• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.161-170
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• 2014

Newmark-type deformation analysis has rarely been done in Korea due to the popularity of simple pseudo-static limit equilibrium analysis and detailed time-history FE/FD dynamic analysis. However, the Korean seismic dam design code updated in 2011 prescribes Newmark-type deformation analysis as a major dynamic analysis method for the seismic evaluation of fill dams. In addition, a design PGA for dynamic analysis is significantly increased in the code. This paper aims to study the seismic evaluation of four existing large fill dams through advanced FEM/Newmark-type deformation analyses for the artificial earthquake time histories with the design PGA of 0.22g. Dynamic soil properties obtained from in-situ geo-physical surveys are applied as input parameters. For the FEM/Newmark analyses, sensitivity analyses are performed to study the effects of input PGA and $G_{max}$ of shell zone on the Newmark deformation. As a result, in terms of deformation, four fill dams are proved to be reasonably safe under the PGA of 0.22g with yield coefficients of 0.136 to 0.187, which are highly resistant for extreme events. Sensitivity analysis as a function of PGA shows that $PGA_{30cm}$ (a limiting PGA to cause the 30 cm of Newmark permanent displacement on the critical slip surface) is a good indicator for seismic safety check. CFRD shows a higher seismic resistance than ECRD. Another sensitivity analysis shows that $G_{max}$ per depth does not significantly affect the site response characteristics, however lower $G_{max}$ profile causes larger Newmark deformation. Through this study, it is proved that the amplification of ground motion within the sliding mass and the location of critical slip surface are the dominant factors governing permanent displacements.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.09a
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• pp.905-912
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• 2009

1-g shaking table test is conducted to evaluate the dynamic behavior of a soil-structure system under seismic loading condition. A consistent similitude law between the model and prototype is needed to predict the behavior of the prototype structure, quantitatively. The natural frequency of geomaterial decreases with the increase of shaking intensity because of the non-linear property of the geomaterial. This phenomenon affects the applicability of similitude laws in 1-g shaking table tests. In this study, a simple method is suggested to determine the frequency of the input motions in 1-g tests in order to enhance the applicability of similitude laws. Modified input frequency is calculated using the frequency ratio with consideration of the variation of the natural frequency according to the intensity of input ground acceleration. To verify the applicability of the suggested method, a series of 1-g shaking table tests were performed for three different sizes of model piles having an overburden mass on their heads by varying the acceleration and the frequency of input motion. The acceleration amplification ratio on the overburden mass, the lateral displacement at the pile head and the maximum bending moment along the pile depth were measured. The projected behaviors of the virtual prototype based on the measured values of the model tests, where the input frequencies were calculated by the new method, showed good consistency, verifying the applicability of the suggested method.

• Mycobiology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.122-132
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• 2020

Citric acid is a commercially valuable organic acid widely used in food, pharmaceutical, and beverage industries. In this study, 260 yeast strains were isolated from soil, bread, juices, and fruits wastes and preliminarily screened using bromocresol green agar plates for their ability to produce organic acids. Overall, 251 yeast isolates showed positive results, with yellow halos surrounding the colonies. Citric acid production by 20 promising isolates was evaluated using both free and immobilized cell techniques. Results showed that citric acid production by immobilized cells (30-40 g/L) was greater than that of freely suspended cells (8-19 g/L). Of the 20 isolates, two (KKU-L42 and KKU-L53) were selected for further analysis based on their citric acid production levels. Immobilized KKU-L42 cells had a higher citric acid production rate (62.5%), while immobilized KKU-L53 cells showed an ~52.2% increase in citric acid production compared with free cells. The two isolates were accurately identified by amplification and sequence analysis of the 26S rRNA gene D1/D2 domain, with GenBank-based sequence comparison confirming that isolates KKU-L42 and KKU-L53 were Candida tropicalis and Pichia kluyveri, respectively. Several factors, including fermentation period, pH, temperature, and carbon and nitrogen source, were optimized for enhanced production of citric acid by both isolates. Maximum production was achieved at fermentation period of 5 days at pH 5.0 with glucose as a carbon source by both isolates. The optimum incubation temperature for citric acid production by C. tropicalis was 32 ℃, with NH₄Cl the best nitrogen source, while maximum citric acid by P. kluyveri was observed at 27 ℃ with (NH₄)₂ SO₄ as the nitrogen source. Citric acid production was maintained for about four repeated batches over a period of 20 days. Our results suggest that apple and banana wastes are potential sources of novel yeast strains; C. tropicalis and P. kluyveri which could be used for commercial citric acid production.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.152-155
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• 2004

Pseudomonas sp. K82 has been reported to be an aniline-assimilating soil bacterium. However, this strain can use not only aniline as a sole carbon and energy source, but can also utilize benzoate, p-hydroxybenzoate, and aniline analogues. The strain accomplishes this metabolic diversity by using dif-ferent aerobic pathways. Pseudomonas sp. K82, when cultured in p-hydroxybenzoate, showed extradiol cleavage activity of protocatechuate. In accordance with those findings, our study attempted the puri-fication of protocatechuate 4,5-dioxygenase (PCD 4,5). However the purified PCD 4,5 was found to be very unstable during purification. After Q-sepharose chromatography was performed, the crude enzyme activity was augmented by a factor of approximately 4.7. From the Q-sepharose fraction which exhibited PCD 4,5 activity, two subunits of PCD4,5 (${\alpha}$ subunit and ${\beta}$ subunit) were identified using the N-terminal amino acid sequences of 15 amino acid residues. These subunits were found to have more than 90％ sequence homology with PmdA and PmdB of Comamonas testosteroni. The molecular weight of the native enzyme was estimated to be approximately 54 kDa, suggesting that PCD4,5 exists as a het-erodimer (${\alpha}$$_1$${\beta}$$_1$). PCD 4,5 exhibits stringent substrate specificity for protocatechuate and its optimal activity occurs at pH 9 and 15 $^{\circ}C$. PCR amplification of these two subunits of PCD4,5 revealed that the ${\alpha}$ subunit and ${\beta}$ subunit occurred in tandem. Our results suggest that Pseudomonas sp. K82 induced PCD 4,5 for the purpose of p-hydroxybenzoate degradation.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.283-297
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• 2021

Investigation of genetic diversity and molecular characterization in high yielding rice varieties is important for their identification. The experiment was conducted during 2016 - 2017 to analyse the genetic diversity of fifteen high yielding rice varieties in Bangladesh by using random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Polymorphism was revealed in 12 RAPD primers out of 30, whereas no other reaction was detected on the remaining 18 primers. The 40 out of 45 bands (88.89%) polymorphics were produced by the primers and ranged from 50 to 100%. The maximum number of polymorphic bands was produced by the primer OPB-18 whereas the lowest number of polymorphic bands belonged to OPC-12. The genetic similarity coefficients were determined with the RAPD data, which ranged from 0.47 to 0.94. The unweighted paired group of arithmetic means (UPGMA) dendrogram presented the studied rice varieties into two major clusters. Moreover, the value of Nei's genetic diversity is 0.26 and the Shanon information index is 0.41. The study produced distinct positions, suggesting that the genotypes were different from each other. The results indicated that these markers could be efficient for comparing the genetic relationships, patterns of variation, and measurement of genetic distance among rice varieties. Considering all of these results, RAPD analysis is found to be an effective tool for estimating the genetic diversity of different rice varieties. The outcomes of this research may contribute to the germplasm data of rice accessions and a future breeding program of rice genotypes.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.115-124
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: Methane is a major greenhouse gas attributed to global warming partly contributed by agricultural activities from ruminant fermentation and rice paddy fields. Methanotrophs are microorganisms that utilize methane. Their unique metabolic lifestyle is enabled by enzymes known as methane monooxygenases (MMOs) catalyzing the oxidation of methane to methanol. Rice absorbs, transports, and releases methane directly from soil water to its stems and the micropores and stomata of the plant epidermis. Methylobacterium species associated with rice are dependent on their host for metabolic substrates including methane. METHODS AND RESULTS: Methylobacterium spp. isolated from rice were evaluated for methane oxidation activities and screened for the presence of sMMO mmoC genes. Qualitatively, the soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) activities of the selected strains of Methylobacterium spp. were confirmed by the naphthalene oxidation assay. Quantitatively, the sMMO activity ranged from 41.3 to 159.4 nmol min^-1 mg of protein^-1. PCR-based amplification and sequencing confirmed the presence and identity of 314 bp size fragment of the mmoC gene showing over 97% similarity to the CBMB27 mmoC gene indicating that Methylobacterium strains belong to a similar group. CONCLUSION(S): Selected Methylobacterium spp. contained the sMMO mmoC gene and possessed methane oxidation activity. As the putative methane oxidizing strains were isolated from rice and have PGP properties, they could be used to simultaneously reduce paddy field methane emission and promote rice growth.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.229-251
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• 2022

In 2017, an intraplate earthquake of Mw 7.1 occurred 120 km from Mexico City (CDMX). Most collapsed structural buildings stroked by the earthquake were flat slab systems joined to reinforced concrete (RC) columns, unreinforced masonry, confined masonry, and dual systems. This article presents the simulated response of an actual six-story RC frame building with masonry infill walls that did not collapse during the 2017 earthquake. It has a structural system similar to that of many of the collapsed buildings and is located in a high seismic amplification zone. Five 3D numerical models were used in the study to model the seismic response of the building. The building dynamic properties were identified using an ambient vibration test (AVT), enabling validation of the building's finite element models. Several assumptions were made to calibrate the numerical model to the properties identified from the AVT, such as the presence of adjacent buildings, variations in masonry properties, soil-foundation-structure interaction, and the contribution of non-structural elements. The results showed that the infill masonry wall would act as a compression strut and crack along the transverse direction because the shear stresses in the original model (0.85 MPa) exceeded the shear strength (0.38 MPa). In compression, the strut presents lower stresses (3.42 MPa) well below its capacity (6.8 MPa). Although the non-structural elements were not considered to be part of the lateral resistant system, the results showed that these elements could contribute by resisting part of the base shear force, reaching a force of 82 kN.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.17-35
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• 2016

Earthquake-induced disasters are often more severe in locations with soft soils than firm soils or rocks due to differences in ground motion amplification. On a regional scale, such differences can be estimated by spatially predicting subsurface soil thickness over the entire target area. In general, soil deposits are generally deeper in coastal or riverside areas than in inland regions. In this study, a coastal metropolitan area, Incheon, was selected to assess site effects and provide information on seismic hazards. Spatial prediction of geotechnical layers was performed for the entire study area within the GIS framework. Approximately 7,000 existing borehole drilling data in the Incheon area were gathered and archived into the GIS Database (DB). In addition, surface geotechnical data were acquired from a walkover survey. Based on the built geotechnical DB, spatial zoning maps of site-specific seismic response parameters were created and presented for use in a regional seismic strategy. Site response parameters were performed to determine site coefficients for seismic design over the entire target area and compared with each other. Site classifications and subsequent seismic zoning were assigned based on site coefficients. From this seismic zonation case study in Incheon, we verified that geotechnical GIS-DB can create spatial zoning maps of site-specific seismic response parameters that are useful for seismic hazard mitigation particularly in coastal metropolitan areas.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.5-20
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• 2010

One-dimensional equivalent linear site response analysis is widely used in practice due to its simplicity, requiring only few input parameters, and low computational cost. The main limitation of the procedure is that it is essentially a linear method, in which the time dependent change in the soil properties cannot be modeled and constant values of shear modulus and damping is used throughout the duration of the analysis. Various forms of modified equivalent linear analyses have been developed to enhance the accuracy of the equivalent linear method by incorporating the dependence of the shear strain with the loading frequency. The methods are identical in that it uses the shear strain Fourier spectrum as the backbone of the analysis, but differ in the method in which the strain Fourier spectrum is smoothed. This study used two domestically measured soil profiles to perform a series of nonlinear, equivalent linear, and modified equivalent linear site response analyses to verify the accuracy of two modified procedures. The results of the analyses indicate that the modified equivalent linear analysis can highly overestimate the amplification of the high frequency components of the ground motion. The degree of overestimation is dependent on the characteristics of the input ground motion. Use of a motion rich in high frequency contents can result in unrealistic response.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.41-53
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• 2022

In the excavation work like blasting/excavator work bordering on the urban railway, the dynamic safety of railway structures like tunnel, open-cut box structure and elevated bridge was investigated by numerical analysis in this study. The practically presented criteria on influential zones at the blasting work in the construction industry was numerically checked in cases of the precise vibration-controlled blasting (type II) and the small scale vibration-controlled blasting (type III) and it was shown that the criteria on blasting work methods needed to be supplemented through continuous field tests and numerical analyses. The influence of excavation vibration by mechanical excavators was especially investigated in case of earth auger and breaker. The numerical analysis of tunnel shows that the criteria on vibration velocities from the regression analysis of field test values was conservative. The amplification phenomenon of excavating vibration velocity was shown passing through the backfilling soil between the earth auger and the open-cut box structure. It was shown that the added-vibration on the superstructure of elevated bridge was occurred at the bottom of pile like earthquake when the excavator vibration was arriving at the pile toe. The systematic and continuous research on the vibration effect from excavating works was needed for the safety of urban railway structures and nearby facilities.