Numerical Investigation of the Temperature Field Effect on the Mechanical Responses of Conventional and Cool Pavements.

Conventional asphalt pavement has a deep surface color and large thermal inertia, which leads to the continuous absorption of solar thermal radiation and the sharp rise of surface temperature. This can easily lead to the permanent deformation of pavement, as well as aggravate the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Cool pavement with a reflective coating plays an important role in reducing pavement temperature and alleviating the UHI effect. It is of great significance to study the influence of temperature on the mechanical response of different types of pavement under vehicle loading. Therefore, this study examined the heat exchange theory between pavement and the external environment and utilized the representative climate data of a 24 h period in the summer. Two kinds of three-dimensional finite element models were established for the analysis of temperature distribution and the mechanical responses of conventional pavement and cool pavement. The results show that in this environmental condition, conventional pavement temperatures can exceed 50 °C under high temperatures in summer, which allows for the permanent deformation of pavement and further affects the service life of asphalt pavement. The temperature difference in a conventional pavement surface between 6 h (24.7 °C) and 22 h (30.2 °C) is much less than that between 22 h (30.2 °C) and 13 h (50.1 °C) in the summer. However, the difference in the vertical displacements of the pavement surface between 6 h and 22 h is much larger than that between 22 h and 13 h. One reason is that the difference in temperature distribution between the morning and night leads to changes in pavement structure stiffness, resulting in significant differences in vertical displacement. Cool pavement has a significant cooling effect, which can reduce the surface temperature of a road by more than 15 °C and reduce the vertical displacement of the pavement by approximately 11.3%, which improves the rutting resistance of the pavement. However, the use of cool pavement will not change the horizontal strain at the bottom of the asphalt base and will not improve the fatigue resistance of asphalt pavement. This research will lay the foundation for further clarifying the difference in the mechanical properties between the two types of pavements in the management and maintenance stage.

A Global Phase I Clinical Study Comparing the Safety and Pharmacokinetics of Proposed Biosimilar BAT1706 and Bevacizumab (Avastin®) in Healthy Male Subjects.

OBJECTIVE: BAT1706 is a proposed biosimilar of bevacizumab (BEV). The objective of this phase I clinical trial was to establish pairwise similarity between BAT1706, US-sourced BEV (US-BEV), and EU-sourced BEV (EU-BEV) after a single intravenous (IV) infusion in healthy male subjects. METHODS: This phase I clinical trial was a randomized, double-blinded, three-arm study in 128 healthy adult male subjects. Every subject received a single IV infusion of 1 mg/kg of study drug and was subsequently monitored for 14 weeks. Pharmacokinetic, safety, and immunogenicity data were collected from each patient. The primary pharmacokinetic endpoint of this clinical study was area under the concentration curve from time zero to infinity (AUC0-inf). Biosimilarity of the study drugs was confirmed if the two-sided 90% confidence interval (CI) ratios of the geometric means for the three pairwise comparisons were contained within the range 80-125%. Other pharmacokinetic parameters including area under the concentration curve to time t (AUC0-t), maximum concentration of drug in plasma (Cmax), half-life (t½), and time to Cmax (tmax) were also measured. RESULTS: The pharmacokinetic parameters were comparable for the three drug products evaluated. The 90% CI for the AUC0-inf was 99-112% for BAT1706 versus EU-BEV, 97-110% for BAT1706 vs US-BEV and 92-104% for EU-BEV versus US-BEV comparisons, respectively, demonstrating biosimilarity. There were no significant adverse events attributable to BAT1706, as compared to EU-BEV and US-BEV. BAT1706 demonstrated a similar safety profile to EU-BEV and US-BEV. In addition, no anti-drug antibody positive result was reported for any subject included in the study. CONCLUSION: In this study, BAT1706, a proposed biosimilar of BEV, was shown to be highly similar to EU-BEV and US-BEV in terms of pharmacokinetic equivalence, safety, and immunogenicity in healthy subjects after a single IV infusion. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT03030430.

[The investigation on the changes of haematological parameters in the occupationally lead exposed workers].

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the level of blood lead and some haematological parameters in the workers occupationally exposed to lead so as to know the effect of lead exposure on hematopoietic system in exposed workers. METHODS: The graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrocopy was used to determine blood lead (BPb). The haematological parameters were determined by Sysmex KX-21 automated haematology analyzer. RESULTS: Hemoglobin (Hb) in the lead-absorption group[male: (129.3 +/- 12.3) g/L, female: (112.2 +/- 9.4) g/L], and hematocrit (HCT) in the lead-absorption group[male: (0.338 +/- 0.030) L/L, female: (0.302 +/- 0.028) L/L] were significantly lower than those in normal people group and lead-exposed group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The relationships between BPb and Hb, HCT were weakly negative correlation. Red cell distribution width (RDW) in the lead-absorption group(male: 16.68% +/- 0.80%, female: 16.98% +/- 0.98%) were significantly higher than those in normal people group and lead exposed group, and RDW in lead exposed group (male: 14.77% +/- 0.83%, female: 14.92% +/- 1.13%) were higher than that in normal people group. BPb was weakly positively correlated with RDW. CONCLUSION: Hb, HCT and RDW were three indices which may reflect the occurrences and degrees of anaemia in lead exposed workers.