• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
• /
• v.11 no.5
• /
• pp.426-434
• /
• 2011

Recently, the use of mineral admixtures in concrete has been studied in many laboratories, and been applied in the field. But the non-destructive testing equation proposed in Japan for normal strength concrete has been used to determine compressive strength, because there has been a lack of systematic research on the compressive strength of concrete using mineral admixtures. For this reason, it is essential to suggest a non-destructive testing equation to estimate the compressive strength of concrete using mineral admixtures. Therefore, this study made a cylindrical specimen and core tube specimen of concrete using a mineral admixture, and suggested a strength estimation of long-term age (4 years) through non-destructive and destructive tests. The results of the research are as follows. Comparing error rates between conventional suggested equations and this estimated equation shows some differences by age, but the error rate of this study was reduced to 0.3 %~115.0 % compared to conventional equations by re-bound hammering, 0.2 %~22.8 % by the ultrasound velocity method and 0.5 %~102.3 % by complex method. Accordingly, it is judged to be suitable for assessing the compressive strength of concretes using mineral admixtures.

• Advances in nano research
• /
• v.12 no.5
• /
• pp.501-514
• /
• 2022

This study aimed to investigate the effects and potential mechanisms of Chikusetsusaponin V (CsV) on endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and vascular endothelial cell functions. Different concentrations of CsV were added to animal models, bovine aorta endothelial cells (BAECs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) cultured in vitro. qPCR, Western blotting (WB), and B ultrasound were performed to explore the effects of CsV on mouse endothelial cell functions, vascular stiffness and cellular eNOS mRNA, protein expression and NO release. Bioinformatics analysis, network pharmacology, molecular docking and protein mass spectrometry analysis were conducted to jointly predict the upstream transcription factors of eNOS. Furthermore, pulldown and ChIP and dual luciferase assays were employed for subsequent verification. At the presence or absence of CsV stimulation, either overexpression or knockdown of purine rich element binding protein A (PURA) was conducted, and PCR assay was employed to detect PURA and eNOS mRNA expressions, Western blot was used to detect PURA and eNOS protein expressions, cell NO release and serum NO levels. Tube formation experiment was conducted to detect the tube forming capability of HUVECs cells. The animal vasodilation function test detected the vasodilation functions. Ultrasonic detection was performed to determine the mouse aortic arch pulse wave velocity to identify aortic stiffness. CsV stimulus on bovine aortic cells revealed that CsV could upregulate eNOS protein levels in vascular endothelial cells in a concentration and time dependent manner. The expression levels of eNOS mRNA and phosphorylation sites Ser1177, Ser633 and Thr495 increased significantly after CsV stimulation. Meanwhile, CsV could also enhance the tube forming capability of HUVECs cells. Following the mice were gavaged using CsV, the eNOS protein level of mouse aortic endothelial cells was upregulated in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, and serum NO release and vasodilation ability were simultaneously elevated whereas arterial stiffness was alleviated. The pulldown, ChIP and dual luciferase assays demonstrated that PURA could bind to the eNOS promoter and facilitate the transcription of eNOS. Under the conditions of presence or absence of CsV stimulation, overexpression or knockdown of PURA indicated that the effect of CsV on vascular endothelial function and eNOS was weakened following PURA gene silence, whereas overexpression of PURA gene could enhance the effect of CsV upregulating eNOS expression. CsV could promote NO release from endothelial cells by upregulating the expression of PURA/eNOS pathway, improve endothelial cell functions, enhance vasodilation capability, and alleviate vessel stiffness. The present study plays a role in offering a theoretical basis for the development and application of CsV in vascular function improvement, and it also provides a more comprehensive understanding of the pharmacodynamics of CsV.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.16 no.7
• /
• pp.975-984
• /
• 2022

Since a linear transducer has an area of interest equal to the length of the transducer, the area of interest can be expanded using the virtual convex function installed in the device.However, it was thought that the change in the direction of the ultrasonic sound velocity according to the change in the visual area of interest would affect the image quality, so this was objectively confirmed. For this study, image evaluation and SNR·CNR of the phantom for ultrasound quality control were measured. As a result, in the phantom image evaluation, both images were able to identify structures in functional resolution, grayscale, and dynamic range. However, it was confirmed that the standard image was excellent in the reproducibility of the size and shape of the structure. As a result of SNR·CNR evaluation, SNR·CNR of most trapezoidal images was low, except for structures at specific locations. In addition, through the statistical analysis graph, it was further confirmed that the SNR and CNR for each depth decreased as the size of the cystic structure decreased. Through this study, it was confirmed that the use of the function has the advantage of providing a wide visual area of interest, but it has an effect on the image quality. Therefore, when using the virtual convex function, it is judged that the examiner should use it in an appropriate situation and conduct various studies to acquire high-quality images and to improve the understanding and proficiency of the equipment.

• Journal of the Institute of Convergence Signal Processing
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.172-177
• /
• 2023

In this paper, 2-dimensional backtracking method for ultrasonic signals. Ultrasonic sensors are a common technology used in industrial fields as many studies have been conducted on distance measurement and indoor location tracking using transmission and reception devices in pairs. A method for tracking a signal of an arbitrary ultrasonic transmission device on a 2D plane using only a receiver of an ultrasonic signal is proposed. In order to track the ultrasonic signal, the receiver receives the signal by making at least three. The three receivers may calculate a direction and a distance using a time difference in which the ultrasound reception sound is reached. The existing method of tracking signal sources using ultrasonic waves has a problem of time synchronization of devices because the transceivers must be paired or installed independently for each sensor. In order to solve this problem, the distance of the ultrasonic receiver is minimized, and it is configured as one device. The sensor installed as one device may be processed by one operator, thereby solving the time synchronization problem. To increase time difference accuracy, high-speed 32-bit timers with high time resolution can be used to quickly calculate and track distances and directions.