Unload Pull-out Test of Full-length Grouted Bolts in Slope Reconstruction and Expansion

The Unloading Pull-out Test Method (UPTM) is proposed to evaluate the residual stress of existing anchorage systems and explore the actual stable state of the slope before excavation. A series of destructive pull-out tests are applied to detect the working state of the existing rock bolts. The working load and ultimate load of the existing bolts are determined by field test measurement of the P-S curve. The experimental result showed that a displacement increment of the bolts was present in the elastic stage, the elastoplastic stage, the slip stage, and the debonding stage. The working load and the ultimate load were in the elastoplastic stage and the debonding stage respectively. The working load of the bolts is closely related to the sliding deformation. The ultimate load of the bolts, however, is only related to the design parameters, slope lithology and other factors. After 20 years of natural forces acting on the bolts in the slope, their ultimate bearing capacity had a stress loss of 24.0% ~ 32.0%

Differential analysis of chromatin accessibility and histone modifications for predicting mouse developmental enhancers

Enhancers are distal cis-regulatory elements that modulate gene expression. They are depleted of nucleosomes and enriched in specific histone modifications; thus, calling DNase-seq and histone mark ChIP-seq peaks can predict enhancers. We evaluated nine peak-calling algorithms for predicting enhancers validated by transgenic mouse assays. DNase and H3K27ac peaks were consistently more predictive than H3K4me1/2/3 and H3K9ac peaks. DFilter and Hotspot2 were the best DNase peak callers, while HOMER, MUSIC, MACS2, DFilter and F-seq were the best H3K27ac peak callers. We observed that the differential DNase or H3K27ac signals between two distant tissues increased the area under the precision-recall curve (PR-AUC) of DNase peaks by 17.5-166.7% and that of H3K27ac peaks by 7.1-22.2%. We further improved this differential signal method using multiple contrast tissues. Evaluated using a blind test, the differential H3K27ac signal method substantially improved PR-AUC from 0.48 to 0.75 for predicting heart enhancers. We further validated our approach using postnatal retina and cerebral cortex enhancers identified by massively parallel reporter assays, and observed improvements for both tissues. In summary, we compared nine peak callers and devised a superior method for predicting tissue-specific mouse developmental enhancers by reranking the called peaks

Combined Adjuvant of Poly I:C Improves Antitumor Effects of CAR-T Cells

Chimeric antigen receptor modified T cells (CAR-T) therapy is an emerging immunotherapy against malignancies. However, only limited success was obtained in solid tumors. Polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly I:C), ligand of TLR3, mediates innate immune and adaptive immune and shows broad antitumor effect on many types of cancer. In the present study, we combined EGFRvIII-targeted CAR-T cells with poly I:C treatment and evaluated the synergic antitumor effect in vitro and in immunocompetent mice bearing subcutaneous colon or orthotopic breast cancer xenografts. Poly I:C significantly promoted more IL-2 and IFN γ production as well as higher lytic activity of CAR-T cells. Upon systemic administration in vivo, CAR-T cells obviously suppressed tumor growth, and poly I:C significantly enhanced the suppression. Further study showed that poly I:C exerted antitumor effect dependent on type I IFNs. In addition, poly I:C decreased myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) number in peripheral blood and spleen, and attenuated the immunosuppressive activity of MDSC on proliferation and cytolytic function of CAR-T. Depletion of MDSC with anti-Gr1 Ab further increased the antitumor effect of CAR-T cells plus poly I:C treatment. In conclusion, CAR-T treatment combined with intratumoral delivery of poly I:C resulted in synergistic antitumor activity. We thus provide a rationale to translate this immunotherapeutic strategy to solid tumors

Performance and Heavy Metal Analysis of Graphite Tailings Cured Using Cementitious Materials

The massive accumulation of graphite tailings causes serious environmental pollution, mainly from heavy metal pollution. Therefore, this article introduces a method of using graphite tailings as a high-content main material, cement as a small component of the auxiliary cementitious material, and clay as a substitute for cement. The compressive strength and permeability of graphite tailing–solidified material (GT, GT–Clay) were tested, and the effect of clay partially replacing cement as an auxiliary cementitious agent on GT–Clay performance was compared. In addition, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP) was used to analyze the effect of the graphite tailing placement time on the heavy metal content, as well as the changes in the GT heavy metal leaching concentration and its heavy metal content under outdoor freeze–thaw conditions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to elucidate the microstructural changes in the GT–Clay. The experimental results show that, as the substitution of clay for cement increased from 0 to 50%, the compressive strength of the 90% GT–Clay gradually decreased, and the permeability also increased. The compressive strength of 95% GT–Clay did not show significant changes, but the permeability increased, and when mixed with quicklime, gypsum, and silica fume, the permeability decreased. The Ni and As in graphite tailings fluctuated significantly with the placement time. The heavy metal leaching concentrations of the 90% GT and 95% GT were below the standard limit, and Cd, As, and Ni in GT were potential sources of pollution. The analysis of the microscopic test results showed that the hydration products of the GT–Clay included ettringite, Ca(OH)2, and calcium silicate hydrates. The hydration product stabilized and filled the gaps between the tailing particles, thereby cementing them together. Not only did it improve the mechanical strength of GT, it also reduced the permeability and heavy metal leaching rate. This study provides a new analytical approach to applying graphite tailings for environmental treatment

Data Mining for Tropical Cyclone Intensity Prediction

Tropical cyclone (TC) intensity prediction is far more challenging than the corresponding TC track prediction. One of the reasons is the lack of understanding of the coupling relationships of the physical processes controlling TC intensification. Data mining provides potential tools for relationship exploration from the ever-increasing amount of TC data. The data mining tools and algorithms require process-related features from raw observational data such as the TC best track data, TRMM data for 3D rainfall and 2D surface information. The data mining tools and algorithms can search for hidden relationships among the underlying features by means of statistical and logical inferences. In this article, we describe the data, definitions of features from the data, tools for data exploration, and several important results

“Optimal” Conditions for Rapid Intensifications of Tropical Cyclones with Limited Factors

Rapid Intensifications (RI) of tropical cyclones (TC) provide major error sources in the challenging task of TC intensity forecasting. There are many factors affecting the RI processes of TCs, and identifying the combination of conditions most favorable to RI development is very time consuming when using traditional statistical data analysis methods. Data mining techniques have been implemented in the analysis of RI of TCs, and a simpler combined condition is identified, which gives a higher RI probability than a more complex condition from ordinary statistical analysis. Moreover, the data mining technique can be used to identify the “optimal” RI conditions when the number of affecting factors is given. The variation of RI probabilities with the factor numbers leads to a saturation stage, and individual cases are traced back for the cases with the globally most favorable RI conditions. In this paper, we will report the most recent findings through the data mining technique based on the data for SHIPS (Statistical Hurricane Intensity Prediction Scheme), an operational statistical-dynamical hurricane intensity forecasting model

MiR-641 participates in the progression of breast cancer by modulation of RELN expression

Purpose: To examine the role of micro-ribonucleic acid 641 (miR-641) in breast cancer, and to uncover its possible molecular mechanism. Methods: MiR-641 expressions in breast cancer cell lines and tissues were determined using Real-time fluorescence quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and the diagnostic potential value of miR-641 was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The survival of the patients was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier, and the cell viability and migration capacity were evaluated using Transwell and cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, and the downstream target gene of miR-641 was confirmed via dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Finally, reversal assay was employed to corroborate the molecular mechanism that affects cell proliferation and migration via modulation of RELN. Results: MiR-641 was lowly expressed in breast cancer cell lines and tissues, and its expression in the metastasizing group was lower than that in the matched group (p < 0.05). It was also observed that miR-641 expression gradually decreased as the breast cancer advanced. Moreover, lower miR-641 expression revealed a poor prognosis, and up-regulating miR-641 suppressed the proliferative and migrative capacities of breast cancer cells. It was proven that RELN is a target gene of miR-641. RELN expression rose in breast cancer, and it was evidently and negatively correlated with that of miR-641. Finally, miR-641 regulated RELN, and it affected the proliferation and migration of cells. Conclusion: MiR-641 has an obviously decreased expression level in breast cancer, and facilitates the proliferative and migrative capacity of breast cancer cells probably by modulating the RELN expression. This study may provide new targets for the treatment of breast cancer