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Rutting is one of the most prevalent road distresses in asphalt pavement (AP), it is therefore critical to accurately predict the development of rutting to guide pavement design and maintenance. Based on the measured rutting data obtained from the RIOHTrack in China, the the most widely used MEPDG rutting model is evaluated for its applicability. Due to the original MEPDG rutting model being highly sensitive to a rapid increase of the number of load repetitions (NLR), a modified MEPDG rutting model is proposed by introducing a growth coefficient ($\alpha$ α) for the NLR to reduce the effect of the rapid increase of NLR on the rutting prediction. The applicability of the modified rutting model is then verified by various pavement structures tested in the RIOHTrack, and the value of coefficient ($\alpha$ α) based on the different annual average growth rates of traffic volume is provided for facilitating application. Moreover, the growth rate of the flow ruts is indicated as the critical parameter to describe the rutting development and used for rutting prediction, and the correlations between the pavement structures and the parameter are analyzed. The findings can guide for predicting the rut depth of the asphalt pavement within the whole service life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cast-in-place concrete base plate is a main member of the China Railway Track System (CRTS) III ballastless track structure that is prone to generating early transverse cracking. Such cracks can dramatically affect the performance and service life of the railway track structure. This study investigated the influence of temperature and moisture boundary conditions on early cracking behavior of the CRTS III base plate by using approaches of both in situ measurements and numerical modelling. In-site measurements of strain and temperature were made in four test series of CRTS III base plates under the same natural environmental condition but cured with different regimes, and a total of 96 measuring positions were monitored for up to 150 days. The results showed that the strain magnitude and distribution in the field base plate, the initial time at cracking, and the observed cracking pattern varied significantly between the different test series. In order to understand the mechanisms that create these transverse cracks and to provide guidelines for the current curing strategy during construction, the characteristics of temperature-induced and moisture-induced stresses were analyzed by using 3D numerical modelling and by considering early-age concrete creep properties, meteorological factors, and the influence from environmental boundary conditions. The calculated results revealed that early-age transverse cracking in CRTS III base plate depends more on drying shrinkage stress than temperature stress. By conducting this study, we expect to provide guidance for reducing or eliminating early cracks of CRTS III concrete base plate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The settlement and deformation of an open-pit mine waste dump were investigated by using field monitoring and numerical methods. The creep parameters of fine soil sand in the dump fill were inverted using the steady Burgers creep model, and FLAC3D software was used to simulate the dumping soil construction and development program. The results show that the settlement displacement of the dump increases with the time of dumping soil and tends to be stable after 4 years. In the creep attenuation stage of the creep process, there is a big difference between the numerical calculation and the field monitoring results in the inversion process of fine-grained soil sand parameters. In the steady-state creep stage, the numerical calculation is consistent with the field monitoring value. The height of the fill has an influence on the settlement of the fill body of the dump and the time to reach the stability. The higher the filling height is, the greater the postconstruction settlement will be, and the longer it will take to reach stability. The pushing position of the fill body has a great influence on the settlement displacement of the dump. The time and efficiency of soil discharge can be shortened by optimizing the safe distance between the filling body and the river. Based on the numerical calculation results and the empirical settlement function, an analytical method for river channel location selection of internal dump is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large herbivores grazing is a major disturbance that can cause significant changes of soil environment in grassland ecosystems. However, it remains unclear how soil microbial metabolic activity responses to different grazing intensities. We analyzed the relationships between soil microbial carbon source utilization and grazing intensity, and further assessed the main factors determining soil microbial metabolic activity in a meadow steppe. Soil samples were analyzed along different grazing intensities (no grazing, light grazing and heavy grazing) with community‐level physiological profiles (CLPP) using Biolog Eco‐plates incubation to estimate soil microbial carbon source utilization patterns. Redundancy analysis (RDA) was performed to explore the major factors influencing soil microbial metabolic activity in a five‐year grazing grassland in northeast of China. Grazing significantly improved soil microbial community carbon utilization and increased utilization of carbohydrates, amino acids, phenolic acids and amines, while significantly decreased utilization of carboxylic acids. Among edaphic properties and plant traits, plant density, total biomass (TB), soil water content (SW) and C:N ratio (C/N) were main driving forces contributing to the carbon source utilization structure of the soil microbial communities. Soil microbial metabolic activity was promoted by grazing through altering plant traits and abiotic soil properties, and soil‐related factors were primary and direct driving force for soil microbial metabolic activity in grasslands of northeast China. The present study demonstrated differential soil microbial responses along grazing intensities and has important applications for better management practices in the grassland ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The indoor total volatile organic compound (TVOC) concentrations and their relationship to potential influencing factors were evaluated. Samples ( n = 2302) were collected from 2007 to 2009 both in old structures and new construction in the city of Hangzhou from bedrooms, sitting rooms and studies that had been decorated within the previous year. The average TVOC concentration in all the newly decorated rooms was 0.65±0.69 mg/m. 35.8% of samples exceeded the China standard. Over the past 3 years, the TVOC concentration decreased and then increased ( P < 0.05). The percentage of samples exceeding the China standard in the three rooms decreased in the following order: sitting room>study>bedroom. The characteristics of the TVOC source were a key factor influencing the TVOC concentration. In addition, the TVOC concentration was also ( P < 0.05) related to the temperature, humidity, time from the end of decoration to sampling (DR), and the amount of time windows and doors were closed before sampling (DC). The temperature and humidity were less important than the DR and DC. A model to relate the TVOC concentration to the five factors (temperature, humidity, source, DR, and DC) was established based on 288 samples ( R = 0.83). The model illustrated that the time for the TVOC concentration to meet the China standard was different for the various rooms, and when the other factors were fixed, the impact of DC ( t) on the TVOC concentration could be quantified as ((( t+1)/2)−1)×100%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bovine gammaherpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) is a common virus detected in bovine with respiratory disease worldwide. In this study, we identified and characterized a novel BoHV-4 strain, referred as HB-ZJK, in vaginal swabs collected from cattle in China, 2022. The long unique region (LUR) of HB-ZJK is 10,9811 bp in length. It shares 99.17% to 99.38% nucleotide identity to five BoHV-4 strains available in GenBank and the highest similarity was seen with BoHV-4V. test (JN133502.1) strain (99.38%). Mutations, insertions or deletions were observed mainly in HB-ZJK gB (ORF8), TK (ORF21), gH (ORF22), MCP (ORF25), PK (ORF36), gM (ORF39), and gL (ORF47) genes compared to its genomic coordinates. Phylogenetic analyses of gB and TK genes showed that HB-ZJK clustered with China 512 (2019), B6010 (2009), and J4034 (2009) strains, demonstrating that the isolated HB-ZJK belongs to genotype 1. This is the first report that has revealed a comprehensive genome profile of BoHV-4 strain in China. This study will provide foundation for epidemiological investigations of BoHV-4 and contribute to the molecular and pathogenic studies of BoHV-4., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

A dysfunctional immune response in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients is a recurrent theme impacting symptoms and mortality, yet a detailed understanding of pertinent immune cells is not complete. We applied single-cell RNA sequencing to 284 samples from 196 COVID-19 patients and controls and created a comprehensive immune landscape with 1.46 million cells. The large dataset enabled us to identify that different peripheral immune subtype changes are associated with distinct clinical features, including age, sex, severity, and disease stages of COVID-19. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA was found in diverse epithelial and immune cell types, accompanied by dramatic transcriptomic changes within virus-positive cells. Systemic upregulation of S100A8/A9, mainly by megakaryocytes and monocytes in the peripheral blood, may contribute to the cytokine storms frequently observed in severe patients. Our data provide a rich resource for understanding the pathogenesis of and developing effective therapeutic strategies for COVID-19., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests Zemin Zhang is a founder of Analytical Bioscience and an advisor for InnoCare. All financial interests are unrelated to this study. The remining authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)