Bo Liu^1,*, Haoran Li¹, Shuya Liu²

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.14, No.3, pp. 249-264, 2020, DOI:10.32604/sdhm.2020.06482 - 14 September 2020

Abstract The buoyancy of groundwater can reduce the foundation bearing capacity and cause the metro tunnels to float as a whole, which threatens the safety of structures seriously. Therefore, uplift piles are set up to improve the structural stability. In this paper, FLAC3D software is used to establish the calculation models of pile foundation. The bearing failure process of uplift piles was simulated to study the influencing factors on single pile load bearing capacity as well as the cooperative work laws of pile groups. The load-displacement curves of pile top under different length-diameter ratios, pile-soil interface… More >

Yan Liu¹, Yanfei Guo¹, Xufeng Sun^1,*, Meng Gong²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.9, pp. 1111-1127, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.09575 - 03 August 2020

Abstract Poplar Laminated Veneer Lumber (Poplar LVL) is a new type of engineering materials with high strength, good reliability and small variability. Poplar LVL is manufactured from the fast-growing poplar, which is widely used in packaging, furniture and others, however, is rarely adopted in construction. In order to explore the feasibility of poplar LVL trusses in construction of roof, four 4.5-m-span Fink-and-Howe trusses were designed and assembled, which were made of poplar LVL with bolted- and tooth-plated connections. Vertical static loading on the upper chord joints of a truss was imposed by self-balancing test device. The… More >

Ahmed Y. Hamed¹, Monagi H. Alkinani², M. R. Hassan^{3, *}

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.64, No.3, pp. 1579-1586, 2020, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2020.010881 - 30 June 2020

Abstract Computer networks and power transmission networks are treated as capacitated flow networks. A capacitated flow network may partially fail due to maintenance. Therefore, the capacity of each edge should be optimally assigned to face critical situations—i.e., to keep the network functioning normally in the case of failure at one or more edges. The robust design problem (RDP) in a capacitated flow network is to search for the minimum capacity assignment of each edge such that the network still survived even under the edge’s failure. The RDP is known as NP-hard. Thus, capacity assignment problem subject More >

Yanwei Feng¹, Wen Lei², Rui Gu³, Ping Zhao⁴, Shijun Ni^1,*, Ningfei Lei^3,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.89, No.3, pp. 667-679, 2020, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2020.010160 - 22 June 2020

Abstract Water, minerals, nutrients, etc., can be shared by physiological integration among inter-connected ramets of clonal plants. Nitrogen plays an important role in alleviating cadmium (Cd) stress for clonal plants. But how different forms of nitrogen affect growth performance of clonal plants subjected to heterogeneous Cd stress still remains poorly understood. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the differential effects of ammonium and nitrate on growth performance of Glechoma longituba under heterogeneous Cd stress. In the experiment, parent ramets of Glechoma longituba clonal fragments were respectively supplied with modified Hoagland solution containing 7.5 mM ammonium, 7.5… More >

Daoming Shen^1,2,*, Chao Gui¹, Jinhong Xia¹, Songtao Xue^2,3

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.16, No.3, pp. 489-500, 2020, DOI:10.32604/fdmp.2020.08969 - 25 May 2020

Abstract The performances of a refrigeration unit relying on compressors working in parallel have been investigated considering the influence of the compressor volumetric efficiency and isentropic efficiency on the compression ratio. Moreover, the following influential factors have been taken into account: evaporation temperature, condensation temperature and compressor suction-exhaust pressure ratio for different opening conditions of the compressor. The following quantities have been selected as the unit performance measurement indicators: refrigeration capacity, energy efficiency ratio (COP), compressor power consumption, and refrigerant flow rate. The experimental results indicate that the system refrigeration capacity and COP decrease with a More >

Rijia Ding¹, Xingyao Zhou^1,*, Rui Zhang¹, Wanqiu Lu²

Energy Engineering, Vol.117, No.1, pp. 27-39, 2020, DOI:10.32604/EE.2020.010372 - 28 February 2020

Abstract Coal is the main energy source in China. At present, the coal overcapacity is still serious in China. Accurately measuring the degree of China’s coal overcapacity can scientifically resolve the overcapacity, and is the premise of guiding the healthy development of coal industry and energy system. Using the translog cost function and the panel data of coal industry in all provinces of China from 2002 to 2011 and from 2012 to 2016, the research measures and compares the coal production capacity of “golden decade” and “cold winter” in China. The results show that: (1) The More >

Alexander C. Egbe, William R. Miranda, Patricia A. Pellikka, Sorin V. Pislaru, Barry A. Borlaug, Srikanth Kothapalli, Sindhura Ananthaneni, Harigopal Sandhyavenu, Maria Najam, Mohamed Farouk Abdelsamid, Heidi M. Connolly

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.4, pp. 657-664, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12768

Abstract Background: We hypothesized that echocardiographic indices of right ventricular to pulmonary artery (RV‐PA) coupling were comparable to cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI)‐derived RV volumetric indices in predicting disease severity in chronic pulmonary regurgitation (PR).
Methods: Patients with ≥ moderate PR (2003‐2015) with and without prior CMRI scans were enrolled into the study cohort and validation cohort, respectively. Endpoint was to determine the association between noninvasive RV‐PA coupling in‐ dices (tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion/right ventricular systolic pressure [TAPSE/RVSP] and fractional area change [FAC]/RVSP ratio) and markers of disease severity, and compared this association to that of CMRI‐derived… More >

Sebastian Udholm, Christian Rex, Filip Eckerström, Mine Onat, Camilla Nyboe, Vibeke E. Hjortdal

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.3, pp. 372-379, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12740

Abstract Objective: Adult patients with small, unrepaired atrial septal defects have an in‐ creased risk of pneumonia, atrial fibrillation, and stroke. Furthermore, they have higher late mortality than the background population. The functional capacity is un‐ known in these patients. Therefore, our objective was to determine exercise capacity in adult patients diagnosed with an unrepaired atrial septal defect compared to healthy controls. Design: A cross‐sectional study. Patients: Adult patients with small, unrepaired atrial septal defects, aged 18‐65, di‐ agnosed between 1953 and 2011. Interventions: Cardiopulmonary exercise test was performed using an incremental bicycle test and gas… More >

Alessia Callegari^1,2,4, Rhoia Neidenbach², Ornella Milanesi¹, Biagio Castaldi¹, Martin Christmann⁴, Masamichi Ono³, Jan Müller², Peter Ewert², Alfred Hager²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.2, pp. 147-155, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12694

Abstract Aim: The Fontan circulation is highly dependent on ventilation, improving pulmonary blood flow and cardiac output. A reduced ventilatory function is reported in these patients. The extent of this impairment and its relation to exercise capacity and qual‐ ity of life is unknown and objective of this study.
Methods: This multicenter retrospective/cross‐sectional study included 232 patients (140 females, age 25.6 ± 10.8 years) after Fontan palliation (19.8% atrioventricular connection; 20.3% atriopulmonary connection; 59.9% total cavopulmonary connec‐ tion). Resting spirometry, cardiopulmonary exercise tests, and quality‐of‐life assess‐ ment (SF‐36 questionnaire) were performed between 2003 and 2015.
Results: Overall, mean forced… More >

Jingyi Wang¹, Jing Sun^1,*, Dehua Liu¹, Xiang Zhu¹

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.15, No.5, pp. 613-625, 2019, DOI:10.32604/fdmp.2019.08782

Abstract One of the important indicators of shale gas reservoir excavation is capacity evaluation, which directly affects whether large-scale shale gas reservoirs can be excavated. Capacity evaluation is the basis of system analysis and dynamic prediction. Therefore, it is particularly important to conduct capacity evaluation studies on shale gas horizontal wells. In order to accurately evaluate the horizontal well productivity of shale gas staged fracturing, this paper uses a new method to evaluate the productivity of Fuling shale gas. The new method is aimed at the dynamic difference of horizontal wells and effectively analyzes the massive More >