Abrasiveness as an intrinsic property of rocks defines the extent of wear or loss when interacting with other materials. In engineering sectors like hard rock mining and tunnelling, comprehending rock abrasiveness holds paramount importance due to its direct effect on tool wear during excavation. Among the diverse methods for assessing rock abrasiveness, the Cerchar abrasivity test emerges as the most widely used approach. Over time, the Cerchar test has garnered substantial attention from scholars, who have delved into the factors influencing test results due to testing conditions and examined the connection between the physical-mechanical parameters of rocks and their abrasiveness. Recent advancements in testing instrument have expanded our ability to measure additional parameters during rock cutting or drilling, yielding fresh insights for abrasiveness assessment, tool wear prediction, tool performance evaluation and rock excavatability estimation. The Cerchar abrasivity test, coupled with recent developments in testing instrument and parameter measurement, holds promising potential for enhancing our comprehension of rock abrasiveness and its practical implications. This review systematically traces the evolution of the test. It commences with an overview of the test origin and progression, emphasizing its pivotal role in assessing rock abrasiveness. Furthermore, it consolidates and categorizes the research contributions from various scholars regarding the test. This includes enhancements and refinements of the testing apparatus, as well as investigations into various testing orientations and their effects on different types of rocks. Moreover, this review illuminates the broader applications and interdisciplinary possibilities of this test, not only in material science but also in tribology. It underscores how the insights gleaned from the Cerchar test can be extrapolated to diverse areas of research beyond the scope of rock engineering.

High-filled red soil typically lacks sufficient bearing capacity, which can pose significant challenges when constructing building foundations. One economical and effective method for the reinforcement of high-filled red soil is the dynamic compaction (DC) method. However, the design parameters for reinforcing high-filled red soil using the DC method are largely based on experience, which indicates the significant value of field results of related engineering practice. In this paper, we report a field study that was carried out to investigate the effect of impact energy on the treatment of super-high-filled ground with red soil in southwestern Yunnan, China, where three pilot DC tests were designed and conducted with three different impact energies (4000 kN·m, 8000 kN·m and 15,000 kN·m). To evaluate the reinforcement effect and optimize the DC operational parameters, a series of in situ tests, including settlement monitoring, standard penetration tests, dynamic penetration tests, surface wave velocity tests and plate-load tests, were carried out. Furthermore, the improvement depth of DC was discussed. The results of the field study show that the characteristic value of the ground bearing capacity of the three test zones could reach 250 kPa, which coincides with the design requirement, although the improvement depth of testing zone III fails to reach the required depth. This study helps to improve the in situ recycling of high-filled soil, thereby promoting the sustainable development of engineering construction.

Although the impact and potential mechanisms of p53 polymorphisms on human malignancies have been intensively studied, analyses for association between p53 polymorphisms and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk were still limited to some common variants. Moreover, the majority of previous studies did not classify the specimens of CRC based on tumor location. This case-control study aimed to evaluate the association of five p53 polymorphisms (rs1042522, rs12947788, rs1625895, rs2909430 and rs12951053) with the risk of low rectal cancer (LRC) and investigate the prognostic significance. A total of 347 cases and 353 controls from a Chinese population were recruited and genotyped using KASP assay. Individuals carrying the variant rs12947788 A allele were observed to associate with an increased risk of LRC. After stratification for clinicopathological parameters, rs12947788 was significantly co-related with the histological type of LRC under a dominant model. Although none of the selected p53 polymorphisms was significantly associated with patient prognosis in total population, significant associations with the overall survival were revealed in the heterozygosis carriers vs. wild type carriers model through subgroup analyses based on clinical characteristics. Moreover, haplotype analyses showed that C-A-G-A-A haplotype was associated with a significantly higher LRC risk as compared to the other haplotypes. In low rectal cancer, P53 protein expression was obviously higher in p53 rs1042522 mutant carriers than in other genotypes. Our study further proves the involvement of p53 polymorphisms in pathogenesis of LRC and may provide potential therapeutic implications.