• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.1-12
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• 2023

This study aims to evaluate the optimal size of the hydrogen facility to be installed in a zero-energy district in terms of load matching and facility efficiency. A mismatch between energy generation and consumption is a common occurrence in zero-energy districts. This mismatch adversely effects the energy grid. However, using an energy carrier such as hydrogen can solve this problem. To determine the optimal size of hydrogen fuel cells to be used on-site, simulation of hydrogen installation is required at both district-and building- levels. Each case had four operating schedules. Therefore, we evaluated eight scenarios in terms of load matching, heat loss, and facility operational efficiency. The results indicate that district-level installation of hydrogen facilities enables more efficient energy use. Additionally, based on the proposed model, we can calculate the optimal size of the hydrogen facility.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.109-123
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• 2023

Preterm birth (PTB) is defined as giving birth prior to the 37th week of pregnancy and is a major cause of infant mortality. Studies have indicated that the vaginal microbiota's composition and its dysbiosis, particularly during pregnancy, may play a major role in PTB. While previous research work concentrated on well-studied microorganisms such as Lactobacillus, Prevotella, Gardnerella, various other microbes, and their significance in the vaginal microbiota's stability remain unknown. Moreover, current studies have focused primarily on the relative abundances of the microbes found, without considering their interactions with other members of the vaginal microbiota. In this work, we developed a novel computational approach and performed taxonomic classification of vaginal microbiota samples stratified longitudinally (Term/PTB) to observe compositional disparities and find underexamined microbes that may be contributing to PTB. Furthermore, we carried out a correlational analysis to build a microbial co-interaction network and investigated the functional implications of the genes present in both Term and PTB samples. The co-occurrence network revealed that Lactobacillus acts in solidarity to maintain the stability of the vaginal microbiota and did not have strong co-interactions with any of the other microbes. Similarly, microbes with strong interactions with Atopobium, a well-known marker microbe of PTB, were also observed. Additionally, several genes such as PTXA, FANCM, GPX, and DUSP were found to be playing an important role in the occurrence of PTB. This study provides a novel conceptual framework revealing distinct vaginal microbiota signatures that could be potential therapeutic targets for the prevention of PTB.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.175-189
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• 2024

Aiming at studying the plastic hinge (PH) evolution regularities and failure mode of rocking wall moment frame (RWMF) structure in earthquakes, the whole-working history analysis of seismic performance state of RWMF structure based on co-operation performance and PH evolution was carried out. Building upon the theoretical analysis of the elastic internal forces and deformations of RWMF structures, nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) methods were employed to perform both Pushover analysis and seismic response time history analysis under different seismic coefficients (δ). The relationships among PH occurrence ratios (R_ph), inter-story drifts and δ were established. Based on the plotted curve of the seismic performance states, evaluation limits for the R_ph and inter-story drifts were provided for different performance states of RWMF structures. The results indicate that the R_ph of RWMF structures exhibits a nonlinear evolution trend of "fast at first, then slow" with the increasing of δ. The general pattern is characterized by the initial development of beam hinges in the middle stories, followed by the development towards the top and bottom stories until the beam hinges are fully formed. Subsequently, the development of column hinges shifts from the bottom and top stories towards the middle stories of the structure, ultimately leading to the loss of seismic lateral capacity with a failure mode of partial beam yield, demonstrating a global yielding pattern. Moreover, the limits for the R_ph and inter-story drifts effectively evaluate the five different performance states of RWMF structures.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.61.1-61.13
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• 2024

Importance: Ovine pulmonary adenomatosis (OPA) and maedi-visna disease (MVD) are chronic and progressive infectious diseases in sheep caused by Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) and maedi-visna virus (MVV), respectively. Objective: To investigate the pathological changes and conduct viral gene analysis of OPA and MVD co-occurrence in Inner Mongolia, China. Methods: Using gross pathology, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, ultrastructural pathology, PCR, and sequence analysis, we investigated the concurrent infection of JSRV and MVV in 319 Dorper rams slaughtered in a private slaughterhouse in Inner Mongolia, in 2022. Results: Of the 319 rams included, 3 showed concurrent JSRV and MVV infection. Gross lung pathology showed diffuse enlargement, consolidation, and greyish-white miliary nodules on the lung surface; the trachea was filled with a white foamy fluid; hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes were significantly enlarged. Histopathology results revealed typical OPA and MVD lesions in the lung tissue. Immunohistochemical results were positive for JSRV envelope protein (Env) in the tumor cells and MVV CA in alveolar macrophages. Transmission electron microscopy showed several virions and autophagosomes in the lung tissue, severely damaged mitochondria, and the induced mitophagy. Nucleotide sequences obtained for JSRV env and MVV gag showed the highest homology with the Inner Mongolian strains of JSRV env (JQ837489) and MVV gag (MW248464). Conclusions and Relevance: Our study confirmed that OPA and MVD co-occurrence and identified the pathological changes in Inner Mongolia, China, thereby providing references for the identification of concurrent JSRV and MVV infections.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.461-471
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• 2018

In this study, the deforestation and forest degradation areas have been obtained in Myanmar using a land cover lamp (LCM) and a tree cover map (TCM) to get the $CO_2$ potential reduction and the strength of occurrence was evaluated by using the geostatistical technique. By applying a multiple criteria decision-making method to the regions having high strength of occurrence for the $CO_2$ potential reduction for the deforestation and forest degradation areas, the priority was selected for candidate lands for REDD+ project. The areas of deforestation and forest degradation were 609,690ha and 43,515ha each from 2010 to 2015. By township, Mong Kung had the highest among the area of deforestation with 3,069ha while Thlangtlang had the highest in the area of forest degradation with 9,213 ha. The number of $CO_2$ potential reduction hotspot areas among the deforestation areas was 15, taking up the $CO_2$ potential reduction of 192,000 ton in average, which is 6 times higher than that of all target areas. Especially, the township of Hsipaw inside the Shan region had a $CO_2$ potential reduction of about 772,000 tons, the largest reduction potential among the hotpot areas. There were many $CO_2$ potential reduction hot spot areas among the forest degradation area in the eastern part of the target region and has the $CO_2$ potential reduction of 1,164,000 tons, which was 27 times higher than that of the total area. AHP importance analysis showed that the topographic characteristic was 0.41 (0.40 for height from surface, 0.29 for the slope and 0.31 for the distance from water area) while the geographical characteristic was 0.59 (0.56 for the distance from road, 0.56 for the distance from settlement area and 0.19 for the distance from Capital). Yawunghwe, Kalaw, and Hsi Hseng were selected as the preferred locations for the REDD+ candidate region for the deforestation area while Einme, Tiddim, and Falam were selected as the preferred locations for the forest degradation area.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.508-520
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• 2020

Dam reservoirs have been reported to contribute significantly to global carbon emissions, but unlike natural lakes, there is considerable uncertainty in calculating carbon emissions due to the complex of emission pathways. In particular, the method of calculating carbon dioxide (CO2) net atmospheric flux (NAF) based on a simple gas exchange theory from sporadic data has limitations in explaining the spatiotemporal variations in the CO2 flux in stratified reservoirs. This study was aimed to analyze the spatial and temporal CO2 distribution and mass balance in Daecheong Reservoir, located in the mid-latitude monsoon climate zone, by applying a two-dimensional hydrodynamic and water quality model (CE-QUAL-W2). Simulation results showed that the Daecheong Reservoir is a heterotrophic system in which CO2 is supersaturated as a whole and releases CO2 to the atmosphere. Spatially, CO2 emissions were greater in the lacustrine zone than in the riverine and transition zones. In terms of time, CO2 emissions changed dynamically according to the temporal stratification structure of the reservoir and temporal variations of algae biomass. CO2 emissions were greater at night than during the day and were seasonally greatest in winter. The CO2 NAF calculated by the CE-QUAL-W2 model and the gas exchange theory showed a similar range, but there was a difference in the point of occurrence of the peak value. The findings provide useful information to improve the quantification of CO2 emissions from reservoirs. In order to reduce the uncertainty in the estimation of reservoir carbon emissions, more precise monitoring in time and space is required.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.157-163
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• 2005

Because of their widespread occurrence and substantial biological activity, halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons are one of the important classes of contaminants in the environment. We have performed comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) on structurally diverse ligands of Ah (dioxin) receptor to explore the physico-chemical requirements for binding. All CoMFA models have given $q^{2}$ value of more than 0.5 and $r^{2}$ value of more than 0.83. The predictive ability of the models was validated by an external test set, which gave satisfactory predictive $r^{2}$ values. Best predictions were obtained with CoMFA model of combined modified training set ($q^{2}=0.631,\;r^{2}=0.900$), giving predictive residual value = 0.002 log unit for the test compound. We have suggested a model comprises of four structurally different compounds, which offers a good predictability for various ligands. Our QSAR model is consistent with all previously established QSAR models with less structurally diverse ligands. The implications of the CoMFA/QSAR model presented herein are explored with respect to quantitative hazard identification of potential toxicants.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.46-49
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• 2018

This study aims to explore the knowledge structure of the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) research during the period of 1952-2017. Data was collected from Google Scholar and Research Information Service System (RISS), and a total of 482 author keywords from 125 papers from peer-reviewed scholarly journals were retrieved. Co-word analysis was applied to examine patterns and trends in the leopard cat research by measuring the association strengths of the author keywords along with the descriptive analysis of the keywords. The result shows that the most commonly used keywords in leopard cat research were Felidae, Iriomte cat, and camera trap except for its English and scientific name, and camera traps became a frequent keyword since 2005. Co-word analysis also reveals that leopard cat research has been actively conducted in Southeast Asia in conjugation with studying other carnivores using the camera traps. Through the understanding of the patterns and trends, the finding of this study could provide an opportunity for the exploration of neglected areas in the leopard cat research and conservation.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.269-276
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• 2009

Viruses are the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in infants and young children and are a major public health problem in this age group. Viruses were identified in 54.9-70.4% of hospitalized infants and children with LRTIs in Korea. The viral pathogens identified included respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) A and RSV B, influenza (Inf) A, Inf B, parainfluenza (PIV)1, PIV2, human bocavirus (hBoV), human rhinovirus (hRV), adenovirus (ADV), human metapneumovirus (hMPV), human coronavirus (hCoV)-OC 43, hCoV-229E, hCoV-NL63, hCoV-HKU1, and human enterovirus (hEV). Coinfections with ${\geq}$2 viruses were observed in 11.5-22.8% of children. The occurrence of LRTIs was the highest in the first year of life. The specific viruses are frequently associated with specific clinical syndromes of LRTIs. LRTIs caused by RSV were predominant among younger infants. hRV accounted for a larger proportion of LRTIs in young infants than ADV and hBoV. hMPV was frequently detected in children >24 months old. The number of hMPV infections peaked between February and May, whereas hRV was detected throughout the year. Thus far, hCoV is a less common respiratory pathogen in cases of ALRI and URI in Korean children.

• Special Issue of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.216-221
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• 2005

Many tanks such as a fresh water tank, an aft peak tank and oil tanks are arranged in the engine room and aft part areas of the ship. By added mass effect of the fluid inside the tanks, the natural frequency will be changed according to filling height of the tank. For this reason, there is possibility of occurrence of excessive vibration by resonance between natural frequencies of local structure and excitation frequencies of the propeller or main engine. Therefore, calculation of natural frequencies is required for structure for many types of tank which are contacting with water or oil to consider added mass effect for anti-resonance design at design stage. In this study, a case of structure damage on the fresh water tank for 2600 TEU container vessel is introduced. In addition, natural frequency analysis and vibration measurement have been performed to investigate vibration characteristics for excessive vibration control.