As the offshore engineering moving from shallow to deep waters, the foundation types for fixed and floating platforms have been gradually evolving to minimize engineering costs and structural risks in the harsh offshore environments. Particular focus of this paper is on the foundation instability and its failure mechanisms as well as the relevant theory advances for the prevailing foundation types in both shallow and deep water depths. Piles, spudcans, gravity bases, suction caissons, and plate anchors are detailed in this paper. The failure phenomena and mechanisms for each type of foundations are identified and summarized, respectively. The theoretical approaches along with sophisticated empirical solutions for the bearing capacity problems are then presented. The major challenges are from flow-structure-soil coupling processes, rigorous constitutive modeling of cyclic behaviors of marine sediments, and the spatial variability of soil properties for large-spreading structures. Further researches are suggested to reveal the instability mechanisms for underpinning the evolution of offshore foundations.
Citation:Gao F P, Li J H, Qi W G, et al. On the instability of offshore foundations: theory and mechanism.
Background
ACE2 plays a particular role in the changes in multiple organ functions. However, whether ACE2 expression differs at different ages and whether it plays a role in infection-related organ dysfunction remains unclear.
Methods
Female and male C57BL/6 mice in four different age groups were included in this study. Immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses were performed to evaluate ACE2 expression characteristics in lung tissues. At the same time, we detected the changes of ACE2 in human blood of different ages and evaluated its clinical significance in sepsis-associated organ dysfunction (SAOD).
Results
This study indicated that ACE2 is expressed differently in mouse lung tissues at four different ages (P < 0.05). The peak expression distribution of ACE2 in lung tissues was in the newborn and middle-aged cohorts (P < 0.05). Infants younger than one year had a significantly higher concentration of ACE2 in serum and enhanced susceptibility compared with other ages (P < 0.05). Serum APTT, D-dimer, LDH, and PCT, as well as ACE2 in sepsis and SAOD groups, were statistically significant (P < 0.05) and were related to an increased risk of SAOD. There was a positive correlation between ACE2 and D-dimer (P < 0.05).
Conclusion
The levels of ACE2 expression varied in different age groups. It tends to be higher in infants and young children. This result suggests that young children are more susceptible to infection. Moreover, a cutoff value for the ACE2 level >1551.15 pg/mL and D-dimer >984.5 U/L should be considered a warning sign of infection-associated organ dysfunction and guide the clinician in evaluating the patient’s multiple organ function.
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