• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.2053-2068
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• 2023

Following a loss of coolant accident (LOCA), prestressing concrete containment vessels (PCCVs) may experience high thermal load as well as internal pressure. The high temperature stress would increase the risk of premature damage to the containment, which reduces the safety margin during the increasing internal pressure. However, current investigations cannot clearly address the issues of thermal-pressure coupling effect on damage propagation and thus safety of the containment. Thus, this paper offers three simple and powerful damage parameters to differentiate the severity of damage of the containment. Moreover, despite of the temperature action severely threatening the pressure performance of the containment, the research regarding the improvement of the resistant performance of the containment is quite scarce. Therefore, in this paper, a comprehensive comparison of damage propagation and mechanism between conventional and fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) containments is performed. The effects of fiber characteristics parameters on damage propagation of structures following the LOCA are also specifically revealed. It is found that the proposed damage indices can properly indicate state of damage in the containment body and the addition of fiber can be used to obviously mitigate the damage propagation in PCCV considering the thermal-pressure coupling.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1924-1934
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• 2023

In this study, the probabilistic fatigue life model for Ni-base alloys was developed based on the Weibull distribution using statistical analysis of fatigue data reported in NUREG/CR-6909 and the new fatigue data of Alloy 52M/152 and 82/182. The developed Weibull model can consider right-censored data (i.e., non-failed data) and quantify the improved safety (or reliability) based on the level of failure probability. The overall margin in the current fatigue design limit model (ASME design curve + NUREG/CR-6909 F_en model) is similar to that of the Weibull model with a cumulative failure probability of approximately 2.5%. The margin in the current fatigue design limit model demonstrated inconsistencies for the Ni-base alloy weld data, whereas the Weibull model showed a consistent margin. Therefore, the Weibull model can systematically mitigate the excessive safety margin.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2020.06a
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• pp.114-114
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• 2020

Water contamination in a water distribution network (WDN) is harmful since it directly induces the consumer's health problem and suspends water service in a wide area. Actions need to be taken rapidly to countermeasure a contamination event. A contaminant source ident ification (CSI) is an important initial step to mitigate the harmful event. Here, a CSI approach focused on determining the contaminant intrusion possible location and time (PLoT) is introduced. One of the methods to discover the PLoT is an inverse calculation to connect all the paths leading to the report specification of a sensor. A filtering procedure is then applied to narrow down the PLoT using the results from individual sensors. First, we spatially reduce the suspect intrusion points by locating the highly suspicious nodes that have similar intrusion time. Then, we narrow the possible intrusion time by matching the suspicious intrusion time to the reported information. Finally, a likelihood-score is estimated for each suspect. Another important aspect that needs to be considered in CSI is that there are inherent uncertainties, such as the variations in user demand and inaccuracy of sensor data. The uncertainties can lead to overlooking the real intrusion point and time. To reflect the uncertainties in the CSI process, the Monte-Carlo Simulation (MCS) is conducted to explore the ranges of PLoT. By analyzing all the accumulated scores through the random sets, a spread of contaminant intrusion PLoT can then be identified in the network.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2023

Due to the irregular shape and the deviation of stiffness center and gravity center, buildings always suffer from complex surface load and vibration response under wind action. This study is dedicated to analyze the surface wind load and wind-induced response of an irregular building, and to discuss the possibility of top swimming pool as a TLD to diminish wind-induced vibration of the structure. Wind tunnel test was carried out on a hotel with irregular shape to analyze the wind load and structural response under 8 wind incident angles. Then a precise numerical model was established and calibrated through experimental results. The top swimming pool was designed according to the principle of frequency modulation, and equations of motion of the control system were derived theoretically. Finally, the wind induced response of the structure controlled by the pool was calculated numerically. The results show that both of wind loads and wind-induced responses of the structure are significantly different with wind incident angle varies, and the across-wind response is nonnegligible. The top swimming pool has acceptable damping effect, and can be designed as TLD to mitigate wind response.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.327-337
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• 2023

Objectives: Considering the importance of social determinants of health (SDHs) in promoting the health of residents of informal settlements and their diversity, abundance, and breadth, this study aimed to identify, measure, and rank SDHs for health promotion interventions targeting informal settlement residents in a metropolitan area in Iran. Methods: Using a hybrid method, this study was conducted in 3 phases from 2019 to 2020. SDHs were identified by reviewing studies and using the Delphi method. To examine the SDHs among informal settlement residents, a cross-sectional analysis was conducted using researcher-made questionnaires. Multilayer perceptron analysis using an artificial neural network was used to rank the SDHs by priority. Results: Of the 96 determinants identified in the first phase of the study, 43 were examined, and 15 were identified as high-priority SDHs for use in health-promotion interventions for informal settlement residents in the study area. They included individual health literacy, nutrition, occupational factors, housing-related factors, and access to public resources. Conclusions: Since identifying and addressing SDHs could improve health justice and mitigate the poor health status of settlement residents, ranking these determinants by priority using artificial intelligence will enable policymakers to improve the health of settlement residents through interventions targeting the most important SDHs.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.597-615
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• 2023

Healthy aging can be defined as an extended lifespan and health span. Nutrition has been regarded as an important factor in healthy aging, because nutrients, bioactive food components, and diets have demonstrated beneficial effects on aging hallmarks such as oxidative stress, mitochondrial function, apoptosis and autophagy, genomic stability, and immune function. Nutrition also plays a role in epigenetic regulation of gene expression, and DNA methylation is the most extensively investigated epigenetic phenomenon in aging. Interestingly, age-associated DNA methylation can be modulated by one-carbon metabolism or inhibition of DNA methyltransferases. One-carbon metabolism ultimately controls the balance between the universal methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine and the methyltransferase inhibitor S-adenosylhomocysteine. Water-soluble B-vitamins such as folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 serve as coenzymes for multiple steps in one-carbon metabolism, whereas methionine, choline, betaine, and serine act as methyl donors. Thus, these one-carbon nutrients can modify age-associated DNA methylation and subsequently alter the age-associated physiologic and pathologic processes. We cannot elude aging per se but we may at least change age-associated DNA methylation, which could mitigate age-associated diseases and disorders.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.487-502
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• 2022

China is prone to earthquake disasters, and the higher seismic performance is required by many existing civil buildings. And seismic evaluation and retrofit are effective measures to mitigate seismic hazards. With the development of performance-based seismic design and diverse retrofit technology for buildings, advanced evaluation methods and retrofit strategies are in need. In this paper, we introduced the evolution of seismic performance objectives in China combined with performance-based seismic design. Accordingly, multi-phase evaluation methods and comprehensive seismic capacity assessment are introduced. For buildings with seismic deficiency or higher performance requirements, the retrofit technologies are categorized into three types: component strengthening, system optimization, and passive control. Both engineering property and social property for the retrofit methods are discussed. The traditional seismic retrofit methods usually are costly and disturbing, and for example in Beijing, seismic strengthening costs approx. 1000 RMB/m² (for 160 USD/m²), for hospital building even more expensive as 5000 RMB/m²(for 790 USD/m²). So cost-efficient and little disturbance methods are promising techniques. In the end, some opinions about the retrofit strategy and schemes category are shared and wish to discuss the situation and future of seismic retrofit in China.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.2
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• pp.117-127
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• 2023

To efficiently attenuate seismic responses of a structure, a novel pneumatic-driven active dynamic vibration absorber (PD-ADVA) is proposed in this study. PD-ADVA aims to realize closed-loop control using a simple and intuitive control algorithm, which takes the structure velocity response as the input signal and then outputs an inverse control force to primary structure. The corresponding active control theory and phase control mechanism of the system are studied by numerical and theoretical methods, the system's control performance and amplitude-frequency characteristics under seismic excitations are explored. The capability of the proposed active control system to cope with frequency-varying random excitation is evaluated by comparing with the optimum tuning TMD. The analysis results show that the control algorithm of PD-ADVA ensures the control force always output to the structure in the opposite direction of the velocity response, indicating that the presented system does not produce a negative effect. The phase difference between the response of uncontrolled and controlled structures is zero, while the phase difference between the control force and the harmonic excitation is π, the theoretical and numerical results demonstrate that PD-ADVA always generates beneficial control effects. The PD-ADVA can effectively mitigate the structural seismic responses, and its control performance is insensitive to amplitude. Compared with the optimum tuning TMD, PD-ADVA has better control performance and higher system stability, and will not have negative effects under seismic wave excitations.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.458-464
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• 2022

Hazard recognition is considered as one of the pre-requisites for effective hazard management and injury prevention. However, in complex and changing environments, construction workers are often unable to identify all possible hazards that can occur in the jobsite. Therefore, identification of factors that impact hazard recognition in the work environment is necessary to reduce safety incidents as well as to develop strategies that can improve worker's hazard recognition performance. This study identified factors/problems that impact worker's hazard recognition abilities and suggested some potential technologies that can mitigate such problems. Literature reviews of journal articles and published reports related to hazard recognition studies were conducted to identify the factors. The study found out that the major factor responsible for affecting worker's hazard recognition abilities were human-related. Industry factors, Organizational factors and Physical factors of the site were the other factors identified from the study that impact worker's hazard recognition performances. The findings from the study can help site personnel recognize areas where effective measures can be directed towards worksite safety of workers while working in complex construction environments.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2020.12a
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• pp.103-113
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• 2020

The construction industry is undergoing a digital transformation in which Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a key technology. The potential of BIM in several areas such as design optimization, time management, cost management, and asset management/facility management (AM/FM) is widely acknowledged by the AECO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operation) industry around the world. However, BIM implementation in construction projects is faced with problems such as project delay and cost overruns. The lack of identification of risks in BIM projects and standard guidelines on mitigation techniques furthers poor performance, dissatisfaction, and disputes between employers and project participants, which results in low BIM adoption rates. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to identify the potential risks in BIM implementation under the primary categories - (1) technical, (2) contractual, (3) management-related, and (4) personnel-related risks in BIM projects and present solutions to reduce, manage, and mitigate risks. To meet the objective of this paper, a survey was designed and conducted in the Hong Kong construction industry in which over 140 respondents from different disciplines, with experience in BIM projects, have participated. Based on the analysis of the survey data, the most severe and frequently occurring BIM risks and their potential mitigation strategies were identified and discussed in this paper.