This study reports the GPU parallelization of complex three-dimensional software for nonlinear analysis of concrete structures. It focuses on coupled thermomechanical analysis of complex structures. A coupled FEM/DEM approach (CDEM) is given from a fundamental theoretical viewpoint. As the modeling of a large structure by means of FEM/DEM may lead to prohibitive computation times, a parallelization strategy is required. With the substantial development of computer science, a GPU-based parallel procedure is implemented. A comparative study between the GPU and CPU computation results is presented, and the runtimes and speedups are analyzed. The results show that dramatic performance improvements are gained from GPU parallelization.

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Small intestinal epithelium homeostasis involves four principal cell types: enterocytes, goblet, enteroendocrine and Paneth cells. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) has been shown to affect enterocyte differentiation. This study determined the effect of dietary EGF on goblet, enteroendocrine and Paneth cell differentiation in piglet small intestine and potential mechanisms. Forty-two weaned piglets were used in a 2 × 3 factorial design; the major factors were time post-weaning (days 7 and 14) and dietary treatment (0, 200 or 400 µg/kg EGF supplementation). The numbers of goblet and enteroendocrine cells were generally greater with the increase in time post-weaning. Moreover, the supplementation of 200 µg/kg EGF increased (P < 0.01) the number of goblet and enteroendocrine cells in villus and crypt of the piglet small intestine as compared with the control. Dietary supplementation with 200 µg/kg EGF enhanced (P < 0.05) abundances of differentiation-related genes atonal homologue 1, mucin 2 and intestinal trefoil factor 3 messenger RNA (mRNA) as compared with the control. Piglets fed 200 or 400 µg/kg EGF diet had increased (P < 0.05) abundances of growth factor-independent 1, SAM pointed domain containing ETS transcription factor and pancreatic and duodenal homeobox 1 mRNA, but decreased the abundance (P < 0.01) of E74 like ETS transcription factor 3 mRNA as compared with the control. Animals receiving 400 µg/kg EGF diets had enhanced (P < 0.05) abundances of neurogenin3 and SRY-box containing gene 9 mRNA as compared with the control. The mRNA abundance and protein expression of lysozyme, a marker of Paneth cell, were also increased (P < 0.05) in those animals. As compared with the control, dietary supplementation with 200 µg/kg EGF increased the abundance of EGF receptor mRNA and the ratio of non-phospho(p)-β-catenin/β-catenin (P < 0.05) in villus epithelial cells at days 7 and 14. This ratio in crypt epithelial cells was higher (P < 0.05) on the both 200 and 400 µg/kg EGF groups during the same period. Our results demonstrated that dietary EGF stimulated goblet, enteroendocrine and Paneth cell differentiation in piglets during the post-weaning period, partly through EGFR and Wnt/β-catenin signalling.

a b s t r a c tUnderground storage in unlined caverns is of great significance for storing energy resources. Construction of underground storage caverns is an extremely complex process, involving extensive multi-bench excavation and strong unloading. Excavation-induced damage of surrounding rock masses may lead to instability of underground storage caverns. The aim of this paper is to put forward a method by integrating numerical simulation and microseismic monitoring for evaluation of cavern stability. A novel numerical method called Continuous-Discontinuous Element Method (CDEM) is applied to simulate micro-cracks under excavation-induced unloading conditions. Meanwhile, a microseismic (MS) monitoring system is employed to monitor real-time MS events during construction of storage caverns. Numerical results are validated using the monitoring data from the MS monitoring system. The integrated method is proved to be successful in capturing micro-cracks in underground storage caverns. Local instability, potential unstable zones and micro-crack evolution are analyzed, and cracking mechanisms are also discussed.

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The parallelization of 2D/3D software SAPTIS is discussed for nonlinear analysis of complex structures. A comparative study is made on different parallel solvers. The numerical models are presented, including hydration models, water cooling models, modulus models, creep model, and autogenous deformation models. A finite element simulation is made for the whole process of excavation and pouring of dams using these models. The numerical results show a good agreement with the measured ones. To achieve a better computing efficiency, four parallel solvers utilizing parallelization techniques are employed: (1) a parallel preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCG) solver based on OpenMP, (2) a parallel preconditioned Krylov subspace solver based on MPI, (3) a parallel sparse equation solver based on OpenMP, and (4) a parallel GPU equation solver. The parallel solvers run either in a shared memory environment OpenMP or in a distributed memory environment MPI. A comparative study on these parallel solvers is made, and the results show that the parallelization makes SAPTIS more efficient, powerful, and adaptable.