A unified critical state model for geomaterials with an application to tunnelling

This paper is prepared in honour of Professor E.T. Brown for his outstanding contributions to rock mechanics and geotechnical engineering and also for his personal influence on the first author's research career in geomechanics and geotechnical engineering. As a result, we have picked a topic that reflects two key research areas in which Professor E.T. Brown has made seminal contributions over a long and distinguished career. These two areas are concerned with the application of the critical state concept to modelling geomaterials and the analysis of underground excavation or tunnelling in geomaterials.Partially due to Professor Brown's influence, the first author has also been conducting research in these two areas over many years. In particular, this paper aims to describe briefly the development of a unified critical state model for geomaterials together with an application to cavity contraction problems and tunnelling in soils.     

Nonlinear response in glass fibre non-crimp fabric reinforced vinylester composites

This paper addresses the nonlinear stress-strain response in glass fibre non-crimp fabric reinforced vinylester composite laminates subjected to in-plane tensile loading. The nonlinearity is shown to be a combination of brittle and plastic failure. It is argued that the shift from plastic to brittle behaviour in the vinylester is caused by the state of stress triaxiality caused by the interaction between fibre and vinylester. A model combining damage and plasticity is calibrated and evaluated using data from extensive experimental testing. The onset of damage is predicted using the Puck failure criterion, and the evolution of damage is calibrated from the observed softening in plies loaded in transverse tension. Shear loading beyond linear elastic response is observed to result in irreversible strains. A yield criterion is implemented for shear deformation. A strain hardening law is fitted to the stress-strain response observed in shear loaded plies. Experimental results from a selection of laminates with different layups are used to verify the numerical models. A complete set of model parameters for predicting elastic behaviour, strength and post failure softening is presented for glass fibre non-crimped fabric reinforced vinylester. The predicted behaviour from using these model parameters are shown to be in good agreement with experimental results.     

Alloying behavior and novel properties of CoCrFeNiMn high-entropy alloy fabricated by mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering

An equiatomic CoCrFeNiMn high-entropy alloy was synthesized by mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS). During MA, a solid solution with refined microstructure of 10 nm which consists of a FCC phase and a BCC phase was formed. After SPS consolidation, only one FCC phase can be detected in the HEA bulks. The as-sintered bulks exhibit high compressive strength of 1987 MPa. An interesting magnetic transition associated with the structure coarsening and phase transformation was observed during SPS process.     

Fabrication of 3D structures via direct ink writing of kaolin/graphene oxide composite suspensions at ambient temperature

Kaolin/graphene oxide composite has been widely utilized in aero-space and architectural engineering applications due to its excellent mechanical property. Direct ink writing (DIW) is a freeform rapid prototyping technology that could be used to accurately fabricate the resulting size with complex shapes. In this study, we reported the DIW of kaolin/graphene oxide (GO) composite suspensions (KGCS) to assemble 3D structures at ambient temperature for the first time. The effects of GO on the chemical constitution and microstructure of kaolin suspensions were investigated. Rheology was characterized to ensure printability of KGCS. The addition of GO in kaolin suspensions quickened a flocculation structure, which dramatically changed their rheology properties. The DIW of 3D structures from the optimal KGCS sample maintained their initial shape without spreading. The flexural and compressive strengths of the dried optimal KGCS samples were obviously enhanced due to the improvement and reduction of the micro-defects compared from cured kaolin matrix.     

Burkholderia thailandensis E264/pBMTL3-tdpR发酵生产抗癌药物ThailandepsinA的研究

在伯克氏菌Bth264野生株产新型抗癌药物Thailandepsin A以及调节基因tdp R正向调控Thailandepsin A生物合成的基础上,利用基因工程菌Bth264/p BMTL3-tdp R发酵生产Thailandepsin A,以提高产量。以0.5%乳糖为诱导剂,确定最佳诱导条件:发酵15 h添加乳糖,诱导时间6 h;通过单因素实验,确定葡萄糖和胰蛋白胨作为碳氮源、装液量65/250 m L以及接种量1%;同时结合优化发酵培养基进行发酵,Thailandepsin A产量达到252.14 mg·L-1,比优化前的产量提高56%;另外在发酵过程中,添加大孔树脂HP-20原位吸附产物,Thailandepsin A产量可达283.75 mg·L-1,比不加树脂提高13.8%;最后,基于RT-PCR和比较Ct值法,基因工程菌和野生菌相比,Thailandepsin A生物合成基因tdp B、tdp C1的转录水平分别提高11.4倍和6.0倍,对应的产量增加4.6倍,从而在很大程度上说明调节基因tdp R的过表达促进生物合成基因转录水平的提高以及产量的增加。     

Effect of Li2O on the crystallization behavior of CaO-Al2O3-SiO2-Li2O-Ce2O3 mold slags

The effect of Li₂O on the crystallization properties of CaO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-Li₂O-Ce₂O₃ slags was investigated. With increasing the Li₂O content, LiAlO₂ and CaCeAlO₄ were the main crystalline phases. LiAlO₂ formed for the charge compensating of Li⁺ ions to [AlO₄^5?]-tetrahedrons, and CaCeAlO₄ formed as a result of the charge balance of Ce³⁺ ions, Ca²⁺ ions, and [AlO₆^9?]-octahedrons. Increasing the content of Li₂O to 10%, the crystallization temperature was the highest, and the incubation time was the shortest. The crystallization ability was strong due to the three factors of strengthening the interaction between ions and ion groups, decreasing the polymerization degree, and increasing the melting temperature. Further increasing the content of Li₂O, the crystallization performance was obviously suppressed, because the melting temperature and the force between the cations and the anion groups decreased.     

Advances in the in vitro digestion and fermentation of polysaccharides

In vitro digestion models are widely used to study the structural changes, digestion and release of food components under simulated gastrointestinal conditions. As compared to the in vivo digestion tests, the in vitro digestion reflects the digestion and utilisation of food after ingestion and has the advantages of being time consuming, inexpensive, reproducible and free from moral and ethical restrictions. This study reviewed the current research studies on the in vitro simulated digestion of polysaccharides conducted in the last 5 years and focused on the oral, gastric and intestinal digestion models, with the aim of providing a basis for the further testing of changes in the content, structure and active ingredients of polysaccharides before and after digestion.     

Effect of steel slag on 3D concrete printing of geopolymer with quaternary binders

A new type of 3D-printable ‘one-part’ geopolymer was synthesized with fly ash (FA), granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS), steel slag (SS) and flue gas desulfurization gypsum (FGD). The effects of SS content (0–40%) on the rheological properties, 3D-printability, mechanical anisotropy and reaction kinetics of geopolymer were investigated. The yield stress and plastic viscosity monotonically decreased with the increasing SS content. Contrarily, the geopolymer with 10% of SS presented better extrudability, buildability and mechanical strength than those with 0, 20%, 30% and 40% of SS. This was mainly attributed to the conflicting influence of SS on geopolymerization, of which the OH^? produced by hydration of SS raised the alkalinity of the reaction system and accelerated the dissolution of SiO₄^4? and AlO₄^5?, while the low reactivity prohibited the following polymerization process. Furthermore, the 3D-printed geopolymer presented more compact microstructure and less mechanical anisotropy thanks to the crosslinking of morphologically complementary products, including N(C)-A-S-H, C–S–H, AFt and CH, formed via synergistic reaction of FA-GBFS-SS-FGD system.     

Omega-6支撑身体，Omega-3支撑大脑：均衡摄入对儿童大脑发育的影响（网络首发、推荐阅读）

人体大脑和身体的发育，需要从食物中摄取均衡的营养物质。人类大脑是区分人类和其他动物的特征。食物中的必需脂肪酸是机体组织结构和功能的必要组成部分。Omega-6（O6）亚油酸（LA6）是皮肤组织的组成成分，且是炎症、血栓形成、免疫和其他信号分子的前体；Omega-3（O3）α-亚麻酸（ALA3），特别是其长链代谢产物——二十二碳六烯酸（DHA3），是大脑、视网膜和部分神经组织中的关键组分。从富含LA6脂肪酸（缺乏O3脂肪酸）的植物籽中提取出的廉价而优质油脂，是20世纪的西方国家食品工业生产的主要脂肪来源。在代谢通路中，高浓度的LA6脂肪酸可拮抗O3脂肪酸代谢，造成O3脂肪酸不足，因此，在给怀孕动物的饲料中，只提供富含LA6但缺乏O3脂肪酸的油脂作为唯一的脂肪来源，会导致幼崽大脑发育不良。过去20~30年的研究表明，低含量LA6且含DHA3的油脂可改善大脑的功能。近年来的研究较多集中在营养因素对大脑发育的影响，最新研究数据表明，脂肪酸平衡对营养不良儿童的大脑发育尤为重要。世界卫生组织（WHO）越来越重视大脑的营养健康，通过其下属的食品法典委员会，建议用于治疗严重急性营养不良儿童的即食治疗食品中，使用含有均衡脂肪酸组成/构成的脂肪。同样，脂肪酸均衡对老年人可能也很重要。目前，业界已经有了调整油脂成分的方法，以确保脂肪酸均衡，从而维持人体整个生命周期的大脑健康。