• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.18 no.4 s.94
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• pp.559-568
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the mechanical performance and fire resistance of wet-mixed high strength sprayed polymer-modified mortar in order to protect tunnel lining system which are in the event of fire disaster. Since the current commercial fire-resistant materials reproduce the low strength issue of mortar, this study aims to provide an enhanced fire-resistant mortar with a proper strength. Normally, a large temperature gradient phenomenon arise in the vicinity of free surfaces which are fully exposed in the event of persistent flame. Thereby, the determination of optimal cover depth of wet-mixed high strength sprayed polymer-mortar(WHSPM) is important for fire-resistance of tunnel lining system. With comparison of current commercial fire-resistance materials and WHSPM, the experimental result of WHSPM shows the better fire-resistant performance than the others. In addition, the cover limitation should be controlled by minimum 4cm depth in order to avoid fire-induced damage.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.257-269
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• 2013

Prevention plans for landslide and slope disasters should be appropriate for a country's budget when considering a systematic investment plan. The systematic management of slopes adjacent to national highways should incorporate reasonable investment risk and the expected degree of damage should be calculated by considering the investment priorities. In terms of priority of investment, the major factors used to determine the degree of hazard are gradient, soil characteristics, RMR (Rock Mass Rating), stability interpretation, type of discontinuities, and history of collapse, among others. The likely consequences of slope failure can be determined by considering traffic volume, the number of lanes, and average vehicle risk. We performed such calculations regarding the priority of investment and performed a regression analysis for 392 slopes located in Yeongseo region, Gangwon province. The calculation results show that collapsed slopes have a higher priority for investment, as do slopes with a high proportion of dangerous sections and locations in valleys.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2018

Objective: To investigate sperm chromatin/DNA integrity, global DNA methylation, and DNMT mRNA transcription in men with oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT) compared with normozoospermic men. Methods: Semen samples from 32 OAT patients who comprised the case group and 32 normozoospermic men who comprised the control group were isolated and purified using a standard gradient isolation procedure according to World Health Organization criteria. DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B transcripts were then compared between groups using real-time quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Global DNA methylation in sperm was determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Protamine deficiency and the proportion of apoptotic spermatozoa were evaluated using chromomycin A3 (CMA3), aniline blue (AB), and toluidine blue (TB) staining, as well as the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. The p-values < 0.05 were considered to indicate statistical significance. Results: Significantly higher proportions of AB+, TB+, CMA3+, and TUNEL+ spermatozoa, as well as DNMT3A and DNMT3B transcription, were found in the OAT group. Positive correlations were detected between sperm parameters, DNA/chromatin damage, and DNMT3A and DNMT3B transcripts. Global DNA methylation was significantly higher in the OAT patients and had a significant correlation with abnormal results of all sperm chromatin integrity tests, but was not associated with DNMT1, DNMT3A, or DNMT3B expression. Conclusion: Oligoasthenoteratozoospermic men showed abnormal sperm parameters, abnormal chromatin/DNA integrity, and a higher global DNA methylation rate, as well as overexpression of DNMT mRNA.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.111-122
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• 2001

Objectives ; This study was undertaken to determine if Salviae Radix herb-acupuncture (SRA) exerts protective effect against alterations in membrane transport function in rabbits with mercury chloride (Hg)-induced acute renal failure. Methods and Results ; The administration of Hg at a subcutaneous single dose of 10mg/kg caused a reduction in GFR to 9.4% of the basal value and an increase in fractional Na+ excretion to 10-fold, indicating generation of acute renal failure. When animals were acupunctured with $0.5m{\ell}$ of SRA extract (0.1%) in both sides of Shinsu(BL23) for 7 days prod to Hg administration, such changes were significantly attenuated. The fractional excretion of glucose and phosphate was increased to approximately 132-fold and 7-fold, respectively, in rabbits treated with Hg alone, but the fractional excretion of glucose was increased to 26-fold and that of phosphate was not different from the basal value in SRA-pretreated rabbits. Uptakes of glucose and phosphate in purified isolated brush-border membrane and $Na^+-K^+$-ATPase activity in microsomal fraction were inhibited in rabbits treated with Hg alone, suggesting that impairment in proximal reabsorption of glucose and phosphate is resulted from a direct damage of membrane transport carriers and disruption of the normal $Na^+$ gradient. Conclusions ; Such changes were prevented by SRA. Uptakes of organic ions, PAH and TEA, in renal cortical slices were inhibited by the administration of Hg, which was prevented by SRA. Pretreatment of an antioxidant DPPD attenuated the increase in the fractional excretion of glucose and phosphate induced by the administration of Hg.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.211-223
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• 2020

The external corrosion of buried piping can be controlled using both coating and cathodic protection. Several factors are involved in the damage and deterioration of the coating on pipes. There are many detection methods for coating defects on pipes and the direct current voltage gradient (DCVG) method is one of the most powerful methods. However, the detection reliability of DCVG can be affected by interferences such as stray current, metal objects connected to rectifiers, and copper grids. Therefore, this study focused on the interference effects of rectifiers and a copper grid on the reliability of coating flaw detection. As the length of the interference pipe connected to the rectifier increased, the reliability decreased. In contrast, as the distance between the pipe and the copper grid increased, the reliability of the coating flaw detection increased. The detection results produced by the DCVG method were discussed using current and potential simulations for a pipe with a rectifier and copper grid interference in the soil.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.93-100
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• 2002

In this paper, in ordor to examine the relevant technical facts which are very instructive to revise the domestic standard for lightning protection systems, standards and technical guideline for the protection of structure against lightning were reviewed, and several issues of the domestic standards were experimentally investigated. As a consequence, the insulator of relatively low implse voltage and a large percentage of lighting rods is flashovered by relatively low impulse voltage and a lage percentage of lighting current flows through supporting mast. Thus the potential gradient in the vicinity of supporter for lighting rods is extremely increased and the role of lighting propection systems is nullified. It seems obvious that the flashover of insular supporting lighting rod can range from erratic operation of microelectronic devices to minor physical ham or even death, or costly damage electrical equipment.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.311-316
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• 2020

Biomarkers used in dogs with heartworm disease include N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and cardiac troponin I (cTnI), which are associated with damage to the myocardium. Pulmonary hypertension is one of the clinical signs of canine heartworm disease. The purpose of this study is to investigate the change in the concentration of each biomarker, severity of pulmonary hypertension and the correlation between biomarkers according to the severity of clinical signs. Five healthy dogs and 10 heartworm-infected dogs were recruited for the study. The heartworm-infected group was classified based on the history, clinical signs, and blood assay, thoracic radiography, and echocardiography after confirming the infection according to the results of the commercial ELISA kit (SNAP test, IDEXX Laboratories, Maine, USA). NT-proBNP was higher in the severely infected group than the control group (p < 0.05); cTnI was also higher in the severely infected group than the control group (p < 0.05). The pressure gradient of pulmonary hypertension was higher in the severe group than the mild group (p < 0.05). The severity of pulmonary hypertension was correlated with NT-proBNP (r = 0.818, p < 0.01), cTnI (r = 0.894, p < 0.01). When the correlation of the two serum values for each group was examined, a correlation was not found in the mild group (r = 0.707, p = 0.182), but a correlation was found in the severe group (r = 0.9, p < 0.05). NT-proBNP and cTnI were significantly increased and correlated with severe clinical signs. Pulmonary hypertension was significant higher in the severe group than in the mild group (p < 0.05). Evaluation of blood biomarker concentration and severity of pulmonary hypertension and referring to each correlation between these indicators may be helpful to assess the severity of the heartworm disease.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.374-386
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• 2023

Thermal stress induces dynamic changes in nuclear proteins and relevant physiology as a part of the heat shock response (HSR). However, how the nuclear HSR is fine-tuned for cellular homeostasis remains elusive. Here, we show that mitochondrial activity plays an important role in nuclear proteostasis and genome stability through two distinct HSR pathways. Mitochondrial ribosomal protein (MRP) depletion enhanced the nucleolar granule formation of HSP70 and ubiquitin during HSR while facilitating the recovery of damaged nuclear proteins and impaired nucleocytoplasmic transport. Treatment of the mitochondrial proton gradient uncoupler masked MRP-depletion effects, implicating oxidative phosphorylation in these nuclear HSRs. On the other hand, MRP depletion and a reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger non-additively decreased mitochondrial ROS generation during HSR, thereby protecting the nuclear genome from DNA damage. These results suggest that suboptimal mitochondrial activity sustains nuclear homeostasis under cellular stress, providing plausible evidence for optimal endosymbiotic evolution via mitochondria-to-nuclear communication.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.237-248
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• 2022

Nowadays, more and more subway tunnels were planed and constructed underneath the ground of urban cities to relieve the congested traffic. Potential damage may occur in existing tunnel if the new tunnel is constructed too close. So far, previous studies mainly focused on the tunnel-tunnel interactions with circular shape. The difference between circular and horseshoe shaped tunnel in terms of deformation mechanism is not fully investigated. In this study, three-dimensional numerical parametric studies were carried out to explore the effect of different tunnel shapes on the complicated tunnel-tunnel interaction problem. Parameters considered include volume loss, tunnel stiffness and relative density. It is found that the value of volume loss play the most important role in the multi-tunnel interactions. For a typical condition in this study, the maximum invert settlement and gradient along longitudinal direction of horseshoe shaped tunnel was 50% and 96% larger than those in circular case, respectively. This is because of the larger vertical soil displacement underneath existing tunnel. Due to the discontinuous hoop axial stress in horseshoe shaped tunnel, significant shear stress was mobilized around the axillary angles. This resulted in substantial bending moment at the bottom plate and side walls of horseshoe shaped tunnel. Consequently, vertical elongation and horizontal compression in circular existing tunnel were 45% and 33% smaller than those in horseshoe case (at monitored section X/D = 0), which in latter case was mainly attributed to the bending induced deflection. The radial deformation stiffness of circular tunnel is more sensitive to the Young's modulus compared with horseshoe shaped tunnel. This is because of that circular tunnel resisted the radial deformation mainly by its hoop axial stress while horseshoe shaped tunnel do so mainly by its flexural rigidity. In addition, the reduction of soil stiffness beneath the circular tunnel was larger than that in horseshoe shaped tunnel at each level of relative density, indicating that large portion of tunneling effect were undertaken by the ground itself in circular tunnel case.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.1-11
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• 2023

Due to climate change and aging of reservoirs, damage to embankment slopes is increasing. However, the safety diagnosis of the reservoir slope is mainly conducted by visual observation, and the time and economic cost are formidable to apply soil mechanical tests and slope stability analysis. Accordingly, this study presented a predicting method for the compaction and strength characteristics of the reservoir embankment soil using a portable static cone penetration test. The predicted items consisted of dry density, cohesion, and internal friction angle, which are the main factors of slope stability analysis. Portable static cone penetration tests were performed at 19 reservoir sites, and prediction equations were constructed from the correlation between penetration resistance data and test results of soil samples. The predicted dry density and strength parameters showed a correlation with test results between R² 0.40 and 0.93, and it was found to replace the test results well when used as input data for slope stability analysis (R² 0.8134 or more, RMSE 0.0320 or less). In addition, the prediction equations for the minimum safety factor of the slope were presented using the penetration resistance and gradient. As a result of comparing the predicted safety factor with the analysis results, R² 0.5125, RMSE 0.0382 in coarse-grained soil, R² 0.4182 and RMSE 0.0628 in fine-grained soil. The results of this study can be used as a way to improve the existing slope safety diagnosis method, and are expected to be used to predict the characteristics of various soils and inspect slopes.