• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.159-167
• /
• 2003

Cracks in reinforced concrete structures reduce overall durability by allowing the penetration of water and aggressive agents, thereby accelerating the deterioration of the reinforcing steel. Highway pavement and bridge decks are especially susceptible to this type of deterioration since these structures exhibit high rates of shrinkage and are frequently exposed to aggressive environmental conditions. The objectives of this investigation included the development of experimental procedures for assessing shrinkage cracking potential of recycled aggregate concrete, the evaluation of mix composition on shrinkage cracking potential, and the development of theoretical models to simulate early-age cracking behavior. Specifically, the influences of shrinkage-reducing admixture(SRA) and recycled aggregate concrete were investigated. The shrinkage-reducing admixture substantially reduces free shrinkage and restrains shrinkage cracking while providing similar mechanical properties. A fracture mechanics modeling approach was developed to predict the behavior of a variety of restrained concrete specimens. This modeling approach was used to successfully explain experimental results from a variety of mixture compositions. The model was used to demonstrate the influence of material and structural properties on the potential for cracking.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.3
• /
• pp.839-849
• /
• 2023

The development of automation technology to reduce human error by minimizing human intervention is accelerating with artificial intelligence and big data processing technology, even in the nuclear field. Among nuclear power plant operation modes, the startup and shutdown operations are still performed manually and thus have the potential for human error. As part of the development of an autonomous operation system for startup operation, this paper proposes an action coordinating strategy to obtain the optimal actions. The lower level of the system consists of operating blocks that are created by analyzing the operation tasks to achieve local goals through soft actor-critic algorithms. However, when multiple agents try to perform conflicting actions, a method is needed to coordinate them, and for this, an action coordination strategy was developed in this work as the upper level of the system. Three quantification methods were compared and evaluated based on the future plant state predicted by plant parameter prediction models using long short-term memory networks. Results confirmed that the optimal action to satisfy the limiting conditions for operation can be selected by coordinating the action sets. It is expected that this methodology can be generalized through future research.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.13 no.7
• /
• pp.31-38
• /
• 2012

Water glass chemical grouts are primarily used in ground injection projects. Natural and Durable Stabilizer (NDS), Space Grout Rocket (SGR), and other similar materials composing of inorganic accelerating agents with ultra fine cement have been gaining popularity as ground improvement material in South Korea. However, there are questions as to grouting results and environmental issues caused by NDS grout. This study uses the injection method in mudstone embarkment to evaluate the differences in strength, permeability, and optimum injection volume through the use of uniaxial and triaxial compression tests and fish poison tests for NDS and SGR materials. After 28 days, results showed SGR and NDS to have a 50% increase in strength and 50% decrease in permeability with the proper injection rate at 50%.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.17-25
• /
• 2020

Venture debt is a prominent funding tool to promote scale-up of ventures. In the growth stage, venture firms that need large-scale funding can accelerate their growth by leveraging venture debt without diluting their shares, while venture capitals can quickly recollect their investments by accelerating the growth of the ventures they invest. By supplying venture debt, banks can diversify their asset primarily concentrated on loans, and improve the return on assets. As in the case of Silicon Valley Bank, a leading venture lender, closer cooperation between the two agents is essential to supply venture debt. One is the venture capital, an equity capital supplier, and the other is the bank, a debt capital supplier. To this end, we propose "credit risk sharing venture loans" and "venture loan pooling". The former encourages banks' participation in the venture debt market where the manager of Korean Fund of Funds, KVIC and policy guarantee schemes such as KODIT and KIBO screen or partially absorbe the risks inherent in venture loans. The latter reduces the burden of banking on individual venture loans through securitization.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.40 no.3
• /
• pp.180-185
• /
• 2006

Objective : Middle cerebral artery occlusion[MCAO] has widely been used to produce ischemic brain lesions. The lesions induced by MCAO tend to be variable in size because of the variance in the collateral blood supply found in the mouse brain. To establish a less invasive and reproducible focal ischemia model in mice, we modified the technique used for rat photo thrombosis model. Methods : Male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to focal cerebral ischemia by photothrombosis of cortical microvessels. Cerebral infarction was produced by intraperitoneal injection of Rose Bengal, a photosensitive dye and by focal illumination through the skull. Motor impairment was assessed by the accelerating rotarod and staircase tests. The brain was perfusion-fixed for histological determination of infarct volume four weeks after stroke. Results : The lesion was located in the frontal and parietal cortex and the underlying white matter was partly affected. A relatively constant infarct volume was achieved one month after photothrombosis. The presence of the photothrombotic lesion was associated with severe impairment of the motor performance measured by the rotarod and staircase tests. Conclusion : Photothrombotic infarction in mice is highly reproducible in size and location. This procedure can provide a simple method to produce cerebral infarction in a unilateral motor cortex lesion. In addition, it can provide a suitable model for study of potential neuroprotective and therapeutic agents in human stroke.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.9-15
• /
• 1995

Free vascularized composite tissue transfer is more frequently underwent for reconstruction of complicated tissue defects with the recent advance of microsurgery. But postoperative result was not satifactory because of donor site morbidity, flap bulkiness and cosmetic problem. So would no longer be a problem if we can obtain the exact donor tissue required for the recipient site as allotransplantation and designing the flap. Allotransplantation has been resolved with the recent development of immunosuppressive agents, while reconstruction has made great progress with the refinement of microsurgical techniques in the last 20 years. The final sucess or failure of the operative procedure in transplantation is so utterly dependent no the availability of strategies that can control the immune system effectively, selectively, safely to allow allotransplantation of a nonvital body part. 1 used 2 strains of rats, BUF and LEW, for the limb allotransplantation as a composite tissue transfer. The primary goal of this program is to improve results in clinical transplantation by accelerating the transformation of new immunological knowledge into useful medicine. Two of the most promising new immunosuppressive compounds are FK-t06(FK) and rapamycin(RPM). Both drugs are antibiotic macrolide fungal fermentation products that presumably suppress the immune system in ways similar to cyclosporin(CyA). This study shows that two new immunosuppressive drugs compare the immunosuppressive activity and effectiveness of FK-506 and RPM for prevention of the limb allograft rejection in the rat. Additional experiments investigate the dose, route of administration and histologic findings. These data demonstrates that rapamycin is far more potent and effective than FK-506 when both compounds are administered by the intraperitoneal route, as well as prolonged graft survival significantly in a dose-route dependent manner. These results lead to the view that vascularized allograft composite tissue transfer can become a reality with the expectation of possible future application in reconstructive surgery of humans.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.5-12
• /
• 2006

Degradation performance of environmentally friendly plastics that can be disintegrated by combination of sunlight, microbes in soil, and heat produced in landfills was evaluated for use in industries. Two multi-degradable master batches (MCC-101 and MCC-102 were manufactured, separately mixed with polyethylene using film molding machine to produce 0.025 mm thick films, and exposed to sunlight, microbes, and heat. Low- and high-density polyethylene (LDPE and HDPE) films containing MCC-101 and MCC-102 became unfunctional by increasing severe cleavage at the surface and showed high reduction in elongation after 40 days of exposure to ultraviolet light. LDPE and HDPE films showed significant physical degradation after 100 and 120 days, respectively, of incubation at $68{\pm}2^{\circ}C$. SEM images of films cultured in mixed mold spore suspension at $30^{\circ}C$ and 85% humidity for 30 days revealed accelerated biodegradation on film surfaces by the action of microbes. LDPE films containing MCC-l01 showed absorption of carbonyls, photo-sensitive sites, at $1710\;cm${-1}$ when exposed to light for 40 days, whereas those not exposed to ultraviolet light showed no absorption at the same frequency. MCC-101-based LDPE films showed much lower $M_w$ distribution after exposure to UV than its counterpart, due to agents accelerating photo-degradation contained in MCC-101.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.42 no.spc
• /
• pp.20-28
• /
• 2009

The sustainability of conventional agriculture which is characterized by input dependent and ecologically simplified food production system is vague. Chemicals and present practices used in agriculture are not only costly but also have widespread implications on human and animal health, food quality and safety and environmental quality. Thus there is a need for alternative farming practices to sustain food production for the escalating population and conserve environment for future generations. The present research scenario in the area of plant microbe interactions for maintaining sustainable agriculture suggests that the level of internal regulation in agro-ecosystems is largely dependent on the level of plant and microbial diversity present in the soil. In agro-ecosystems, biodiversity performs a variety of ecological services beyond the production of food, including recycling of nutrients, regulation of microclimate and local hydrological processes, suppression of undesirable organisms and detoxification of noxious chemicals. Controlling the soil microflora to enhance the predominance of beneficial and effective microorganisms can help improve and maintain soil chemical and physical properties. The role of beneficial soil microorganisms in sustainable productivity has been well construed. Some plant bacteria referred to as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can contribute to improve plant growth, nutrient uptake and microbial diversity when inoculated to plants. Term PGPR was initially used to describe strains of naturally occurring non-symbiotic soil bacteria have the ability to colonize plant roots and stimulate plant growth PGPR activity has been reported in strains belonging to several other genera, such as Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Arthrobacter Bacillus, Burkhokderia, Methylobacterium, and Pseudomonas etc. PGPR stimulate plant growth directly either by synthesizing hormones such as indole acetic acid or by promoting nutrition, for example, by phosphate solubilization or more generally by accelerating mineralization processes. They can also stimulate growth indirectly, acting as biocontrol agents by protecting the plant against soil borne fungal pathogens or deleterious bacteria. Present review focuses on some recent developments to evolve strategies for better biotechnological exploitation of PGPR's.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.709-714
• /
• 2002

Fish sauce is a traditional Korean fermented seafood and has been used as a condiment since long time ago. Northern sand lance sauce was manufactured with koji, enzyme, and squid viscera of fermentation accelerating agents, and ripened at $15^{\circ}C$. Moisture contents of all samples decreased gradually as fermentation progressed. Crude protein contents increased rapidly up to 1 month-fermentation and then increased slightly up to 5 month. Northern sand lance sauce with squid viscera was the highest in the contents of protein and lipid. The ash content increased gradually during the fermentation periods, while pHs decreased. TMA contents increased up to 3 month-ripening and then decreased slightly. Amino nitrogen content of Northern sand lance sauce with squid viscera increased as fermentation progressed and was the highest among all samples. VBN contents increased up to 5 month-ripening and that of Northern sand lance sauce with squid viscera was the higher than others.