Simulation analysis of crack cause of concrete overflow dam for Hadashan Hydro Project by 3-D FEM

AbstractThis paper is mainly to study the cracking reasons for concrete overflow dam of Hadashan Hydro Project. The three-dimensional finite element method (3-D FEM) is developed to simulation analysis the temperature and thermal stress distribution in the concrete overflow dam during the construction period. The results show that the crack of the concrete overflow dam is temperature crack, mainly due to the combined action of the internal thermal gradient and the external restraints; and dramatic changes in ambient temperature exacerbate cracking of early-age concrete. Finally, the results are applied to provide some references for the construction in the related fields

Methods of MicroRNA Promoter Prediction and Transcription Factor Mediated Regulatory Network

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short (~22 nucleotides) noncoding RNAs and disseminated throughout the genome, either in the intergenic regions or in the intronic sequences of protein-coding genes. MiRNAs have been proved to play important roles in regulating gene expression. Hence, understanding the transcriptional mechanism of miRNA genes is a very critical step to uncover the whole regulatory network. A number of miRNA promoter prediction models have been proposed in the past decade. This review summarized several most popular miRNA promoter prediction models which used genome sequence features, or other features, for example, histone markers, RNA Pol II binding sites, and nucleosome-free regions, achieved by high-throughput sequencing data. Some databases were described as resources for miRNA promoter information. We then performed comprehensive discussion on prediction and identification of transcription factor mediated microRNA regulatory networks

Surgical Management of Urolithiasis in Patients After Urinary Diversion

Objective: To present our experience in surgical management of urolithiasis in patients after urinary diversion. Patients and Methods: Twenty patients with urolithiasis after urinary diversion received intervention. Percutaneous nephrolithotomy, percutaneous based antegrade ureteroscopy with semi-rigid or flexible ureteroscope, transurethral reservoir lithotripsy, percutaneous pouch lithotripsy and open operation were performed in 8, 3, 2, 6, and 1 patients, respectively. The operative finding and complications were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Results: The mean stone size was 4.5±3.1 (range 1.5-11.2) cm. The mean operation time was 82.0±11.5 (range 55-120) min. Eighteen patients were rendered stone free with a clearance of 90%. Complications occurred in 3 patients (15%). Two patients (10%) had postoperative fever greater than 38.5°C, and one patient (5%) suffered urine extravasations from percutaneous tract. Conclusions: The percutaneous based procedures, including percutaneous nephrolithotomy, antegrade ureteroscopy with semi-rigid ureteroscope or flexible ureteroscope from percutaneous tract, and percutaneous pouch lithotripsy, provides a direct and safe access to the target stones in patients after urinary diversion, and with high stone free rate and minor complications. The surgical management of urolithiasis in patients after urinary diversion requires comprehensive evaluation and individualized consideration depending upon the urinary diversion type, stone location, stone burden, available resource and surgeon experience

Strong Convergence Properties for Asymptotically Almost Negatively Associated Sequence

By applying the moment inequality for asymptotically almost negatively associated (in short AANA) random sequence and truncated method, we get the three series theorems for AANA random variables. Moreover, a strong convergence property for the partial sums of AANA random sequence is obtained. In addition, we also study strong convergence property for weighted sums of AANA random sequence

Environmental impact of the effluents discharging from full-scale wastewater treatment plants evaluated by a hybrid fuzzy approach

Increasing attention is being paid to the environmental impacts of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent. In this study, comprehensive environmental impact analyses (EIAs) were performed for the secondary treatment processes, tertiary treatment processes, and entire plants at five full-scale WWTPs in Kunming, China. The EIAs took into account greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, potential for the effluent to cause eutrophication, ecological risks posed by endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in treated effluent, and the risks posed by heavy metals in excess sludge. A comprehensive assessment toward environmental sustainability was performed using a fuzzy approach. The results indicated that the biological treatment process made the largest contribution (>68% of the total) of the secondary treatment processes to GHG emissions and that electricity consumption made the largest contribution (>64% of the total) of the tertiary treatment processes to GHG emissions. Large numbers of EDCs were removed during the secondary treatment processes, but the potential ecological risks posed by EDCs still require attention. High mercury concentrations were found in excess sludge. The plant that removed the largest proportion of pollutants and produced effluent posing the least ecological risks gave the best comprehensive EIA performance

Effects of Maize Source and Complex Enzymes on Performance and Nutrient Utilization of Broilers

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of maize source and complex enzymes containing amylase, xylanase and protease on performance and nutrient utilization of broilers. The experiment was a 4×3 factorial design with diets containing four source maize samples (M1, M2, M3, and M4) and without or with two kinds of complex enzyme A (Axtra XAP) and B (Avizyme 1502). Nine hundred and sixty day old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were used in the trial (12 treatments with 8 replicate pens of 10 chicks). Birds fed M1 diet had better body weight gain (BWG) and lower feed/gain ratio compared with those fed M3 diet and M4 diet (p0.05), respectively. The fresh feces output was significantly decreased by the addition of enzyme B (p<0.05). Maize source affects the nutrients digestibility and performance of broilers, and a combination of amylase, xylanase and protease is effective in improving the growth profiles of broilers fed maize-soybean-rapeseed-cotton mixed diets