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The nickel-based casting superalloy K4169 is extensively utilized in aerospace engines for its extraordinary mechanical and thermal properties. However, achieving high surface integrity of the superalloy remains challenging. Ultrasonic-assisted machining (UAM) is an advantageous technology, while the influence on cast superalloy is imperative to be revealed. The study on surface morphology and integrity of K4169 was carried out using ultrasonic-assisted end milling. The results showed that the ultrasonic vibration effectively suppresses surface defects and facilitates a regular surface texture. A more significant deformed layer of 7.3 μm was induced in UAM, representing a 97% enhancement relative to CM. Additionally, surface microhardness and compressive residual stress show a tendency to increase with ultrasonic amplitude. Specifically, the surface compressive residual stress in UAM reached 822 MPa, signifying a 69.6% increase over CM.

The visual measurement of deep holes in composite material workpieces constitutes a critical step in the robotic assembly of aerospace components. The positioning accuracy of assembly holes significantly impacts the assembly quality of components. However, the complex texture of the composite material surface and mutual interference between the imaging of the inlet and outlet edges of deep holes significantly challenge hole detection. A visual measurement method for deep holes in composite materials based on the radial penalty Laplacian operator is proposed to address the issues by suppressing visual noise and enhancing the features of hole edges. Coupled with a novel inflection-point-removal algorithm, this approach enables the accurate detection of holes with a diameter of 10 mm and a depth of 50 mm in composite material components, achieving a measurement precision of 0.03 mm.

BackgroundSerum uric acid (SUA) has been suggested as a contributor of hypertension. However, reports on the relationship between changes in SUA and hypertension are limited. Hence, we aimed to investigate the potential impact of SUA, especially its change over time, on hypertension incidence.MethodsThis dynamic cohort included 6052 participants without hypertension at baseline. Participants were categorized into six grades based on whether baseline SUA was high and whether changes in SUA progressed to hyperuricemia or decreased to normal levels. Grades 1 to 6 represented the participants’ SUA control from best to worst. Logistic regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) models were used to explore the association of the grades of SUA control and hypertension incidence.ResultsDuring a median follow-up of 6 years, 2550 (42.1%) participants developed hypertension. After adjusting confounding factors, compared to grade 1 with the best control of SUA, the odds ratios for grades 2 to 6 with worse control were 1.347 (1.109-1.636), 1.138 (0.764-1.693), 1.552 (1.245-1.934), 1.765 (1.170-2.663), and 2.165 (1.566-2.993), respectively. RCS indicated a linear correlation between the risk of hypertension and changes in SUA, and an elevated risk in participants with baseline hyperuricemia. Subgroup analyses showed that grades of SUA control had an interaction with systolic (P = 0.003) and diastolic blood pressure (P < 0.001). Sensitivity analyses further determined the robustness of the result that participants with poor SUA control have a higher risk of developing hypertension.ConclusionPoor SUA control, an increase in SUA over time, rises the risk of developing hypertension regardless of whether the initial SUA is normal or not. Initial hyperuricemia will exacerbate this risk. Effective SUA control should be an important measure for primary prevention of hypertension.

The robotic drilling of assembly holes is a crucial process in aerospace manufacturing, in which measuring the normal of the workpiece surface is a key step to guide the robot to the correct pose and guarantee the perpendicularity of the hole axis. Multiple laser displacement sensors can be used to satisfy the portable and in-site measurement requirements, but there is still a lack of accurate analysis and layout design. In this paper, a simplified parametric method is proposed for multi-sensor normal measurement devices with a symmetrical layout, using three parameters: the sensor number, the laser beam slant angle, and the laser spot distribution radius. A normal measurement error distribution simulation method considering the random sensor errors is proposed. The measurement error distribution laws at different sensor numbers, the laser beam slant angle, and the laser spot distribution radius are revealed as a pyramid-like region. The influential factors on normal measurement accuracy, such as sensor accuracy, quantity and installation position, are analyzed by a simulation and verified experimentally on a five-axis precision machine tool. The results show that increasing the laser beam slant angle and laser spot distribution radius significantly reduces the normal measurement errors. With the laser beam slant angle ≥15° and the laser spot distribution radius ≥19 mm, the normal measurement error falls below 0.05°, ensuring normal accuracy in robotic drilling.

Abstract Scope Male fertility and sperm quality are negatively affected by psychological stress. Chronic restraint stress (CRS) is a common psychological stress that has a negative effect on sperm. Betaine (BET), an active ingredient isolated from Lycium barbarum, has anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and other pharmacological activities. This study aims to explore whether betaine has a therapeutic effect on sperm deformity and vitality under CRS and its mechanism. Methods and results Chronic restraint stress was induced in 8-week-old male C57BL/6 J mice by fixation for 6 h a day for 35 days. Mice were intraperitoneally injected with betaine (BET) or normal saline (NS) for 14 days. Thirty-five days later, the animals were sacrificed. The results showed that the detrimental effects of CRS on testes as evident by disrupted histoarchitecture, increased oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis that compromised male fertility. BET injections can reverse these symptoms. Conclusions BET can improve spermatogenesis dysfunction caused by CRS, which may provide potential dietary guidance. Graphical abstract

The accurate understanding of the origin of overpressure is the basis of formation pressure research and the core work of determining the distribution of formation pore pressure in drilling design. The deep water area of Baiyun Sag in the Pearl River Mouth Basin in the northern margin of the South China Sea has been proved to be a hydrocarbon rich depression. In recent years, overpressure has been encountered in the middle and deep layers, but the geological origin of the overpressure in the deep water area are still unclear. Therefore, the pore pressure profile of the Baiyun Sag was evaluated using the data of drilling and seismic velocity, and the relationship between overpressure and the generation mechanism was established. Most of the surrounding and shallow strata of Baiyun Sag show normal pressure, while the middle and deep strata generally show overpressure, with the maximum pressure coefficient up to 1.55. The overpressure zone mainly develops from the middle of Zhujiang Formation to the upper member of Enping Formation. The mudstone resistivity and density values of the two typical Wells deviated from the normal trend. The density showed a constant trend with the increase of depth, while the resistivity showed a certain degree of reversal. The upper layer of the overpressure zone showed abnormally high resistivity values, corresponding to the overgland and transition zone formed by high carbonate content. There is no obvious increase of porosity in the overpressured sandstone strata of Baiyun sag, which does not have the characteristics of undercompaction. The velocity in the overpressure section of the two Wells varies greatly, and the density is basically unchanged or slightly decreased. It is concluded that the overpressure is caused by fluid expansion from hydrocarbon-generation. The large-scale and long-term fluid expansion caused by hydrocarbon generation and expulsion of source rocks provides the power source for the formation of overpressure in Baiyun sag. The distribution of effective source rocks has a controlling effect on the distribution range of overpressure. The tight sandstone strata in the Zhuhai, Wenchang and Enping formations become the cover layer of the overpressure system in the longitudinal direction.

Metamaterials composed of metallic antennae arrays are used as they possess extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) in the terahertz (THz) region, whereby a giant forward light propagation can be created using constructive interference of tunneling surface plasmonic waves. However, numerous applications of THz meta-devices demand an active manipulation of the THz beam in free space. Although some studies have been carried out to control the EOT for the THz region, few of these are based upon electrical modulation of the EOT phenomenon, and novel strategies are required for actively and dynamically reconfigurable EOT meta-devices. In this work, we experimentally present that the EOT resonance can be coupled to optically reconfigurable chalcogenide metamaterials which offers a reversible all-optical control of the THz light. A modulation efficiency of 88% in transmission at 0.85 THz is experimentally observed using the EOT metamaterials, which is composed of a gold (Au) circular aperture array sitting on a non-volatile chalcogenide phase change material (Ge2Sb2Te5) film. This comes up with a robust and ultrafast reconfigurable EOT over 20 times of switching, excited by a nanosecond pulsed laser. The measured data have a good agreement with finite-element-method numerical simulation. This work promises THz modulators with significant on/off ratios and fast speeds.

Methamphetamine, commonly referred to as METH, is a highly addictive psychostimulant and one of the most commonly misused drugs on the planet. Using METH continuously can increase your risk for drug addiction, along with other health complications like attention deficit disorder, memory loss, and cognitive decline. Neurotoxicity caused by METH is thought to play a significant role in the onset of these neurological complications. The molecular mechanisms responsible for METH-caused neuronal damage are discussed in this review. According to our analysis, METH is closely associated with programmed cell death (PCD) in the process that causes neuronal impairment, such as apoptosis, autophagy, necroptosis, pyroptosis, and ferroptosis. In reviewing this article, some insights are gained into how METH addiction is accompanied by cell death and may help to identify potential therapeutic targets for the neurological impairment caused by METH abuse.

In order to solve the engineering problem that the bolt tail is often broken under the impact of rock pressure, mining stress and the damage to the support structure contribute to great hidden danger to the safety of mining and tunneling. A new anti-impact bolt support structure is designed that can absorb energy under pressure. The double laminated springs and the inner spring deform under the impact load to achieve the purpose of absorbing most of the impact energy. The composition and working principle of the energy-absorbing structure is introduced. The static axial compression tests of the single laminated springs with cone angles of 30°, 45°, and 60° are carried out. The mechanical characteristics of the laminated springs in the three stages of energy absorption are investigated. It is found that the 45° laminated spring has the best energy absorption effect. The simulation method was used to analyze and optimize the energy absorption effect of anti-scour composite components. Double laminated spring anti-shock composite components absorb the impact energy and avoid the damage to the bolt support structure, which reduces the roadway support cost and has important engineering application value for ensuring the safety of deep tunneling and mining.

Automated Compliance Checking (ACC) of building/construction projects is one of the important applications in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, because it provides the checking processes and results of whether a building design complies with relevant laws, policies and regulations. Currently, Automated Compliance Checking still involves lots of manual operations, and massive time and cost consumption. Additionally, some sub-tasks of ACC have been researched, while few studies can automatically implement the whole ACC process. To solve related issues, we proposed a semantic approach to implement the whole ACC process in an automated way. Natural Language Processing (NLP) is used to extract rule terms and logic relationships among these terms from text regulatory documents. Rule terms are mapped to keywords (concepts or properties) in BIM data through term matching and semantic similarity analysis. After that, according to the mapped keywords in BIM and logic relationships among keywords, a corresponding SPARQL query is automatically generated. The query results can be non-compliance or compliance with rules based on the generated SPARQL query and requirements of stakeholders. The cases study proves that the proposed approach can provide a flexible and effective rule checking for BIM data. In addition, based on the proposed approach, we also further develop a semantic framework to implement automated rule compliance checking in construction industry.

High-performance component production requires nearly homogeneous materials, ultra-precise machining and a high surface integrity. However, conventional design and manufacturing methodologies, which continuously increase the geometric tolerance to meet the performance requirements, lead to cost increases that even exceed the existing machining capabilities. This paper presents a general manufacturing methodology for high-performance components under realistic conditions, such as the current capability for material forming and machining. In order to achieve an excellent component performance, this methodology includes parameter extraction, sensitivity analysis, and trimming processes that consider the effect of material removal resolution and processing uncertainties. Simulations performed on the hemispherical resonator demonstrate how the proposed methodology is applied to fabricate extremely high-performance resonators. An efficient modal tuning strategy is proposed based on a sensitivity analysis of the tuning process parameters subject to material removal resolution and uncertainties. The tuning results prove the feasibility of this new methodology for high-performance components manufacturing. The elimination of the frequency split can finally be achieved with surface tuning iteratively. The proposed methodology provides an effective solution to achieve high-performance components under limited machining capabilities.

Abstract Background Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are research hotspots in the network of noncoding RNAs in numerous tumours. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the clinicopathological, prognostic and diagnostic value of circRNAs in colorectal cancer. Methods The PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science online databases were searched for relevant studies before May 15, 2019. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the association between circRNAs expression, and overall survival (OS) and clinical parameters. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the curve (AUC) were employed to assess the diagnostic value of circRNAs. Results A total of 19 studies were enrolled in this meta-analysis, with 11 on clinicopathological parameters, 8 on prognosis and 7 on diagnosis. For clinicopathological and prognostic value, elevated expression of oncogenic circRNAs was correlated with poor clinical parameters (tumor size: OR = 1.769, 95% CI: 1.097–2.852; differentiation grade: OR = 1.743, 95% CI: 1.032–2.946; TNM stage: OR = 3.320, 95% CI: 1.529–7.207; T classification: OR = 3.410, 95% CI: 2.088–5.567; lymph node metastasis: OR = 3.357, 95% CI: 2.160–5.215; distal metastasis: OR = 4.338, 95% CI: 2.503–7.520) and worse prognosis (HR = 2.29, 95% CI: 1.50–3.52). However, elevated expression of tumor-suppressor circRNAs was correlated with better clinical parameters (differentiation grade: OR = 0.453, 95% CI: 0.261–0.787; T classification: OR = 0.553, 95% CI: 0.328–0.934; distal metastasis: OR = 0.196, 95% CI: 0.077–0.498) and favorable prognosis (HR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.22–0.64). For diagnostic value, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, and AUC were 0.82 (95% CI, 0.75–0.88), 0.72 (95% CI, 0.66–0.78), and 0.82 (95% CI, 0.78–0.85), respectively. Conclusions These results indicate that circRNAs may be potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of colorectal cancer.

Machining surface topography is a key factor affecting the properties of optical materials. It is generally accepted that the fracture mode tends to dominate practical concerns on machined parts and the elastic recovery area decreases with the increase of normal load. However, material removal rate is low for ductile zone processing of brittle materials. In this case, pile-up and elastic recovery are key factors for surface quality. In this study, an accurate scratching and ploughing hardness model with consideration of both pile-up and elastic recovery was established based on a series of continuous and constant nanoscratch tests. The hardness evolution mechanism under different nanoscratch deformation modes was then investigated. It was found that, in different modes, hardness values exhibited different characteristics due to the change of elastic recovery rate and the intersection of elastic and plastic states. Further, the mapping relationship between hardness dispersion and surface morphology characteristics was also investigated. The results indicated that high degree of hardness dispersion usually corresponded to modes Ⅰ and Ⅱ while stable hardness value represented a steady plastic stage. Based on the intrinsic relationship between evolution of hardness and deformation modes, predicting hardness distribution by in-situ testing data and then adjusting deformation mode in real time would be helpful in optimizing surface quality.

Understanding the influence mechanism of abrasive/tool wear on machining is the key to realize high-efficiency ultra-precision machining of fused silica. To explore the effect of abrasive/tool wear on ductile machining, the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) cutting models with different edge radii are established. Through the analysis of equivalent rake angle, hydrostatic pressure, cutting force and maximum principal stress with the Flamant’s formula, the influence of edge radii on ductile-brittle transition (DBT) is discussed for the first time. The simulation results show that when the edge radius increases from less to larger than the cutting depth, the equivalent rake angle changes from positive to negative, and the maximum hydrostatic pressure gradually increases, which is beneficial to promote the ductile processing. Meanwhile, with the rise of edge radius (i.e., abrasive/tool wear), both the cutting force and crack initiation angle increase, while the friction coefficient and normalized maximum principal decrease. When the value of normalized maximum principal stress exceeds 2.702, the crack in the workpiece begins to initiate, and its initiation angle calculated by the Flamant’s formula is in good agreement with the simulation results as well as less than 50°. Finally, the nano-scratch experiment was carried out, and the material removal mechanism and friction coefficient f similar to the simulation were obtained, which further proved the accuracy of SPH model. This study is meaningful for understanding the effect of abrasive/tool wear on the removal mechanism of brittle materials and improving the quality and efficiency of cutting and grinding.

The present paper proposes a design method for synthesizing a frequency selective surface (FSS) based dual-band composite radome wall with high angular stability. In the proposed method, a generalized composite structure composed of two FSS arrays embedded within dielectric layers has been adopted to obtain the dual-band second-order band-pass transmission characteristic. To describe this transmission characteristic, a novel equivalent circuit model has been established. By this equivalent circuit model, the optimized structural parameters can be derived from the desired resonant frequency and bandwidth of the pass-bands via a curve-fitting method. Also, discussions and principles for designing the dielectric layers have been provided to achieve the high angular stability. The simulated results show that the designed radome wall can provide two pass-bands operating at 10GHz and 14GHz with a bandwidth of 2GHz and 1.8GHz, respectively. And the two pass-bands are stable at 60° incident angle for both TE and TM polarizations. For verification, a dual-band composite radome wall has been designed, fabricated and measured. Good agreements between the simulated and the measured results can be observed.

In order to overcome the support difficulty of serious floor heave caused by rock burst, with the floor heave of ventilation roadway in Hegang Xing An Coal Mine as the engineering background, the treatment scheme of the concrete-filled steel tube corner pile and floor grouting is put forward. Based on the solution of the slip line field under plane strain condition, the mechanical model of the slip-type floor heave is established, and the formula for calculating the critical failure depth of the roadway floor and the minimum support depth of the corner pile is derived. Through numerical analysis and similar model tests, the deformation and stress distribution of surrounding rock under the support of the corner piles are studied, and the force law of the pile under high horizontal stress is analyzed. The results show that, compared with the floor corner anchor, the floor corner pile + floor grouting support scheme can significantly improve the mechanical properties of the floor rock mass, and the plastic slip line of the floor plate part can be cut by corner piles, which effectively controls the deformation of the floor plate under high horizontal stress; the length and inclination angle of the corner pile have a great influence on the support effect. In the on-site treatment scheme, 1.1 times the calculated length of pile should be selected. The results of a similar model and field test show that the corner pile is effective in controlling the deformation of roadway floor and two sides.

According to the characteristics of rock burst of high horizontal stress roadway floor, the rock burst mechanism of roadway floor was studied with the background of south track roadway Xing’an mine. Based on the deflection theory and energy principle of the slab, the mechanical model of the floor of the roadway under high horizontal stress was established, the stress and energy criteria of rock burst occurred in the floor of the roadway were deduced, the prevention and control measures of the floor pressure relief with large diameter borehole and concrete-filled steel tube pile support were put forward, and the key parameters were determined. By establishing a numerical model, the evolution law of plastic zone, horizontal stress, and elastic strain energy density of roadway floor with or without support is contrastively analyzed. The results show that the effective means to prevent and control the floor rock burst is to cut off the stress transfer path by weakening the hard floor to reduce floor energy accumulation so as to reduce the floor rock burst risk. Based on the above research, field tests were carried out, and the microseismic monitoring results showed that the floor pressure relief of large diameter boreholes and concrete-filled steel tube pile support effectively relieved the floor rock burst and guaranteed the safety and efficiency of roadway excavation. This technology can provide a reference for the prevention and control of floor rock burst of similar roadways.

Mechanical drilling can change the microstructure of the regions near the hole wall, remarkably affecting the working performance of precision parts. The present work investigated the microstructural evolution in the regions from the drilled hole wall to the inner matrix of the soft magnetic 49Fe-49Co-2V alloy after the common drilling experiments were carried out. The microstructures and microhardness in different regions near the hole wall along the radial direction were characterized with OM, SEM, TEM, EBSD and Vickers Microhardness tester. The experimental results show that the nearest region to the hole wall is constituted of nano-sized refined grains. It exhibits a disordered BCC phase due to the rapid cooling from the high temperature during the drilling, different from the dual-phase of BCC and B2 of the matrix. The second-nearest region to the hole wall is distributed by a huge number of dislocations, leading to a maximum in microhardness. The microstructural evolution contributes to the variation of the microhardness, which increases firstly, reaches a maximum, and then decreases to the level of the matrix with the distance increasing from the hole wall. This variation tendency is discussed in light of both refined grain-boundary strengthening and dislocation strengthening mechanisms. Keywords: 49Fe-49Co-2V alloy, Drilling, Microstructural evolution, Microhardness, Strengthening mechanisms

Abstract Friction and wear remain the primary modes for energy dissipation in moving mechanical components. Superlubricity is highly desirable for energy saving and environmental benefits. Macroscale superlubricity was previously performed under special environments or on curved nanoscale surfaces. Nevertheless, macroscale superlubricity has not yet been demonstrated under ambient conditions on macroscale surfaces, except in humid air produced by purging water vapor into a tribometer chamber. In this study, a tribological system is fabricated using a graphene‐coated plate (GCP), graphene‐coated microsphere (GCS), and graphene‐coated ball (GCB). The friction coefficient of 0.006 is achieved in air under 35 mN at a sliding speed of 0.2 mm s−1 for 1200 s in the developed GCB/GCS/GCP system. To the best of the knowledge, for the first time, macroscale superlubricity on macroscale surfaces under ambient conditions is reported. The mechanism of macroscale superlubricity is due to the combination of exfoliated graphene flakes and the swinging and sliding of the GCS, which is demonstrated by the experimental measurements, ab initio, and molecular dynamics simulations. These findings help to bridge macroscale superlubricity to real world applications, potentially dramatically contributing to energy savings and reducing the emission of carbon dioxide to the environment.

The surrounding rock damage of a tunnel under adjacent explosive load is often manifested as the growth of the original crack. In order to thoroughly understand the crack growth mechanism, in this study, the growth process of the original crack was investigated in detail by the dynamic caustics experiment. The experimental study shows that the growth of original crack is the result of the combined action of explosion stress wave and explosive gas. The quasi-static stress generated by the explosive gas was superimposed on the weakened stress field, resulting in the formation of the peak of the main stress difference in the surrounding rock, moving towards the adjacent tunnel in the form of an arc wave. With the arc wave moving towards the original crack, the growth rate of the original crack increases rapidly. During the period of 200 μs to 250 μs, the crack growth rate oscillates at the peak, and its size is approximately equal to the moving speed of the arc wave. Based on the experimental results and microscopic damage mechanics, the high stress concentration at the original crack tip under the stress wave first causes damage localization and the weakest chain is formed by the penetration of the damage localization zones by microcracks by special distribution law. Subsequently, the original crack starts to initiate and grow along the direction of the weakest chain.

Aiming at soft rock ground support issues under conditions of high stress and long-term water immersion, the ground failure mechanism is revealed by taking the deep-water sumps of Jiulong Mine as the engineering background and employing field investigation, tests of rock structure, mechanical properties and mineral composition. The main factors leading to the surrounding rock failure include the high and complex stress state of the water sumps, high-clay content and water-weakened rock, and the unreasonable support design. In this paper, the broken and fractured rock mass near roadway opening is considered as ground small-structure, and deep stable rock mass as ground large-structure. A support technology focusing on cutting off the water, strengthening the small structure of the rock and transferring the large structure of the rock is proposed. The proposed support technology of interconnecting the large and small structures, based on high-strength bolts, high-stiffness shotcrete layer plugging water, strengthening the small structure with deep-hole grouting and shallow-hole grouting, high-pretensioned cables tensioned twice to make the large and small structures bearing the pressure evenly, channel-steel and high-pretensioned cables are used to control floor heave. The numerical simulation and field test show that this support system can control the rock deformation of the water sumps and provide technical support to similar roadway support designs. Keywords: High stress and soft rock, Water immersion, Failure mechanism, Large and small structures, Rework control

Solid state amorphization is induced by shock, irradiation and deformation, while deformation induced complete amorphization remains a challenge in a bulk solid. Brittle-to-ductile transition (BDT) mechanism is elusive at loading speeds of m/s at nanoscale depth of cut. Existing formula has no effects of shape and radius of cutting edges on the critical depth of cut at BDT. In this study, a new route of deformation induced complete amorphization at nanoscale is proposed in a bulk solid confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). This is performed by a novel approach of ultraprecision grinding, conducted on a specially designed setup. The grinding is carried out by a developed single diamond grain with a cutting edge radius of 2.5 μm, at depth of cut of 24 nm under a loading speed of 40 m/s. BDT takes place at depth of cut of 419 and 172 nm for Si (100) respectively, ground by single diamond grains with tip radii of 5 and 2.5 μm correspondingly. A new model is suggested for BDT, considering the effects of radius and shape of cutting edges. The findings provide new insights for design and fabrication of high performance devices used in flexible electronics, nanodevices, microelectronics and optoelectronics.

Generally, building information modelling (BIM) models contain multiple dimensions of building information, including building design data, construction information, and maintenance-related contents, which are related with different engineering stakeholders. Efficient extraction of BIM data is a necessary and vital step for various data analyses and applications, especially in large-scale BIM projects. In order to extract BIM data, multiple query languages have been developed. However, the use of these query languages for data extraction usually requires that engineers have good programming skills, flexibly master query language(s), and fully understand the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) express schema or the ontology expression of the IFC schema (ifcOWL). These limitations have virtually increased the difficulties of using query language(s) and raised the requirements on engineers’ essential knowledge reserves in data extraction. In this paper, we develop a simple method for automatic SPARQL (SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language) query generation to implement effective data extraction. Based on the users’ data requirements, we match users’ requirements with ifcOWL ontology concepts or instances, search the connected relationships among query keywords based on semantic BIM data, and generate the user-desired SPARQL query. We demonstrate through several case studies that our approach is effective and the generated SPARQL queries are accurate.

Geospatial information has been indispensable for many application fields, including traffic planning, urban planning, and energy management. Geospatial data are mainly stored in relational databases that have been developed over several decades, and most geographic information applications are desktop applications. With the arrival of big data, geospatial information applications are also being modified into, e.g., mobile platforms and Geospatial Web Services, which require changeable data schemas, faster query response times, and more flexible scalability than traditional spatial relational databases currently have. To respond to these new requirements, NoSQL (Not only SQL) databases are now being adopted for geospatial data storage, management, and queries. This paper reviews state-of-the-art geospatial data processing in the 10 most popular NoSQL databases. We summarize the supported geometry objects, main geometry functions, spatial indexes, query languages, and data formats of these 10 NoSQL databases. Moreover, the pros and cons of these NoSQL databases are analyzed in terms of geospatial data processing. A literature review and analysis showed that current document databases may be more suitable for massive geospatial data processing than are other NoSQL databases due to their comprehensive support for geometry objects and data formats and their performance, geospatial functions, index methods, and academic development. However, depending on the application scenarios, graph databases, key-value, and wide column databases have their own advantages.

Construction and demolition waste (C&D waste) are widely recognized as the main form municipal solid waste, and its recycling and reuse are an important issue in sustainable city development. Material flow analysis (MFA) can quantify materials flows and stocks, and is a useful tool for the analysis of construction and demolition waste management. In recent years, material flow analysis has been continually researched in construction and demolition waste processing considering both single waste material and mixed wastes, and at regional, national, and global scales. Moreover, material flow analysis has had some new research extensions and new combined methods that provide dynamic, robust, and multifaceted assessments of construction and demolition waste. In this paper, we summarize and discuss the state of the art of material flow analysis research in the context of construction and demolition waste recycling and disposal. Furthermore, we also identify the current research gaps and future research directions that are expected to promote the development of MFA for construction and demolition waste processing in the field of sustainable city development.

Laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) is an important optical indicator for nonlinear Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate (KDP) crystal used in high power laser systems. In this study, KDP optical crystals are initially machined with single point diamond turning (SPDT), followed by water dissolution ultra-precision polishing (WDUP) and then tested with 355 nm nanosecond pulsed-lasers. Power spectral density (PSD) analysis shows that WDUP process eliminates the laser-detrimental spatial frequencies band of micro-waviness on SPDT machined surface and consequently decreases its modulation effect on the laser beams. The laser test results show that LIDT of WDUP machined crystal improves and its stability has a significant increase by 72.1% compared with that of SPDT. Moreover, a subsequent ultrasonic assisted solvent cleaning process is suggested to have a positive effect on the laser performance of machined KDP crystal. Damage crater investigation indicates that the damage morphologies exhibit highly thermal explosion features of melted cores and brittle fractures of periphery material, which can be described with the classic thermal explosion model. The comparison result demonstrates that damage mechanisms for SPDT and WDUP machined crystal are the same and WDUP process reveals the real bulk laser resistance of KDP optical crystal by removing the micro-waviness and subsurface damage on SPDT machined surface. This improvement of WDUP method makes the LIDT more accurate and will be beneficial to the laser performance of KDP crystal.

The composite structure-similar flutter model (ComSSM) not only shows higher structural efficiency but also provides convenience for the purpose of fabrication in the aerodynamic flutter model. The manufacturing process of ComSSM is different from conventional composites structures. The geometry parameters and nongeometry parameters of ComSSM need to be controlled cooperatively and precisely to obtain higher product quality. A method of precise manufacturing is developed based on the error calibration of nongeometry parameters. The accuracy of structural performance of ComSSM is ensured by reducing the manufacturing stiffness, controlling the error of mechanical performance, and calibrating the error of modal frequency.