• Computers and Concrete
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.327-341
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• 2020

Advanced forms of structural design (e.g., displacement-based methods) require knowledge of the non-linear force-displacement behavior of both the overall building and individual lateral load resisting elements, i.e., walls or building cores. Similarly, understanding the non-linear behaviour of the elements in a structure can also allow for a less conservative structural response to be calculated by better understanding the cracked (i.e., effective) properties of the various RC elements. Calculating the non-linear response of an RC section typically involves using 'black box' analysis packages, wherein the user may not be in complete control nor be aware of all the intricate settings and/or decisions behind the scenes. This paper introduces a user-friendly and transparent analysis program for predicting the back-bone force displacement behavior of slender (i.e., flexure controlled) RC walls, building cores or columns. The program has been validated and benchmarked theoretically against both commonly available and widely used analysis packages and experimentally against a database of 16 large-scale RC wall test specimens. The program, which is called WHAM, is written using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to promote transparency and allow users to further develop or modify to suit individual requirements. The program is available free-of-charge and is intended to be used as an educational tool for structural designers, researchers or students.

• BMB Reports
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• 제51권12호
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• pp.613-622
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• 2018

RNA helicases DDX5 and DDX17 are multitasking proteins that regulate gene expression in different biological contexts through diverse activities. Special attention has long been paid to their function as coregulators of transcription factors, providing insight about their functional association with a number of chromatin modifiers and remodelers. However, to date, the variety of described mechanisms has made it difficult to understand precisely how these proteins work at the molecular level, and the contribution of their ATPase domain to these mechanisms remains unclear as well. In light of their association with long noncoding RNAs that are key epigenetic regulators, an emerging view is that DDX5 and DDX17 may act through modulating the activity of various ribonucleoprotein complexes that could ensure their targeting to specific chromatin loci. This review will comprehensively describe the current knowledge on these different mechanisms. We will also discuss the potential roles of DDX5 and DDX17 on the 3D chromatin organization and how these could impact gene expression at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제32권4호
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• pp.455-466
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• 2019

Despite the rapid advancement in computing resources, many real-life design and optimization problems in structural engineering involve huge computation costs. To counter such challenges, approximate models are often used as surrogates for the highly accurate but time intensive finite element models. In this paper, surrogates for first-order shear deformation based finite element models are built using a polynomial regression approach. Using statistical techniques like Box-Cox transformation and ANOVA, the effectiveness of the surrogates is enhanced. The accuracy of the surrogate models is evaluated using statistical metrics like $R^2$, $R^2{_{adj}}$, $R^2{_{pred}}$ and $Q^2{_{F3}}$. By combining these surrogates with nature-inspired multi-criteria decision-making algorithms, namely multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) and multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO), the optimal combination of various design variables to simultaneously maximize fundamental frequency and frequency separation is predicted. It is seen that the proposed approach is simple, effective and good at inexpensively producing a host of optimal solutions.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• 제14권12호
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• pp.4816-4834
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• 2020

This paper proposes transfer learning and fine-tuning techniques for a deep learning model to detect three distinct brain tumors from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans. In this work, the recent YOLOv4 model trained using a collection of 3064 T1-weighted Contrast-Enhanced (CE)-MRI scans that were pre-processed and labeled for the task. This work trained with the partial 29-layer YOLOv4-Tiny and fine-tuned to work optimally and run efficiently in most platforms with reliable performance. With the help of transfer learning, the model had initial leverage to train faster with pre-trained weights from the COCO dataset, generating a robust set of features required for brain tumor detection. The results yielded the highest mean average precision of 93.14%, a 90.34% precision, 88.58% recall, and 89.45% F1-Score outperforming other previous versions of the YOLO detection models and other studies that used bounding box detections for the same task like Faster R-CNN. As concluded, the YOLOv4-Tiny can work efficiently to detect brain tumors automatically at a rapid phase with the help of proper fine-tuning and transfer learning. This work contributes mainly to assist medical experts in the diagnostic process of brain tumors.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제31권5호
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• pp.573-582
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• 2023

Muscle atrophy is characterized by the loss of muscle function. Many efforts are being made to prevent muscle atrophy, and exercise is an important alternative. Methylglyoxal is a well-known causative agent of metabolic diseases and diabetic complications. This study aimed to evaluate whether methylglyoxal induces muscle atrophy and to evaluate the ameliorative effect of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise in a methylglyoxal-induced muscle atrophy animal model. Each mouse was randomly divided into three groups: control, methylglyoxal-treated, and methylglyoxal-treated within aerobic exercise. In the exercise group, each mouse was trained on a treadmill for 2 weeks. On the last day, all groups were evaluated for several atrophic behaviors and skeletal muscles, including the soleus, plantaris, gastrocnemius, and extensor digitorum longus were analyzed. In the exercise group, muscle mass was restored, causing in attenuation of muscle atrophy. The gastrocnemius and extensor digitorum longus muscles showed improved fiber cross-sectional area and reduced myofibrils. Further, they produced regulated atrophy-related proteins (i.e., muscle atrophy F-box, muscle RING-finger protein-1, and myosin heavy chain), indicating that aerobic exercise stimulated their muscle sensitivity to reverse skeletal muscle atrophy. In conclusion, shortness of the gastrocnemius caused by methylglyoxal may induce the dynamic imbalance of skeletal muscle atrophy, thus methylglyoxal may be a key target for treating skeletal muscle atrophy. To this end, aerobic exercise may be a powerful tool for regulating methylglyoxal-induced skeletal muscle atrophy.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.53-72
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• 2024

The interaction of the blade of surface-piercing propellers (SPPs) with the water/air surface is a physical phenomenon that is difficult to model mathematically, so that such propellers are usually designed using empirical approaches. In this paper, a newly developed mechanism for measuring the torque of SPPs in an open water circuit is presented. The mechanism includes a single-component load cell and a deformable torque sensor to detect the forces exerted on the propeller. Deformations in the sensor elements lead to changes in the strain gauge resistance, which are converted into voltage using a Wheatstone bridge. The amplified signal is then recorded by a 16-channel data recording system. The mechanism is calibrated using a 6-DoF calibration system and a Box-Behnken design, achieving 99% accuracy through multivariate regression and ANOVA. Finally, the results of performance tests on a 4-blade propeller were presented in the form of changes in the torque coefficient as a function of feed rate. The results show that the new mechanism is 8% more accurate than conventional empirical methods.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제15권6호
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• pp.1286-1298
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• 2005

The genus Paenibacillus is a new group of bacilli separated from the genus Bacillus, and most of species have been isolated from soil. In the present study, we collected 450 spore-forming bacilli from the roots of winter crops, such as barley, wheat, onion, green onion, and Chinese cabbage, which were cultivated in the southern part of Korea. Among these 450 isolates, 104 Paenibacillus-like isolates were selected, based on their colony shape, odor, color, and endospore morphology, and 41 isolates were then finally identified as Paenibacillus spp. by 16S rDNA sequencing. Among the 41 Paenibacillus isolates, 23 were classified as P. polymyxa, a type species of the genus Paenibacillus, based on comparison of the 16S rDNA sequences with those of 32 type strains of the genus Paenibacillus from the GenBank database. Thirty-five isolates among the 41 Paenibacillus isolates exhibited antagonistic activity towards plant fungal and bacterial pathogens, whereas 24 isolates had a significant growth-enhancing effect on cucumber seedlings, when applied to the seeds. An assessment of the root-colonization capacity under gnotobiotic conditions revealed that all 41 isolates were able to colonize cucumber roots without any significant difference. Twenty-one of the Paenibacillus isolates were shown to contain the nifH gene, which is an indicator of $N_{2}$ fixation. However, the other 20 isolates, including the reference strain E681, did not incorporate the nifH gene. To investigate the diversity of the isolates, a BOX-PCR was performed, and the resulting electrophoresis patterns allowed the 41 Paenibacillus isolates to be divided into three groups (Groups A, B, and C). One group included Paenibacillus strains isolated mainly from barley or wheat, whereas the other two groups contained strains isolated from diverse plant samples. Accordingly, the present results showed that the Paenibacillus isolates collected from the rhizosphere of winter crops were diverse in their biological and genetic characteristics, and they are good candidates for further application studies.

• 한국연초학회지
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.109-118
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• 1999

A model predicted describing the effect of cigarette making materials on the level of filter ventilation was developed and evaluated. The developed model was expressed in terms of a linear and quadratic relationship which was validated with experimental measurements for different porosity of plug wrap and tipping paper, unencapsulated pressure drop of filter plug and cigarette column and vent position. Forty-six experimental frequencies were determined as a result of using three levels with five factors Box-Behnken design and analyzed by the multiple regression analysis with backward stepwise in STATISTICA/PC under restricted conditions. The four factors, except filter pressure drop variable, were statistically significant at the level of 0.05 but most of all linear by linear interactions were comparatively lower significant. By the analysis of linear and quadratic regression coefficient, filter ventilation of the cigarette was affected by porosity of plugwrap (5.87, -4.25), porosity of tip paper (5.68, -1.00), vent position (-3.87, 3.08), tobacco column pressure drop (2.56, 0.66), and filter pressure drop (1.50, 0.58) in the decreasing order. It should be emphasized that the major conclusion of this study was not that any particular parameter was linear or quadratic on any limit scale, but that there were highly significant relationships among factors involving linear, quadratic and their interaction and perhaps even linearity between and within factors. While, there is also quite strong evidence that vent position from mouth end and cigarette making materials are reverse relationship on this experimental model. On the basis of the result, it can be concluded that the porosity of the plug wrap and tipping paper has a marked effect on degree of filter ventilation rate. The F-value of plug wrap and tipping paper porosity among five factors were 39.2 and 36.8 respectively with P-value of 0.000 indicating higher significant for both factors. According to the analysis of variance, the model fitted for filter ventilation was significant at 5% confidence level and the coefficient of determination ($R^2$=0.84) was the proportion to variability in the data well fitted for by the model.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.1-5
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• 2007

쌍자엽 식물에 있어서 잎의 발달에 관한 과정은 매우 복잡하게 얽혀있지만, 이를 조절하는 메커니즘에 대해서는 아직 잘 알려져 있지 않다. 모델식물인 애기장대의 잎의 발달의 기초과정을 해명하기 위하여 잎의 형태이상 돌연변이체를 이용한 접근방법을 시도하였다. 본 연구에서 잎이 작고 가는 lanceolata1 돌연변이체를 선별하였고, 이원인유전자의 기능을 밝히기 위하여 유전학적 및 해부학적인 연구를 실시하였다. lan1-7 돌연변이체는 잎 뿐만아니라 줄기도 가늘어지는 표현형을 나타내었고, 이는 세포수준에서 세포크기와 세포수의 감소에 의한 조절되고 있음이 밝혀졌다. 이 결과는 LAN1 유전자가 잎의 발달과정에서 세포분열과 세포신장을 제어하고 있다는 사실을 시사하고 있다. lan1-7 돌연변이체와 35S-AG 형질전환체와의 F1 세대의 표현형 분석을 통하여, AG 유전자가 잎이 가늘고 위로 말리는 모양을 제어하고 있다는 사실이 판명되었다. 이 결과로 MADS-box유전자가 LAN1 유전자에 의해서 제어되고 잎의 발달과정에 관여하고 있다는 사실이 판명되었다.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• 제44권6호
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• pp.641-648
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• 2006

We previously reported that Skp1, a component of the Skp1-Cullin-F-box protein (SCF) complex essential for the timely degradation of cell cycle proteins by ubiquitination, physically interacts with Bfa1, which is a key negative regulator of the mitotic exit network (MEN) in response to diverse checkpoint-activating stresses in budding yeast. In this study, we initially investigated whether the interaction of Skp1 and Bfa1 is involved in the regulation of the Bfa1 protein level during the cell cycle, especially by mediating its degradation. However, the profile of the Bfa1 protein did not change during the cell cycle in skp1-11, which is a SKP1 mutant allele in which the function of Skp1 as a part of SCF is completely impaired, thus indicating that Skp1 does not affect the degradation of Bfa1. On the other hand, we found that the skp1-12 mutant allele, previously reported to block G2-M transition, showed defects in mitotic exit and cytokinesis. The skp1-12 mutant allele also revealed a specific genetic interaction with ${\Delta}bfa1$. Bfa1 interacted with Skp1 via its 184 C-terminal residues (Bfa1-D8) that are responsible for its function in mitotic exit. In addition, the interaction between Bfa1 and the Skp1-12 mutant protein was stronger than that of Bfa1 and the wild type Skp1. We suggest a novel function of Skp1 in mitotic exit and cytokinesis, independent of its function as a part of the SCF complex. The interaction of Skp1 and Bfa1 may contribute to the function of Skp1 in the mitotic exit.