An effective stress-based DSC model for predicting hydromechanical shear behavior of unsaturated collapsible soils subjected to initial shear stress

Evaluation of hydromechanical shear behavior of unsaturated soils is still a challenging issue. The time and cost needed for conducting precise experimental investigation on shear behavior of unsaturated soils have encouraged several investigators to develop analytical, empirical, or semi-empirical models for predicting the shear behavior of unsaturated soils. However, most of the previously proposed models are for specimens subjected to the isotropic state of stress, without considering the effect of initial shear stress. In this study, a hydromechanical constitutive model is proposed for unsaturated collapsible soils during shearing, with consideration of the effect of the initial shear stress. The model implements an effective stress-based disturbed state concept (DSC) to predict the stress-strain behavior of the soil. Accordingly, material/state variables were defined for both the start of the shearing stage and the critical state of the soil. A series of laboratory tests was performed using a fully automated unsaturated triaxial device to verify the proposed model. The experimental program included 23 suction-controlled unsaturated triaxial shear tests on reconstituted specimens of Gorgan clayey loess wetted to different levels of suctions under both isotropic and anisotropic stress states. The results show excellent agreement between the prediction by the proposed model and the experimental results.

Effectiveness of very low-volume preparation for colonoscopy:A prospective, multicenter observational study

BACKGROUND The effectiveness of colonoscopy strictly depends on adequate bowel cleansing.Recently,a 1 L polyethylene glycol plus ascorbate(PEG-ASC)solution(Plenvu;Norgine,Harefield,United Kingdom)has been introduced on the evidence of three phase-3 randomized controlled trials,but it had never been tested in the real-life.AIM To assess the effectiveness and tolerability of the 1 L preparation compared to 4 L and 2 L-PEG solutions in a real-life setting.METHODS All patients undergoing a screening or diagnostic colonoscopy after a 4,2 or 1 L PEG preparation,were consecutively enrolled in 5 Italian centers from September 2018 to February 2019.The primary endpoints of the study were the assessment of bowel cleansing success and high-quality cleansing of the right colon.The secondary endpoints were the evaluation of tolerability,adherence and safety of the different bowel preparations.Bowel cleansing was assessed through the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale.Adherence was defined as consumption of at least 75%of each dose,while tolerability was evaluated through a semiquantitative scale.Safety was systematically monitored through adverse events reporting.RESULTS Overall,1289 met the inclusion criteria and were enrolled in the study.Of these,490 patients performed a 4 L-PEG preparation(Selgesse^■),566 a 2 L-PEG cleansing(Moviprep^■or Clensia^■)and 233 a 1 L-PEG preparation(Plenvu^■).Bowel cleansing by Boston Bowel Preparation Scale was 6.5±1.5 overall and 6.3±1.5,6.2±1.5,7.3±1.5(P<0.001)in the subgroups of 4 L,2 L and 1 L-PEG preparation,respectively.Cleansing success was achieved in 72.4%,74.1%and 90.1%(P<0.001),while a high-quality cleansing of the right colon in 15.9%,12.0%and 41.4%(P<0.001)for 4 L,2 L and 1 L-PEG preparation groups,respectively.The 1 L preparation was the most tolerated compared to the 2 and 4 L-PEG solutions in the absence of serious adverse events within any of the three groups.Multiple regression models confirmed 1 L PEG-ASC preparation as an independent predictor of overall cleansing success,high-quality cleansing of the right colon and of tolerability.CONCLUSION This study supports the effectiveness and tolerability of 1 L PEG-ASC,also showing it is an independent predictor of overall cleansing success,high-quality cleansing of the right colon and of tolerability.

Effective(kinetic freeze-out) temperature, transverse flow velocity, and kinetic freeze-out volume in high energy collisions

The transverse momentum spectra of different types of particles produced in central and peripheral gold–gold(Au–Au)and inelastic proton–proton(pp)collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider,as well as in central and peripheral lead-lead(Pb–Pb)and pp collisions at the Large Hadron Collider,are analyzed by the multi-component standard(Boltzmann–Gibbs,Fermi–Dirac,and Bose–Einstein)distributions.The obtained results from the standard distribution give an approximate agreement with the measured experimental data by the STAR,PHENIX,and ALICE Collaborations.The behavior of the effective(kinetic freeze-out)temperature,transverse flow velocity,and kinetic freeze-out volume for particles with different masses is obtained,which observes the early kinetic freezeout of heavier particles as compared to the lighter particles.The parameters of emissions of different particles are observed to be different,which reveals a direct signature of the mass-dependent differential kinetic freeze-out.It is also observed that the peripheral nucleus–nucleus(AA)and pp collisions at the same center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair are in good agreement in terms of the extracted parameters.

Non-Linear Effect of Volume Fraction of Inclusions on The Effective Thermal Conductivity of Composite Materials: A Modified Maxwell Model

In this paper, non-linear dependence of volume fraction of inclusions on the effective thermal conductivity of composite materials is investigated. Proposed approximation formula is based on the Maxwell’s equation, in that a non-linear term dependent on the volume fraction of the inclusions and the ratio of the thermal conductivities of the polymer continuum and inclusions is introduced in place of the volume fraction of inclusions. The modified Maxwell’s equation is used to calculate effective thermal conductivity of several composite materials and agreed well with the earlier experimental results. A comparison of the proposed relation with different models has also been made.

Impact of effective stress on permeability for carbonate fractured-vuggy rocks

To gain insight into the flow mechanisms and stress sensitivity for fractured-vuggy reservoirs,several core models with different structural characteristics were designed and fabricated to investigate the impact of effective stress on permeability for carbonate fractured-vuggy rocks(CFVR).It shows that the permeability performance curves under different pore and confining pressures(i.e.altered stress conditions)for the fractured core models and the vuggy core models have similar change patterns.The ranges of permeability variation are significantly wider at high pore pressures,indicating that permeability reduction is the most significant during the early stage of development for fractured-vuggy reservoirs.Since each obtained effective stress coefficient for permeability(ESCP)varies with the changes in confining pressure and pore pressure,the effective stresses for permeability of four representative CFVR show obvious nonlinear characteristics,and the variation ranges of ESCP are all between 0 and 1.Meanwhile,a comprehensive ESCP mathematical model considering triple media,including matrix pores,fractures,and dissolved vugs,was proposed.It is proved theoretically that the ESCP of CFVR generally varies between 0 and 1.Additionally,the regression results showed that the power model ranked highest among the four empirical models mainly applied in stress sensitivity characterization,followed by the logarithmic model,exponential model,and binomial model.The concept of“permeability decline rate”was introduced to better evaluate the stress sensitivity performance for CFVR,in which the one-fracture rock is the strongest,followed by the fracture-vug rock and two-horizontalfracture rock;the through-hole rock is the weakest.In general,this study provides a theoretical basis to guide the design of development and adjustment programs for carbonate fractured-vuggy reservoirs.

Understanding the Relationship Between Shrinking Cities and Land Prices:Spatial Pattern,Effectiveness,and Policy Implications

Urban shrinkage has emerged as a widespread phenomenon globally and has a significant impact on land,particularly in terms of land use and price.This study focuses on 2851 county-level cities in China in 2005–2018(excluding Hong Kong,Macao,Taiwan,and‘no data’areas in Qinhai-Tibet Plateau)as the fundamental units of analysis.By employing nighttime light(NTL)data to identify shrinking cities,the propensity score matching(PSM)model was used to quantitatively examine the impact of shrinking cities on land prices,and evaluate the magnitude of this influence.The findings demonstrate the following:1)there were 613 shrinking cities in China,with moderate shrinkage being the most prevalent and severe shrinkage being the least.2)Regional disparities are evident in the spatial distribution of shrinking cities,especially in areas with diverse terrain.3)The spatial pattern of land price exhibits a significant correlated to the economic and administrative levels.4)Shrinking cities significantly negatively impact on the overall land price(ATT=–0.1241,P<0.05).However,the extent of the effect varies significantly among different spatial regions.This study contributes novel insights into the investigation of land prices and shrinking cities,ultimately serving as a foundation for government efforts to promote the sustainable development of urban areas.

Prevention and Control Strategies of Nosocomial Infection and Effectiveness Evaluation in a Tertiary Teaching Hospital during the Epidemic of COVID-19

Objective: To evaluate the role of prevention and control strategies for nosocomial infection in a tertiary teaching hospital during the sudden outbreak of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: The hospital initiated an emergency plan involving multi-departmental defense and control. It adopted a series of nosocomial infection prevention and control measures, including strengthening pre-examination and triage, optimizing the consultation process, improving the hospital’s architectural composition, implementing graded risk management, enhancing personal protection, and implementing staff training and supervision. Descriptive research was used to evaluate the short-term effects of these in-hospital prevention and control strategies. The analysis compared changes in related evaluation indicators between January 24, 2020 and February 12, 2020 (Chinese Lunar New Year’s Eve 2020 to lunar January 19) and the corresponding lunar period of the previous year. Results: Compared to the same period last year, the outpatient fever rate increased by 1.85-fold (P P Conclusion: The nosocomial infection prevention and control strategies implemented during this specific period improved the detection and control abilities for the COVID-19 source of infection and enhanced the compliance with measures. This likely contributed significantly to avoiding the occurrence of nosocomial infection.

Thermal conductivity of hydrate and effective thermal conductivity of hydrate-bearing sediment

The research on the thermal property of the hydrate has recently made great progress,including the understanding of hydrate thermal conductivity and effective thermal conductivity(ETC)of hydratebearing sediment.The thermal conductivity of hydrate is of great significance for the hydrate-related field,such as the natural gas hydrate exploitation and prevention of the hydrate plugging in oil or gas pipelines.In order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the research progress of the hydrate thermal conductivity and the ETC of hydrate-bearing sediment,the literature on the studies of the thermal conductivity of hydrate and the ETC of hydrate-bearing sediment were summarized and reviewed in this study.Firstly,experimental studies of the reported measured values and the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity of hydrate were discussed and reviewed.Secondly,the studies of the experimental measurements of the ETC of hydrate-bearing sediment and the effects of temperature,porosity,hydrate saturation,water saturation,thermal conductivity of porous medium,phase change,and other factors on the ETC of hydrate-bearing sediment were discussed and reviewed.Thirdly,the research progress of modeling on the ETC of the hydrate-bearing sediment was reviewed.The thermal conductivity determines the heat transfer capacity of the hydrate reservoir and directly affects the hydrate exploitation efficiency.Future efforts need to be devoted to obtain experimental data of the ETC of hydrate reservoirs and establish models to accurately predict the ETC of hydrate-bearing sediment.

Effects of Initial Defects on Effective Elastic Modulus of Concrete with Mesostructure

An exquisite mesostructure model was presented to predict the effective elastic modulus of concrete,in which concrete is realized as a four-phase composite material consisting of coarse aggregates,mortar matrix,interfacial transition zone(ITZ),and initial defects.With the three-dimensional(3D)finite element(FE)simulation,the highly heterogeneous composite elastic behavior of concrete was modeled,and the predicted results were compared with theoretical estimations for validation.Monte Carlo(MC)simulations were performed with the proposed mesostructure model to investigate the various factors of initial defects influencing the elastic modulus of concrete,such as the shape and concentration(pore volume fraction or crack density)of microspores and microcracks.It is found that the effective elastic modulus of concrete decreases with the increase of initial defects concentration,while the distribution and shape characteristics also exert certain influences due to the stress concentration caused by irregular inclusion shape.

Analytical solution for the effective elastic properties of rocks with the tilted penny-shaped cracks in the transversely isotropic background

Seismic prediction of cracks is of great significance in many disciplines,for which the rock physics model is indispensable.However,up to now,multitudinous analytical models focus primarily on the cracked rock with the isotropic background,while the explicit model for the cracked rock with the anisotropic background is rarely investigated in spite of such case being often encountered in the earth.Hence,we first studied dependences of the crack opening displacement tensors on the crack dip angle in the coordinate systems formed by symmetry planes of the crack and the background anisotropy,respectively,by forty groups of numerical experiments.Based on the conclusion from the experiments,the analytical solution was derived for the effective elastic properties of the rock with the inclined penny-shaped cracks in the transversely isotropic background.Further,we comprehensively analyzed,according to the developed model,effects of the crack dip angle,background anisotropy,filling fluid and crack density on the effective elastic properties of the cracked rock.The analysis results indicate that the dip angle and background anisotropy can significantly either enhance or weaken the anisotropy degrees of the P-and SH-wave velocities,whereas they have relatively small effects on the SV-wave velocity anisotropy.Moreover,the filling fluid can increase the stiffness coefficients related to the compressional modulus by reducing crack compliance parameters,while its effects on shear coefficients depend on the crack dip angle.The increasing crack density reduces velocities of the dry rock,and decreasing rates of the velocities are affected by the crack dip angle.By comparing with exact numerical results and experimental data,it was demonstrated that the proposed model can achieve high-precision estimations of stiffness coefficients.Moreover,the assumption of the weakly anisotropic background results in the consistency between the proposed model and Hudson's published theory for the orthorhombic rock.

Models to Simulate Effective Coverage of Fire Station Based on Real-Time Travel Times

In recent years,frequent fire disasters have led to enormous damage in China.Effective firefighting rescues can minimize the losses caused by fires.During the rescue processes,the travel time of fire trucks can be severely affected by traffic conditions,changing the effective coverage of fire stations.However,it is still challenging to determine the effective coverage of fire stations considering dynamic traffic conditions.This paper addresses this issue by combining the traveling time calculationmodelwith the effective coverage simulationmodel.In addition,it proposes a new index of total effective coverage area(TECA)based on the time-weighted average of the effective coverage area(ECA)to evaluate the urban fire services.It also selects China as the case study to validate the feasibility of the models,a fire station(FS-JX)in Changsha.FS-JX station and its surrounding 9,117 fire risk points are selected as the fire service supply and demand points,respectively.A total of 196 simulation scenarios throughout a consecutiveweek are analyzed.Eventually,1,933,815 sets of valid sample data are obtained.The results showed that the TECA of FS-JX is 3.27 km^(2),which is far below the standard requirement of 7.00 km^(2) due to the traffic conditions.The visualization results showed that three rivers around FS-JX interrupt the continuity of its effective coverage.The proposed method can provide data support to optimize the locations of fire stations by accurately and dynamically determining the effective coverage of fire stations.

Source localization in signed networks with effective distance

While progress has been made in information source localization,it has overlooked the prevalent friend and adversarial relationships in social networks.This paper addresses this gap by focusing on source localization in signed network models.Leveraging the topological characteristics of signed networks and transforming the propagation probability into effective distance,we propose an optimization method for observer selection.Additionally,by using the reverse propagation algorithm we present a method for information source localization in signed networks.Extensive experimental results demonstrate that a higher proportion of positive edges within signed networks contributes to more favorable source localization,and the higher the ratio of propagation rates between positive and negative edges,the more accurate the source localization becomes.Interestingly,this aligns with our observation that,in reality,the number of friends tends to be greater than the number of adversaries,and the likelihood of information propagation among friends is often higher than among adversaries.In addition,the source located at the periphery of the network is not easy to identify.Furthermore,our proposed observer selection method based on effective distance achieves higher operational efficiency and exhibits higher accuracy in information source localization,compared with three strategies for observer selection based on the classical full-order neighbor coverage.

Leading directions and effective distance of larch offspring dispersal at the upper treeline in the Northern and Polar Urals, Russia

Climate has changed sufficiently over the last 150 years and forced out upper treeline advance at the most studied sites around the world.The rate of advance has been extremely variable–from tens to hundreds meters in altitude.This is because the degree at which tree frontal populations respond to climate change depends on the complex interaction of biological and physical factors.The resulting stand pattern is the consequence of the interaction between dispersal and survival functions.A few publications have addressed the question of how this pattern is generated.In order to understand how the spatial structure of tree stands was formed at the upper limit of their distribution in the Ural Mountains,we assessed the distance and direction of dispersal of offspring from maternal individuals.We found that in frontal Larix sibirica Ledeb.populations,‘effective’dispersal of offspring ranges from 3 to 758 m(with a median of 20–33 m in open forest and 219 m in single-tree tundra in the Polar Urals and 107 m in open forest in the Northern Urals).We revealed that most of the offspring effectively dispersed not only in the direction of the prevailing winds,but also in the opposite direction up the slope,and the distance can reach 500–760 m.The data obtained can be used to develop an individual-based model which is capable of simulating in detail the dynamics of tree stands at the upper limit of their growth and reliably predicting the future position and pattern of treeline ecotone as growth conditions continue to improve in the face of observed climate change.

Effective Capacity of URLLC over Parallel Fading Channels with Imperfect Channel State Information

This paper investigates the effective capacity of a point-to-point ultra-reliable low latency communication(URLLC)transmission over multiple parallel sub-channels at finite blocklength(FBL)with imperfect channel state information(CSI).Based on reasonable assumptions and approximations,we derive the effective capacity as a function of the pilot length,decoding error probability,transmit power and the sub-channel number.Then we reveal significant impact of the above parameters on the effective capacity.A closed-form lower bound of the effective capacity is derived and an alternating optimization based algorithm is proposed to find the optimal pilot length and decoding error probability.Simulation results validate our theoretical analysis and show that the closedform lower bound is very tight.In addition,through the simulations of the optimized effective capacity,insights for pilot length and decoding error probability optimization are provided to evaluate the optimal parameters in realistic systems.

Prediction and quantification of effective gas source rocks in a lacustrine basin:Western Depression in the Liaohe Subbasin,China

Due to limited data on the geochemical properties of natural gas,estimations are needed for the effective gas source rock in evaluating gas potential.However,the pronounced heterogeneity of mudstones in lacustrine successions complicates the prediction of the presence and geochemical characteristics of gas source rocks.In this paper,the Liaohe Subbasin of Northeast China is used as an example to construct a practical methodology for locating effective gas source rocks in typical lacustrine basins.Three types of gas source rocks,microbial,oil-type,and coal-type,were distinguished according to the different genetic types of their natural gas.A practical three-dimensional geological model was developed,refined,and applied to determine the spatial distribution of the mudstones in the Western Depression of the Liaohe Subbasin and to describe the geochemical characteristics(the abundance,type,and maturation levels of the organic matter).Application of the model in the subbasin indicates that the sedimentary facies have led to heterogeneity in the mudstones,particularly with respect to organic matter types.The effective gas source rock model constructed for the Western Depression shows that the upper sequence(SQ2)of the Fourth member(Mbr 4)of the Eocene Shahejie Formation(Fm)and the lower and middle sequences(SQ3 and SQ4)of the Third member(Mbr 3)form the principal gas-generating interval.The total volume of effective gas source rocks is estimated to be 586 km^(3).The effective microbial,oil-type,and coal-type gas source rocks are primarily found in the shallow western slope,the central sags,and the eastern slope of the Western Depression,respectively.This study provides a practical approach for more accurately identifying the occurrence and geochemical characteristics of effective natural gas source rocks,enabling a precise quantitative estimation of natural gas reserves.

Effective dynamics for a spin-1/2 particle constrained to a curved layer with inhomogeneous thickness

We derive an effective Hamiltonian for a spin-1/2 particle confined within a curved thin layer with non-uniform thickness using the confining potential approach.Our analysis reveals the presence of a pseudo-magnetic field and effective spin–orbit interaction(SOI)arising from the curvature,as well as an effective scalar potential resulting from variations in thickness.Importantly,we demonstrate that the physical effect of additional SOI from thickness fluctuations vanishes in low-dimensional systems,thus guaranteeing the robustness of spin interference measurements to thickness imperfection.Furthermore,we establish the applicability of the effective Hamiltonian in both symmetric and asymmetric confinement scenarios,which is crucial for its utilization in one-side etching systems.

A novel Effective Panicle Number per Plant 4 haplotype enhances grain yield by coordinating panicle number and grain number in rice

Increasing effective panicle number per plant(EPN)is one approach to increase yield potential in rice.However,molecular mechanisms underlying EPN remain unclear.In this study,we integrated mapbased cloning and genome-wide association analysis to identify the EPN4 gene,which is allelic to NARROW LEAF1(NAL1).Overexpression lines containing the Teqing allele(TQ)of EPN4 had significantly increased EPN.NIL-EPN4^(TQ) in japonica(geng)cultivar Lemont(LT)exhibited significantly improved EPN but decreased grain number and flag leaf size relative to LT.Haplotype analysis indicated that accessions with EPN4-1 had medium EPN,medium grain number,and medium grain weight,but had the highest grain yield among seven haplotypes,indicating that EPN4-1 is an elite haplotype of EPN4 for positive coordination of the three components of grain yield.Furthermore,accessions carrying the combination of EPN4-1 and haplotype GNP1-6 of GNP1 for grain number per panicle showed higher grain yield than those with other allele combinations.Therefore,pyramiding of EPN4-1 and GNP1-6 could be a preferred approach to obtain high yield potential in breeding.

Theoretical study on the effective thermal conductivity of silica aerogels based on a cross-aligned and cubic pore model

Aerogel nanoporous materials possess high porosity, high specific surface area, and extremely low density due to their unique nanoscale network structure. Moreover, their effective thermal conductivity is very low, making them a new type of lightweight and highly efficient nanoscale super-insulating material. However, prediction of their effective thermal conductivity is challenging due to their uneven pore size distribution. To investigate the internal heat transfer mechanism of aerogel nanoporous materials, this study constructed a cross-aligned and cubic pore model(CACPM) based on the actual pore arrangement of SiO_(2) aerogel. Based on the established CACPM, the effective thermal conductivity expression for the aerogel was derived by simultaneously considering gas-phase heat conduction, solid-phase heat conduction, and radiative heat transfer. The derived expression was then compared with available experimental data and the Wei structure model. The results indicate that, according to the model established in this study for the derived thermal conductivity formula of silica aerogel, for powdery silica aerogel under the conditions of T = 298 K, a_(2)= 0.85, D_(1)= 90 μm, ρ = 128 kg/m^(3), within the pressure range of 0–10^(5)Pa, the average deviation between the calculated values and experimental values is 10.51%. In the pressure range of 10^(3)–10^(4)Pa, the deviation between calculated values and experimental values is within 4%. Under these conditions, the model has certain reference value in engineering verification. This study also makes a certain contribution to the research of aerogel thermal conductivity heat transfer models and calculation formulae.

Electronic structure and effective mass of pristine and Cl-doped CsPbBr_(3)

Organic–inorganic lead halide perovskites(LHPs) have attracted great interest owing to their outstanding optoelectronic properties.Typically,the underlying electronic structure would determinate the physical properties of materials.But as for now,limited studies have been done to reveal the underlying electronic structure of this material system,comparing to the huge amount of investigations on the material synthesis.The effective mass of the valance band is one of the most important physical parameters which plays a dominant role in charge transport and photovoltaic phenomena.In pristine CsPbBr_(3),the Fr?hlich polarons associated with the Pb–Br stretching modes are proposed to be responsible for the effective mass renormalization.In this regard,it would be very interesting to explore the electronic structure in doped LHPs.Here,we report high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy(ARPES) studies on both pristine and Cl-doped CsPbBr_(3).The experimental band dispersions are extracted from ARPES spectra along both ■ and ■ high symmetry directions.DFT calculations are performed and directly compared with the ARPES data.Our results have revealed the band structure of Cl-doped CsPbBr_(3) for the first time,which have also unveiled the effective mass renormalization in the Cl-doped CsPbBr_(3) compound.Doping dependent measurements indicate that the chlorine doping could moderately tune the renormalization strength.These results will help understand the physical properties of LHPs as a function of doping.

Taxing sugar-sweetened beverages in China:By volume or sugar content? A consumer welfare approach

Using scanner data on the consumption of packaged liquid beverages by Chinese urban households,we estimated the price elasticity of various beverages and compared the effects of volume-based versus sugar-content-based taxation strategies on consumer welfare.Compared to the volume-based tax,the sugar-content-based beverage tax was predicted to cost less in compensating variation under the same amount of sugar reduced,indicating that taxation based on sugar content may be more efficient in preserving consumer welfare.Further comparison across different socioeconomic groups reveals that,given current beverage consumption status in China,the efficiency advantage of the sugar-content-based taxation strategy is more pronounced than that of the volume-based taxation.Our conclusions can provide insights for the food industry and the government to reduce the sugar content in beverages.