Effect of eccentric and inclined loading on the bearing capacity of strip footing placed on rock mass

This paper deals with the bearing capacity determination of strip footing on a rock mass in hilly area by considering the influence of inclined and eccentric loading. Applying the generalized HoekBrown failure criterion, the failure behavior of the rock mass is modeled with the help of the power cone programming in the lower bound finite element limit analysis framework. Using bearing capacity factor(Ns), the change in bearing capacity of the strip footing due to the occurrence of eccentrically inclined loading is presented. The variations of the magnitude of Ns are obtained by examining the effects of the Hoek-Brown rock mass strength parameters(uniaxial compressive strength(sci), disturbance factor(D), rock parameter(mi), and Geological Strength Index(GSI)) in the presence of different magnitudes of eccentricity(e) and inclination angle(λ) with respect to the vertical plane, and presented as design charts. Both the inclined loading modes, i.e., inclination towards the center of strip footing(+λ) and inclination away from the center of strip footing(-λ), are adopted to perform the investigation. In addition, the correlation between the input parameters and the corresponding output is developed by utilizing the artificial neural network(ANN). Additionally, from sensitivity analysis, it is observed that inclination angle(λ) is the most sensitive parameter. For practicing engineers, the obtained design equation and design charts can be beneficial to understand the bearing capacity variation in the existence of eccentrically inclined loading in mountain areas.

A novel multi-channel porous structure facilitating mass transport towards highly efficient alkaline water electrolysis

An advantageous porous architecture of electrodes is pivotal in significantly enhancing alkaline water electrolysis(AWE)efficiency by optimizing the mass transport mechanisms.This effect becomes even more pronounced when aiming to achieve elevated current densities.Herein,we employed a rapid and scalable laser texturing process to craft novel multi-channel porous electrodes.Particularly,the obtained electrodes exhibit the lowest Tafel slope of 79 mV dec^(-1)(HER)and 49 mV dec^(-1)(OER).As anticipated,the alkaline electrolyzer(AEL)cell incorporating multi-channel porous electrodes(NP-LT30)exhibited a remarkable improvement in cell efficiency,with voltage drops(from 2.28 to 1.97 V)exceeding 300 mV under 1 A cm^(-1),compared to conventional perforated Ni plate electrodes.This enhancement mainly stemmed from the employed multi-channel porous structure,facilitating mass transport and bubble dynamics through an innovative convection mode,surpassing the traditional convection mode.Furthermore,the NP-LT30-based AEL cell demonstrated exceptional durability for 300 h under 1.0 A cm^(-2).This study underscores the capability of the novel multi-channel porous electrodes to expedite mass transport in practical AWE applications.

Anterior mediastinal masses and thymic cysts

Cystic lesions of the anterior mediastinum in children suggest a well-known group of benign lesions that are comparatively frequent.Thymic cysts(TCs)are mostly positioned in the anterior mediastinum and some patients in the neck.Benign TCs classified as congenital intra-thoracic mesothelial cysts are commonly asymptomatic and have slight clinical significance.Multilocular TC,which can mimic another anterior mediastinal cystic tumor and is seen in adults,is more clinically important.It is a sporadic mediastinal lesion thought to arise in the course of acquired inflammation.Congenital mediastinal cysts represent 3%-6%of all mediastinal tumors and 10%-18%of radiologically reported mediastinal masses.Mediastinal TCs are uncommon and it is hard to know their true incidence.About 60%of cases with mediastinal TCs are asymptomatic,and the remainder of patients complains of nonspecific symptoms(e.g.,chest pain,dyspnea,or cough).The literature suggests that most cysts are benign,but an indefinite percentage may have a neoplastic process and result in significant compressive symptoms over time.Clinical symptoms of TCs vary depending on the location.In addition,frequent symptoms at the appearance of enlarged benign thymic and mediastinal cysts generally contain compressive symptoms(e.g.,respiratory distress,thymic pain,and symptoms related to Horner syndrome,hoarseness,dysphonia,dyspnea,orthopnea,wheezing,and fever).Many TCs have cystic density and a neat border and are simple to diagnose with radiological imaging.However,some TCs are hard to identify before surgery and may be misidentified as thymomas depending on their site and computed tomography results.Excision by thoracotomy,median sternotomy,or video-assisted techniques is essential for conclusive diagnosis,management,and abolition of relapse of anterior mediastinal masses and TCs.Histopathologic examination may be required after surgery.Considering the extent of the mass and the preliminary inability to make a definitive diagnosis,en bloc excision of the cyst was thought to be preferred to circumvent likely complications(e.g.,perforation,spillage of the contents,or incomplete excision).

Determination of Ten Kinds of Alpha-2 Agonists Residues in Animal Derived Food by UHPLC-Triple Quadrupole/Composite Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry

[Objectives]The paper was to establish an ultra high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/linear ion trap complex mass spectrometry for the determination of 10 kinds ofα2-receptor agonists in animal derived food.[Methods]The samples were extracted with sodium carbonate buffer solution and ethyl acetate,and analyzed by mass spectrometry after solid phase extraction and high performance liquid chromatography separation.[Results]Ten kinds ofα2-receptor agonists showed a good linear relationship in the range of 1-100μg/mL,with the average recovery of over 69%and the relative standard deviation less than 8.32%.The detection limit of 10 kinds of α_(2)-receptor agonists was up to 1μg/kg.[Conclusions]The method has good selectivity and strong anti-interference ability,and can meet the requirements of 10 kinds ofα2-receptor agonists residues in animal derived food.

Database-oriented storage based on LMDB and linear octree for massive block model

Data organization requires high efficiency for large amount of data applied in the digital mine system. A new method of storing massive data of block model is proposed to meet the characteristics of the database, including ACID-compliant, concurrency support, data sharing, and efficient access. Each block model is organized by linear octree, stored in LMDB（lightning memory-mapped database）. Geological attribute can be queried at any point of 3D space by comparison algorithm of location code and conversion algorithm from address code of geometry space to location code of storage. The performance and robustness of querying geological attribute at 3D spatial region are enhanced greatly by the transformation from 3D to 2D and the method of 2D grid scanning to screen the inner and outer points. Experimental results showed that this method can access the massive data of block model, meeting the database characteristics. The method with LMDB is at least 3 times faster than that with etree, especially when it is used to read. In addition, the larger the amount of data is processed, the more efficient the method would be.

Genetic Variation Assessed with Microsatellites in Mass Selection Lines of the Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) in China

Abstract Four successive mass selection lines of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, selected for faster growth in breeding pro- grams in China were examined at ten polymorphic microsatellite loci to assess the level of allelic diversity and estimate the effective population size. These data were compared with those of their base population. The results showed that the genetic variation of the four generations were maintained at high levels with an average allelic richness of 18.8-20.6, and a mean expected heterozygosity of 0.902-0.921. They were not reduced compared with those of their base population. Estimated effective population sizes based on temporal variances in microsatellite frequencies were smaller to that of sex ratio-corrected broodstock count estimates. Using a rela- tively large number ofbroodstock and keeping an equal sex ratio in the broodstock each generation may have contributed to retaining the original genetic diversity and maintaining relatively large effective population size. The results obtained in this study showed that the genetic variation was not affected greatly by mass selection progress and high genetic variation still existed in the mass selection lines, suggesting that there is still potential for increasing the gains in future generations of C. gigas. The present study provided im- portant information for future genetic improvement by selective breeding, and for the design of suitable management guidelines for genetic breeding of C. gigas.

Mass Selection for Growth Improvement in Black Shell Line of Pacific Oyster Crassostrea gigas

The Pacific oyster,Crassostrea gigas,naturally distributing along the coast of northwest Pacific,is one of the most important bivalve species due to its high economic value and fecundity.In China,we have initiated a selective breeding program on both shell color and growth rate of C.gigas since 2010.A black shell line was obtained through four-generation family selection.In this study,mass selection for growth improvement was conducted in the sixth generation and seventh generation of black shell lines.To assess the progress of potential genetic improvement,the progeny of two generations of black shell lines were selected to evaluate their shell heights via a 450-day farming experiment.As the results,after growing for 450 days,the sixth generation and seventh generation of selected lines were 9.03% and 11.42% larger than the control lines,respectively.During the grow-out stage,the genetic gain of two generations was 8.82%±0.18% and 11.54%±0.43%,respectively;and the corresponding realized heritability was 0.45±0.04 and 0.41±0.04,respectively.These results indicated that the mass selection for shell height achieved steady progress in the two generations of C.gigas.

Research on unloading nonlinear mechanical characteristics of jointed rock masses

Geological environments of rock mass projects are always very complicated, and further investigations on rock mechanical characteristics are needed. There are considerable distinctions in rock mechanical characteristics under unloading and loading conditions. A series of tests are conducted to study the stress-strain relationship of rock masses under loading and unloading conditions. Also, the anisotropy, the size effect, and the rheological property of unloading rock mass are investigated. The tests presented in the paper include model test and granite rheological test, which are conducted considering geological condition, rock mass structure, in-situ stress field of the permanent shiplock of the Three Gorges Project. The main differences between loading and unloading rock masses are stress paths, yield criteria, deformation and strength parameters, etc.. Different structural plane directions affect unloading rock mass evidently. With increasing size, the tensile strength, the compressive strength, the deformation modulus, the Poisson’s ratio and the anisotropy of rock mass all decrease. For sandstone samples with parallel bedding planes, the cohesion c increases but the internal friction angle ? decreases under unloading condition when compared with the values under loading condition. While for samples with vertical bedding planes, the trend is adverse. The rheological property of rocks has close relationship with the tensile stresses of rock masses. When the sandstone samples are tested under high stress condition, their rheological properties are very obvious with the unloading of confining pressure, and three typical rheological stages are shown. Rheological rate changes with the variations in axial stress and confining pressure.

Rock mass response for lined rock caverns subjected to high internal gas pressure

The storage of hydrogen gas in underground lined rock caverns(LRCs)enables the implementation of the first fossil-free steelmaking process to meet the large demand for crude steel.Predicting the response of rock mass is important to ensure that gas leakage due to rupture of the steel lining does not occur.Analytical and numerical models can be used to estimate the rock mass response to high internal pressure;however,the fitness of these models under different in situ stress conditions and cavern shapes has not been studied.In this paper,the suitability of analytical and numerical models to estimate the maximum cavern wall tangential strain under high internal pressure is studied.The analytical model is derived in detail and finite element(FE)models considering both two-dimensional(2D)and three-dimensional(3D)geometries are presented.These models are verified with field measurements from the LRC in Skallen,southwestern Sweden.The analytical model is inexpensive to implement and gives good results for isotropic in situ stress conditions and large cavern heights.For the case of anisotropic horizontal in situ stresses,as the conditions in Skallen,the 3D FE model is the best approach.

A lumped mass nonconforming finite element method for nonlinear parabolic integro-differential equations on anisotropic meshes

A lumped mass approximation scheme of a low order Crouzeix-Raviart type noncon- forming triangular finite element is proposed to a kind of nonlinear parabolic integro-differential equations. The L2 error estimate is derived on anisotropic meshes without referring to the traditional nonclassical elliptic projection.

Optimal design theories of tuned mass dampers with nonlinear viscous damping

Optimal design theory for linear tuned mass dampers （TMD） has been thoroughly investigated, but is still under development for nonlinear TMDs. In this paper, optimization procedures in the time domain are proposed for design of a TMD with nonlinear viscous damping. A dynamic analysis of a structure implemented with a nonlinear TMD is conducted first. Optimum design parameters for the nonlinear TMD are searched using an optimization method to minimize the performance index. The feasibility of the proposed optimization method is illustrated numerically by using the Taipei 101 structure implemented with TMD. The sensitivity analysis shows that the performance index is less sensitive to the damping coefficient than to the frequency ratio. Time history analysis is conducted using the Taipei 101 structure implemented with different TMDs under wind excitation. For both linear and nonlinear TMDs, the comfort requirements for building occupants are satisfied as long as the TMD is properly designed. It was found that as the damping exponent increases, the relative displacement of the TMD decreases but the damping force increases.

Quantification and pharmacokinetic study of tumor-targeting agent MHI148-clorgyline amide in mouse plasma using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

A high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric （HPLC- ESI-MS/MS） method was developed for the quantification of MHl148-clorgyline amide （NMl-amide）, a novel tumor-targeting monoamine oxidase A inhibitor, in mouse plasma. The method was validated in terms of sensitivity, precision, accuracy, recovery and stability and then applied to a pharmacokinetic study of NMl-amide in mice following intravenous administration. NMl-amide together with the internal standard （IS）, MHI-148, was extracted by protein precipitation using acetonitrile. Multiple reaction monitoring was used for quantification of NMl-amide by detecting m/z transition of 491.2-361.9, and 685.3-258.2 for NMl-amide and the IS, respectively. The lower limit of quantification （LLOQ） of the HPLC- MS/MS method for NMl-amide was 0.005 μg/mL and the linear calibration curve was acquired with R2〉 0.99 in the concentration range of 0.005-2μg/mL. The intra- and inter-day precisions of the assay were assessed by percentage of the coefficient of variations, which was within 9.8% at LLOQ and 14.0% for other quality control samples, whereas the mean accuracy ranged from 86.8% to 113.2%. The samples were stable under storage and experimental conditions. This method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study in mice following intravenous administration of 5 mg/kg NMl-amide.

Identification of proteins of human colorectal carcinoma cell line SW480 by two-dimensional electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

AIM： To conduct bhe proteomic analysis of human colorectal carcinoma cell line, SW480 by using two-dimensional electrophoresis （2-DE） and matrix-assisted laser desorption /ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry （MALDITOFMS）. METHODS： The total proteins of human colorectal carcinoma cell line, SW480 were separated with 2-DE by using immobilized pH gradient strips and visualized by staining with silver nitrate. The gel images were acquired by scanner and 2-DE analysis software, Image Master 2D Elite. Nineteen distinct protein spots were excised from gel randomly and digested in gel by TPCK-trypsin. Mass analysis of the byptic digest peptides mixture was performed by using MALDI-TOF MS. Peptide mass fingerprints （PMFs） obtained by the MALDI-TOF analysis were used to search NCBI, SWISS-PROT and MSDB databases by using Mascot software. RESULTS： PMF maps of all spots were obtained by MALDI-TOF MS and thirteen proteins were preliminarily identified. CONCLUSION： The methods of analysis and identification of protein spots of tumor cells in 2-DE gel with silver staining by MALDI-TOF MS derived PMF have been established. Protein expression profile of SW480 has been obtained. It is demonstrated that a combination of proteomics and cell culture is a useful approach to comprehend the process of colon carcinogenesis.

Influences of strain softening and seepage on elastic and plastic solutions of circular openings in nonlinear rock masses

Considering the influence of strain softening, the solutions of stress, displacement, plastic softening region radius and plastic residual region radius were derived for circular openings in nonlinear rock masses subjected to seepage. The radial stress distribution curve, ground reaction curve, and relation curve between plastic softening region radius and supporting force in three different conditions were drawn respectively. From the comparisons among these results for different conditions, it is found that when the supporting force is the same, the displacement of tunnel wall considering both seepage and strain softening is 85.71% greater than that only considering seepage. The increase values of radial displacement at 0.95 m and plastic softening region radius at 6.6 m show that the seepage and strain softening have the most unfavorable effects on circular opening stability in strain softening rock masses.

Bio-analytical method development and validation of Rasagiline by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry detection and its application to pharmacokinetic study

The most suitable bio-analytical method based on liquid liquid extraction has been developed and validated for quantification of Rasagiline in human plasma. Rasagiline-13C3 mesylate was used as an internal standard for Rasagiline. Zorbax Eclipse Plus C18 （2.1 mm × 50 mm, 3.5 um） column provided chromatographic separation of analyte followed by detection with mass spectrometry. The method involved simple isocratic chromatographic condition and mass spectrometric detection in the positive ionization mode using an API-4000 system. The lotal run time was 3.0 min. The proposed method has been validated with the linear range of 5 12000 pg/mL for Rasagiline. The intra-run and inter-run precision values were within 1.3% 2.9% and 1.6% 2.2% respectively for Rasagiline. The overall recovery for Rasagiline and Rasagiline-13C3 mesylate analog was 96.9% and 96.7% respectively. This validated method was successfully applied to the bioequivalence and pharmacokinetic study of human volunteers under fasting condition.

Mass Selection for Fast Growth in the Third Generation of the Orange Line of the Manila Clam Ruditapes philippinarum

The Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum is natively distributed along the Pacific coast of Asia,where it is one of the most important bivalve species for local fisheries.This species has been intentionally introduced due to its high adaptability to various coastal environments and is currently widely cultivated in Europe and North America.We have initiated a selective breeding program to improve the growth rate of the Manila clam since 2007,and a full-sib family with orange shell color was selected.This family features high survival but slow growth.Thereafter,two generations of mass selection were conducted in this family by 10% upward selection for faster growth.In 2011,three types of lines were produced by selecting the breeder from the second-generation of selected lines.These lines are SS(subject to three generations of selection for growth in shell length),SC(selected for the second but not the third generation),and C(randomly sampled individuals from the national population).The genetic parameters of the shell length including hR^2(realized heritability),SR(selection response),and GG(genetic gain)were analyzed.Results showed that the shell length of the SS line was significantly larger than those of the SC and C lines at all developmental stages(P<0.05).For the larval stage,the values of hR^2,SR,and GG were 0.42,0.73,and 6.66,respectively.For the juvenile stage,the values of hR^2,SR,and GG were 0.40,0.69,21.76,respectively.For grow-out stage,the values of hR^2,SR,and GG were 0.48,0.83,and 18.22,respectively.The results of hR^2 indicated the good potential of the SS line in selective breeding.The level of GG improvement was encouraging and consistent with the previous expectations.No inbreeding depressions in the shell length were observed in the SS and SC lines at all sampling days.All of the results indicate that maintaining selection pressure in successive generations may be effective in the selective breeding program of this family.

Nonlinear transverse vibrations of a slightly curved beam carrying a concentrated mass

In this study, a slightly curved Euler Bernoulli beam carrying a concentrated mass was handled. The beam was resting on an elastic foundation and simply supported at both ends. Effects of the concentrated mass on nonlin- ear vibrations were investigated. Sinusoidal and parabolic type functions were used as curvature functions. Equations of motion have cubic nonlinearities because of elongations during vibrations. Damping and harmonic excitation terms were added to the equations of motion. Method of mul- tiple scales, a perturbation technique, was used for solving integro-differential equation analytically. Natural frequen- cies were calculated exactly for different mass ratios, mass locations, curvature functions, and linear elastic foundation coefficients. Amplitude-phase modulation equations were found by considering primary resonance case. Effects of nonlinear terms on natural frequencies were calculated. Frequency-amplitude and frequency-response graphs were plotted. Finally effects of concentrated mass and chosen curvature function on nonlinear vibrations were investigated.

Reconstructed annual glacier surface mass balance in theányêmaqên Mountains,Yellow River source,based on snow line altitude

Annual mass balance is an important factor that reflects glacier change and glacier meltwater resources.In this study,we analyzed the changes in glacier area,snow line altitude(SLA)and surface elevation in theányêmaqên Mountain region using multisource remote sensing data.Then,the annual mass balance of two glaciers was reconstructed by using SLA-mass-balance gradient method.The results showed that the glacier area in theányêmaqên Mountains decreased by 29.4 km2from 1985 to 2017.The average SLAs of the Halong Glacier and Yehelong Glacier were approximately 5290 m and 5188 m,respectively.The glacier mass balance for the two glaciers from 1990 to 2020 was-0.71 m w.e.a^(-1) and-0.63 m w.e.a^(-1),respectively.Our results indicate that SLA is an important indicator of glacier changes,and a long sequence of SLAs can more accurately reconstruct the glacier mass balance of the glacier.The mean annual glacial meltwater-fed streamflow is 1.45×10^(7)m^(3) and 1.12×10^(7)m^(3),respectively.Sensitivity analysis indicates that summer air temperature plays a leading role in regard to the influential climatic factors of glacial retreat in theányêmaqên Mountains.This highlights the potential of the methodology for application on reconstructing annual glacier surface mass balance at larger scales without direct measurements.

Adaptive Fixed-Time Control of Nonlinear MASs With Actuator Faults

The adaptive fixed-time consensus problem for a class of nonlinear multi-agent systems(MASs)with actuator faults is considered in this paper.To approximate the unknown nonlinear functions in MASs,radial basis function neural networks are used.In addition,the first order sliding mode differentiator is utilized to solve the“explosion of complexity”problem,and a filter error compensation method is proposed to ensure the convergence of filter error in fixed time.With the help of the Nussbaum function,the actuator failure compensation mechanism is constructed.By designing the adaptive fixed-time controller,all signals in MASs are bounded,and the consensus errors between the leader and all followers converge to a small area of origin.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed control method is verified by simulation examples.

Offline two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled with ion mobility-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry enabling fourdimensional separation and characterization of the multicomponents from white ginseng and red ginseng

Inherent complexity of plant metabolites necessitates the use of multi-dimensional information to accomplish comprehensive profiling and confirmative identification.A dimension-enhanced strategy,by offline two-dimensional liquid chromatography/ion mobility-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(2 D-LC/IM-QTOF-MS)enabling four-dimensional separations(2 D-LC,IM,and MS),is proposed.In combination with in-house database-driven automated peak annotation,this strategy was utilized to characterize ginsenosides simultaneously from white ginseng(WG)and red ginseng(RG).An offline 2 DLC system configuring an Xbridge Amide column and an HSS T3 column showed orthogonality 0.76 in the resolution of ginsenosides.Ginsenoside analysis was performed by data-independent high-definition MSE(HDMSE)in the negative ESI mode on a Vion?IMS-QTOF hybrid high-resolution mass spectrometer,which could better resolve ginsenosides than MSEand directly give the CCS information.An in-house ginsenoside database recording 504 known ginsenosides and 58 reference compounds,was established to assist the identification of ginsenosides.Streamlined workflows,by applying UNIFI?to automatedly annotate the HDMSEdata,were proposed.We could separate and characterize 323 ginsenosides(including 286 from WG and 306 from RG),and 125 thereof may have not been isolated from the Panax genus.The established 2 D-LC/IM-QTOF-HDMSEapproach could also act as a magnifier to probe differentiated components between WG and RG.Compared with conventional approaches,this dimensionenhanced strategy could better resolve coeluting herbal components and more efficiently,more reliably identify the multicomponents,which,we believe,offers more possibilities for the systematic exposure and confirmative identification of plant metabolites.