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The system of vacuum pressure combined with vertical drains to accelerate soil consolidation is one of the most effective ground improvement methods. The consolidation theories of soft soil improved by vertical drains including void ratio–dependent compressibility and permeability have been widely applied in practice to predict the consolidation behavior. In this paper, analytical solutions of the consolidation of vertical drains are derived incorporating the loss and propagating stage of vacuum pressure. In addition, special solutions are obtained for the cases of instantaneous surcharge loading and staged surcharge loading, based on the general solution. The solution is verified by ignoring the propagating stage of vacuum pressure formation and comparing it with an existing solution. The effects of vacuum pressure loss and propagating stage combined with other parameters are investigated through the ratio between excess pore water pressure and surcharge loading.\ud \ud

The vibrations of railway tracks on a poroelastic half-space generated by moving trains are investigated through a vehicle–track–ground coupling model. The theoretical model incorporates a vehicle, a track, and a fully saturated poroelastic half-space soil medium. The source of vibration excitation is divided into two components: the quasi-static loads and the dynamic loads. The quasi-static loads are related to the static component of the axle loads, whereas the dynamic loads are due to the dynamic wheel–rail interaction. A linear Hertizian contact spring is introduced between each wheelset and the rail to consider the dynamic loads. Biot's dynamic theory is used to characterize the poroelastic half-space soil medium. Using the Fourier transform, the governing equations for the track–ground system are solved and the numerical results are presented for a single axle vehicle model. The different dynamic characteristics of the elastic soil medium and the saturated poroelastic medium are investigated. In addition, the different roles of the moving axle loads and the roughness-induced dynamic loads are identified. It is concluded that the vibration level of the free field off the track predicted by the poroelastic soil medium is smaller than that predicted by the elastic soil medium for vehicle speed below the Rayleigh wave speed of the poroelastic half-space, whereas it is larger for vehicle speed above the Rayleigh wave speed. The dynamic loads play an important role in the dynamic responses of the track–ground system. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Site-directed spin labeling in combination with paramagnetic relaxation enhancement (PRE) measurements is one of the most promising techniques for studying unfolded proteins. Since the pioneering work of Gillespie and Shortle (J Mol Biol 1997;268:158), PRE data from unfolded proteins have been interpreted using the theory that was originally developed for rotational spin relaxation. At the same time, it can be readily recognized that the relative motion of the paramagnetic tag attached to the peptide chain and the reporter spin such as (1)H(N) is best described as a translation. With this notion in mind, we developed a number of models for the PRE effect in unfolded proteins: (i) mutual diffusion of the two tethered spheres, (ii) mutual diffusion of the two tethered spheres subject to a harmonic potential, (iii) mutual diffusion of the two tethered spheres subject to a simulated mean-force potential (Smoluchowski equation); (iv) explicit-atom molecular dynamics simulation. The new models were used to predict the dependences of the PRE rates on the (1)H(N) residue number and static magnetic field strength; the results are appreciably different from the Gillespie-Shortle model. At the same time, the Gillespie-Shortle approach is expected to be generally adequate if the goal is to reconstruct the distance distributions between (1)H(N) spins and the paramagnetic center (provided that the characteristic correlation time is known with a reasonable accuracy). The theory has been tested by measuring the PRE rates in three spin-labeled mutants of the drkN SH3 domain in 2M guanidinium chloride. Two modifications introduced into the measurement scheme-using a reference compound to calibrate the signals from the two samples (oxidized and reduced) and using peak volumes instead of intensities to determine the PRE rates-lead to a substantial improvement in the quality of data. The PRE data from the denatured drkN SH3 are mostly consistent with the model of moderately expanded random-coil protein, although part of the data point toward a more compact structure (local hydrophobic cluster). At the same time, the radius of gyration reported by Choy et al. (J Mol Biol 2002;316:101) suggests that the protein is highly expanded. This seemingly contradictory evidence can be reconciled if one assumes that denatured drkN SH3 forms a conformational ensemble that is dominated by extended conformations, yet also contains compact (collapsed) species. Such behavior is apparently more complex than predicted by the model of a random-coil protein in good solvent/poor solvent.

The paper presents a three-dimensional study on the steady-state response of a track system and layered half-space soil medium subjected to the load induced by the passages of a moving train with the substructure method. Practically, due to the ground water table being several meters beneath the ground surface, the soil profile can be divided into two layers: the upper layer modeled by an elastic medium and the lower layer by a fully saturated poroelastic medium governed by Biot's theory. In the meanwhile, the rails are regarded as an infinitely long Euler beam, and the sleepers are represented by a continuous mass. The effect of the ballast is accounted for by introducing the Cosserat model for granular medium, and the train is described by a series of moving axle point loads, depending on the geometry of the train. The influences of the thickness, the mass and the rigidity of the elastic layer and the mass of the ballast on rail's displacement responses are carefully investigated. Numerical results show that the influences of these parameters are significant for high train velocity, while vanishes for low velocity. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.