Compacted loess is widely used as fills of road embankments in loess regions of northern China.Generally, densely-compacted loess can satisfy the requirements of embankment strength and postconstruction deformation. H...Compacted loess is widely used as fills of road embankments in loess regions of northern China.Generally, densely-compacted loess can satisfy the requirements of embankment strength and postconstruction deformation. However, uneven subsidence, pavement cracks and other related damages can affect the integrity of loess subgrade after several years of operation,and even cause some hazards, especially in North China, where the strong freeze-thaw erosion occurs. In this study, cyclic freeze-thaw tests for both densely and loosely compacted loess samples were performed to determine the variation in engineering properties such as volume, void ratio, collapsible settlement,microstructure, and the related mechanisms were addressed. The experimental results showed that an obvious water migration and redistribution occurred within the samples during freeze-thaw cycles. Ice lenses and fissures could be identified in the upper frozen layers of the samples. After freeze-thaw cycles,the dry densities of the upper layers of samples changed significantly due to strong freeze-thaw erosion. The dry densities decreased for the dense sample and increased for the loose sample. It can be found that dense samples become loose, while loose samples became dense with the increasing number of freeze-thaw cycles. Their related void ratios changed reversely. Both void ratios tended to fall into a certain range, which verified the concept of a residual void ratio proposed by Viklander. The loosening process of densely compacted samples involves the formation of large pores, volume increase and density reduction as well as the related changes in mechanical properties because freeze-thaw cycles may be important contribution to problems of loess road embankments.Adverse effects of freeze-thaw cycles, therefore,should be taken into account in selecting loess parameters for the stability evaluation of road embankment in seasonally frozen ground regions.展开更多
Via the valuable opportunity of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) 135-m filling in June 2003, the Yangtze discharge and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) entering the estuary during the period from 15 May to 15 Ju...Via the valuable opportunity of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) 135-m filling in June 2003, the Yangtze discharge and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) entering the estuary during the period from 15 May to 15 July 2003 were analyzed to examine the instant effects of the filling on them. The Yangtze discharge and SSC entering the estuary in the periods before, during and after the filling clearly indicated three phases: 1) the pre-storage phase characterized by natural conditions, in which the SSC increased with increasing water discharge; 2) the storage phase, during which the SSC decreased dramatically with decreasing water discharge; and 3) the post-storage phase, during which both the SSC and water discharge remained at relatively low levels first until the end of June, then the SSC increased gradually with increasing water discharge. It seems that the times for the instant effects of the decreasing discharge downstream from the upper Yangtze on the Yangtze discharge and SSC entering the estuary due to the TGR 135-m filling to take place were about 5 d and 1 d respectively, while both were about 18 d for those of the increasing discharge. This probably reflects the buffering and resultantly hysteresis of the 1800-km stretch from the upper Yangtze to the estuary. The results are helpful for scientific and hydrological investigation of the Yangtze mainstream downstream from the TGR Dam and of the estuarine and adjacent coastal waters.展开更多
Stillwater Mining Company is the only U.S. producer of platinum group metals (PGMs) and the largest producer outside of South Afiica and Russia. The company controls a considerable portion of the J-M reef and is cur...Stillwater Mining Company is the only U.S. producer of platinum group metals (PGMs) and the largest producer outside of South Afiica and Russia. The company controls a considerable portion of the J-M reef and is currently developing the "Blitz Project," which will provide a main haulage level, ore pass systems, backfill plants, and fiow-through ventilation to increase production and ensure sustainable extraction of this critical strategic mineral. While driving two sub-parallel footwall laterals 8125 m in length, one of the development drifts experienced a massive fall in a geologically disturbed area created by a mafic dike intrusion. Combinations of a void fill material (Tekseal), polyurethane injection, fore poling coupled with steel arches, and supplemental bolting allow safe and efficient advance through this geologically dis- turbed zone. This paper presents the details of this project.展开更多
It has been proven that longwall faces can be moved safely and efficiently. However,abutment pressures and poor ground control conditions can halt operations and be hazardous to coal miners. Recently at a mine in Sout...It has been proven that longwall faces can be moved safely and efficiently. However,abutment pressures and poor ground control conditions can halt operations and be hazardous to coal miners. Recently at a mine in Southwestern Pennsylvania,roof material collapsed above shields that created two large voids and caused major challenges for shield recovery. A unique,engineering solution was developed that utilized a modified concrete material to fill the voids,creating stability in the affected area. The many phases of this project included the construction phase,void pumping,cutting out,and bolting of the concrete material. This project eliminated the hazards associated with bolting the recovery face and removing shields in adverse conditions,making it possible for the mine operator to safely complete the longwall move.展开更多
Objective To explore the therapeutic effect and mechanism of Bushen Tiansui Decoction(补肾填髓方,BSTSD)and its active component icariin on Alzheimer’s disease(AD).Methods(i)Animal experiments.This study conducted exp...Objective To explore the therapeutic effect and mechanism of Bushen Tiansui Decoction(补肾填髓方,BSTSD)and its active component icariin on Alzheimer’s disease(AD).Methods(i)Animal experiments.This study conducted experiments using specific pathogen-free(SPF)grade male C57BL/6J wild-type(WT)mice and APP/PS1 double transgenic mice.The animals were divided into three groups:WT group(WT mice,n=5,receiving distilled wa-ter daily),APP/PS1 group(APP/PS1 double transgenic mice,n=5,receiving distilled water daily),and BSTSD group[APP/PS1 double transgenic mice,n=5,treated with BSTSD suspen-sion at a dosage of 27 g/(kg·d)for 90 d].Cognitive function was assessed using the Morris wa-ter maze(MWM).Post-experiment,hippocampal tissues were collected for analysis of pyra-midal cell and synaptic morphology through hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining and transmis-sion electron microscopy(TEM).(ii)Cell experiments.The HT-22 cells were divided into con-trol group(untreated),Aβ_(25-35) group(treated with 20μmol/L Aβ_(25-35) for 24 h),icariin group(pre-treated with 20μmol/L icariin for 60 min,followed by 20μmol/L Aβ_(25-35) for an additional 24 h),and icariin+LY294002 group[treated with 20μmol/L icariin and 20μmol/L LY294002(an inhibitor of the phosphoinostitide 3-kinases(PI3K)signaling pathway)for 60 min,then exposed to 20μmol/L Aβ_(25-35) for 24 h],and cell viability was measured.Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of synapse-associated proteins[synaptophysin(SYP)and post-synaptic density-95(PSD-95)]and PI3K signaling pathway associated proteins[phosphorylat-ed(p)-PI3K/PI3K,p-protein kinase B(Akt)/Akt,and p-mechanistic target of rapamycin(mTOR)/mTOR].Results(i)Animal experiments.Compared with APP/PS1 group,BSTSD group showed that escape latency was significantly shortened(P<0.01)and the frequency of crossing the origi-nal platform was significantly increased(P<0.01).Morphological observation showed that pyramidal cells in the hippocampal CA1 region were arranged more regularly,nuclear stain-ing was uniform,and vacuole-like changes were reduced after BSTSD treatment.TEM showed that the length of synaptic active zone in BSTSD treatment group was increased com-pared with APP/PS1 group(P<0.01),and the width of synaptic gap was decreased(P<0.01).(ii)Cell experiments.Icariin had no obvious toxicity to HT-22 cells when the concentration was not more than 20μmol/L(P>0.05),and alleviated the cell viability decline induced by Aβ_(25-35)(P<0.01).Western blot results showed that compared with Aβ_(25-35) group,the ratios of p-PI3K/PI3K,p-Akt/Akt and p-mTOR/mTOR in icariin group were significantly increased(P<0.01),while the protein expression levels of SYP and PSD-95 were increased(P<0.01).These effects were blocked by LY294002(P<0.01).Conclusion BSTSD and icariin enhance cognitive function and synaptic integrity in AD mod-els and provide potential therapeutic strategies through activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway.展开更多
Cryptography is an important tool in the design and implementation of e-voting schemes since it can provide verifiability, which is not provided in the traditional voting. But in the real life, most voters can neither...Cryptography is an important tool in the design and implementation of e-voting schemes since it can provide verifiability, which is not provided in the traditional voting. But in the real life, most voters can neither understand the profound theory of cryptography nor perform the complicated cryptographic computation. An e-voting system is presented in this paper to leverage the use of cryptography. It combines the advantages of voting scheme of Moran-Naor and voting scheme based on homomorphic encryption. It makes use of the cryptographic technique, but it hides the details of cryptographic computation from voters. Compared with voting scheme of Moran-Naor, the new system has three advantages: the ballots can be recovered when the voting machine breaks down, the costly cut-and-choose zero-knowledge proofs for shuffling votes made by the voting machine are avoided and the partial tally result in each voting machine can be kept secret.展开更多
基金supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China(973 Program)(Grant No.2012CB026106)National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.41672310)+3 种基金the Science and Technology Major Project of Gansu Province(Grant No.143GKDA007)National key research and development program(2016YFC0802103)the West Light Foundation of CAS for Dr.G.Y.Li,Project of the State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soils Engineering of CAS(Grant No.SKLFSE-ZY-16)the STS research project of the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute(HHS-TSS-STS-1502)
文摘Compacted loess is widely used as fills of road embankments in loess regions of northern China.Generally, densely-compacted loess can satisfy the requirements of embankment strength and postconstruction deformation. However, uneven subsidence, pavement cracks and other related damages can affect the integrity of loess subgrade after several years of operation,and even cause some hazards, especially in North China, where the strong freeze-thaw erosion occurs. In this study, cyclic freeze-thaw tests for both densely and loosely compacted loess samples were performed to determine the variation in engineering properties such as volume, void ratio, collapsible settlement,microstructure, and the related mechanisms were addressed. The experimental results showed that an obvious water migration and redistribution occurred within the samples during freeze-thaw cycles. Ice lenses and fissures could be identified in the upper frozen layers of the samples. After freeze-thaw cycles,the dry densities of the upper layers of samples changed significantly due to strong freeze-thaw erosion. The dry densities decreased for the dense sample and increased for the loose sample. It can be found that dense samples become loose, while loose samples became dense with the increasing number of freeze-thaw cycles. Their related void ratios changed reversely. Both void ratios tended to fall into a certain range, which verified the concept of a residual void ratio proposed by Viklander. The loosening process of densely compacted samples involves the formation of large pores, volume increase and density reduction as well as the related changes in mechanical properties because freeze-thaw cycles may be important contribution to problems of loess road embankments.Adverse effects of freeze-thaw cycles, therefore,should be taken into account in selecting loess parameters for the stability evaluation of road embankment in seasonally frozen ground regions.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2002CB412400)the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Y2007E14)+1 种基金the Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education of China (200804231011)the Key Lab of Submarine Geosciences and Prospecting Techniques of the Ministry of Education
文摘Via the valuable opportunity of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) 135-m filling in June 2003, the Yangtze discharge and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) entering the estuary during the period from 15 May to 15 July 2003 were analyzed to examine the instant effects of the filling on them. The Yangtze discharge and SSC entering the estuary in the periods before, during and after the filling clearly indicated three phases: 1) the pre-storage phase characterized by natural conditions, in which the SSC increased with increasing water discharge; 2) the storage phase, during which the SSC decreased dramatically with decreasing water discharge; and 3) the post-storage phase, during which both the SSC and water discharge remained at relatively low levels first until the end of June, then the SSC increased gradually with increasing water discharge. It seems that the times for the instant effects of the decreasing discharge downstream from the upper Yangtze on the Yangtze discharge and SSC entering the estuary due to the TGR 135-m filling to take place were about 5 d and 1 d respectively, while both were about 18 d for those of the increasing discharge. This probably reflects the buffering and resultantly hysteresis of the 1800-km stretch from the upper Yangtze to the estuary. The results are helpful for scientific and hydrological investigation of the Yangtze mainstream downstream from the TGR Dam and of the estuarine and adjacent coastal waters.
文摘Stillwater Mining Company is the only U.S. producer of platinum group metals (PGMs) and the largest producer outside of South Afiica and Russia. The company controls a considerable portion of the J-M reef and is currently developing the "Blitz Project," which will provide a main haulage level, ore pass systems, backfill plants, and fiow-through ventilation to increase production and ensure sustainable extraction of this critical strategic mineral. While driving two sub-parallel footwall laterals 8125 m in length, one of the development drifts experienced a massive fall in a geologically disturbed area created by a mafic dike intrusion. Combinations of a void fill material (Tekseal), polyurethane injection, fore poling coupled with steel arches, and supplemental bolting allow safe and efficient advance through this geologically dis- turbed zone. This paper presents the details of this project.
文摘It has been proven that longwall faces can be moved safely and efficiently. However,abutment pressures and poor ground control conditions can halt operations and be hazardous to coal miners. Recently at a mine in Southwestern Pennsylvania,roof material collapsed above shields that created two large voids and caused major challenges for shield recovery. A unique,engineering solution was developed that utilized a modified concrete material to fill the voids,creating stability in the affected area. The many phases of this project included the construction phase,void pumping,cutting out,and bolting of the concrete material. This project eliminated the hazards associated with bolting the recovery face and removing shields in adverse conditions,making it possible for the mine operator to safely complete the longwall move.
基金Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China(2022JJ40220)Health Commission of Hunan Province(B202303106781)Hunan Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine(2021192).
文摘Objective To explore the therapeutic effect and mechanism of Bushen Tiansui Decoction(补肾填髓方,BSTSD)and its active component icariin on Alzheimer’s disease(AD).Methods(i)Animal experiments.This study conducted experiments using specific pathogen-free(SPF)grade male C57BL/6J wild-type(WT)mice and APP/PS1 double transgenic mice.The animals were divided into three groups:WT group(WT mice,n=5,receiving distilled wa-ter daily),APP/PS1 group(APP/PS1 double transgenic mice,n=5,receiving distilled water daily),and BSTSD group[APP/PS1 double transgenic mice,n=5,treated with BSTSD suspen-sion at a dosage of 27 g/(kg·d)for 90 d].Cognitive function was assessed using the Morris wa-ter maze(MWM).Post-experiment,hippocampal tissues were collected for analysis of pyra-midal cell and synaptic morphology through hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining and transmis-sion electron microscopy(TEM).(ii)Cell experiments.The HT-22 cells were divided into con-trol group(untreated),Aβ_(25-35) group(treated with 20μmol/L Aβ_(25-35) for 24 h),icariin group(pre-treated with 20μmol/L icariin for 60 min,followed by 20μmol/L Aβ_(25-35) for an additional 24 h),and icariin+LY294002 group[treated with 20μmol/L icariin and 20μmol/L LY294002(an inhibitor of the phosphoinostitide 3-kinases(PI3K)signaling pathway)for 60 min,then exposed to 20μmol/L Aβ_(25-35) for 24 h],and cell viability was measured.Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of synapse-associated proteins[synaptophysin(SYP)and post-synaptic density-95(PSD-95)]and PI3K signaling pathway associated proteins[phosphorylat-ed(p)-PI3K/PI3K,p-protein kinase B(Akt)/Akt,and p-mechanistic target of rapamycin(mTOR)/mTOR].Results(i)Animal experiments.Compared with APP/PS1 group,BSTSD group showed that escape latency was significantly shortened(P<0.01)and the frequency of crossing the origi-nal platform was significantly increased(P<0.01).Morphological observation showed that pyramidal cells in the hippocampal CA1 region were arranged more regularly,nuclear stain-ing was uniform,and vacuole-like changes were reduced after BSTSD treatment.TEM showed that the length of synaptic active zone in BSTSD treatment group was increased com-pared with APP/PS1 group(P<0.01),and the width of synaptic gap was decreased(P<0.01).(ii)Cell experiments.Icariin had no obvious toxicity to HT-22 cells when the concentration was not more than 20μmol/L(P>0.05),and alleviated the cell viability decline induced by Aβ_(25-35)(P<0.01).Western blot results showed that compared with Aβ_(25-35) group,the ratios of p-PI3K/PI3K,p-Akt/Akt and p-mTOR/mTOR in icariin group were significantly increased(P<0.01),while the protein expression levels of SYP and PSD-95 were increased(P<0.01).These effects were blocked by LY294002(P<0.01).Conclusion BSTSD and icariin enhance cognitive function and synaptic integrity in AD mod-els and provide potential therapeutic strategies through activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 60673076)the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863)of China (No. 2008AA01Z403)
文摘Cryptography is an important tool in the design and implementation of e-voting schemes since it can provide verifiability, which is not provided in the traditional voting. But in the real life, most voters can neither understand the profound theory of cryptography nor perform the complicated cryptographic computation. An e-voting system is presented in this paper to leverage the use of cryptography. It combines the advantages of voting scheme of Moran-Naor and voting scheme based on homomorphic encryption. It makes use of the cryptographic technique, but it hides the details of cryptographic computation from voters. Compared with voting scheme of Moran-Naor, the new system has three advantages: the ballots can be recovered when the voting machine breaks down, the costly cut-and-choose zero-knowledge proofs for shuffling votes made by the voting machine are avoided and the partial tally result in each voting machine can be kept secret.