• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.417-429
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• 2012

Taking the superficial temperature increment as the major fatigue damage indicator, the infrared thermography was used to predict fatigue parameters (fatigue strength and S-N curve) of welded joints subjected to fatigue loading with a high mean stress, showing good predictions. The fatigue damage status, related to safety evaluation, was tightly correlated with the temperature field evolution of the hot-spot zone on the specimen surface. An energetic damage model, based on the energy accumulation, was developed to evaluate the residual fatigue life of the welded specimens undergoing cyclic loading, and a good agreement was presented. It is concluded that the infrared thermography can not only well predict the fatigue behavior of welded joints, but also can play an important role in health detection of structures subjected to mechanical loading.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.1226-1233
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• 2017

Measurements of the isotopic contents of spent nuclear fuel provide experimental data that are a prerequisite for validating computer codes and nuclear data for many spent fuel applications. Under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and guidance of the Expert Group on Assay Data of Spent Nuclear Fuel of the NEA Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety, a new database of expanded spent fuel isotopic compositions has been compiled. The database, Spent Fuel Compositions (SFCOMPO) 2.0, includes measured data for more than 750 fuel samples acquired from 44 different reactors and representing eight different reactor technologies. Measurements for more than 90 isotopes are included. This new database provides data essential for establishing the reliability of code systems for inventory predictions, but it also has broader potential application to nuclear data evaluation. The database, together with adjoint based sensitivity and uncertainty tools for transmutation systems developed to quantify the importance of nuclear data on nuclide concentrations, are described.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.637-644
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• 2022

Loess soils are unsaturated and widely distributed in the northwest zone in China. Many steep slope of unsaturated are observed are observed to be naturally stable. However, a low factor of safety (FoS) for these slopes would be computed from the slope stability analysis following local code practices. It seems that the analyzed results following the local code practices do not agree with the real condition as observed in the field. It is commonly known that soil suction plays an important role in slope stability due to a higher shear strength of the unsaturated soil as compared with that of the saturated soil. In this paper, it is observed that the computed FoS can also be affected by unsaturated unit weight of the soil. However, the effect of unsaturated unit weight of the soil on the slope stability is commonly ignored in engineering practice. Therefore, both the effects of shear strength and unit weight of the unsaturated soil on the computed FoS of unsaturated soil slope are investigated in this study. It is observed that the unsaturated unit weight of soil on the computed FoS increases with increase in slope angle. It is also observed that the effects of the unsaturated shear strength and unsaturated unit weight on the computed FoS are more significant than the effect of 3D analyses compared to the 2D analyses on the FoS.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.227-233
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• 2017

Purpose: Morphological properties of soybean roots are important indicators of the vigor of the seed, which determines the survival rate of the seedlings grown. The current vigor test for soybean seeds is manual measurement with the human eye. This study describes an application of a machine vision technique for rapid measurement of soybean seed vigor to replace the time-consuming and labor-intensive conventional method. Methods: A CCD camera was used to obtain color images of seeds during germination. Image processing techniques were used to obtain root segmentation. The various morphological parameters, such as primary root length, total root length, total surface area, average diameter, and branching points of roots were calculated from a root skeleton image using a customized pixel-based image processing algorithm. Results: The measurement accuracy of the machine vision system ranged from 92.6% to 98.8%, with accuracies of 96.2% for primary root length and 96.4% for total root length, compared to manual measurement. The correlation coefficient for each measurement was 0.999 with a standard error of prediction of 1.16 mm for primary root length and 0.97 mm for total root length. Conclusions: The developed machine vision system showed good performance for the morphological measurement of soybean roots. This image analysis algorithm, combined with a simple color camera, can be used as an alternative to the conventional seed vigor test method.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.3085-3099
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• 2021

Investigations of large commercial aircraft impact effect on nuclear power plant (NPP) buildings have been drawing extensive attentions, particularly after the 9/11 event, and this paper aims to numerically assess the damage and vibrations of NPP buildings subjected to aircrafts crash. In Part I of present paper, two shots of reduce-scaled model test of aircraft impact on NPP were conducted based on the large rocket sled loading test platform. In the present part, the numerical simulations of both scaled and prototype aircraft impact on NPP buildings are further performed by adopting the commercial program LS-DYNA. Firstly, the refined finite element (FE) models of both scaled aircraft and NPP models in Part I are established, and the model impact test is numerically simulated. The validities of the adopted numerical algorithm, constitutive model and the corresponding parameters are verified based on the experimental NPP model damages and accelerations. Then, the refined simulations of prototype A380 aircraft impact on a hypothetical NPP building are further carried out. It indicates that the NPP building can totally withstand the impact of A380 at a velocity of 150 m/s, while the accompanied intensive vibrations may still lead to different levels of damage on the nuclear related equipment. Referring to the guideline NEI07-13, a maximum acceleration contour is plotted and the shock damage propagation distances under aircraft impact are assessed, which indicates that the nuclear equipment located within 11.5 m from the impact point may endure malfunction. Finally, by respectively considering the rigid and deformable impacts mainly induced by aircraft engine and fuselage, an improved Riera function is proposed to predict the impact force of aircraft A380.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.226-237
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• 2024

Ticks, blood-sucking ectoparasites, spread diseases to humans and animals. Haemaphysalis longicornis is a significant vector for tick-borne diseases in medical and veterinary contexts. Identifying protective antigens in H. longicornis for an anti-tick vaccine is a key tick control strategy. Enolase, a multifunctional protein, significantly converts D-2-phosphoglycerate and phosphoenolpyruvate in glycolysis and gluconeogenesis in cell cytoplasm. This study cloned a complete open reading frame (ORF) of enolase from the H. longicornis tick and characterized its transcriptional and silencing effect. We amplified the full-length cDNA of the enolase gene using rapid amplification of cDNA ends. The complete cDNA, with an ORF of 1,297 nucleotides, encoded a 432-amino acid polypeptide. Enolase of the Jeju strain H. longicornis exhibited the highest sequence similarity with H. flava (98%), followed by Dermacentor silvarum (82%). The enolase motifs identified included N-terminal and C-terminal regions, magnesium binding sites, and several phosphorylation sites. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis indicated that enolase mRNA transcripts were expressed across all developmental stages of ticks and organs such as salivary gland and midgut. RT-PCR showed higher transcript levels in syn-ganglia, suggesting that synganglion nerves influence enolase's role in tick salivary glands. We injected enolase double-stranded RNA into adult unfed female ticks, after which they were subsequently fed with normal unfed males until they spontaneously dropped off. RNA interference significantly (P<0.05) reduced feeding and reproduction, along with abnormalities in eggs (no embryos) and hatching. These findings suggest enolase is a promising target for future tick control strategies.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.549-561
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• 2018

Ginseng has been traditionally used for several millennia in Asian countries, including Korea, China, and Japan, not only as a nourishing and tonifying agent but also as a therapeutic agent for a variety of diseases. In recent years, the various effects of red ginseng including immunity improvement, fatigue relief, memory improvement, blood circulation improvement, antioxidation, mitigation of menopausal women's symptoms, and anticancer an effect have been reported in clinical as well as basic research. Around the world, there is a trend of the rising consumption of health functional foods on the level of disease prevention along with increased interest in maintaining health because of population aging and the awareness of lifestyle diseases and chronic diseases. Red ginseng occupies an important position as a health functional food. But till now, international ginseng monographs including those of the World Health Organization have been based on data on white ginseng and have mentioned red ginseng only partly. Therefore, the red ginseng monograph is needed for component of red ginseng, functionality certified as a health functional food in the Korea Food and Drug Administration, major efficacy, action mechanism, and safety. The present red ginseng monograph will contribute to providing accurate information on red ginseng to agencies, businesses, and consumers both in South Korea and abroad.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.327-332
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• 2015

A large amount of dye wastewater poses a threat to environmental safety. Disperse blue, an anthraquinone dye that is widely used in textile dyes, is difficult to degrade in wastewater. In this work, one fungus was screened according to the decolorization rate of disperse blue. The fungus was identified and named Aspergillus XJ-2 on the basis of its morphological characteristics and 18s rDNA. Response surface method was used to optimize culture conditions for A. XJ-2. The optimum values of obtained responses were as follows: temperature, $35^{\circ}C$; pH, 5.2; carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, 30:5.5; and rotation ratio, $175r{\cdot}min^{-1}$. Under optimized conditions, the decolorization rate of A. XJ-2 was up to 94.8% in 48 h.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.2011-2017
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• 2023

Gas submerged jet is an outstanding thermohydraulic phenomenon in pool scrubbing of fission products during a severe nuclear accident. Experiments were performed on the hydraulic characteristics in the ranges of air mass flux 0.1-1400 kg/m²s and nozzle diameter 10-80 mm. The results showed that the dependence of inlet pressure on the mass flux follows a power law in subsonic jets and a linear law in sonic jets. The effect of nozzle submerged depth was negligible. The isolated bubbling regime, continuous bubbling regime, transition regime, and jetting regime were observed in turn, as the mass flux increased. In the bubbling regime and jetting regime, the air volume fraction distribution was approximately symmetric in space. Themelis model could capture the jet trajectory well. In the transition regime, the air volume fraction distribution loses symmetry due to the bifurcated secondary plume. The Li correlation and Themelis model showed sufficient accuracy for the prediction of jet penetration length.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.102-110
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• 2016

Background: This work presents an experimental and modeling study of the electromagnetic environment in the vicinity of a high voltage substation located in eastern Algeria (Annaba city) specified with a very high population density. The effects of electromagnetic fields emanating from the coupled multi-lines high voltage power systems (MLHV) on the health of the workers and people living in proximity of substations has been analyzed. Methods: Experimental Measurements for the Multi-lines power system proposed have been conducted in the free space under the high voltage lines. Field's intensities were measured using a referenced and calibrated electromagnetic field meter PMM8053B for the levels 0 m, 1 m, 1.5 m and 1.8 m witch present the sensitive's parts as organs and major functions (head, heart, pelvis and feet) of the human body. Results: The measurement results were validated by numerical simulation using the finite element method and these results are compared with the limit values of the international standards. Conclusion: We project to set own national standards for exposure to electromagnetic fields, in order to achieve a regional database that will be at the disposal of partners concerned to ensure safety of people and mainly workers inside high voltage electrical substations.