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This study presents a technology development for creating 3D finite-element full-scale bridge models based on a data processing platform (DPP) and explores the trial fatigue analysis to serve as an important reference for future practical applications. Until now, the model generation, validation and calculation for a large-scale model of conventional method consume huge time and money. Currently, developments in High- Performance Computing (HPC) and preparation for large parallel computers make numerical simulation operation more efficient. Moreover, through the grouping structure technique, different types of data can be linked together. In this research, a 3D finite-element full-scale bridge superstructure model was created using the DPP. A trial fatigue analysis was performed using a high-performance computer. By considering the details such as the position of each reinforcing bar, prestressed tendon, the slope, etc., the DPP model more closely captures the real structure. Therefore, it could be said that the model made by the DPP has higher analytical accuracy. This research paved the way for the implementation of large-scale fatigue analysis, which has significant engineering applications prospects.

AJM300 is an oral, small-molecule α4-integrin antagonist. We assessed the efficacy and safety of AJM300 in patients with moderately active ulcerative colitis.This multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 study consisted of two phases: a treatment phase and an open-label re-treatment phase. The study was done at 82 hospitals and clinics in Japan. Patients with a Mayo Clinic score of 6-10, endoscopic subscore of 2 or more, rectal bleeding subscore of 1 or more, and an inadequate response or intolerance to mesalazine were enrolled. Patients were randomly allocated (1:1) via a website to either AJM300 (960 mg) or placebo by the minimisation method, which was adjusted centrally by dynamic assignment against the Mayo Clinic score (≥6 to ≤7, ≥8 to ≤10 points), any use of corticosteroid, anti-TNFα antibody, or immunosuppressants during the disease-active period (yes vs no), duration of induction therapy until randomisation (4 weeks vs ≥4 weeks) as the minimisation factors. Patients, investigators, site staff, assessors, and the sponsor were masked to treatment assignments. The study drug was administered orally, three times daily, for 8 weeks, and continued for up to 24 weeks if endoscopic remission was not achieved or rectal bleeding did not stop. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients with a clinical response at week 8, and was analysed in the full analysis set. Clinical response was defined as a reduction in Mayo Clinic score of 30% or more and 3 or more, a reduction in rectal bleeding score of 1 or more or rectal bleeding subscore of 1 or less, and an endoscopic subscore of 1 or less at week 8. The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03531892, and is closed to recruitment.Between June 6, 2018, and July 22, 2020, 203 patients were randomly assigned to AJM300 (n=102) or placebo (n=101). At week 8, 46 (45%) patients in the AJM300 group and 21 (21%) patients in the placebo group had a clinical response (odds ratio 3·30, 95% CI 1·73-6·29; p=0·00028). During the 8-week treatment and 16-week extension treatment periods, adverse events occurred in 39 (39%) of 101 patients in the placebo group and 39 (38%) of 102 patients in the AJM300 group. We found no difference in the incidence of adverse events between groups or after repeated administration of AJM300. The most common adverse event was nasopharyngitis (11 [11%] of 101 patients in the placebo group and ten [10%] of 102 patients in the AJM300 group). The most common treatment-related adverse event was also nasopharyngitis (four [4%] of 101 patients in the placebo group and three [3%] of 102 patients in the AJM300 group). Most adverse events were mild-to-moderate in severity. No deaths were reported. A serious adverse event was reported in the AJM300 group (one patient with anal abscess), but this was judged to be unrelated to study drug.AJM300 was well tolerated and induced a clinical response in patients with moderately active ulcerative colitis who had an inadequate response or intolerance to mesalazine. AJM300 could be a novel induction therapy for the treatment of patients with moderately active ulcerative colitis.EA Pharma and Kissei Pharmaceutical.For the Japanese translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

The use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) around the world to improve concrete performance has increased in recent decades. However, the application of SCMs remains limited by their heterogeneity and variability. Engineering practices demand a unified model for SCMs to predict and optimise the performance of blended concrete. A multiphase modelling scheme that covers various SCMs is therefore proposed in this study. Following this modelling scheme, three low-calcium fly ashes were selected and comprehensively studied by scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) full-element mapping and image analysis. The pozzolanic reactivity of these three fly ashes was further investigated in alkaline and cement systems. A temperature-dependent two-phase pozzolanic reaction model (silicate and Al-silicate glass) considering fly ash material variations was proposed to predict the pozzolanic reaction and therefore the degree of reaction at different temperatures. The numerical results show that the proposed multiphase modelling scheme has great potential to cover various SCMs.

The effects of a microbial inoculant (Thervelics®: a mixture of cells of Bacillus subtilis C-3102 and carrier materials) on rice (Oryza sativa cv. Milkyprincess) and barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. Sachiho Golden) were evaluated in four pot experiments. In the first and second experiments, the dry matter production of rice and barley increased significantly by 10–20% with the inoculation of the mixture at a rate of 107 cfu ⋅ g–1 soil compared with the non-inoculated control. In the third experiment, the growth promoting effects of the mixture, the autoclaved mixture and the carrier materials were compared. The dry mater production of rice grains was the highest in the mixture, and it was significantly higher in the three treatments than in the control, suggesting that the carrier materials may also have a plant growth promoting effect and the living cells might have an additional stimulatory effect. To confirm the efficacy of the living cells in the mixture, only B. subtilis C-3102 cells were used in the fourth experiment. In addition, to estimate the mechanisms in growth promotion by B. subtilis C-3102, three B. subtilis strains with similar or different properties in the production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), protease and siderophore and phosphatesolubilizing ability were used as reference strains. Only B. subtilis C-3102 significantly increased the dry matter production of rice grains and the soil protease activity was consistently higher in the soil inoculated with B. subtilis C-3102 throughout the growing period. These results indicate that the microbial inoculant including live B. subtilis C-3102 may have growth promoting effects on rice and barley.

Strain-hardening cement-based composites (SHCC) under cracked condition exhibit distinct behaviour of capillary absorption because of multiple fine cracks and complicated crack patterns. Past studies for estimating capillary absorption of cracked SHCC mainly focused on evaluating the results by total gravimetric weight. In addition, the average values of crack width and crack spacing were often used to characterize crack patterns. In this study, a multi-scale approach for numerical simulation of the capillary absorption of cracked SHCC is proposed by considering the detailed crack patterns such as the width and location of each crack. Water flows in bulk matrix and multiple cracks are simulated using two individual transport equations. Water absorbed from a crack to its adjacent matrix is treated as the mass exchange of the two equations, taking into account pore structure and water status in the bulk matrix as well as the damage level of the crack surfaces. Analysis is firstly carried out for SHCC with uniform crack width and crack spacing, showing consistent results with test data of previous studies in which the total absorption increased with decreasing crack spacing. Analysis for SHCC with non-uniform crack widths and locations, furthermore, exhibit significant water penetration at crack zones. Other factors, such as relative humidity for pre-drying, specimen height, water-to-binder ratio, and fibre content, are also discussed in the analysis. This approach enables the estimation of water profile of cracked SHCC, so can be used for further crack-linked process, for example, chloride penetration or self-healing.

This study aims to develop an analytical tool to predict the expansion of Hauyne and free-lime based expansive additives in RC structures. Hydration of species was based on the multi-component heat of hydration model which incorporates referential heat rate at a certain temperature and thermal activities following Arrhenius' law of chemical reaction. All other time-dependent properties of concrete such as elastic modulus, temperature, pore pressure, creep, moisture status, total porosity of interlayer, gel and capillary pores are computed internally based on the micromodels of materials inside the system. Coupling this material information with poromechanics, volumetric change generated by cement hydration and shrinkage is systematically included in the modelling of concrete mechanics, which deals with macroscopic structural responses based on the space-averaged constitutive laws on the fixed four-way cracked concrete model. Finally, the models are then verified with experimental results that could prove the models’ capability in predicting the amount of expansion under various replacement ratios.

Expansive additives are being widely used as shrinkage reducing/compensating admixture to reduce the early-age cracking and chemical prestressing. Such expansive additives influence the composition of cement hydration products and mechanical properties (stiffness and strength) of the cement and concrete, which ultimately affects the early age deformation. In the current study, the EMM-ARM (Elastic Modulus Measurement by Ambient Response Method), is used because of its ability to continuously monitor cement's real-time stiffness development paste with expansive additives. Stiffness development of the cement paste with expansive additives is captured in the unrestrained condition by allowing the free expansion during the stiffness measurement. An expansive additive, based on free lime, with a 10% (by weight) cement replacement ratio is studied in the current work. Results from the EMM-ARM are compared to the elastic modulus measurement from the compression testing of cylindrical specimens, and the mechanisms of expansive action on the microstructure in early-age are discussed.

Performance degradation of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge decks is one of the most serious problems in highway structures. Therefore, in order to secure safety and extend the service life, an efficient inspection and maintenance system is urgently demanded. In this paper, Cox regression survival analysis and fatigue life analysis are discussed. The first one is a statistical method which can quantitatively analyze the risk of each deterioration factor for RC decks. The other one, which utilizes multi-scale simulation and artificial intelligence, has the advantage to estimate residual life of RC decks quickly by considering bottom-surface crack patterns. Result of two methods are compared and it is found that they have a fairly high correlation. Although the reliability of the two methods is confirmed, their results are directly applied to establish a new inspection system. Then by comparing the fatigue life of dry and water-submerged conditions, the importance of waterproofing is highlighted. Additionally, impact of non-uniform stagnant water of RC slab is investigated, where it provides an analysis that is close to the actual situation by the utilization of non-destructive testing. Finally, a comprehensive maintenance system that can determine the priority of inspection is proposed to ensure a rational decision-making.

Natural resources depletion is gradually becoming a critical burden on the environmental and ecological balance, pushing the development of artificial aggregates forward. In order to curb the shortage issues of natural aggregates and minimize the destruction of land topography, alkali-activated aggregates (AAA) have gradually become a hot topic in recent years as a new application of alkali-activated materials (AAM) with the benefits of utilizing industrial by-products and waste materials. This article provides an overall review of the manufacturing process and engineering properties of two types of artificial aggregates, cold-bonded AAA (CB-AAA) and sintered AAA (ST-AAA). Their applications in concrete, besides the mechanical evaluation, durability performance, and leaching behavior, are summarized based on the existing research outcomes. Finally, the future perspectives and challenges of artificial aggregates development are also proposed.

Background AJM300 (INN; carotegrast methyl), an orally active small molecule antagonist of the α4 subunit of α4β1/α4β7 integrins, demonstrated the efficacy and safety in patients with moderately active ulcerative colitis (UC) in a phase 2 study. The phase 3 study (NCT 03531892) of AJM300 as induction therapy was conducted in patients with moderately active UC. Methods Eligible patients were moderately active Japanese UC, defined as total Mayo Clinic scores (MCS) of 6–10, endoscopic subscores (ES) ≥2, and rectal bleeding subscores (RBS) ≥1, who had inadequate response or intolerance to oral 5-ASA. Followed by a 2-week single-blind placebo (PBO) run-in phase, patients were randomized 1:1 to receive AJM300 960 mg or PBO 3 times daily for 8 weeks. Responders or remitters were allowed to receive AJM300 960 mg again at the subsequent relapse (open-label). The primary endpoint was clinical response at week 8, defined as reduction of the MCS of ≥3-pts and ≥30%, reduction in RBS of ≥1-pt or RBS of ≤1, and ES ≤1. Results The randomized 203 patients had moderately active endoscopic evidence at baseline with median UC duration of 6.1 years and MCS of 7.8. For the primary endpoint, 45.1% (46/102) and 20.8% (21/101) of patients in the AJM300 and PBO groups, respectively, achieved clinical response at week 8 (OR=3.30 [95% CI, 1.73–6.29]; p=0.0003). Symptomatic remission, endoscopic improvement and endoscopic remission were also statistically significant for AJM300 vs PBO (Table). In case of episodic AJM300 treatment, AJM300 exhibited similar response to initial treatment. Overall, the incidence of AEs and serious AEs were similar between AJM300 and PBO. There were no deaths or cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. Conclusion AJM300 induced clinical response as well as endoscopic remission with good tolerability. AJM300 may become a novel therapeutic option for patients who had inadequate response or intolerance to oral 5-ASA.