• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.185-198
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• 2003

The concept of performance based seismic design has been gradually accepted by the earthquake engineering profession recently, in which the cost-effectiveness criterion is one of the most important principles and more attention is paid to the structural performance at the inelastic stage. Since there are many uncertainties in seismic design, reliability analysis is a major task in performance based seismic design. However, structural reliability analysis may be very costly and time consuming because the limit state function is usually a highly nonlinear implicit function with respect to the basic design variables, especially for the complex large-scale structures for dynamic and nonlinear analysis. Understanding statistical properties of the structural inelastic deformation, which is the aim of the present paper, is helpful to develop an efficient approximate approach of reliability analysis. The present paper studies the statistical properties of the maximum elastoplastic story drift of steel frames subjected to earthquake load. The randomness of earthquake load, dead load, live load, steel elastic modulus, yield strength and structural member dimensions are considered. Possible probability distributions for the maximum story are evaluated using K-S test. The results show that the choice of the probability distribution for the maximum elastoplastic story drift of steel frames is related to the mean value of the maximum elastoplastic story drift. When the mean drift is small (less than 0.3%), an extreme value type I distribution is the best choice. However, for large drifts (more than 0.35%), an extreme value type II distribution is best.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.379-402
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• 2021

Traditional approaches for structural health monitoring (SHM) seldom take ambient uncertainty (temperature, humidity, ambient vibration) into consideration, while their impacts on structural responses are substantial, leading to a possibility of raising false alarms. A few predictors model-based approaches deal with these uncertainties through complex numerical models running online, rendering the SHM approach to be compute-intensive, slow, and sometimes not practical. Also, with model-based approaches, the imperative need for a precise understanding of the structure often poses a problem for not so well understood complex systems. The present study employs a data-based approach coupled with Empirical mode decomposition (EMD) to correlate recorded response time histories under varying temperature conditions to corresponding damage scenarios. EMD decomposes the response signal into a finite set of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). A two-dimensional Convolutional Neural Network (2DCNN) is further trained to associate these IMFs to the respective damage cases. The use of IMFs in place of raw signals helps to reduce the impact of sensor noise while preserving the essential spatio-temporal information less-sensitive to thermal effects and thereby stands as a better damage-sensitive feature than the raw signal itself. The proposed algorithm is numerically tested on a single span bridge under varying temperature conditions for different damage severities. The dynamic strain is recorded as the response since they are frame-invariant and cheaper to install. The proposed algorithm has been observed to be damage sensitive as well as sufficiently robust against measurement noise.

• BMB Reports
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• v.56 no.10
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• pp.527-536
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• 2023

Serotonin receptors, also known as 5-HT receptors, belong to the G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) superfamily. They mediate the effects of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in a wide range of functions including mood regulation, cognition and appetite. The functions of serotonin are mediated by a family of 5-HT receptors including 12 GPCRs belonging to six major families: 5-HT₁, 5-HT₂, 5-HT₄, 5-HT₅, 5-HT₆ and 5-HT₇. Despite their distinct characteristics and functions, these receptors' subtypes share common structural features and signaling mechanisms. Understanding the structure, functions and pharmacology of the serotonin receptor family is essential for unraveling the complexities of serotonin signaling and developing targeted therapeutics for neuropsychiatric disorders. However, developing drugs that selectively target specific receptor subtypes is challenging due to the structural similarities in their orthosteric binding sites. This review focuses on the recent advancements in the structural studies of 5-HT receptors, highlighting the key structural features of each subtype and shedding light on their potential as targets for mental health and neurological disorders (such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and migraine) drugs.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.1
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• pp.61-75
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• 2024

Strengthening of hollow structural sections using through-bolts is a cost-effective and straightforward approach. It's a versatile method that can be applied during both design and service phases, serving as a non-disruptive and budget-friendly retrofitting solution. Existing research on axially loaded hollow sections T-joints has demonstrated that this technique can amplify the joint strength by 50%, where single bolt could enhance the strength of the joint by 35%. However, there's a gap in understanding their use for K-joints. As the behavior of K-joints is more complex, and they are widely existent in structures, this study aims to bridge that gap by conducting comprehensive parametric study using finite element analysis. Numerical investigation was conducted to evaluate the effect of through bolts on K-joints focusing on using single through bolt to achieve most of the strengthening effect. A full-scale parametric model was developed to investigate the effect of various geometric parameters of the joint. This study concluded the existence of optimal bolt location to achieve the highest strength gain for the joint. Moreover, a rigorous statistical analysis was conducted on the data to propose design equations to predict optimal bolt location and the corresponding strength gain implementing the verified by finite element models.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.36-43
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• 2021

Effective leadership in safety performance, such as safety leadership, has received attention as a factor that greatly affects safety performance in various high-risk industrial environments. Based on prior research, this study aims to analyze the impact relationship between safety leadership, safety observance, safety education, and safety culture to reveal the effectiveness of safety leadership. In addition, this study will examine the effects of safety leadership on safety observance and safety education to identify the effects of safety understanding. For this purpose, a survey was conducted with employees of an aviation manufacturing company in Gyeongnam. For verification, a positive factor analysis, correlation analysis, and structural equation analysis were conducted using the AMOS 21.0 program. This study's findings show that, first, safety leadership has a positive and significant impact on safety observance and safety education. Second, safety leadership was found to have a direct impact on organizations' safety culture. Third, although safety observance has significant positive effects on safety culture, safety education has often been rejected. Finally, after verifying the control effect of safety understanding, this study uncovered the presence of an adjustment effect in the effect of safety leadership on safety observance. Therefore, based on the results of this study, theoretical and practical implications suggest that through the exercise of safety leadership, managers can improve their organizations' safety culture by increasing organizations' compliance with safety observance and/or acceptance of safety education.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.4
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• pp.449-459
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• 2017

High-rise buildings are generally sensitive to strong winds. The evaluation of wind loads for the structural design, structural health monitoring (SHM), and vibration control of high-rise buildings is of primary importance. Nevertheless, it is difficult or even infeasible to measure the wind loads on an existing building directly. In this regard, a new inverse method for evaluating wind loads on high-rise buildings is developed in this study based on a discrete-time Kalman filter. The unknown structural responses are identified in conjunction with the wind loads on the basis of limited structural response measurements. The algorithm is applicable for estimating wind loads using different types of wind-induced response. The performance of the method is comprehensively investigated based on wind tunnel testing results of two high-rise buildings with typical external shapes. The stability of the proposed algorithm is evaluated. Furthermore, the effects of crucial factors such as cross-section shapes of building, the wind-induced response type, errors of structural modal parameters, covariance matrix of noise, noise levels in the response measurements and number of vibration modes on the identification accuracy are examined through a detailed parametric study. The research outputs of the proposed study will provide valuable information to enhance our understanding of the effects of wind on high-rise buildings and improve codes of practice.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.150-158
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• 2010

Genome-wise association studies (GWASs) have become popular approaches to identify genetic variants associated with human biological traits. In this study, we applied Structural Equation Models (SEMs) in order to model complex relationships between genetic networks and traits as risk factors. SEMs allow us to achieve a better understanding of biological mechanisms through identifying greater numbers of genes and pathways that are associated with a set of traits and the relationship among them. For efficient SEM analysis for GWASs, we developed a procedure, comprised of four stages. In the first stage, we conducted single-SNP analysis using regression models, where age, sex, and recruited area were included as adjusting covariates. In the second stage, Fisher's combination test was conducted for each gene to detect significant genes using p-values obtained from the single-SNP analysis. In the third stage, Fisher's exact test was adopted to determine which biological pathways were enriched with significant SNPs. Finally, based on a pathway that was associated with the four traits in common, a SEM was fit to model a causal relationship among the genetic factors and traits. We applied our SEM model to GWAS data with four central obesity related traits: suprailiac and subscapular measures for upper body fat, BMI, and hypertension. Study subjects were collected from two Korean cohort regions. After quality control, 327,872 SNPs for 8842 individuals were included in the analysis. After comparing two SEMs, we concluded that suprailiac and subscapular measures may indirectly affect hypertension susceptibility by influencing BMI. In conclusion, our analysis demonstrates that SEMs provide a better understanding of biological mechanisms by identifying greater numbers of genes and pathways.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.23-45
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• 2016

We are able to analyze a social or a natural phenomenon by using the conception. if we understand a concept of an object. However it is not easy to understand a concept of an object. The process of comprehending the concept is a long rigorous mental journey. Hence, understanding concepts has been emphasized in studies in education. Previous studies demonstrate that conception has a dual nature, which has both an operational and a structural nature. We are able to acknowledge that structural conception develops from an operating conception. Nevertheless, discovering a dual nature of conception and knowing whether students acquired the dual nature, especially the structural nature are difficult to achieve. In this research, I examine the operational and the structural nature of a center of mass conception and analyze whether students acquire structural nature of the center of mass conception, and find implications which we would do to build the structural conception on a concept.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.293-309
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• 2011

A long-term structural health monitoring (SHM) system comprising over 700 sensors of sixteen types has been implemented on the Guangzhou Television and Sightseeing Tower (GTST) of 610 m high for real-time monitoring of the structure at both construction and service stages. As part of this sophisticated SHM system, 48 temperature sensors have been deployed at 12 cross-sections of the reinforced concrete inner structure of the GTST to provide on-line monitoring via a wireless data transmission system. In this paper, the differential temperature profiles in the reinforced concrete inner structure of the GTST, which are mainly caused by solar radiation, are recognized from the monitoring data with the purpose of understanding the temperature-induced structural internal forces and deformations. After a careful examination of the pre-classified temperature measurement data obtained under sunny days and non-sunny days, common characteristic of the daily temperature variation is observed from the data acquired in sunny days. Making use of 60-day temperature measurement data obtained in sunny days, statistical patterns of the daily rising temperature and daily descending temperature are synthesized, and temperature distribution models of the reinforced concrete inner structure of the GTST are formulated using linear regression analysis. The developed monitoring-based temperature distribution models will serve as a reliable input for numerical prediction of the temperature-induced deformations and provide a robust basis to facilitate the design and construction of similar structures in consideration of thermal effects.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.653-662
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• 2014

The data repositories for structural experiment information needs to be efficient to use in order to allow structural engineers and researchers to store and retrieve easily the information involved in the structural experiments. The data repositories can be evaluated in terms of the organization of the data repositories themselves and of the organization of the actual experiment information in the data repositories, which can be represented using classes and objects with their attributes. This paper proposes the evaluation criteria of attributes of the classes and objects. The evaluation criteria of the attributes of the classes, such as the number of attributes in class and the numbers of the data-valued and object entity-valued attributes, are used for understanding the complexity of the organization of the data repositories. The evaluation criteria of the attributes of the objects, such as the number of valued attributes in object, are used for describing how the actual experiment information is stored through the levels in the data repositories for the structural experiment information.