No abstract

In a population-based structural health monitoring setting, data from one structure in a population, where the health state is known, may be used to make inferences about the health state in any nominally-identical structure. Any deviation from the learned 'healthy response' potentially indicates damage. However, as in standard applications of structural health monitoring, the healthy response from different structures also varies with the changes in environmental conditions across the population. This paper investigates the modelling of the change in environment across a population of structures located in one geographical region, such as a wind turbine farm. A data-driven mapping method (based on Gaussian process regression) will be introduced that aims to quantify and normalise variation stemming from the environment, such that the remaining response is only sensitive to damage or performance anomalies. The way in which environmental maps are constructed and implemented is demonstrated via a case study from an offshore wind farm. The ideas introduced here will constitute a field in the framework of population-based structural health monitoring presented elsewhere in the conference.

This work concerned the measurement of alkali metal (Na and K) release during the combustion process of three different types of coal at atmospheric pressure. Measurements were performed from the CO2 laser ignition of a single coal particle in different oxygen concentrations of O2/N2 and O2/CO2 atmospheres. An atomic emission spectrum of alkali metals was directly collected by the slit of the spectrometer with an intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) detector to obtain the temporal and spatial release behaviors of alkalis. The results indicated that the type of coals would influence the release process of alkali metals, whose release duration would be longer for the coals with a higher carbonization level. With the increase of the oxygen concentration, the intergal intensity of Na and K during combustion was found to be enhanced and the release amount increased with obvious exponential growth. In comparison to the O2/N2 atmosphere, CO2 in the oxygen-rich atmosphere had an obvious inhibitory effect on alkali metal release, which was most notable for anthracite. The release processes of alkali metals in different types of coal were also related with the flame temperature, which have little correlation with the spatial distribution of alkali metals, probably as a result of the diffusion effects.

No abstract

The pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) can significantly affect the differentiation of Th17 and Treg cells; thus, it is considered a promising target for UC therapy. Herein, five series of costunolide (Cos) derivatives are designed, synthesized, and biologically evaluated. Among them, D5 exhibits excellent immunomodulatory activity against T-cell proliferation and potent PKM2 activating activity. Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that D5 can also covalently interact with Cys424 of PKM2. The molecular docking and molecular dynamic (MD) studies indicate that difluorocyclopropyl derivative of D5 improves the protein–ligand interaction by interacting with Arg399 electrostatically. Furthermore, D5 significantly dampens the differentiation of Th17 but not Treg cells to recover the Th17/Treg balance, which is attributed to the suppression of PKM2-mediated glycolysis. Oral administration of D5 ameliorates the symptoms of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)- and 2,4,6-trinitro-benzenesulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis in mouse model. Collectively, D5 has the potential to be developed as a novel anti-UC candidate.