Bridge condition assessment from long-term monitoring by means of Bayesian hypothesis test

Fifth International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE 2016), 16-19 October 2016, Delft, The Netherlands.This study presents an approach to reduce effects of environmental and operational factors on long-term monitoring data of bridges. The Bayesian approach comprising both Bayesian regression and Bayesian hypothesis test is applied to investigate monitoring data of an in-service seven-span plate-Gerber bridge. This study considers time-varying temperature and vehicle weights as environmental and operational factors respectively. Vehicle weights were measured utilizing a bridge weigh-in-motion (BWIM) system installed on the bridge. All data was taken from a healthy bridge, since no damage and deterioration was reported during the monitoring period. Observations through the study demonstrated that considering both temperature and vehicle weight as environmental and operational factors in Bayesian regression led to improved regression results than that considering only temperature. It also showed that monitoring the data observed at a specific time could reduce influence of traffic in long-term monitoring. In the Bayesian hypothesis testing utilizing data from the healthy bridge, the bridge was judged as healthy

Investigation of the thermal expansion and heat capacity of the CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics

The thermal expansion of the CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics has been measured over a wide temperature range 120–1200 K. The high quality of the samples under study has been confirmed by good agreement of the results of measurements of the heat capacity in the range 2–300 K and in the vicinity of the phase transition of magnetic nature at 25 K with the data for the single crystal. No anomalies in the thermal expansion that can be associated with the phase transition at 726–732 K assumed by other investigators have been found. The influence exerted on the thermal expansion by the heat treatment of the sample in a helium atmosphere and in air has been investigated

Relevance of Bcl-x expression in different types of endometrial tissues

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>To explore the roles of Bcl-xl and Bcl-xs in the development and progression of endometrial carcinoma, and to analyze the correlation between Bcl-xl and Bcl-xs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>RT-PCR and Western-blot assay were applied to detect the expressions of Bcl-xl and Bcl-xs in endometrial tissues of various histomorphologic types.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The Bcl-xl expression levels of simple and atypical hyperplasia endometrial tissues were not significantly different from that of normal endometrial tissue (both <it>P </it>> 0.05). On contrary, Bcl-xl expression in endometrial carcinoma tissue was significantly higher than the normal endometrial tissue (<it>P </it>= 0.00), which was correlated with the pathological grading of endometrial carcinoma (F = 5.33, <it>P </it>= 0.02). In addition, Bcl-xs mRNA level in simple hyperplasia endometrial tissue had no significant difference compared to that in normal endometrial tissue (<it>P </it>= 0.12), while the levels of atypical hyperplasia and endometrial carcinoma endometrial tissues were significantly different from the normal endometrial tissue (both <it>P </it>= 0.00). Furthermore, level of Bcl-xs mRNA was correlated with the clinical staging and lymph node metastasis of the endometrial carcinoma (<it>P </it>< 0.05). The expressions of Bcl-xl and Bcl-xs were negatively correlated with each other (<it>r </it>= -0.76).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The abnormal expressions of Bcl-xs and Bcl-xl were one of the molecular mechanisms for the pathogenesis of endometrial carcinoma, and altered ratio between these two might involve in the onset of endometrial carcinoma.</p

Comparison between non‐orographic gravity‐wave parameterizations used in QBOi models and Strateole 2 constant‐level balloons

Gravity‐wave (GW) parameterizations from 12 general circulation models (GCMs) participating in the Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation initiative (QBOi) are compared with Strateole 2 balloon observations made in the tropical lower stratosphere from November 2019–February 2020 (phase 1) and from October 2021–January 2022 (phase 2). The parameterizations employ the three standard techniques used in GCMs to represent subgrid‐scale non‐orographic GWs, namely the two globally spectral techniques developed by Warner and McIntyre (1999) and Hines (1997), as well as the “multiwaves” approaches following the work of Lindzen (1981). The input meteorological fields necessary to run the parameterizations offline are extracted from the ERA5 reanalysis and correspond to the meteorological conditions found underneath the balloons. In general, there is fair agreement between amplitudes derived from measurements for waves with periods less than 1 $$1$$ h and parameterizations. The correlation between the daily observations and the corresponding results of the parameterization can be around 0.4, which is 99 % $$99\%$$ significant, since 1200 days of observations are used. Given that the parameterizations have only been tuned to produce a quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO) in the models, the 0.4 correlation coefficient of the GW momentum fluxes is surprisingly good. These correlations nevertheless vary between schemes and depend little on their formulation (globally spectral versus multiwaves for instance). We therefore attribute these correlations to dynamical filtering, which all schemes take into account, whereas only a few relate the gravity waves to their sources. Statistically significant correlations are mostly found for eastward‐propagating waves, which may be due to the fact that during both Strateole 2 phases the QBO is easterly at the altitude of the balloon flights. We also found that the probability density functions (pdfs) of the momentum fluxes are represented better in spectral schemes with constant sources than in schemes (“spectral” or “multiwaves”) that relate GWs only to their convective sources

Evaluation of the Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation in global climate models for the SPARC QBO‐initiative

The Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation initiative (QBOi) is a model intercomparison programme that specifically targets simulation of the QBO in current global climate models. Eleven of the models or model versions that participated in a QBOi intercomparison study have upper boundaries in or above the mesosphere and therefore simulate the region where the stratopause semiannual oscillation (SAO) is the dominant mode of variability of zonal winds in the tropical upper stratosphere. Comparisons of the SAO simulations in these models are presented here. These show that the model simulations of the amplitudes and phases of the SAO in zonal‐mean zonal wind near the stratopause agree well with the information derived from available observations. However, most of the models simulate time‐average zonal winds that are more westward than determined from observations, in some cases by several tens of m·s$^{–1}$. Validation of wave activity in the models is hampered by the limited observations of tropical waves in the upper stratosphere but suggests a deficit of eastward forcing either by large‐scale waves, such as Kelvin waves, or by gravity waves