• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.223-232
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• 2021

The spatial variation characteristics of seismic motions at the nuclear power plant's site and structures were analyzed using earthquake records obtained at the Fukushima nuclear power plant during the Great East Japan Earthquake. The ground responses amplified as they approached the soil surface from the lower rock surface, and the amplification occurred intensively at about 50 m near the ground. Due to the soil layer's nonlinear characteristics caused by the strong seismic motion, the ground's natural frequency derived from the response spectrum ratio appeared to be smaller than that calculated from the shear wave velocity profile. The spatial variation of the peak ground acceleration at the ground surface of the power plant site showed a significant difference of about 0.6 g at the maximum. As a result of comparing the response spectrums at the basement of the structure with the design response spectrum, there was a large variability by each power plant unit. The difference was more significant in the Fukushima Daiichi site record, which showed larger peak ground acceleration at the surface. The earthquake motions input to the basement of the structure amplified according to the structure's height. The natural frequency obtained from the recorded results was lower than that indicated in the previous research. Also, the floor response spectrum change according to the location at the same height was investigated. The vertical response on the foundation surface showed a significant difference in spectral acceleration depending on the location. The amplified response in the structure showed a different variability depending on the type of structure and the target frequency.

• Mycobiology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.151-158
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• 2012

Very few studies have addressed the phylogenetic diversity of fungi from Northeast India under the Eastern Himalayan range. In the present study, an attempt has been made to study the phylogenetic diversity of culturable soil fungi along the altitudinal gradients of eastern Himalayas. Soil samples from 24 m above sea level to 2,000 m above sea level altitudes of North-East India were collected to investigate soil micro-fungal community structure and diversity. Molecular characterization of the isolates was done by PCR amplification of 18S rDNA using universal primers. Phylogenetic analysis using BLAST revealed variation in the distribution and richness of different fungal biodiversity over a wide range of altitudes. A total of 107 isolates were characterized belonging to the phyla Ascomycota and Zygomycota, corresponding to seven orders (Eurotiales, Hypocreales, Calosphaeriales, Capnodiales, Pleosporales, Mucorales, and Mortierellales) and Incertae sedis. The characterized isolates were analysed for richness, evenness and diversity indices. Fungal diversity had significant correlation with soil physico-chemical parameters and the altitude. Eurotiales and Hypocreales were most diverse and abundant group of fungi along the entire altitudinal stretch. Species of Penicillium (D=1.44) and Aspergillus (D=1.288) were found to have highest diversity index followed by Talaromyces (D=1.26) and Fusarium (D=1.26). Fungal distribution showed negative correlation with altitude and soil moisture content. Soil temperature, pH, humidity and ambient temperature showed positive correlation with fungal distribution.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.239-249
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• 2024

A new layered shear continuum model box was developed to address the dynamic response issues of buried oil and gas pipelines under multi-point excitation. Vibration table tests were conducted to investigate the seismic response of buried pipelines and the surrounding soil under longitudinal multi-point excitation. A nonlinear model of the pipeline-soil interaction was established using ABAQUS finite element software for simulation and analysis. The seismic response characteristics of the pipeline and soil under longitudinal multi-point excitation were clarified through vibration table tests and simulation. The results showed good consistency between the simulation and tests. The acceleration of the soil and pipeline exhibited amplification effects at loading levels of 0.1 g and 0.2 g, which significantly reduced at loading levels of 0.4 g and 0.62 g. The peak acceleration increased with increasing loading levels, and the peak frequency was in the low-frequency range of 0 Hz to 10 Hz. The amplitude in the frequency range of 10 Hz to 50 Hz showed a significant decreasing trend. The displacement peak curve of the soil increased with the loading level, and the nonlinearity of the soil resulted in a slower growth rate of displacement. The strain curve of the pipeline exhibited a parabolic shape, with the strain in the middle of the pipeline about 3 to 3.5 times larger than that on both sides. This study provides an effective theoretical basis and test basis for improving the seismic resistance of buried oil and gas pipelines.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.111-127
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• 2010

This paper studies the effects of spatially varying ground motions on the responses of a bridge frame located on a canyon site. Compared to the spatial ground motions on a uniform flat site, which is the usual assumptions in the analysis of spatial ground motion variation effects on structures, the spatial ground motions at different locations on surface of a canyon site have different intensities owing to local site amplifications, besides the loss of coherency and phase difference. In the proposed approach, the spatial ground motions are modelled in two steps. Firstly, the base rock motions are assumed to have the same intensity and are modelled with a filtered Tajimi-Kanai power spectral density function and an empirical spatial ground motion coherency loss function. Then, power spectral density function of ground motion on surface of the canyon site is derived by considering the site amplification effect based on the one dimensional seismic wave propagation theory. Dynamic, quasi-static and total responses of the model structure to various cases of spatially varying ground motions are estimated. For comparison, responses to uniform ground motion, to spatial ground motions without considering local site effects, to spatial ground motions without considering coherency loss or phase shift are also calculated. Discussions on the ground motion spatial variation and local soil site amplification effects on structural responses are made. In particular, the effects of neglecting the site amplifications in the analysis as adopted in most studies of spatial ground motion effect on structural responses are highlighted.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.249-255
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• 2012

In this study, fosmid cloning strategies were used to assess the microbial populations in water from the International Space Station (ISS) drinking water system (henceforth referred to as Prebiocide and Tank A water samples). The goals of this study were: to compare the sensitivity of the fosmid cloning strategy with that of traditional culture-based and 16S rRNA-based approaches and to detect the widest possible spectrum of microbial populations during the water purification process. Initially, microbes could not be cultivated, and conventional PCR failed to amplify 16S rDNA fragments from these low biomass samples. Therefore, randomly primed rolling-circle amplification was used to amplify any DNA that might be present in the samples, followed by size selection by using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The amplified high-molecular- weight DNA from both samples was cloned into fosmid vectors. Several hundred clones were randomly selected for sequencing, followed by Blastn/Blastx searches. Sequences encoding specific genes from Burkholderia, a species abundant in the soil and groundwater, were found in both samples. Bradyrhizobium and Mesorhizobium, which belong to rhizobia, a large community of nitrogen fixers often found in association with plant roots, were present in the Prebiocide samples. Ralstonia, which is prevalent in soils with a high heavy metal content, was detected in the Tank A samples. The detection of many unidentified sequences suggests the presence of potentially novel microbial fingerprints. The bacterial diversity detected in this pilot study using a fosmid vector approach was higher than that detected by conventional 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2020

In this study earthquake records were collected for rock conditions that do not reflect seismic amplification by soil from global earthquake databases such as PEER, USGS, and ESMD. The collected earthquake records were classified and analyzed based on the magnitude and distance of earthquakes. Based on the analyzed earthquakes, the design response spectrum shape, effective ground acceleration, and amplification ratios for each period band are presented. In addition, based on the analyzed data, the story shear force for 5F, 10F, 15F, and 20F were derived through an analysis of the elastic time history for multi-DOF structures. The results from analyzing the rock earthquake record show that the seismic load tends to be amplified greatly in the short period region, which is similar to results observed from the Gyeongju and Pohang earthquakes. In addition, the results of the multi-DOF structure analysis show that existing seismic design criteria can be underestimated and designed in the high-order mode of short- and medium-long cycle structures.

• 보존과학연구
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• s.29
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• pp.137-148
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• 2008

Analyses of ancient DNA (aDNA) from archaeological and historical skeletal material are characterized by low quality. Many soil contaminants such as humic acid, fulvic acid, and bone collagen are often co-extracted with aDNA and inhibit amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In this study, we compared with two methods of DNA extraction by phenolchloroform extraction and silica-bead extraction. In addition, we applied new protocol, ultra sonication based silica-bead extraction method to extract aDNA from some ancient human skeletal remains. This method was more effective by both mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and amelogenin gene amplification.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

Seismic ground response evaluation is one of the main issues in geotechnical earthquake engineering. These analyses are subsequently divided into one-, two- and three-dimensional methods, and each of which can perform in time or frequency domain. In this study, a novel approach is proposed to assess the seismic site response using two-dimensional transfer functions in frequency domain analysis. Using the proposed formulation, a program is written in MATLAB environment and then promoted utilizing the equivalent linear approach. The accuracy of the written program is evaluated by comparing the obtained results with those of actual recorded data in the Gilroy region during Loma Prieta (1989) and Coyote Lake (1979) earthquakes. In order to precise comparison, acceleration time histories, Fourier amplitude spectra and acceleration response spectra diagrams of calculated and recorded data are presented. The proposed 2D transfer function diagrams are also obtained using mentioned earthquakes which show the amount of amplification or attenuation of the input motion at different frequencies while passing through the soil layer. The results of the proposed method confirm its accuracy and efficiency to evaluate ground motion during earthquakes using two-dimensional model. Then, studies on irregular topographies are carried out, and diagrams of amplification factors are shown.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.219-224
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• 2018

The The purpose of this study is to investigate the actual liquefaction occurrence site in Pohang area and to analyze the ground characteristics of Pohang area using the data of the National Geotechnical Information DB Center and to calculate the liquefaction potential index. Based on the results, the distribution of soil classification in Pohang area and the risk of liquefaction under various earthquake accelerations were prepared. As a result of the study, soils in Pohang has the soil characteristics that can cause the site amplification phenomenon. In the analysis through liquefaction hazard maps under earthquake scenarios, it is found that the liquefaction occurred in the area of Heunghae town is more likely to be liquefied than other areas in Pohang. From these results, it is expected that the study on the preparation of liquefaction hazard maps will contribute to the preparation of countermeasures against liquefaction by predicting the possibility in the future.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.84-88
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• 2016

To understand the effects of habitat characteristics on the genetic diversity of Persicaria thunbergii, three sites of different environmental conditions in a water system were surveyed. Site A was the closest to the source of the water system, and there was a dam between sites A and B. Site C is located on the lowest downstream in the water system. Vegetation survey of four quadrats at each site was performed, and soil samples were collected for physicochemical analysis. Random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis of ten P. thunbergii individuals at each site was conducted to calculate population genetic diversity and genetic distance among populations. Soil was sterile sand at site A, whereas loamy soil at sites B and C. A pure stand of P. thunbergii appeared at site A, while other species occurred together (such as Humulus japonicus and Phragmites australis) at sites B (Shannon-Wiener index; $H_B=0.309$) and C ($H_C=0.299$). Similar to the species diversity, genetic diversity (Nei's gene diversity; h) within population of site A ($h_A=0.2381$) was relatively lower than sites B ($h_B=0.2761$) and C ($h_C=0.2618$). However, site C was separated from sites A and B in genetic distance rather than the geographical distance (Nei's genetic distance; A~B, 0.0338; B~C, 0.0685; A~C, 0.0833).