• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.341-354
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• 2021

Cardamonin (CARD) is a chalconoid with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and it is present in several plants. We sought to explore whether CARD exerts any positive effects against hyperglycemia-induced testicular dysfunction caused by type 2 diabetes and aimed to identify its possible intracellular pathways. Adult male rats were subdivided into six groups: control, CARD, diabetic (DM), DM + glibenclamide (GLIB), DM + CARD and DM + GLIB + CARD. Type 2 DM induced a significant increase in blood glucose and insulin resistance, along with diminished serum insulin, testosterone and gonadotropins levels, which were associated with the impairment of key testicular androgenic enzymes and cellular redox balance. Administration of CARD at a dose of 80 mg/kg for 4 weeks effectively normalized all of these alterations, and the improvement was confirmed by epididymal sperm analysis. After treatment with CARD, the pathological changes in spermatogenic tubules were markedly improved. Significantly, CARD upregulated testicular glucose transporter-8 (GLUT-8) expression and had inhibitory effects on elevated autophagy markers and caspase-3 immunoreactive cells. Furthermore, our results revealed that CARD was able to attenuate damage via activation of Nrf2 through the p62-dependent degradation of testicular anti-Kelch-like ECH-associated protein-1 (Keap-1). In conclusion, this study suggests that CARD provides protection against diabetic stress-mediated testicular damage. The use of CARD with conventional anti-diabetic therapy was associated with improved efficacy compared with conventional therapy alone.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.103-110
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• 2021

A shake table test is conducted for the three-story reinforced concrete building structure using 0.28 g, 0.5 g, 0.75 g, and 1.0 g of seismic input motions based on the Gyeongju earthquake. Computational efforts are made in parallel to explore the mechanical details in the structure. For engineering practice, the elastic modulus of concrete and rebar in the dynamic analysis is reduced to 38% and 50%, respectively, to calibrate the structure's natural frequencies. The engineering approach to the reduced modulus of elasticity is believed to be due to the inability to specify the flexibility of the actual boundary conditions. This aspect may lead to disadvantages of nonlinear dynamic analysis that can distort local stress and strain relationships. The initial elastic modulus can be applied directly without the so-called engineering adjustment with infinite element models with spring and spring-dashpot boundary conditions. This has the advantage of imposing the system flexibility of the structure on the sub-boundary conditions of springs and damping devices to control its sensitivity in a serial arrangement. This can reflect the flexibility of realistic boundary conditions and the effects of system damping (such as the gap between a concrete footing and shake table, loosening of steel anchors, etc.) in scalar quantities. However, these spring and dashpot coefficients can only be coordinated based on experimental results, making it challenging to select the coefficients in-prior to perform an experimental test.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.62-67
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of deep neural network model in order to determine whether there is a risk factor for coronary artery disease based on the cardiac variation parameter. The study used unidentifiable 297 data to evaluate the performance of the model. Input data consists of heart rate parameters, which are SDNN (standard deviation of the N-N intervals), PSI (physical stress index), TP (total power), VLF (very low frequency), LF (low frequency), HF (high frequency), RMSSD (root mean square of successive difference) APEN (approximate entropy) and SRD (successive R-R interval difference), the age group and sex. Output data are divided into normal and patient groups, and the patient group consists of those diagnosed with diabetes, high blood pressure, and hyperlipidemia among the various risk factors that can cause coronary artery disease. Based on this, a binary classification model was applied using Deep Neural Network of deep learning techniques to classify normal and patient groups efficiently. To evaluate the effectiveness of the model used in this study, Kernel SVM (support vector machine), one of the classification models in machine learning, was compared and evaluated using same data. The results showed that the accuracy of the proposed deep neural network was train set 91.79% and test set 85.56% and the specificity was 87.04% and the sensitivity was 83.33% from the point of diagnosis. These results suggest that deep learning is more efficient when classifying these medical data because the train set accuracy in the deep neural network was 7.73% higher than the comparative model Kernel SVM.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.973-987
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• 2018

Most of the previous seismic analyses have been carried out by separating the ground and structures, and there is a lack of comparative study on the dynamic behavior of high-rise and low-rise buildings. Therefore, in this study, the sensitivity analysis was performed with selected parameters by using a finite element analysis program in order to grasp the dynamic behavior of high-rise and low-rise buildings. As a result, it was turned out that the horizontal displacement, the interstory drift ratio, and the bending stress of a high-rise building were more affected by a long seismic wave than a low-rise buildings. Also, the weak parts of a high-rise and low-rise building were more affected by type of seismic wave than the ground conditions. Therefore, it is inferred that it will be helpful for seismic designs to consider the influence of ground conditions and seismic wave type on buildings.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.370-378
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• 2018

Cold forging, carried out at room temperature, leads to high dimensional accuracy and excellent surface integrity as compared to other forging methods such as warm and hot forgings. In the cold forging process, WC-Co (Tungsten Carbide-Cobalt) alloy is the mainly used material as a core dies because of its superior hardness and strength as compared to other structural materials. For cold forging, die life is the most significant factor because it is directly related to the manufacturing cost due to periodic die replacement in mass production. To investigate die life of WC-Co alloy for cold forging, mechanical properties such as strength and fatigue are essentially necessary. Generally, uniaxial tensile test and fatigue test are the most efficient and simplest testing method. However, uniaxial tension is not efficiently application to WC-Co alloy because of its sensitivity to alignment of the specimen due to its brittleness and difficulty in thread machining. In this study, shape of specimen, tools, and testing methods, which are appropriate for uniaxial tensile test for WC-Co alloy, are proposed. The test results such as Young's modulus, tensile strength and stress-strain curves are compared to those in previous literature to validate the proposed testing methods. Based on the validation of test results it was concluded that the newly developed testing method is applicable to other cemented carbides like Titanium carbides with high strength and brittleness, and also can be utilized to carry out fatigue tests for further investigation on die life of cold forging.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.398-410
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• 2019

Purpose: This study used a system dynamics methodology to identify correlation and nonlinear feedback structures among factors affecting adolescent cyberbullying victims (CV) in Korea and to construct and verify a simulation model. Methods: Factors affecting CV were identified by reviewing a theoretical background in existing literature and referencing various statistical data. Related variables were identified through content validity verification by an expert group, after which a causal loop diagram (CLD) was constructed based on the variables. A stock-flow diagram (SFD) using Vensim Professional 7.3 was used to establish a CV model. Results: Based on the literature review and expert verification, 22 variables associated with CV were identified and the CLD was prepared. Next, a model was developed by converting the CLD to an SFD. The simulation results showed that the variables such as negative emotions, stress levels, high levels of conflict in schools, parental monitoring, and time spent using new media had the strongest effects on CV. The model's validity was verified using equation check, sensitivity analysis for timestep and simulation with 4 CV adolescent. Conclusion: The system dynamics model constructed in this study can be used to develop intervention strategies in schools that are focused on counseling that can prevent cyberbullying and assist in the victims' recovery by formulating a feedback structure and capturing the dynamic changes observed in CV. To prevent cyberbullying, it is necessary to develop more effective strategies such as prevention education, counseling and treatment that considers factors pertaining to the individual, family, school, and media.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.205-213
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• 2019

A calculation model of reservoir pressure field distribution around multiple production wells in a heavy oil reservoir is established, which can overcome the unreasonable uniform-pressure value calculated by the traditional mathematical model in the multiwell mining areas. A calculating program is developed based on the deduced equations by using Visual Basic computer language. Based on the proposed mathematical model, the effects of drainage rate and formation permeability on the distribution of reservoir pressure are studied. Results show that the reservoir pressure drops most at the wellbore. The farther the distance away from the borehole, the sparser the isobaric lines distribute. Increasing drainage rate results in decreasing reservoir pressure and bottom-hole pressure, especially the latter. The permeability has a significant effect on bottom hole pressure. The study provides a reference basis for studying the dynamic pressure field distribution before thermal recovery technology in heavy oilfield and optimizing construction parameters.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.238-248
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• 2019

In the high-temperature and high-pressure irradiation environments, the multi-field coupling processes of hydrogen diffusion, hydride precipitation and mechanical deformation in Zircaloy cladding tubes occur. To simulate this hydrogen-induced complex behavior, a multi-field coupling method is developed, with the irradiation hardening effects and hydride-precipitation-induced expansion and hardening effects involved in the mechanical constitutive relation. The out-pile tests for a cracked cladding tube after irradiation are simulated, and the numerical results of the multi-fields at different temperatures are obtained and analyzed. The results indicate that: (1) the hydrostatic stress gradient is the fundamental factor to activate the hydrogen-induced multi-field coupling behavior excluding the temperature gradient; (2) in the local crack-tip region, hydrides will precipitate faster at the considered higher temperatures, which can be fundamentally attributed to the sensitivity of TSSP and hydrogen diffusion coefficient to temperature. The mechanism is partly explained for the enlarged velocity values of delayed hydride cracking (DHC) at high temperatures before crack arrest. This work lays a foundation for the future research on DHC.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.359-367
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is conceptual analysis study on the thwarted belongingness, and was based on the conceptual analysis method of Walker & Avant to make clear concept. Thwarted belongingness can be defined by the following attributes: distorted beliefs, insufficient need to belong, a sense of alienation, and insufficient interaction and affection needs. The prerequisites for thwarted belongingness were social isolation, experiences of exclusion or conflict in interpersonal relationships, perfectionist tendencies, and sensitivity to rejection. The consequences occurring as a result of thwarted belongingness were suicidal ideation, decreased happiness and life satisfaction, negative emotions such as anxiety about rejection, depression, shame, loneliness, stress or anger, aggression, hostility and self-criticism, despair, suppression of emotional expression, lethargy, self-exclusion from relationships, and identity confusion. This study is valuable to identify the extent of preventable nursing interventions related to individual mental health and suicidal ideation related to interpersonal relationships, and suggests future tool development and field studies of thwarted belongingness.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.107-118
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• 2021

Due to the acceleration of road construction, the number and extension of tunnels are increasing every year. A lot of research has been done on the collapse of tunnels, but research on the invert heaving is insufficient. Therefore, in this study, a sensitivity analysis was performed using a geotechnical general-purpose program to analyze the effect of the invert curvature of a tunnel excavated on the soft ground. As a result, it was quantitatively confirmed that the stability of a tunnel was increased as the curvature of the tunnel invert was increased so that the safety factor was calculated to be large regardless of the ground conditions and the thickness of the support. In addition, it was confirmed that the stability of the tunnel was increased by reducing the convergence of the tunnel and the maximum bending stress supported by shotcrete. Therefore, when a tunnel is excavated on soft ground, it is believed that applying a curvature to the invert will increase the stability of the tunnel.