Experimental study of the effect of drilling pipe on vortex-induced vibration of drilling risers

A vortex-induced vibration experiment considers drilling conditions has not been conducted. A new experimental facility was designed to investigate effect of drilling pipe on vortex-induced vibration. Results show that vortex-induced vibration can be inhibited with the increasing drilling pipe tension. Strain amplitude decrease with the increase in drilling pipe tension and strain amplitude decreases significantly with increasing pipe tension at high current speed. Drilling pipe tension does not affect the dominant vibration frequency. Interaction between the IL and CF vibration and the multi-modal phenomenon are more apparent for the periodically contacting and colliding between the drilling pipe and risers

Lift force, drag force, and tension response in vortex-induced vibration for marine risers under shear flow

An experiment was performed in a deep-water basin to investigate VIV mechanisms under shear flow. Lift force, drag force, and tension response were obtained. Results show that multiple frequencies are appeared for nonuniform vortex shedding frequency and interaction between the IL and CF vibrations. Beat phenomenon is observed in time history of lift force, and decreased with the increasing riser pretension. Dominant frequencies of riser tension are consistent with the IL and CF dominant frequency, and amplitudes of the tension are not uniform. VIV is inhibited with increasing riser pretension and the dominant frequencies also increase with increasing riser tension

Effect of drilling pipe rotation on vortex induced vibration response of drilling riser

An experiment was carried out in a basin to investigate rotation of drilling pipe on vortex induced vibration response of drilling riser. Vibration displacement time-history and frequency are obtained. Results show that dominant vibration frequency in the in-line direction is almost twice as high as that in the cross-flow direction. The vibration amplitudes in both the cross-flow and in-line direction increase with an increase in rotation speed of drilling pipe under the experimental conditions. However, the influence of rotation speed drilling pipe on drilling riser vibration amplitude is insignificant. Dominant frequencies are invariant with variation of drilling pipe rotation under experimental conditions

MicroRNAs show diverse and dynamic expression patterns in multiple tissues of Bombyx mori

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>MicroRNAs (miRNAs) repress target genes at the post-transcriptional level, and function in the development and cell-lineage pathways of host species. Tissue-specific expression of miRNAs is highly relevant to their physiological roles in the corresponding tissues. However, to date, few miRNAs have been spatially identified in the silkworm.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We establish for the first time the spatial expression patterns of nearly 100 miRNAs in multiple normal tissues (organs) of <it>Bombyx mori </it>females and males using microarray and Northern-blotting analyses. In all, only 10 miRNAs were universally distributed (including bmo-let-7 and bmo-bantam), while the majority were expressed exclusively or preferentially in specific tissue types (e.g., bmo-miR-275 and bmo-miR-1). Additionally, we examined the developmental patterns of miRNA expression during metamorphosis of the body wall, silk glands, midgut and fat body. In total, 63 miRNAs displayed significant alterations in abundance in at least 1 tissue during the developmental transition from larvae to pupae (e.g., bmo-miR-263b and bmo-miR-124). Expression patterns of five miRNAs were significantly increased during metamorphosis in all four tissues (e.g., bmo-miR-275 and bmo-miR-305), and two miRNA pairs, bmo-miR-10b-3p/5p and bmo-miR-281-3p/5p, showed coordinate expression.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this study, we conducted preliminary spatial measurements of several miRNAs in the silkworm. Periods of rapid morphological change were associated with alterations in miRNA expression patterns in the body wall, silk glands, midgut and fat body during metamorphosis. Accordingly, we propose that corresponding ubiquitous or tissue-specific expression of miRNAs supports their critical roles in tissue specification. These results should facilitate future functional analyses.</p

MicroRNAs of Bombyx mori identified by Solexa sequencing

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>MicroRNA (miRNA) and other small regulatory RNAs contribute to the modulation of a large number of cellular processes. We sequenced three small RNA libraries prepared from the whole body, and the anterior-middle and posterior silk glands of <it>Bombyx mori</it>, with a view to expanding the repertoire of silkworm miRNAs and exploring transcriptional differences in miRNAs between segments of the silk gland.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>With the aid of large-scale Solexa sequencing technology, we validated 257 unique miRNA genes, including 202 novel and 55 previously reported genes, corresponding to 324 loci in the silkworm genome. Over 30 known silkworm miRNAs were further corrected in their sequence constitutes and length. A number of reads originated from the loop regions of the precursors of two previously reported miRNAs (bmo-miR-1920 and miR-1921). Interestingly, the majority of the newly identified miRNAs were silkworm-specific, 23 unique miRNAs were widely conserved from invertebrates to vertebrates, 13 unique miRNAs were limited to invertebrates, and 32 were confined to insects. We identified 24 closely positioned clusters and 45 paralogs of miRNAs in the silkworm genome. However, sequence tags showed that paralogs or clusters were not prerequisites for coordinated transcription and accumulation. The majority of silkworm-specific miRNAs were located in transposable elements, and displayed significant differences in abundance between the anterior-middle and posterior silk gland.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Conservative analysis revealed that miRNAs can serve as phylogenetic markers and function in evolutionary signaling. The newly identified miRNAs greatly enrich the repertoire of insect miRNAs, and provide insights into miRNA evolution, biogenesis, and expression in insects. The differential expression of miRNAs in the anterior-middle and posterior silk glands supports their involvement as new levels in the regulation of the silkworm silk gland.</p

Experimental study of vortex-induced vibration for drilling risers under uniform flow current

An experiment was conducted in a deep water basin to investigate the vortex-induced vibration mechanism of a drilling riser. Various measurements were obtained by the fiber Bragg grating strain sensors, and data was analyzed by modal analysis method. Results show that the vibration mode of the drilling riser increases with the increasing flow velocity, and the vibration amplitude in the CF direction is larger than that in the IL direction. The vibrations in the CF and IL directions interact and mutually affect each other. The vibration mode in the IL direction is usually larger than that in the CF direction as the dominant vibration frequency is twice of that in the CF direction. Higher stresses may occur rather in the IL direction than in the CF direction. Hence, fatigue induced by the IL direction should also be taken into consideration when analyzing the fatigue life of a drilling riser. The three-time harmonic appears, and the phenomenon becomes more obvious as the flow velocity increased for the effect of the “2T” wake mode under the experiment condition. Displacement trajectories are significantly influenced by dominant vibration frequency and phase angle between the CF and IL directions. Crescent shapes, figure-eight, and inclined figure-eight are appeared in the experiment with the increasing flow velocity

Lift force, drag force, and tension response in vortex-induced vibration for marine risers under shear flow

An experiment was performed in a deep-water basin to investigate VIV mechanisms under shear flow. Lift force, drag force, and tension response were obtained. Results show that multiple frequencies are appeared for nonuniform vortex shedding frequency and interaction between the IL and CF vibrations. Beat phenomenon is observed in time history of lift force, and decreased with the increasing riser pretension. Dominant frequencies of riser tension are consistent with the IL and CF dominant frequency, and amplitudes of the tension are not uniform. VIV is inhibited with increasing riser pretension and the dominant frequencies also increase with increasing riser tension

MicroRNA expression profiling during the life cycle of the silkworm (Bombyx mori)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are expressed by a wide range of eukaryotic organisms, and function in diverse biological processes. Numerous miRNAs have been identified in <it>Bombyx mori</it>, but the temporal expression profiles of miRNAs corresponding to each stage transition over the entire life cycle of the silkworm remain to be established. To obtain a comprehensive overview of the correlation between miRNA expression and stage transitions, we performed a whole-life test and subsequent stage-by-stage examinations on nearly one hundred miRNAs in the silkworm.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results show that miRNAs display a wide variety of expression profiles over the whole life of the silkworm, including continuous expression from embryo to adult (miR-184), up-regulation over the entire life cycle (let-7 and miR-100), down-regulation over the entire life cycle (miR-124), expression associated with embryogenesis (miR-29 and miR-92), up-regulation from early 3^rdinstar to pupa (miR-275), and complementary pulses in expression between miR-34b and miR-275. Stage-by-stage examinations revealed further expression patterns, such as emergence at specific time-points during embryogenesis and up-regulation of miRNA groups in late embryos (miR-1 and bantam), expression associated with stage transition between instar and molt larval stages (miR-34b), expression associated with silk gland growth and spinning activity (miR-274), continuous high expression from the spinning larval to pupal and adult stages (miR-252 and miR-31a), a coordinate expression trough in day 3 pupae of both sexes (miR-10b and miR-281), up-regulation in pupal metamorphosis of both sexes (miR-29b), and down-regulation in pupal metamorphosis of both sexes (miR-275).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We present the full-scale expression profiles of miRNAs throughout the life cycle of <it>Bombyx mori</it>. The whole-life expression profile was further investigated via stage-by-stage analysis. Our data provide an important resource for more detailed functional analysis of miRNAs in this animal.</p