Analytical solutions for tunnels of elliptical cross-section in rheological rock accounting for sequential excavation

Time dependency in tunnel excavation is mainly due to the rheological properties of rock and sequential excavation. In this paper, analytical solutions for deeply buried tunnels with elliptical cross-section excavated in linear viscoelastic media are derived accounting for the process of sequential excavation. For this purpose, an extension of the principle of correspondence to solid media with time varying boundaries is formulated for the first time. An initial anisotropic stress field is assumed. To simulate realistically the process of tunnel excavation, solutions are developed for a time-dependent excavation process with the major and minor axes of the elliptical tunnel changing from zero until a final value according to time-dependent functions specified by the designers. In the paper, analytical expressions in integral form are obtained assuming the incompressible generalized Kelvin viscoelastic model for the rheology of the rock mass, with Maxwell and Kelvin models solved as particular cases. An extensive parametric analysis is then performed to investigate the effects of various excavation methods and excavation rates. Also the distribution of displacements and stresses in space at different times is illustrated. Several dimensionless charts for ease of use of practitioners are provided

A tryst of ‘blood pressure control- sex- comorbidities’:the odyssey of basic public health services in Yunnan in quest for truth

Background: The Basic Public Health Service (BPHS), a recently announced free healthcare program, aims to combat the most prevalent Noncommunicable Disease-“Hypertension” (HTN)-and its risk factors on a nationwide scale. In China, there is a rife that HTN less impacts women during their lifetime. We, therefore, aimed to evaluate the sex disparity in hypertension patients with comorbidities among south-west Chinese and the contribution of BPHS to address that concern. Methods: We have opted for a multistage stratified random sampling method to enroll hypertensive patients of 35 years and older, divided them into BPHS and non-BPHS groups. We assessed the sex disparity in HTN patients with four major comorbidities- Dyslipidemia, Diabetes Mellitus (DM), Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), and Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), and descriptive data were compiled. Odds ratios from logistic regression models estimated the effectiveness of BPHS in the management of HTN with comorbidities. Results: Among 1521 hypertensive patients,1011(66.5%) were managed in the BPHS group. The proportion of patients who had at least one comorbidity was 70.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 66.3-76.8%), patients aged 65 years and older were more likely to have coexisting comorbidities. Participants who received the BPHS showed significant blood pressure (BP) control with two comorbidities (odds ratio [OR] = 2.414, 95% CI: 1.276–4.570), three or more (OR = 5.500, 95%CI: 1.174–25.756). Patients with dyslipidemia and DM also benefited from BPHS in controlling BP (OR = 2.169, 95% CI: 1.430–3.289) and (OR = 2.785, 95%CI: 1.242–6.246), respectively. In certain high-income urban survey centers, there was sex differences in the HTN management provided by BPHS, with men having better BP control rates than women. Conclusions: Perhaps this is the first study in China to succinctly show the effectiveness and sex disparity regarding “management of hypertensive comorbidities”. This supports that the BPHS program plays a pivotal role in controlling BP, therefore should recommend the national healthcare system to give women a foremost priority in BPHS, especially to those from low-socioeconomic and low-scientific literacy regions.</p

Review of advanced road materials, structures, equipment, and detection technologies

As a vital and integral component of transportation infrastructure, pavement has a direct and tangible impact on socio-economic sustainability. In recent years, an influx of groundbreaking and state-of-the-art materials, structures, equipment, and detection technologies related to road engineering have continually and progressively emerged, reshaping the landscape of pavement systems. There is a pressing and growing need for a timely summarization of the current research status and a clear identification of future research directions in these advanced and evolving technologies. Therefore, Journal of Road Engineering has undertaken the significant initiative of introducing a comprehensive review paper with the overarching theme of “advanced road materials, structures, equipment, and detection technologies”. This extensive and insightful review meticulously gathers and synthesizes research findings from 39 distinguished scholars, all of whom are affiliated with 19 renowned universities or research institutions specializing in the diverse and multidimensional field of highway engineering. It covers the current state and anticipates future development directions in the four major and interconnected domains of road engineering: advanced road materials, advanced road structures and performance evaluation, advanced road construction equipment and technology, and advanced road detection and assessment technologies

Insights into APC/C: from cellular function to diseases and therapeutics

Anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) is a multifunctional ubiquitin-protein ligase that targets different substrates for ubiquitylation and therefore regulates a variety of cellular processes such as cell division, differentiation, genome stability, energy metabolism, cell death, autophagy as well as carcinogenesis. Activity of APC/C is principally governed by two WD-40 domain proteins, Cdc20 and Cdh1, in and beyond cell cycle. In the past decade, the results based on numerous biochemical, 3D structural, mouse genetic and small molecule inhibitor studies have largely attracted our attention into the emerging role of APC/C and its regulation in biological function, human diseases and potential therapeutics. This review will aim to summarize some recently reported insights into APC/C in regulating cellular function, connection of its dysfunction with human diseases and its implication of therapeutics

On-site Regeneration of Acetaminophen Loaded Zeolite Granules by Applying Gaseous Ozone Based Oxidation Process

The wide application of pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products cause an increasing contamination of aquatic systems. Adsorption by zeolites is a promising process to remove target organic micro-pollutants (OMPs) selectively from water bodies. In order to have a sustainable adsorption process, restoring the adsorption capacity of the exhausted zeolites is necessary.In this research, the gaseous O3 based process was applied to regenerate the column packed with acetaminophen (ACE) loaded zeolite granules. The aim of this study was to investigate the regeneration performance by using the gaseous O3 based process and the feasibility of its long-term operation. An initial concentration 200mgL^-1 of ACE was used for the zeolite granules adsorption process. After 120 hours of loading, the gaseous O3 based process was applied to regenerate the ACE loaded zeolite granules. It was found that an ideal ACE degradation rate of 80 -100% was obtained by drying the zeolite granules before the regeneration. While when the drained bed (without drying process) was applied, the ACE degradation rates were below 35% for both the gaseous O3 and the gaseous O3/H2O2 processes. The water content of zeolite granules was the main limiting factor that affected the regeneration performance. A higher ACE degradation rate was obtained with lower water content. It was also found that adding H2O2 to the process enhanced the ACE degradation rate for the zeolite granules with the same water content. Nevertheless, the highest ACE degradation rate was achieved when the water content was 0% without adding H2O2. Regarding the long-term regeneration, three cycles of regeneration were conducted to investigate the feasibility of long-term regeneration by using the gaseous O3 process in dried bed. The effect of ozone on zeolite surface characteristics and the accumulation of intermediates had minor influences on the adsorption capacity restoration. Compared to the fresh zeolite, owing to the incomplete regeneration of the adsorbed ACE in the inner part of zeolite, the used zeolite granules lost 25% of the adsorption capacity in the long-term operation. Therefore, it is feasible to use gaseous O3 process in dried bed to regenerate ACE-loaded zeolite granules from the long-term operation perspectives.Civil Engineering | Environmental Engineerin