BACKGROUND： It has been demonstrated that patients with functional dyspepsia have experiences social life stress events, and accompanied by psychological disorders, mainly manifested as depression and anxiety.Mental ...BACKGROUND： It has been demonstrated that patients with functional dyspepsia have experiences social life stress events, and accompanied by psychological disorders, mainly manifested as depression and anxiety.Mental factors can lead to excessive gastrointestinal consensual reaction, and result in different brain-gut axis disturbance, and then cause the gastrointestinal sensorimotor abnormality and endocrine changes.OBJECTIVE： To observe the effect of antidepressant treatment on the changes of water load and serum cortisol in patients with functional dyspepsia, and analyze the therapeutic mechanism.DESIGN： A comparative observation.SETTING： The First Affiliated Hospital o Zhengzhou University.PARTICIPANTS： Forty-five patients with functional dyspepsia accompanied by depression were selected from the Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from July 2004 to July 2006, and they were 25 - 65 years of age, and their disease courses ranged 1 - 10 years. They were all accorded with the diagnostic standards for Rome Ⅱ functional dyspepsia functional dyspepsia. As the patients＇ will, they were divided into treatment group （n =30, 12 males and 18 females） and control group （n =15, 6 males and 9 females）, and there were no significant differences in the data between the two groups （P 〉 0.05）. The programs were discussed and agreed by the committee of medical ethics of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. Informed contents were obtained from all the patients.METHODS： In the treatment group, the patients were treated with venlafaxine sustained release capsule （75 mg per day）, and those with sleep disorder were added by benzodiazepines （alprazolam）. In the control group, the patients were given routine treatments of antacid, prokinetics, etc. Before and after 8-week treatment, the following examinations were performed： ① The gastrointestinal symptoms were assessed according to the symptoms; ② The severity of depression was evaluated with Hamilton depression scale （HAMD）; ③The relaxation of proximal stomach was observed using water load test; ④ The serum level of cortisol was detected.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： ① Symptom score; ② HAMD score; ③ Water load amount; ④Serum level of cortisol.RESULTS： All the 45 patients were involved in the analysis of results. ① Symptom score： The scores of gastrointestinal symptoms were decreased as compared with those before treatment in both the treatment group and control group （P 〈 0.05）. ② HAMD scores： The scores of HAMD were decreased as compared with those before treatment in both the treatment group and control group （P 〈 0.05）. ③ Water load amount：The total effective rate was significantly higher in the treatment group than the control group （P 〈 0.05）. ④The serum levels of cortisol after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment in the patients with severe gastrointestinal symptoms in the treatment group and control group （P 〈 0.05）.CONCLUSION： Antidepressants can normalize the cortisol level of patients with functional dyspepsia, and then decrease gastric sensitivity and ameliorates the receptive relaxation of proximal stomach, also increase the water load amount correspondingly, and finally control the gastrointestinal symptoms of functional dyspepsia.展开更多
Ring footings are suitable for the structures like tall transmission towers, chimneys, silos and oil storages.These types of structures are susceptible to horizontal loads(wind load) in addition to their dead weight.I...Ring footings are suitable for the structures like tall transmission towers, chimneys, silos and oil storages.These types of structures are susceptible to horizontal loads(wind load) in addition to their dead weight.In the literature, very little or no effort has been made to study the effect of ring footing resting on reinforced sand when subjected to eccentric, inclined and/or eccentric-inclined loadings. This paper aims to study the behavior of ring footing resting on loose sand and/or compacted randomly distributed fiberreinforced sand(RDFS) when subjected to eccentric(0 B, 0.05 B and 0.1 B, where B is the outer diameter of ring footing), inclined(0°,5°,10°, 15°,-5°,-10° and-15°)and eccentric-inclined loadings by using a finite element(FE) software PLAXIS 3 D. The behavior of ring footing is studied by using a dimensionless factor called reduction factor(RF). The numerical model used in the PLAXIS 3 D has been validated by conducting model plate load tests. Moreover, an empirical expression using regression analysis has been presented which will be helpful in plotting a load-settlement curve for the ring footing.展开更多
In the near future, several offshore wind farms are planned to be built in the North Sea. Therefore, jacket and tripod constructions with mainly axially loaded piles are suitable as support structures. The current des...In the near future, several offshore wind farms are planned to be built in the North Sea. Therefore, jacket and tripod constructions with mainly axially loaded piles are suitable as support structures. The current design of axial bearing resistance of these piles leads to deviant results regarding the pile resistance when different design methods are adopted. Hence, a strong deviation regarding the required pile length must be addressed. The reliability of a design method can be evaluated based on a model error which describes the quality of the considered design method by comparing measured and predicted pile bearing resistances. However, only few pile load tests are reported with regard to the boundary conditions in the North Sea. This paper presents 6 large-scale axial pile load tests which were incorporated within a new model error approach for the current design methods used for the axial bearing resistance,namely API Main Text method and cone penetration test(CPT)-based design methods, such as simplified ICP-05, offshore UWA-05, Fugro-05 and NGI-05 methods. Based on these new model errors, a reliabilitybased study towards the safety was conducted by performing a Monte-Carlo simulation. In addition,consequences regarding the deterministic pile design in terms of quality factors were evaluated. It is shown that the current global safety factor(GSF) prescribed and the partial safety factors are only valid for the API Main Text and the offshore UWA-05 design methods; whereas for the simplified ICP-05,Fugro-05 and NGI-05 design methods, an increase in the required embedded pile length and thus in the GSF up to 2.69, 2.95 and 3.27, respectively, should be considered to satisfy the desired safety level according to DIN EN 1990 of b ? 3.8. Further, quality factors for each design method on the basis of all reliability-based design results were derived. Hence, evaluation of each design method regarding the reliability of the pile capacity prediction is possible.展开更多
Three types of ice loading, which are most commonly present when ice acts on structures, are chosen and simulated for use of fatigue crack propagation tests on offshore structural steel A131. The three types of ice ca...Three types of ice loading, which are most commonly present when ice acts on structures, are chosen and simulated for use of fatigue crack propagation tests on offshore structural steel A131. The three types of ice categorized in accordance with the failure modes when acting on structures called Crushing ice, bending ice, and buckling ice, respectively. This paper presents an experimental investigation on the fatigue crack propagation behavior of widely used high strength steel A131 for offshore jackets in the loading environment of ice crushing, bending, and buckling. The test results of fatigue crack propagation in steel A131 tinder these simulated ice loading at temperature 292K are presented and analyzed in detail in this paper, The amplitude root mean square stress intensity factor is optimized to be the fundamental parameter of fatigue crack propagation for all types of ice loading histories. The results are also compared with constant amplitude fatigue crack propagation conclusions as in wave load mode, and a joint investigation on the results from ice forces, ice-induced vibrations, and ice-induced fatigue crack propagation is conducted. Conclusions are drawn for reference in structural design and material selection for offshore structures in ice environments.展开更多
文摘BACKGROUND： It has been demonstrated that patients with functional dyspepsia have experiences social life stress events, and accompanied by psychological disorders, mainly manifested as depression and anxiety.Mental factors can lead to excessive gastrointestinal consensual reaction, and result in different brain-gut axis disturbance, and then cause the gastrointestinal sensorimotor abnormality and endocrine changes.OBJECTIVE： To observe the effect of antidepressant treatment on the changes of water load and serum cortisol in patients with functional dyspepsia, and analyze the therapeutic mechanism.DESIGN： A comparative observation.SETTING： The First Affiliated Hospital o Zhengzhou University.PARTICIPANTS： Forty-five patients with functional dyspepsia accompanied by depression were selected from the Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from July 2004 to July 2006, and they were 25 - 65 years of age, and their disease courses ranged 1 - 10 years. They were all accorded with the diagnostic standards for Rome Ⅱ functional dyspepsia functional dyspepsia. As the patients＇ will, they were divided into treatment group （n =30, 12 males and 18 females） and control group （n =15, 6 males and 9 females）, and there were no significant differences in the data between the two groups （P 〉 0.05）. The programs were discussed and agreed by the committee of medical ethics of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. Informed contents were obtained from all the patients.METHODS： In the treatment group, the patients were treated with venlafaxine sustained release capsule （75 mg per day）, and those with sleep disorder were added by benzodiazepines （alprazolam）. In the control group, the patients were given routine treatments of antacid, prokinetics, etc. Before and after 8-week treatment, the following examinations were performed： ① The gastrointestinal symptoms were assessed according to the symptoms; ② The severity of depression was evaluated with Hamilton depression scale （HAMD）; ③The relaxation of proximal stomach was observed using water load test; ④ The serum level of cortisol was detected.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： ① Symptom score; ② HAMD score; ③ Water load amount; ④Serum level of cortisol.RESULTS： All the 45 patients were involved in the analysis of results. ① Symptom score： The scores of gastrointestinal symptoms were decreased as compared with those before treatment in both the treatment group and control group （P 〈 0.05）. ② HAMD scores： The scores of HAMD were decreased as compared with those before treatment in both the treatment group and control group （P 〈 0.05）. ③ Water load amount：The total effective rate was significantly higher in the treatment group than the control group （P 〈 0.05）. ④The serum levels of cortisol after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment in the patients with severe gastrointestinal symptoms in the treatment group and control group （P 〈 0.05）.CONCLUSION： Antidepressants can normalize the cortisol level of patients with functional dyspepsia, and then decrease gastric sensitivity and ameliorates the receptive relaxation of proximal stomach, also increase the water load amount correspondingly, and finally control the gastrointestinal symptoms of functional dyspepsia.
文摘Ring footings are suitable for the structures like tall transmission towers, chimneys, silos and oil storages.These types of structures are susceptible to horizontal loads(wind load) in addition to their dead weight.In the literature, very little or no effort has been made to study the effect of ring footing resting on reinforced sand when subjected to eccentric, inclined and/or eccentric-inclined loadings. This paper aims to study the behavior of ring footing resting on loose sand and/or compacted randomly distributed fiberreinforced sand(RDFS) when subjected to eccentric(0 B, 0.05 B and 0.1 B, where B is the outer diameter of ring footing), inclined(0°,5°,10°, 15°,-5°,-10° and-15°)and eccentric-inclined loadings by using a finite element(FE) software PLAXIS 3 D. The behavior of ring footing is studied by using a dimensionless factor called reduction factor(RF). The numerical model used in the PLAXIS 3 D has been validated by conducting model plate load tests. Moreover, an empirical expression using regression analysis has been presented which will be helpful in plotting a load-settlement curve for the ring footing.
基金the European Union funded project Integrated Research Project Wind (IRPWind, European Union Seventh Framework Program under Grant No. 609795)
文摘In the near future, several offshore wind farms are planned to be built in the North Sea. Therefore, jacket and tripod constructions with mainly axially loaded piles are suitable as support structures. The current design of axial bearing resistance of these piles leads to deviant results regarding the pile resistance when different design methods are adopted. Hence, a strong deviation regarding the required pile length must be addressed. The reliability of a design method can be evaluated based on a model error which describes the quality of the considered design method by comparing measured and predicted pile bearing resistances. However, only few pile load tests are reported with regard to the boundary conditions in the North Sea. This paper presents 6 large-scale axial pile load tests which were incorporated within a new model error approach for the current design methods used for the axial bearing resistance,namely API Main Text method and cone penetration test(CPT)-based design methods, such as simplified ICP-05, offshore UWA-05, Fugro-05 and NGI-05 methods. Based on these new model errors, a reliabilitybased study towards the safety was conducted by performing a Monte-Carlo simulation. In addition,consequences regarding the deterministic pile design in terms of quality factors were evaluated. It is shown that the current global safety factor(GSF) prescribed and the partial safety factors are only valid for the API Main Text and the offshore UWA-05 design methods; whereas for the simplified ICP-05,Fugro-05 and NGI-05 design methods, an increase in the required embedded pile length and thus in the GSF up to 2.69, 2.95 and 3.27, respectively, should be considered to satisfy the desired safety level according to DIN EN 1990 of b ? 3.8. Further, quality factors for each design method on the basis of all reliability-based design results were derived. Hence, evaluation of each design method regarding the reliability of the pile capacity prediction is possible.
基金This research is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.5989410) Key Project Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences China National Offshore Oil Corporation
文摘Three types of ice loading, which are most commonly present when ice acts on structures, are chosen and simulated for use of fatigue crack propagation tests on offshore structural steel A131. The three types of ice categorized in accordance with the failure modes when acting on structures called Crushing ice, bending ice, and buckling ice, respectively. This paper presents an experimental investigation on the fatigue crack propagation behavior of widely used high strength steel A131 for offshore jackets in the loading environment of ice crushing, bending, and buckling. The test results of fatigue crack propagation in steel A131 tinder these simulated ice loading at temperature 292K are presented and analyzed in detail in this paper, The amplitude root mean square stress intensity factor is optimized to be the fundamental parameter of fatigue crack propagation for all types of ice loading histories. The results are also compared with constant amplitude fatigue crack propagation conclusions as in wave load mode, and a joint investigation on the results from ice forces, ice-induced vibrations, and ice-induced fatigue crack propagation is conducted. Conclusions are drawn for reference in structural design and material selection for offshore structures in ice environments.
