• Wind and Structures
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• 제14권6호
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• pp.517-536
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• 2011

The assessment of wind-induced motion plays an important role in the development and design of the majority of today's structures that push the limits of engineering knowledge. A vital part of the design is the prediction of wind-induced tall building motion and the assessment of its effects on occupant comfort. Little of the research that has led to the development of the various international standards for occupant comfort criteria have considered the effects of the low-frequency motion on task performance and interference with building occupants' daily activities. It has only recently become more widely recognized that it is no longer reasonable to assume that the level of motion that a tall building undergoes in a windstorm will fall below an occupants' level of perception and little is known about how this motion perception could also impact on task performance. Experimental research was conducted to evaluate the performance of individuals engaged in a manual tracking task while subjected to low level vibration in the frequency range of 0.125 Hz-0.50 Hz. The investigations were carried out under narrow-band random vibration with accelerations ranging from 2 milli-g to 30 milli-g (where 1 milli-g = 0.0098 $m/s^2$) and included a control condition. The frequencies and accelerations simulated are representative of the level of motion expected to occur in a tall building (heights in the range of 100 m -350 m) once every few months to once every few years. Performance of the test subjects with and without vibration was determined for 15 separate test conditions and evaluated in terms of time taken to complete a task and accuracy per trial. Overall, the performance under the vibration conditions did not vary significantly from that of the control condition, nor was there a statistically significant degradation or improvement trend in performance ability as a function of increasing frequency or acceleration.

• 대한약침학회지
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• 제25권1호
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• pp.7-14
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• 2022

Objectives: Some dermatological diseases can be life-threatening. Urticaria and angioedema are common reasons for patients to seek treatment at an emergency department. Severe, generalized urticaria and angioedema can endanger patients' lives by involving the airways and causing anaphylactic shock. The humor-based Persian Medicine (PM) concepts of Shara and Mashara, referring to two kinds of skin lesions, have similarities to urticaria and angioedema, respectively. This article aims to provide scientific evidence regarding the application of PM as an early intervention strategy in the emergency management of urticaria and angioedema. Methods: This was a narrative review of PM studies identified by searching medical databases using search terms related to these diseases, as well as risk-associated keywords such as "fatal", "death", "life-threatening", "emergency", "cupping", and "bloodletting". Data were then compared, interpreted, and analyzed. Results: PM scholars consider the human body as a unified whole and believe in an inner power (Nature) which stems from the body. When the presence of excessive hot substances cause an imbalance of bodily humors, Nature directs their heated vapors sharply toward the skin, thus causing Shara and Mashara. If there is a high risk of inflammation spreading to vital organs under severe conditions, urgent manual interventions are crucial. Conclusion: In serious conditions of urticaria and angioedema, Fasd or bloodletting and Hijama can be effective in speeding up the control of lesions and reducing morbidity and mortality. Consequently, the development of integrated Persian and conventional medicines may provide new therapeutic pathways for skin emergencies.

• Animal Bioscience
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• 제35권11호
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• pp.1656-1665
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• 2022

Objective: Water buffalo, an important domestic animal in tropical and subtropical regions, play an important role in agricultural economy. It is an important source for milk, meat, horns, skin, and draft power, especially its rich milk that is the great source of cream, butter, yogurt, and many cheeses. In recent years, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to play pivotal roles in many biological processes. Previous studies for the mammary gland development of water buffalo mainly focus on protein coding genes. However, lncRNAs of water buffalo remain poorly understood, and the regulation relationship between mammary gland development/milk production traits and lncRNA expression is also unclear. Methods: Here, we sequenced 22 samples of the milk somatic cells from three lactation stages and integrated the current annotation and identified 7,962 lncRNA genes. Results: By comparing the lncRNA genes of the water buffalo in the early, peak, and late different lactation stages, we found that lncRNA gene lnc-bbug14207 displayed significantly different expression between early and late lactation stages. And lnc-bbug14207 may regulate neighboring milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 (MFG-E8) and hyaluronan and proteoglycan link protein 3 (HAPLN3) protein coding genes, which are vital for mammary gland development. Conclusion: This study provides the first genome-wide identification of water buffalo lncRNAs and unveils the potential lncRNAs that impact mammary gland development.

• 대한통합의학회지
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• 제9권3호
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• pp.125-134
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• 2021

Purpose : This study applies inspiratory muscle resistance exercise with aerobic exercise to smokers and nonsmokers and then determines whether subjects' breathing functions (FVC, FEV1) are increased and how much effect smoking has on the difference in the increase of breathing functions between the two groups. Methods : For this experiment, 26 male adults were selected and randomly allocated to the smoker group (n=13) and nonsmoker group (n=13). The smokers and nonsmokers performed the inspiratory muscle resistance exercise with aerobic exercise three times a week for four weeks. Regarding the breathing functions, the forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) were measured three times: week 0, week 2, and week 4. The aerobic exercise was performed using a stationary bicycle with 8 difficulty levels. The inspiratory muscle resistance exercise was performed using Power Breathe with 10 resistance levels. Results : The study found that the FVC and FEV1 values of the smoker group decreased slightly after four weeks of inspiratory muscle resistance exercise with aerobic exercise. In other words, the difference was not statistically significant. In contrast, the FVC and FEV1 values of the nonsmoker group increased by a statistically significant amount. In addition, the intergroup comparison of the average increases in FVC and FEV1 values showed statistically significant differences. Conclusion : The results of this study show that when inspiratory muscle resistance exercise with aerobic exercise was performed, the increase in the breathing functions of nonsmokers was higher than that of smokers. This confirms that, within the parameters of the study, smoking had a negative effect on the increase of breathing functions. This suggests that quitting smoking must be considered as an essential factor when applying a breathing physiotherapy or a breathing function improvement program in clinical settings

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권4호
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• pp.1485-1494
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• 2023

The bow of the nuclear fuel assembly is a well-known phenomenon. One of the vital criteria during the history of nuclear fuel development has been fuel assembly's mechanical stability. Once present, the fuel assembly bow can lead to safety issues like excessive water gap and power redistribution or even incomplete rod insertion (IRI). The extensive bow can result in assembly handling and loading problems. This is why the fuel assembly's bow is one of the most often controlled geometrical factors during periodic fuel inspections for VVER when compared e.g. to on-site fuel rod gap measurements or other instrumental measurements performed on-site. Our proposed screening method uses existing video records for fuel inspection. We establish video frames normalization and aggregation for the purposes of bow measurement. The whole process is done by digital image processing algorithms which analyze rotations of video frames, extract angles whose source is the fuel set torsion, and reconstruct torsion schema. This approach provides results comparable to the commonly utilized method. We tested this new approach in real operation on 19 fuel assemblies with different campaign numbers and designs, where the average deviation from other methods was less than 2 % on average. Due to the fact, that the method has not yet been validated during full scale measurements of the fuel inspection, the preliminary results stand for that we recommend this method as a complementary part of standard bow measurement procedures to increase measurement robustness, lower time consumption and preserve or increase accuracy. After completed validation it is expected that the proposed method allows standalone fuel assembly bow measurements.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제39권4호
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• pp.397-408
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• 2023

Fire blight disease, caused by Erwinia amylovora, is a devastating affliction in apple cultivation worldwide. Chemical pesticides have exhibited limited effectiveness in controlling the disease, and biological control options for treating fruit trees are limited. Therefore, a relatively large-scale survey is necessary to develop microbial agents for apple trees. Here we collected healthy apple trees from across the country to identify common and core bacterial taxa. We analyzed the endophytic bacterial communities in leaves and twigs and discovered that the twig bacterial communities were more conserved than those in the leaves, regardless of the origin of the sample. This finding indicates that specific endophytic taxa are consistently present in healthy apple trees and may be involved in vital functions such as disease prevention and growth. Furthermore, we compared the community metabolite pathway expression rates of these endophyte communities with those of E. amylovora infected apple trees and discovered that the endophyte communities in healthy apple trees not only had similar community structures but also similar metabolite pathway expression rates. Additionally, Pseudomonas and Methylobacterium-Methylorobrum were the dominant taxa in all healthy apple trees. Our findings provide valuable insights into the potential roles of endophytes in healthy apple trees and inform the development of strategies for enhancing apple growth and resilience. Moreover, the similarity in cluster structure and pathway analysis between healthy orchards was mutually reinforcing, demonstrating the power of microbiome analysis as a tool for identifying factors that contribute to plant health.

• 영어영문학
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• 제57권5호
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• pp.839-870
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• 2011

This study compares and contrasts Jane Austen's novels of sensibility with those of Rousseau and Goethe. In Julie, or The New Heloise and The Sorrows of Young Werther, the passionate but doomed love of the heroine and her lover is juxtaposed with her passionless marriage to the virtuous husband. In Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, Austen revises Rousseau and Goethe's novels of sensibility to accommodate them to the puritanical English literary conventions. She parodies the basic plot of Menage a trois found in their novels of sensibility and transforms her novels into British Bildungsroman, focusing on the heroines' maturation. In Sense and Sensibility, Marianne stands up against the mercenary and snobbish high society. However, Austen represses Marianne's sensibility since the indulgence in sensibility can bring about sexual fall, as is evidenced by the cases of the two Elizas. Marianne's dangerous fever following Willoughby's betrayal emphasizes that female sexual desire should be punished for her continued existence in the high society. The taming of her sensibility and body through the fever is posited as a prerequisite for the happy marriage. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth favors the deprived Wickham over the wealthy Darcy. As Wickham turns out to be a debauched lover, Darcy snatches sexual charms from him and is transfigured into one of the most virtuous and attractive husbands in Menage a trois of the novels of sensibility. Acknowledging sexuality as a vital element of a courtship, Austen embeds sexual desire in dances and glances. However, Elizabeth has to repress sensibility and desire and the complete gratification of desire is continuously deferred to some indefinite period in the future. Marriage is a synecdoche for the union of the bourgeois and the aristocracy in Austen's Bildungsroman and Marianne and Elizabeth are bestowed with happy marriage in return for repressing their sensibility and desire. Since their 'normality' and 'maturation' have been achieved at the expense of subversive sexual power of deviant sensibility, they look too impotent to gratify their desire when they finally secure comfortable but mediocre upper class life.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제35권5호
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• pp.487-497
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• 2023

Penetration rate (PR) and penetration depth (Pe) are crucial parameters for estimating the cost and time required in tunnel construction using tunnel boring machines (TBMs). This study focuses on investigating the impact of rock strength on PR and Pe through full-scale experiments. By conducting controlled tests on rock-like specimens, the study aims to understand the contributions of various ground parameters and machine-operating conditions to TBM excavation performance. An earth pressure balanced (EPB) TBM with a sectional diameter of 3.54 m was utilized in the experiments. The TBM excavated rocklike specimens with varying uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), while the thrust and cutterhead rotational speed were controlled. The results highlight the significance of the interplay between thrust, cutterhead speed, and rock strength (UCS) in determining Pe. In high UCS conditions exceeding 70 MPa, thrust plays a vital role in enhancing Pe as hard rock requires a greater thrust force for excavation. Conversely, in medium-to-low UCS conditions less than 50 MPa, thrust has a weak relationship with Pe, and Pe becomes directly proportional to the cutterhead rotational speed. Furthermore, a strong correlation was observed between Pe and cutterhead torque with a determination coefficient of 0.84. Based on these findings, a predictive model for Pe is proposed, incorporating thrust, TBM diameter, number of disc cutters, and UCS. This model offers a practical tool for estimating Pe in different excavation scenarios. The study presents unprecedented full-scale TBM excavation results, with well-controlled experiments, shedding light on the interplay between rock strength, TBM operational variables, and excavation performance. These insights are valuable for optimizing TBM excavation in grounds with varying strengths and operational conditions.

• Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.60-76
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• 2024

Broadband Internet has proven to be vital for economic growth in developed countries. Developing countries have implemented several initiatives to increase their broadband access. However, its full potential can only be realized through adoption and use. With lower-middle-income countries accounting for the majority of the world's unconnected population, this study employs the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to investigate users' intentions to adopt broadband. Rural Tanzania was chosen as a case study. A cross-sectional study was conducted over three weeks, using 155 people from seven villages with the lowest broadband adoption rates. Non-probability voluntary response sampling was used to recruit the participants. Using the TPB constructs: attitude toward behavior (ATB), subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC), ordinal regression analysis was employed to predict intention. Descriptive statistical analysis yielded mean scores (standard deviation) as 3.59 (0.46) for ATB, 3.34 (0.40) for SN, 3.75 (0.29) for PBC, and 4.12 (0.66) for intention. The model adequately described the data based on a comparison of the model with predictors and the null model, which revealed a substantial improvement in fit (p<0.05). Moreover, the predictors accounted for 50.3% of the variation in the intention to use broadband Internet, demonstrating the predictive power of the TPB constructs. Furthermore, the TPB constructs were all significant positive predictors of intention: ATB (β=1.938, p<0.05), SN (β=2.144, p<0.05), and PBC (β=1.437, p=0.013). The findings of this study provide insight into how behavioral factors influence the likelihood of individuals adopting broadband Internet and could guide interventions through policies meant to promote broadband adoption.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권6호
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• pp.2029-2038
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• 2024

A deep understanding of the characteristics and mechanism of geyser boiling and capillary pumping is necessary to optimize a high-temperature sodium heat pipe. In this work, the Volume of Fluid (VOF) two-phase model and the capillary force model in the mesh wick were used to model the complex phase change and fluid flow in the heat pipe. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations successfully predicted the process of bubble nucleation, growth, aggregation, and detachment from the wall in the liquid pool of the evaporation section of the heat pipe in horizontal and tilted states, as well as the reflux phenomenon of capillary suction within the wick. The accuracy and stability of the capillary force model within the wick were verified. In addition, the causes of geyser boiling in heat pipes were analyzed by extracting the oscillation distribution of heat pipe wall temperature. The results show that adding the capillary force model within the wick structure can reasonably simulate the liquid backflow phenomenon at the condensation; Under the horizontal and inclined operating conditions of the heat pipe, the phenomenon of local dry-out will occur, resulting in a sharp increase in local temperature. The speed of bubble detachment and the timely reflux of liquid sodium (condensate) replenishment in the wick play a vital role in the geyser temperature oscillation of the tube wall. The numerical simulation method and the results of this study are anticipated to provide a good reference for the investigation of geyser boiling in high-temperature heat pipes.