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The undrained shear strength of surficial marine clays is a significant parameter for engineering construction and geological disaster assessment. The full-flow penetration test is an effective method to evaluate marine clay strength. Currently, this method is mainly used for deep penetration, in which the stable full-flow failure state with plasticity solutions is reached; however, surficial penetration lacks a theoretical basis, and related empirical methods are still being explored, especially considering the effect of ambient water. Based on this, first, a model in the framework of computational fluid dynamics is proposed to simulate the whole penetration process of a ball penetrometer in two-phase materials (i.e., marine clay and ambient water). Furthermore, centrifugal penetration tests of two typical clay samples (i.e., South China Sea soil and kaolin clay) are used to verify the accuracy of the proposed relative motion model. Second, the characteristics of the penetration resistance factor during the whole penetration in homogenized marine clays are obtained, and the relevant mechanism is analyzed by the variation in the velocity field, volume fraction and streamline of two-phase materials. Finally, the critical depth to distinguish between surficial and stable penetration is given as 6.5 times the ball diameter; the penetration resistance factor is divided into surficial and stable penetration resistance factors, and dimensionless evaluation methods are established, which provides the basis for obtaining the strength of surficial marine clays.

With the development of antibiotics application, their spread in the natural environment increases dramatically. The presence of antibiotics in the environment changes microorganism and other living beings ratio and composition, which causes a negative impact on biochemical processes that take place in the environment. The spread of antibiotic resistance genes in environmental microorganisms is a growing problem of environmental safety and human health. Aim. The objective of the work was to analyze the adaptation mechanisms of microorganisms to the influence of antibiotics and methods for antibiotics utilization. Results. The mechanisms of microorganisms’ adaptation to antibiotics are shown. The conditions for utilization of different antibiotics classes by microorganisms are provided. Conclusions. Methods of antibiotics destruction depend on its structure and physicochemical properties. Physico-chemical methods are used for local waste purification and are not suitable for antibiotics disposal in the natural environment. The decomposition products can also have a negative effect on the microorganisms’ cells. Depending on the class of antibiotics, their biodegradation occurs by different types of microorganisms. It has been shown that sulfonamides and amphinecoles are easily destroyed by many heterotrophic bacteria; biodegradation of aminoglycosides occurs by a strain of Pseudomonas spp.; tetracyclines - mushrooms; β-lactams - through the microorganisms’ association including: Burkholderiales, Pseudomonadales, Enterobacteriales, Actinomycetales, Rhizobiales, Sphingobacteriales. A consortium of destructors must be created to dispose of a specific classes of antibiotics.

The specifications of AISC 360 and Eurocode 4 for the design of composite columns limit the maximum steel tube yield stress and concrete compressive strength. In this study, the limitations mentioned in the design codes are evaluated, and a new simplified relation for the nominal compressive capacity of square high-strength concrete-filled high-strength steel tube (HsCHsST) stub columns is proposed. The present study was carried out in three parts. The first part involves compiling a test database of square-filled composite columns with high-strength materials to achieve the aptest relation. The second part consists of developing a simplified relation for determining the effects of material strength on the nominal compressive strength of columns ( P n ) based on the compiled database using a hybrid gene expression programming-invasive weed optimization algorithm. Finally, a new resistance factor ( ϕ c ) for axially loaded HsCHsST columns is determined in the third part. The predicted results for nominal compressive strength were compared with specifications of AISC 360 and Eurocode 4 in terms of various performance parameters based on measured results to validate the proposed relation. This study’s findings can be used as a suitable tool in the design compressive strength of square HsCHsST members.

The article aims to determine the effect of cement addition on the water vapour resistance factor of stabilized rammed earth. Literature analysis indicates that different earthen materials show large differences in water vapour resistance factor values. The high diffusion resistance of concrete concerning other construction materials suggests that cement will be one of the factors significantly affecting these values. The paper presents water vapour resistance factor test results of rammed earth with various soil particle sizes and cement contents. The obtained results showed that an increase of cement addition increases the diffusion resistance of the material. However, the diffusion resistance of cement stabilized rammed earth is still low compared to concrete.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of the cornea’s biomechanical properties, corneal hysteresis (CH), and corneal resistance factor (CRF) on postoperative astigmatism after cataract surgery and determine the other factors that influence it. Forty eyes of 40 patients (13M/27F; the median age of 74) were included in this prospective study, underwent 2.75 mm incision cataract surgery, and were followed for 30 days. Visits were scheduled at baseline before surgery (V0), the 1st (V1), the 7th (V2), and the 30th (V3) postoperative days. The main parameters estimated and analyzed with Statistica® 14.0.1 were CH, CRF, astigmatism diopter, and axis. Following the cataract surgery, the CH did not significantly change during the study visits (p = 0.109). However, there was a significant change in the CRF from baseline during the study visits (per protocol set) (p = 0.002). After a slight but insignificant increase from V0 to V1, post hoc analysis found a significant decrease in the mean CRF from V1 to V2 (p = 0.049) with no substantial change from V2 to V3. According to the post hoc analysis, the median astigmatism diopter increased significantly only from V0 to V1 (p = 0.001) and slightly but not significantly decreased to the end of the study with the achievement of a near-baseline value. The main predictors for the final astigmatism diopter (R2 = 0.898) obtained by stepwise regression analysis were its values at V0, V1, and V2 (p < 0.001). The CRF at V1 was marginally significant, with a negative parameter estimate of −0.098303 (p = 0.0623). In conclusion, there was no correlation between preoperative CH and CRF and postoperative astigmatism using 2.75 mm incision cataract surgery. However, the final astigmatism diopter’s main predictors were its baseline values before cataract surgery, the first, and the seventh postoperative days.

Polymer solutions exhibit radial flow characteristics upon injection into a formation via the wellbore. Accurately characterizing their viscoelastic properties at varying seepage velocities and quantifying their impact on displacement efficiency are crucial for advancing polymer flooding technology. This study simulated shear rate variations during polymer injection and integrated laboratory-measured viscoelastic properties with permeability characteristics in porous media. An analysis of the oil displacement performance between viscoelastic polymer solutions and a purely viscous fluid, glycerol, was conducted. The key findings are as follows: (1) Polymer elasticity, characterized by the first normal stress difference, diminishes with decreasing injection time/solution concentration. Significant viscoelasticity is observed near the wellbore, weakening in deeper reservoir regions. (2) The polymer type and injection conditions govern the development of solution “effective viscosity” during porous medium flow. A fundamental trend under elevated flow velocities is an increase in effective viscosity with shear rate. (3) Comparison with glycerol demonstrates that the viscoelastic effect of polymer solutions enhances heavy-oil displacement efficiency. The magnitude of this viscoelastic effect within the porous medium directly correlates with its contribution to improved displacement efficiency.

The challenge of water shutoff in carbonate reservoirs is complicated by the presence of fractures, which cannot be effectively blocked using conventional hydrogel screens designed for granular reservoirs. To reliably seal fractures, fibrous and dispersed fillers are added to hydrogels. These fillers must exhibit affinity for the matrix to ensure the composites can effectively isolate water. Given the wide variability in fracture apertures, it is evident that water shutoff composites should incorporate fibers and dispersed fillers of varying geometric sizes. This study presents a range of hydrogel composites reinforced with mono-, bi-, and tri-component fibers, as well as dispersed fillers, designed for water shutoff in fractured carbonate reservoirs with varying fracture apertures. Oscillation test results demonstrated a twofold increase in the elastic modulus (40–45 Pa) for compositions with various fillers compared to the base composition (23 Pa). Filtration studies revealed the effectiveness of the optimized compositions under different fracture apertures. Specifically, even at a fracture aperture of 650 μm, the residual resistance factor (RRF) reached 82.3 and 9.76 at water flow rates of 0.1 cm3/min and 0.5 cm3/min, respectively. The conducted rheological and filtration tests, along with field trials, confirmed the validity of the selected approach.

Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium are the major pathogens causing community- and healthcare-associated infections, with an ability to acquire resistance to multiple antimicrobials. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of virulence factors, drug resistance and its genetic determinants, and clonal lineages of E. faecalis and E. faecium clinical isolates in northern Japan. A total of 480 (426 E. faecalis and 54 E. faecium) isolates collected over a four-month period were analyzed. Three virulence factors promoting bacterial colonization (asa1, efaA, and ace) were more prevalent among E. faecalis (46–59%) than E. faecium, while a similar prevalence of enterococcal surface protein gene (esp) was found in these species. Between E. faecalis and E. faecium, an evident difference was noted for resistance to erythromycin, gentamicin, and levofloxacin and its responsible resistance determinants. Oxazolidinone resistance gene optrA and phenicol exporter gene fexA were identified in an isolate of E. faecalis belonging to ST480 and revealed to be located on a cluster similar to those of isolates reported in other Asian countries. The E. faecalis isolates analyzed were differentiated into 12 STs, among which ST179 and ST16 of clonal complex (CC) 16 were the major lineage. Nearly all the E. faecium isolates were assigned into CC17, which consisted of 10 different sequence types (STs), including a dominant ST17 containing multidrug resistant isolates and ST78 with isolates harboring the hyaluronidase gene (hyl). The present study revealed the genetic profiles of E. faecalis and E. faecium clinical isolates, with the first identification of optrA in ST480 E. faecalis in Japan.

Control of the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (R.) microplus mainly relies on chemical acaricides and cypermethrin is the most widely used acaricide in Pakistan. Farmers frequently complain about its low efficacy, thus, the present study was designed to quantify the frequency of cypermethrin resistance in cattle ticks. Engorged female R. microplus were collected and tested for the efficacy of cypermethrin using the FAO-recommended larval packet test. Resistance factors (RF) were estimated at both the lethal concentration for 50% (LC50) and 99% (LC99) of ticks. Thirty-three samples were tested, of which 8/33 (24.24%) were classified as resistant based on the RF50, and all 33 were classified as resistant based on the RF99. In District Sargodha, when only the RF50 was considered, 45.5% of samples were classified as resistant, but at RF99, all tested samples were identified as resistant. In District Okara, the variation in RF50 estimates was 2.2–8.3 and variation in RF99 estimates was 10.6–1139.8. Similar results were found in District Attock, where variations in RF50 were 0.8–8.5 and RF99 ranged from 9–237.3. The study showed that cypermethrin resistance is prevalent in these three districts of Pakistan and is likely to be overestimated by classification based on the RF99.

A reliability-based calibration for new strength reduction factors for eccentrically loaded short circular reinforced concrete columns is presented. The statistical parameters of resistance used in the calibration procedure are based on a developed procedure for the determination of the capacity of columns and Monte Carlo simulations for representative design cases. The reliability indexes were calculated for predetermined resistance factors considering various dead load to live load ratios and all possible failure modes represented by the steel strain. Then, they were compared to the target reliability index, which was assumed as ßT = 4.0. The determined strength reduction factors correspond to load and load-combination factors specified by ASCE 7-16 and adopted by ACI 318-19. They are compatible with the existing provisions for resistance factors for rectangular columns.