• Title/Summary/Keyword: tethers

Search Result 16, Processing Time 0.017 seconds

Numerical simulation of the coupled dynamic response of a submerged floating tunnel with mooring lines in regular waves

  • Cifuentes, Cristian;Kim, Seungjun;Kim, M.H.;Park, W.S.
    • Ocean Systems Engineering
    • /
    • v.5 no.2
    • /
    • pp.109-123
    • /
    • 2015
  • In the present study, the coupled dynamic response of a Submerged Floating Tunnel (SFT) and mooring lines under regular waves is solved by using two independent numerical simulation methods, OrcaFlex and CHARM3D, in time domain. Variations of Buoyancy to Weight Ratio (BWR), wave steepness/period, and water/submergence depth are considered as design and environmental parameters in the study. Two different mooring-line configurations, vertical and inclined, are studied to find an optimum design in terms of limiting tunnel motions and minimizing mooring-line tension. The numerical results are successfully validated by direct comparison against published experimental data. The results show that tunnel motions and tether tensions grow with wave height and period and decrease with submergence depth. The inclined mooring system is more effective in restricting tunnel motions compared to the vertical mooring system. Overall, the present study demonstrates the feasibility of this type of structure as an alternative to traditional bridges or under-seabed tunnels.

Bacteroides fragilis Toxin Induces IL-8 Secretion in HT29/C1 Cells through Disruption of E-cadherin Junctions

  • Hwang, Soonjae;Gwon, Sun-Yeong;Kim, Myung Sook;Lee, Seunghyung;Rhee, Ki-Jong
    • IMMUNE NETWORK
    • /
    • v.13 no.5
    • /
    • pp.213-217
    • /
    • 2013
  • Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF) is a human gut commensal bacteria that causes inflammatory diarrhea and colitis. ETBF also promotes colorectal tumorigenesis in the Min mouse model. The key virulence factor is a secreted metalloprotease called B. fragilis toxin (BFT). BFT induces E-cadherin cleavage, cell rounding, activation of the ${\beta}$-catenin pathway and secretion of IL-8 in colonic epithelial cells. However, the precise mechanism by which these processes occur and how these processes are interrelated is still unclear. E-cadherin form homophilic interactions which tethers adjacent cells. Loss of E-cadherin results in detachment of adjacent cells. Prior studies have suggested that BFT induces IL-8 expression by inducing E-cadherin cleavage; cells that do not express E-cadherin do not secrete IL-8 in response to BFT. In the current study, we found that HT29/C1cells treated with dilute trypsin solution induced E-cadherin degradation and IL-8 secretion, consistent with the hypothesis that E-cadherin cleavage causes IL-8 secretion. However, physical damage to the cell monolayer did not induce IL-8 secretion. We also show that EDTA-mediated disruption of E-cadherin interactions without E-cadherin degradation was sufficient to induce IL-8 secretion. Finally, we determined that HT29/C1 cells treated with LiCl (${\beta}$-catenin activator) induced IL-8 secretion in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. Taken together, our results suggest that BFT induced IL-8 secretion may occur by the following process: E-cadherin cleavage, disruption of cellular interactions, activation of the ${\beta}$-catenin pathway and IL-8 expression. However, we further propose that E-cadherin cleavage per se may not be required for BFT induced IL-8 secretion.

Effects of Tethering and Loose Housing on the Meat Quality of Hanwoo Bulls

  • Lee, Sung Ki;Panjono, Panjono;Kang, Sun Moon;Jung, Youn Bok;Kim, Tae Sil;Lee, Ik Sun;Song, Young Han;Kang, Chang-Gie
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
    • /
    • v.21 no.12
    • /
    • pp.1807-1814
    • /
    • 2008
  • This study was carried out to investigate the effects of housing system on the carcass and meat qualities of Hanwoo (Korean cattle) bulls. Fourteen 6 months-old male calves were randomly divided into two groups. The first group was individually tethered using double neck-bar tethers. The second group was collectively loose-housed in the pen. They were raised for 15 months prior to slaughter. At 24 h post-slaughter chilling, the carcasses were weighed and evaluated by official grader for carcass traits. At 48 h post-slaughter chilling, the M. longissimus at the $12-13^{th}$ thoracic vertebra from each carcass was collected and stored at $4{\pm}0.2^{\circ}C$ for 7 days for meat quality analysis. There were no significant differences in dressing percentage and carcass yield index between groups. Meat from loose bulls had lower marbling score (p<0.05) and fat content (p<0.01) but higher PUFA concentration (p<0.001) than that from tethered bulls. There were no significant differences physical and sensory properties, aroma pattern, TBARS value, metmyoglobin concentration and CIE color values during refrigerated storage between groups. Compared to tethering, loose-housing bulls produced lower fat content and healthier meat without different physical properties, acceptability, and lipid and color stabilities.

Dynamic Response Analysis of Slender Marine Structures under Vessel Motion and Regular Waves (파랑 및 부유체 운동을 고려한 세장해양구조물의 동적 거동 해석)

  • Chung Son Ryu;Michael Isaacson
    • Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
    • /
    • v.10 no.2
    • /
    • pp.64-72
    • /
    • 1998
  • Dynamic response analysis is carried out for slender marine structures such as tensioned risers and tethers of tension leg platform, which are subjected to floating vessel motions as well as environmental forces arising from ocean waves. A mumerical analysis procedure is developed by using finite element model of the structural member. Dynamic analses are performed in the time domain for regular waves. Parameter studies are carried out to highlight the effects of surface vessel motions on the lateral dynamics of the structures. Example results of displacements, bending stresses are compared for various in water depth, environmental condition and vessel motion. Some instability conditions of the structures due to time-varying tension by vessel heave motion are discussed through the example analyses. As the results, the interaction between vessel surge and heave motions amplifies the total structural response of a riser. In the case of a tether, the effect of vessel heave motion during heavy storm is seemed to be quite significant to lateral response of the structure.

  • PDF

Hydrodynamic Analysis of Submerged Floating Tunnel Structures by Finite Element Analysis (유한요소해석을 통한 해중터널의 유체동역학 해석)

  • Kim, Seungjun;Park, Woo-Sun;Won, Deok-Hee
    • KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
    • /
    • v.36 no.6
    • /
    • pp.955-967
    • /
    • 2016
  • As transportation systems for connecting lands and islands, oversea long-span bridges, underwater tunnels, and immersed tunnels have been mainly used so far. Submerged floating tunnels (SFTs) moored under specific water depth are one of the newest oversea transportation system. Compared to other existing systems, the new system requires relatively less construction cost and time. But, there is still no construction example. For reasonable design of the tunnel and mooring lines the rational structural analysis should be firstly performed. Unlike common transportation structures, the submerged tunnels are mainly affected by the wave, vary irregular excitation component. So, the analysis scheme might be difficult because of the characteristics of the submerged structures. This study aims to suggest the rational global performance analysis methodology for the submerged tunnels. Using ABAQUS the dynamic response of the experimental models studied by KIOST (2013) was investigated considering regular waves. By comparing the simulation results with the experimental results, the feasibility of the numerical simulation was verified. Using the suggested method, the effects of initial inclination of the tethers and draft of the tunnel on the dynamic behavior were studied. In addition, dynamic response of a SFT under the irregular wave was examined.

Evolutionary Explanation for Beauveria bassiana Being a Potent Biological Control Agent Against Agricultural Pests

  • Han, Jae-Gu
    • 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
    • /
    • 2014.05a
    • /
    • pp.27-28
    • /
    • 2014
  • Beauveria bassiana (Cordycipitaceae, Hypocreales, Ascomycota) is an anamorphic fungus having a potential to be used as a biological control agent because it parasitizes a wide range of arthropod hosts including termites, aphids, beetles and many other insects. A number of bioactive secondary metabolites (SMs) have been isolated from B. bassiana and functionally verified. Among them, beauvericin and bassianolide are cyclic depsipeptides with antibiotic and insecticidal effects belonging to the enniatin family. Non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) play a crucial role in the synthesis of these secondary metabolites. NRPSs are modularly organized multienzyme complexes in which each module is responsible for the elongation of proteinogenic and non-protein amino acids, as well as carboxyl and hydroxyacids. A minimum of three domains are necessary for one NRPS elongation module: an adenylation (A) domain for substrate recognition and activation; a tholation (T) domain that tethers the growing peptide chain and the incoming aminoacyl unit; and a condensation (C) domain to catalyze peptide bond formation. Some of the optional domains include epimerization (E), heterocyclization (Cy) and oxidation (Ox) domains, which may modify the enzyme-bound precursors or intermediates. In the present study, we analyzed genomes of B. bassiana and its allied species in Hypocreales to verify the distribution of NRPS-encoding genes involving biosynthesis of beauvericin and bassianolide, and to unveil the evolutionary processes of the gene clusters. Initially, we retrieved completely or partially assembled genomic sequences of fungal species belonging to Hypocreales from public databases. SM biosynthesizing genes were predicted from the selected genomes using antiSMASH program. Adenylation (A) domains were extracted from the predicted NRPS, NRPS-like and NRPS-PKS hybrid genes, and used them to construct a phylogenetic tree. Based on the preliminary results of SM biosynthetic gene prediction in B. bassiana, we analyzed the conserved gene orders of beauvericin and bassianolide biosynthetic gene clusters among the hypocrealean fungi. Reciprocal best blast hit (RBH) approach was performed to identify the regions orthologous to the biosynthetic gene cluster in the selected fungal genomes. A clear recombination pattern was recognized in the inferred A-domain tree in which A-domains in the 1st and 2nd modules of beauvericin and bassianolide synthetases were grouped in CYCLO and EAS clades, respectively, suggesting that two modules of each synthetase have evolved independently. In addition, inferred topologies were congruent with the species phylogeny of Cordycipitaceae, indicating that the gene fusion event have occurred before the species divergence. Beauvericin and bassianolide synthetases turned out to possess identical domain organization as C-A-T-C-A-NM-T-T-C. We also predicted precursors of beauvericin and bassianolide synthetases based on the extracted signature residues in A-domain core motifs. The result showed that the A-domains in the 1st module of both synthetases select D-2-hydroxyisovalerate (D-Hiv), while A-domains in the 2nd modules specifically activate L-phenylalanine (Phe) in beauvericin synthetase and leucine (Leu) in bassianolide synthetase. antiSMASH ver. 2.0 predicted 15 genes in the beauvericin biosynthetic gene cluster of the B. bassiana genome dispersed across a total length of approximately 50kb. The beauvericin biosynthetic gene cluster contains beauvericin synthetase as well as kivr gene encoding NADPH-dependent ketoisovalerate reductase which is necessary to convert 2-ketoisovalarate to D-Hiv and a gene encoding a putative Gal4-like transcriptional regulator. Our syntenic comparison showed that species in Cordycipitaceae have almost conserved beauvericin biosynthetic gene cluster although the gene order and direction were sometimes variable. It is intriguing that there is no region orthologous to beauvericin synthetase gene in Cordyceps militaris genome. It is likely that beauvericin synthetase was present in common ancestor of Cordycipitaceae but selective gene loss has occurred in several species including C. militaris. Putative bassianolide biosynthetic gene cluster consisted of 16 genes including bassianolide synthetase, cytochrome P450 monooxygenase, and putative Gal4-like transcriptional regulator genes. Our synteny analysis found that only B. bassiana possessed a bassianolide synthetase gene among the studied fungi. This result is consistent with the groupings in A-domain tree in which bassianolide synthetase gene found in B. bassiana was not grouped with NRPS genes predicted in other species. We hypothesized that bassianolide biosynthesizing cluster genes in B. bassiana are possibly acquired by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from distantly related fungi. The present study showed that B. bassiana is the only species capable of producing both beauvericin and bassianolide. This property led to B. bassiana infect multiple hosts and to be a potential biological control agent against agricultural pests.

  • PDF