Influence of Curing Humidity on the Compressive Strength of Gypsum-Cemented Similar Materials

The analogous simulation experiment is widely used in geotechnical and mining engineering. However, systematic errors derived from unified standard curing procedure have been underestimated to some extent. In this study, 140 gypsum-cemented similar material specimens were chosen to study their curing procedure with different relative humidity, which is 10%–15%, 40%, 60%, and 80%, respectively. SEM microstructures and XRD spectra were adopted to detect the correlation between microstructures and macroscopic mechanical strength during curing. Our results indicated that the needle-like phases of similar materials began to develop in the early stage of the hydration process through intersecting with each other and eventually transformed into mat-like phases. Increase of humidity may inhibit the development of needle-like phases; thus the compressive strength changes more smoothly, and the time required for the material strength to reach the peak value will be prolonged. The peak strength decreases along with the increase of humidity while the humidity is higher than 40%; however, the reverse tendency was observed if the humidity was lower than 40%. Finally, we noticed that the material strength usually reaches the peak value when the water content continuously reduces and tends towards stability. Based on the above observation, a curing method determination model and experimental strength predication method for gypsum-cemented similar materials were proposed

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)

Study on stress evolution law and rock burst mechanism in upright fold structure area of deep mine

AbstractWith the increase in coal mining depth, many rock bursts triggered by fold structures have been observed, but the disaster mechanism is not clear. This research aims at investigating the influence of upright fold structure(UFS) on rock burst mechanisms. The mechanical model and numerical model of the UFS are constructed, and the mining stress evolution law and rock burst mechanism of working face in a UFS area are studied by utilizing engineering practice. The research shows that the occurrence of rock burst disasters in the fold structure area has obvious regional characteristics. The horizontal and vertical stress of the UFS in the horizontal distribution is similar to the periodic variation characteristics of the sine (cosine) curve. The stress state of the UFS area is divided into five areas. The horizontal and vertical stress concentration factors increase first and then decrease with the working face gradually approaching and away from the upright fold syncline axis. A roadway impact risk index I0 is proposed to determine whether the roadway is damaged, and the mechanism of inducing ground pressure during mining in UFS areas of deep mines is expounded. The control plan effectively reduces the stress levels of surrounding rock in working faces

Research on the Rapid Strengthening Mechanism of Microwave Field-Controlled Gypsum-Cemented Analog Materials

Various geotechnical experiments have used gypsum-cemented analog geotechnical materials. However, this material needs a long curing time, and the target strength is not easy to control. Therefore, this research adopted microwave heating as the curing method for this kind of material. Objectively, the authors investigated the variations in the material strength versus heating power and heating time. On this basis, we clarified the influence mechanism of microwaves on the strength of analog materials by analyzing material temperature, moisture content, and microstructure, which eventually led to an experimental control method for rapid strengthening of microwave field-controlled gypsum-cemented analog materials. Consequently, we drew the following conclusions. The stable strength of the material under high-power microwave curing was much lower than that under natural curing, while the material strength under low-power microwave curing was the closest to the material under natural curing