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Prestressed anchor cables are commonly utilized to reinforce slopes in earthquake-prone zones. The existing upper bound limit analyses of seismic slopes reinforced with prestressed anchor cables have the following limitations: (1) neglecting variable seismic excitations; (2) ignoring the three-dimensional spatial layout of cables because of using the plane-strain analysis. In this study, the time-space effects of seismic waves are analytically described by sin-cos functions incorporating wave amplification or soil damping. Based on the upper bound of plastic theory and a three-dimensional discretized failure mechanism, internal energy dissipation rate and work rates contributed by gravitational forces, variable seismic excitations, and prestressed anchor cables are computed. An energy-based function of dynamic factors of safety (DFS) is established, followed by a global optimization to identify the critical harmonic pattern of DFS. The accuracy is checked by numerical simulations where the seismic stability of an engineering slope adjacent to Yu-Huai railway is evaluated. Comparisons also show that the conventional simplified method not only cannot reflect the spatial layout of cables but also overestimate the mechanical contribution of cables. Finally, the dominant effects of the layout of cables, soil properties as well as physical parameters of seismic waves on the DFS and the critical failure mechanism are discussed. A method to evaluate the stability of seismic cable-reinforced slopes A kinematical admissible 3D failure mechanism of cable-reinforced slopes is generated Critical harmonic pattern of safety factors is explicitly obtained. Effect of cable layout, dynamic parameters and soil properties are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was to comparative analysis of muscle fatty acid composition in 12 local chicken breeds. Based on the results of previous studies, the nutritional composition and muscle fatty acid content of 12 chicken breeds (White-eared chicken, Langshan chicken, Xiaoshan chicken, Beijing-You chicken, Silky chicken, Yugan black chicken, Chongren Ma chicken, Sanhuang chicken, Kangle chicken, Tibetan chicken, Wuding chicken and Dawei Mountain chicken) were analyzed. The results showed that the system hydraulic force, shear force and pH value of Sanhuang chickens were better than Xiaoshan chickens, White-eared chickens and Beijing-You chickens. The crude fat content of Tibetan chicken was significantly higher than that of the other 11 chicken breeds. The amino acid nutritional value of Sanhuang chicken, White-eared chicken and Tibetan chicken was higher. Silky chicken had the highest relative content of saturated fatty acids (44.96%) and Tibetan chicken had the lowest saturated fatty acid content (31.67%). Tibetan chicken had the highest unsaturated fatty acid (68.22%) and unsaturated fatty acids of Langshan chicken and Silky chicken were the lowest (54.34% and 54.43%). The first six principal components obtained by principal component analysis could explain 69.153% of total variance, of which the first, second and third principal components explained 27.352%, 25.371% and 16.431% of total variance, respectively. The phylogenetic clustering diagram based on principal component values classified 12 local chicken breeds in China into four categories, Yugan black chicken, Sanhuang chicken, Kangle chicken and Chongren Ma chicken were in one category. Beijing-You chicken, Tibetan chicken and Wuding chicken were in one category. Xiaoshan chickens, Dawei Mountain chickens, Langshan chickens and Silky chickens were in one category. White-eared chickens formed independent branches. The study indicates that unsaturated fatty acids of Tibetan chicken, Yugan black chicken and Sanhuang chicken are significantly higher than saturated fatty acids and their composition was more in line with standard of human diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano-silica (SiO2) has been widely used to fill rubbers (crosslinked) and usual polyolefin elastomers (POEs). SiO2 filled POE with crystalline structure can also be crosslinked. Crystallization, structure, and mechanical properties of crosslinked POE/SiO2 composites can be affected by SiO2. In this paper, crosslinked POE/SiO2 composites were obtained through two different methods: dynamic crosslinking in molten state and static crosslinking. For the non-crosslinked and static crosslinked composites, SiO2 had a more significant effect on the nucleation in non-crosslinked POE than in static crosslinked POE. For the dynamic crosslinked composite, SiO2 and crosslinking points hindered the mobility of POE chains and suppressed the POE crystallization, resulting in smaller and fewer crystals. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed that the SiO2 and POE were compatible, as evidenced by the lower tan(δ) value in SiO2-filled samples. The latter was more consistent with the higher tensile strength and elongation at break for the non-crosslinked and static crosslinked composites than for the non-filled samples. However, the dynamic crosslinked composite exhibited the worst elongation at break, resulting from the lowest number of crystals and shortened molecular chains due to the shearing that occurred during crosslinking process. The SiO2 had no observable effect on the permanent deformation of samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circulating miRNAs have been shown as promising biomarkers for various pathologic conditions. The aim of this study was to clarify that circulating miR-1 and miR-126 in human plasma might be useful as biomarkers in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In our study, after pre-test, two candidate miRNAs were detected by using real-time RT-PCR. Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) concentrations were measured by ELISA assay in plasma from patients with AMI (n=17) and healthy subjects (n=25), simultaneously. Increased miR-1 and decreased miR-126 in plasma from patients with AMI after the onset of symptoms compared with healthy subjects were found. A remarkable finding in this study is that miR-1, miR-126 and cTnI expression levels exhibited the same trend. Our results suggest that the plasma concentrations of miR-1 and miR-126 may be useful indicators for AMI.