise prediction of surgical complexity,and more accurate evaluation of postoper-ative renal function in CERT patients.

Passive activity enhances residual control ability in patients with complete spinal cord injury

Patients with complete spinal cord injury retain the potential for volitional muscle activity in muscles located below the spinal injury level.However,because of prolonged inactivity,initial attempts to activate these muscles may not effectively engage any of the remaining neurons in the descending pathway.A previous study unexpectedly found that a brief clinical round of passive activity significantly increased volitional muscle activation,as measured by surface electromyography.In this study,we further explored the effect of passive activity on surface electromyographic signals during volitional control tasks among individuals with complete spinal cord injury.Eleven patients with chronic complete thoracic spinal cord injury were recruited.Surface electromyography data from eight major leg muscles were acquired and compared before and after the passive activity protocol.The results indicated that the passive activity led to an increased number of activated volitional muscles and an increased frequency of activation.Although the cumulative root mean square of surface electromyography amplitude for volitional control of movement showed a slight increase after passive activity,the difference was not statistically significant.These findings suggest that brief passive activity may enhance the ability to initiate volitional muscle activity during surface electromyography tasks and underscore the potential of passive activity for improving residual motor control among patients with motor complete spinal cord injury.

Five-year complete remission of super-giant hepatocellular carcinoma with hepatectomy followed by sorafenib plus camrelizumab:A case report

BACKGROUND Cirrhotic patients with super-giant hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)and portal vein invasion generally have a poor prognosis.This paper presents a patient with super-giant HCC and portal vein invasion,who underwent hepatectomy followed by a combination of sorafenib and camrelizumab,resulting in complete remission(CR)for 5 years.CASE SUMMARY A 40-year-old male with compensated hepatitis B-related cirrhosis was diagnosed with HCC,Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage C.Enhanced computed tomography imaging revealed a 152 mm×171 mm tumor in the right liver,invading the portal vein and hepatic vein.Liver function was normal.The patient successfully underwent hepatectomy on July 18,2019.However,by December 2019,HCC recurrence with lung metastases and portal vein invasion were detected.He started treatment with sorafenib(200 mg twice daily)and camrelizumab(200 mg every 3 weeks).By May 12,2020,the patient was confirmed to have CR.Camrelizumab was adjusted to 200 mg every 12 weeks from June 16,2021,with the last infusion on March 29,2024.Although no further tumor recurrence was observed,he experienced two episodes of gastrointestinal bleeding due to esophagogastric varices,which were managed with endoscopic therapy.To date,the patient has remained in CR for 5 years.CONCLUSION The combination of hepatectomy with sorafenib and camrelizumab can achieve durable CR in patients with supergiant HCC and portal vein invasion.Further research is necessary to address these challenges and improve patient outcomes.

Molecular phylogenetic analysis of attached Ulvaceae species and free-floating Enteromorpha from Qingdao coasts in 2007

Based on the sequence data of the nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer(ITS) 1,5.8 S,and ITS 2,the molecular phylogeny was analyzed on Ulvaceae species collected from Qingdao coasts in summer of 2007,including 15 attached Ulva and Enteromorpha samples from 10 locations and 10 free-floating Enteromorpha samples from seven locations.The result supported the monophyly of all free-floating Enteromorpha samples,implying the unialgal composition of the free-floating Enteromorpha,and the attached Ulvaceae species from Qingdao coasts were grouped into other five clades,suggesting that they were not the biogeographic origin of the free-floating Enteromorpha in that season.

Spatial Operator Algebra for Free-floating Space Robot Modeling and Simulation

As the dynamic equations of space robots are highly nonlinear,strongly coupled and nonholonomic constrained,the efficiency of current dynamic modeling algorithms is difficult to meet the requirements of real-time simulation.This paper combines an efficient spatial operator algebra（SOA） algorithm for base fixed robots with the conservation of linear and angular momentum theory to establish dynamic equations for the free-floating space robot,and analyzes the influence to the base body＇s position and posture when the manipulator is capturing a target.The recursive Newton-Euler kinematic equations on screw form for the space robot are derived,and the techniques of the sequential filtering and smoothing methods in optimal estimation theory are used to derive an innovation factorization and inverse of the generalized mass matrix which immediately achieve high computational efficiency.The high efficient SOA algorithm is spatially recursive and has a simple math expression and a clear physical understanding,and its computational complexity grows only linearly with the number of degrees of freedom.Finally,a space robot with three degrees of freedom manipulator is simulated in Matematica 6.0.Compared with ADAMS,the simulation reveals that the SOA algorithm is much more efficient to solve the forward and inverse dynamic problems.As a result,the requirements of real-time simulation for dynamics of free-floating space robot are solved and a new analytic modeling system is established for free-floating space robot.

THE ROBUST CONTROL SCHEME FOR FREE-FLOATING SPACE MANIPULATOR TO TRACK THE DESIRED TRAJECTORY IN JOINTSPACE

The control of a free-floating space manipulator system isdiscussed. With the augmentation approach, the nonlinearparameterization problem of the dynamic equations of the spacemanipulator system is overcome. Based on the results, the robustcontrol scheme for free-floating space manipulator with uncer- tainpayload parameters to track the desired trajectory in jointspace isproposed, and the global convergence of the tracking is verified byusing the Lyapunov method.

Impact dynamics analysis of free-floating space manipulator capturing satellite on orbit and robust adaptive compound control algorithm design for suppressing motion

The impact dynamics, impact effect, and post-impact unstable motion sup- pression of free-floating space manipulator capturing a satellite on orbit are analyzed. Firstly, the dynamics equation of free-floating space manipulator is derived using the sec- ond Lagrangian equation. Combining the momentum conservation principle, the impact dynamics and effect between the space manipulator end-effector and satellite of the cap- ture process are analyzed with the momentum impulse method. Focusing on the unstable motion of space manipulator due to the above impact effect, a robust adaptive compound control algorithm is designed to suppress the above unstable motion. There is no need to control the free-floating base position to save the jet fuel. Finally, the simulation is proposed to show the impact effect and verify the validity of the control algorithm.

Comparative Study of Four Methods in Missing Value Imputations under Missing Completely at Random Mechanism

In analyzing data from clinical trials and longitudinal studies, the issue of missing values is always a fundamental challenge since the missing data could introduce bias and lead to erroneous statistical inferences. To deal with this challenge, several imputation methods have been developed in the literature to handle missing values where the most commonly used are complete case method, mean imputation method, last observation carried forward (LOCF) method, and multiple imputation (MI) method. In this paper, we conduct a simulation study to investigate the efficiency of these four typical imputation methods with longitudinal data setting under missing completely at random (MCAR). We categorize missingness with three cases from a lower percentage of 5% to a higher percentage of 30% and 50% missingness. With this simulation study, we make a conclusion that LOCF method has more bias than the other three methods in most situations. MI method has the least bias with the best coverage probability. Thus, we conclude that MI method is the most effective imputation method in our MCAR simulation study.

SOME COMPLETELY MONOTONIC FUNCTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE q-GAMMA AND THE q-POLYGAMMA FUNCTIONS

In this paper, the q-analogue of the Stirling formula for the q-gamma function （Moak formula） is exploited to prove the complete monotonicity properties of some functions involving the q-gamma and the q-polygamma functions for all real number q 〉 0. The monotonicity of these functions is used to establish sharp inequalities for the q-gamma and the q-polygamma functions and the q-Harmonic number. Our results are shown to be a generalization of results which were obtained by Selvi and Batir [23].

COMPLETELY BOUNDED COHOMOLOGY OF NON-SELFADJOINT OPERATOR ALGEBRAS

The authors prove that all n-th completely bounded cohomology groups of a nest algebra T（N） acting on a separable Hilbert space are trivial when the coefficients lie in any ultraweakly closed T（N）-bimodule containing the nest algebra. They also prove that Hcb^n（A, M） ≌ Hcb^n（A, M） for all n ≥ 1 and a CSL algebra .A with an ultraweakly closed .A-bimodul.M containing A.

An Integrating Algorithm and Theoretical Analysis for Fully Rheonomous Affine Constraints: Completely Integrable Case

This paper develops an integrating algorithm for fully rheonomous affine constraints and gives theoretical analysis of the algorithm for the completely integrable case. First, some preliminaries on the fully rheonomous affine constraints are shown. Next, an integrating algorithm that calculates independent first integrals is derived. In addition, the existence of an inverse function utilized in the algorithm is investigated. Then, an example is shown in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method. By using the proposed integrating algorithm, we can easily calculate independent first integrals for given constraints, and hence it can be utilized for various research fields.

Completely Invariant Domains of Holomorphic Self-Maps on C

Let/(z) be a holomorph.self-map on C.-G-(0) with essential singularities 0 and It is proved that f(z) has a completdy invariant domain.D.F(f),then D is doubly connected and D contains all the singularities of the inverse of f(z),moreover,if f is of the finite type, then D=F(f). This result implies that f(z) has at most one completely invariant domain in F(f).

Fixed Points Associated to Power of Normal Completely Positive Maps*

Let be a normal completely positive map with Kraus operators . An operator X is said to be a fixed point of , if . Let be the fixed points set of . In this paper, fixed points of are considered for , where means j-power of . We obtain that and for integral when A is self-adjoint and commutable. Moreover, holds under certain condition.

Experimental Study on Improvement Effects of Completely Weathered Phyllite Using Red Clay and Cement for High-Speed Railway Embankments

Completely weathered phyllite(CWP)has the characteristics of difficult compaction,low shear strength after compaction and large settlement after construction.The traditional improvement method using a single agent of red clay or cement for CWP satisfies the subgrade requirements for ordinary railway,but cannot meet the requirements of immediate strength and long-term post-construction settlement of high-speed railway at the same time.A series of experimental investigations were undertaken for the blended CWP soils,with three additives used.The first additive was red clay,the second was cement and the third was a combination of both red clay and cement at various portions.Results of consolidation test and shear strength test carried out for the treated CWP soils show that:1)The effect of cement on improving the compression modulus of CWP is much better than that of red clay;2)The settlement of an embankment of 10 m high formed by blended soil of CWP with 3%cement can be controlled within 15 mm,while the settlement will be 25.15 mm for the same embankment of blended soil of CWP with 40%red clay;3)The shear strength and ultimate bearing capacity of CWP improved by red clay are much better than those of 5%cement;4)The ultimate bearing capacity of CWP improved by 40%red clay is 3.42 times of that by 3%cement and 2.95 times by 5%cement.Furthermore,the bearing capacity of CWP when improved by red clay can meet railway subgrade requirements immediately after compaction,while cement improved CWP needs a curing time of 1 day or longer.This is an impediment to rapid construction process.The improvement mechanism of red clay is mainly filling effect and grading improvement effect,while the improvement mechanism of cement is mainly hardening reaction,which produces high strength material to cement.It is found that 40%red clay and 3%cement treated CWP,which is considered to be optimum,can meet the subgrade requirements of both immediate bearing capacity and long-term post-construction settlement for the high-speed railway.

Regenerative medicine strategies for chronic complete spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury is a condition in which the parenchyma of the spinal cord is damaged by trauma or various diseases.While rapid progress has been made in regenerative medicine for spinal cord injury that was previously untreatable,most research in this field has focused on the early phase of incomplete injury.However,the majority of patients have chronic severe injuries;therefore,treatments for these situations are of fundamental importance.The reason why the treatment of complete spinal cord injury has not been studied is that,unlike in the early stage of incomplete spinal cord injury,there are various inhibitors of neural regeneration.Thus,we assumed that it is difficult to address all conditions with a single treatment in chronic complete spinal cord injury and that a combination of several treatments is essential to target severe pathologies.First,we established a combination therapy of cell transplantation and drug-releasing scaffolds,which contributes to functional recovery after chronic complete transection spinal cord injury,but we found that functional recovery was limited and still needs further investigation.Here,for the further development of the treatment of chronic complete spinal cord injury,we review the necessary approaches to the different pathologies based on our findings and the many studies that have been accumulated to date and discuss,with reference to the literature,which combination of treatments is most effective in achieving functional recovery.

Globals of Completely Regular Monoids

An element of a semigroup S is called irreducible if it cannot be expressedas a product of two elements in S both distinct from itself. In this paper we showthat the class C of all completely regular monoids with irreducible identity elementssatises the strong isomorphism property and so it is globally determined.

SUPPORT SIZES OF COMPLETELY DECOMPOSABLE TS(v,4)

In this article the spectrum of support sizes of a completely decomposable TS(v,4) for any positive integer v ≡1,3 (mod 6) is determined.

Ultimate Strength of Completely Overlapped Joint for Fixed Offshore Wind Turbine Jacket Substructures

This paper presents an innovative eccentric jacket substructure for offshore wind turbines to better withstand intense environmental forces and to replace conventional X-braced jackets in seismically active areas. The proposed eccentric jacket comprises of completely overlapped joint at every joint connection. The joint consists of a chord and two braces in a single plane. The two braces are fully overlapped with a short segment of the diagonal brace welded directly onto the chord. The characteristic feature of this joint configuration is that the short segment member can be designed to absorb and dissipate energy under cyclic load excitation. The experimental and numerical study revealed that the completely overlapped joint performed better in terms of strength resistance, stiffness, ductility, and energy absorption capacity than the conventional gap joints commonly found in typical X-braced jacket framings. The eccentric jacket could also be designed to becoming less stiff, with an inelastic yielding and local buckling of short segment member, so as to better resist the cyclic load generated from intense environmental forces and earthquake. From the design economics, the eccentric jacket provided a more straightforward fabrication with reduced number of welded joints and shorter thicker wall cans than the conventional X-braced jacket. It can therefore be concluded based on the results presented in the study that by designing the short segment member in accordance with strength and ductility requirement,the eccentric jacket substructure supporting the wind turbine could be made to remain stable under gravity loads and to sustain a significantly large amount of motion in the event of rare and intense earthquake or environmental forces, without collapsing.