• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.305-321
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• 2022

Bridge structural health monitoring with the aim of continuously assessing structural safety and reliability represents a topic of major importance for worldwide infrastructure managers. In the last two decades, due to their potential economic and operational advantages, drive-by approaches experienced growing consideration from researcher and engineers. This work addresses two technical topics regarding indirect frequency estimation methods: bridge and vehicle dynamics overlapping, and bridge expansion joints impact. The experimental campaign was conducted on a mixed multi-span bridge located in Lombardy using a Ford Galaxy instrumented with a mesh of wireless accelerometers. The onboard time series were acquired for a number of 10 passages over the bridge,performed at a travelling speed of 30 km/h, with no limitations imposed to traffic. Exploiting an ad-hoc sensors positioning, pitch vehicle motion was compensated, allowing to estimate the first two bridge bending frequencies from PSD functions; moreover, the herein adopted approach proved to be insensitive to joints disturbance. Conclusively, a sensitivity study has been conducted to trace the relationship between estimation accuracy and number of trips considered in the analysis. Promising results were found, pointing out a clear positive correlation especially for the first bending frequency.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.67-76
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• 2020

This study aims to optimize the cochlea-inspired artificial filter bank (CAFB) using El-Centro seismic waveforms and test its performance through a shaking table test on a two-span bridge model. In the process of optimizing the CAFB, El-Centro seismic waveforms were used for the purpose of evaluating how they would affect the optimizing process. Next, the optimized CAFB was embedded in the developed wireless-based intelligent data acquisition (IDAQ) system to enable response measurement in real-time. For its performance evaluation to obtain a seismic response in real-time using the optimized CAFB, a two-span bridge (model structures) was installed in a large shaking table, and a seismic response experiment was carried out on it with El-Centro seismic waveforms. The CAFB optimized in this experiment was able to obtain the seismic response in real-time by compressing it using the embedded wireless-based IDAQ system while the obtained compressed signals were compared with the original signal (un-compressed signal). The results of the experiment showed that the compressed signals were superior to the raw signal in response performance, as well as in data compression effect. They also proved that the CAFB was able to compress response signals effectively in real-time even under seismic conditions. Therefore, this paper established that the CAFB optimized by being embedded in the wireless-based IDAQ system was an economical and efficient data compression sensing technology for measuring and monitoring the seismic response in real-time from structures based on the wireless sensor networks (WSNs).

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.368-375
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• 2003

Cancer cachexia, characterized by weight loss and progressive tissue wasting, has been postulated to be mediated by cytokines. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Korean Traditional Medicine (KTM ; mokhyang, jisil, osooyu) mixture on food intake, blood cytokines level and blood nutrients status of the cachexia induced-mice. Thirty male Balb/c mice aged 6-8 weets were blocked into 3 groups that were Normal (no colon26 cells) Control (colon 26 cells) and KTM (colon26 cells + KTM extract mixture) group. In Control and KTM groups, murine adenocarcinoma colon 26 cells were injected subcutaneously to induce cachexia. KTM mice were given 200 ul KTM extract mixture (7%) per day. Half of each groups were sacrificed at the 14 th day to see serum cytokines & nutrients and the others were fed until almost of control group died to see life span. food intake and body weight were decreased significantly in cachexia induced groups. Tumor weight of KTM group was significantly lower than control group. Serum cytokines (IL-1$\beta$ and TNF-$\alpha$) level of cachexia induced groups were increased than those of normal group, and those of KTM group were significantly lower than the level of control group. Total serum protein and serum albumin were higher in KTM group than other groups. TG and fatty acid were lower in cachexia induced groups than normal group. HDL-cholesterol in serum was increased in KTM group. Effect of oral administration of KTM extract mixture on survival time of colon26 bearing mice showed extension of the life span. Overall, this study showed that KTM (mokhyang, jisil, osooyu) extract mixture inhibited the growth of cancer cell, changed the secretion of cytokines induced by colon26 adenocarcinoma in mice, and changed nutrition metabolism.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.215-221
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• 2008

Dynamic characteristics of a structure, i.e., natural frequency and mode shape, have been widely using as an input data in the area of structural integrity or health monitoring which combined with the damage evaluation and structural system identification techniques. It is very difficult, however, to get those information by the conventional modal analysis method from large structures, such as the offshore structure or the long-span bridge, since the source of vibration is not available. In this paper, a method to obtain the frequencies and the mode shapes of a large span truss structure using only acceleration responses is studied. The calculation procedures to obtain acceleration responses and frequency response functions are provided utilizing a numerical model of the truss, and the process to extract natural frequencies and mode shapes from the modal analysis is cleary explained. The extracted mode shapes by proposed method are compared with those from eigenvalue analysis for the estimation of accuracy. The validity of the mode shapes is also demonstrated using an existing damage detection technique for the truss structure by simulated damage cases.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.23-35
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• 2020

It is important to take into account the thermal behavior in assessing the structural condition of bridges. An effective method of studying the temperature effect of long-span bridges is numerical simulation based on the solar radiation models. This study aims to develop a time-varying solar radiation model which can consider the real-time weather changes, such as a cloud cover. A statistical analysis of the long-term monitoring data is first performed, especially on the temperature data between the south and north anchors of the bridge, to confirm that temperature difference can be used to describe real-time weather changes. Second, a defect in the traditional solar radiation model is detected in the temperature field simulation, whereby the value of the turbidity coefficient t_u is subjective and cannot be used to describe the weather changes in real-time. Therefore, a new solar radiation model with modified turbidity coefficient γ is first established on the temperature difference between the south and north anchors. Third, the temperature data of several days are selected for model validation, with the results showing that the simulated temperature distribution is in good agreement with the measured temperature, while the calculated results by the traditional model had minor errors because the turbidity coefficient t_u is uncertainty. In addition, the vertical and transverse temperature gradient of a typical cross-section and the temperature distribution of the tower are also studied.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.91-103
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• 2021

Purpose : This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a cognitive enhancement brain yoga program on short-term memory and serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels according to the cognitive state in men aged 20-29 years. Methods : Thirty healthy volunteers aged 20-29 years were divided into four groups: brain yoga group, yoga group, combined exercise group, and control group. Seven people were assigned randomly per group. A single-session intervention was conducted over 50 min and consisted of three parts: warm-up, main exercise (brain yoga, yoga, combined exercise, or non-exercise), and cool-down. Serum BDNF levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and short-term memory was evaluated using the forward number span test before and after the intervention. Results : BDNF levels significantly increased within the brain yoga group after the intervention (from 28874.37±5185.57 to 34074.80±7321.12, p=.003), whereas there were no significant differences pre-and post-intervention in the other groups. The inter-group comparison showed a significant interaction between the brain yoga group and the combined exercise group (p=.036) but no significant interaction between any of the other groups. Forward number span scores were significantly increased in the brain yoga group (from 9.43±9.83 to 23±7.92, p=.012) and theyoga group after the intervention (from 13.43±9.41 to 24.14±8.45, p=.011), whereas there were no significant changes after the intervention in any other groups. Conclusion : Our findings showed that a single-session, 50-minute brain yoga exercise improved short-term memory and increased serum BDNF levels in healthy men aged 20-29 years and that yoga improved only short-term memory in healthy men of this age group.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.121-131
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• 2023

Aiming at the problem that fatigue characteristics of metal roof rely on local physical tests and lacks the cyclic load sequence matching with regional climate, this paper proposed a method of constructing the fatigue load spectrum based on integration of wind load model, measured data of long-span metal roof and climate statistical data. According to the turbulence characteristics of wind, the wind load model is established from the aspects of turbulence intensity, power spectral density and wind pressure coefficient. Considering the influence of roof configuration on wind pressure distribution, the parameters are modified through fusing the measured data with least squares method to approximate the actual wind pressure load of the roof system. Furthermore, with regards to the wind climate characteristics of building location, Weibull model is adopted to analyze the regional meteorological data to obtain the probability density distribution of wind velocity used for calculating wind load, so as to establish the cyclic wind load sequence with the attributes of regional climate and building configuration. Finally, taking a workshop's metal roof as an example, the wind load spectrum is constructed according to this method, and the fatigue simulation and residual life prediction are implemented based on the experimental data. The forecasting result is lightly higher than the design standards, consistent with general principles of its conservative safety design scale, which shows that the presented method is validated for the fatigue characteristics study and health assessment of metal roof.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.178-186
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• 2020

Background: Cognitive impairment is a public health burden. Our objective was to investigate associations between work hours and cognitive function. Methods: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) participants (n = 2,497; 50.7% men; age range 44-84 years) reported hours per week worked in all jobs in Exams 1 (2000-2002), 2 (2002-2004), 3 (2004-2005), and 5 (2010-2011). Cognitive function was assessed (Exam 5) using the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (version 2), a measure of global cognitive functioning; the Digit Symbol Coding, a measure of processing speed; and the Digit Span test, a measure of attention and working memory. We used a prospective approach and linear regression to assess associations for every 10 hours of work. Results: Among all participants, associations of hours worked with cognitive function of any type were not statistically significant. In occupation-stratified analyses (interaction p = 0.051), longer work hours were associated with poorer global cognitive function among Sales/Office and blue-collar workers, after adjustment for age, sex, physical activity, body mass index, race/ethnicity, educational level, annual income, history of heart attack, diabetes, apolipoprotein E-epsilon 4 allele (ApoE4) status, birth-place, number of years in the United States, language spoken at MESA Exam 1, and work hours at Exam 5 (β = -0.55, 95% CI = -0.99, -0.09) and (β = -0.80, -1.51, -0.09), respectively. In occupation-stratified analyses (interaction p = 0.040), we also observed an inverse association with processing speed among blue-collar workers (adjusted β = -0.80, -1.52, -0.07). Sex, race/ethnicity, and ApoE4 did not significantly modify associations between work hours and cognitive function. Conclusion: Weak inverse associations were observed between work hours and cognitive function among Sales/Office and blue-collar workers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10335-10337
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• 2015

Background: Gastric cancer is considered as the second most prevalent cancer in Iran. The present research sought to identify high risk clusters of gastric cancer with mapping using space-time scan statistics. Materials and Methods: The present research is of descriptive type. The required data were gathered from the registered cancer reports of Cancer Control Office in the Center for Non Communicable Disease of the Ministry of Health (MOH). The data were extracted at province level in the time span of 2004-9. Sat-Scan software was used to analyse the data and to identify high risk clusters. ArcGIS10 was utilized to map the distribution of gastric cancer and to demonstrate high risk clusters. Results: The most likely clusters were found in Ardabil, Gilan, Zanjan, East-Azerbaijan, Qazvin, West-Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Hamadan, Tehran and Mazandaran between 2007 and 2009. It was statistically significant at the p-value below 0.05. Conclusions: High risk regions included Northern, West-North and central provinces, particularly Ardabil, Kurdistan, Mazandaran and Gilan. More screening tests are suggested to be conducted in high risk regions along with more frequent epidemiological studies to enact gastric cancer prevention programs.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.479-504
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• 2009

Structural health monitoring (SHM) systems have been recently embraced in long span cable-supported bridges, in which buffeting-induced stress monitoring is one of the tasks to ensure the safety of the bridge under strong winds. In line with this task, this paper presents a SHM-oriented finite element model (FEM) for the Tsing Ma suspension bridge in Hong Kong so that stresses/strains in important bridge components can be directly computed and compared with measured ones. A numerical procedure for buffeting induced stress analysis of the bridge based on the established FEM is then presented. Significant improvements of the present procedure are that the effects of the spatial distribution of both buffeting forces and self-excited forces on the bridge deck structure are taken into account and the local structural behaviour linked to strain/stress, which is prone to cause local damage, are estimated directly. The field measurement data including wind, acceleration and stress recorded by the wind and structural health monitoring system (WASHMS) installed on the bridge during Typhoon York are analyzed and compared with the numerical results. The results show that the proposed procedure has advantages over the typical equivalent beam finite element models.