• Molecules and Cells
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.408-418
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• 2020

The sinus node (SN) is located at the apex of the cardiac conduction system, and SN dysfunction (SND)-characterized by electrical remodeling-is generally attributed to idiopathic fibrosis or ischemic injuries in the SN. SND is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disorders, including syncope, heart failure, and atrial arrhythmias, particularly atrial fibrillation. One of the histological SND hallmarks is degenerative atrial remodeling that is associated with conduction abnormalities and increased right atrial refractoriness. Although SND is frequently accompanied by increased fibrosis in the right atrium (RA), its molecular basis still remains elusive. Therefore, we investigated whether SND can induce significant molecular changes that account for the structural remodeling of RA. Towards this, we employed a rabbit model of experimental SND, and then compared the genome-wide RNA expression profiles in RA between SND-induced rabbits and sham-operated controls to identify the differentially expressed transcripts. The accompanying gene enrichment analysis revealed extensive pro-fibrotic changes within 7 days after the SN ablation, including activation of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling and alterations in the levels of extracellular matrix components and their regulators. Importantly, our findings suggest that periostin, a matricellular factor that regulates the development of cardiac tissue, might play a key role in mediating TGF-β-signaling-induced aberrant atrial remodeling. In conclusion, the present study provides valuable information regarding the molecular signatures underlying SND-induced atrial remodeling, and indicates that periostin can be potentially used in the diagnosis of fibroproliferative cardiac dysfunctions.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.553-562
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• 2012

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis has been performed to estimate the air temperature inside an Auxiliary Feed Water (AFW) Motor-Driven (MD) pump room for the case where there is loss of Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC). A transient calculation for the closed pump room without cooling by any HVAC system shows that the volume-averaged air temperature reaches around $60^{\circ}C$ for a transient period of 8.0 h. From previous studies, the external air and surface boundary temperatures are assumed to increase slowly starting from an initial temperature of $35^{\circ}C$. For the cases where the door is opened at 2, 4, and 6 h after the initiation of HVAC failure, the average air temperature promptly drops by about $4^{\circ}C$ when the door is opened and then slowly increases. The current calculations based on the CFD technique predict the rate of increase of air temperature to be lower than that determined by previous conservative calculations on the basis of a lumped model.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.17-31
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• 2020

With the rapid development of block chain technology, attempts have been made to put the block chain technology into practical use in various fields such as finance and logistics, and also in the public sector where data integrity is very important. Defense Operations In addition, strengthening security and ensuring complete integrity of the command communication network is crucial for operational operation under the network-centered operational environment (NCOE). For this purpose, it is necessary to construct a command communication network applying the block chain network. However, the block chain technology up to now can not solve the security issues such as the 51% attack. In particular, the Practical Byzantine fault tolerance (PBFT) algorithm which is now widely used in blockchain, does not have a penalty factor for nodes that behave maliciously, and there is a problem of failure to make a consensus even if malicious nodes are more than 33% of all nodes. In this paper, we propose a Adaptive Consensus Bound PBFT (ACB-PBFT) algorithm that incorporates a penalty mechanism for anomalous behavior by combining the Trust model to improve the security of the PBFT, which is the main agreement algorithm of the blockchain.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.45-50
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• 2012

Thoracolumbar orthosis has been used for the rehabilitation of the patients with senile kyphosis. Recently, a number of different thoracolumbar orthosis designs have been introduced but its biomechanical effectiveness still remain unknown. In this study, we compared the pressure distribution on the surface of the trunk and stresses on the orthosis in relation to changes in connecting frame designs (Type 1, one-connecting frame type; Type 2, two-connecting frame type; Type 3, all-in-one type) using finite element (FE) models under different motions of the trunk. The results showed that Type 3 distributed the pressure on the trunk most evenly followed by Type 2 and Type 1 and the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 was negligible. ROM was limited most effectively by Type 3 ($8.5{\sim}9.4^{\circ}$), followed by Type 2 ($11.3{\sim}13.9^{\circ}$) and Type 1 ($12.1{\sim}15.4^{\circ}$). The ratio between the peak von Mises stress and yield strength of each material remained less than 20% regardless of orthosis type indicating low likelihood of component failure. In conclusion, our study found that all-in-one type of orthosis was the most effective design for the conservative treatment of spinal deformity in terms of function and comfort.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2012

Herein, life time prediction based on the deterioration of physical properties of chloroprene rubber (CR)aged by heat and seawater was performed. CR samples were experienced an accelerated test at $80^{\circ}C$, $100^{\circ}C$, $120^{\circ}C$ for heat aging, and $40^{\circ}C$, $60^{\circ}C$, $80^{\circ}C$ for seawater aging for 20,000 hrs. The change in tensile strength, maximum elongation,hardness was measured. As a result, the decrease in elongation was a major factor causing failure. The life time estimated using an Arrhenius model was 125 years at $23^{\circ}C$ for thermal aging and 9 years at $23^{\circ}C$ for seawater aging. SEM and elemental analysis reveal that cracks were generated and the content of oxygen was increased for CR agined by seawater. FT-IR spectrum shows the new C-O and C = O bonds were generated by the chemical reaction with seawater. Also, the glass transtion temperature was increased and the thermal decomposition was decreased by seawater aging.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.113-118
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• 2004

The studies on cryopreserved arterial allograft have been focused on cooling methods, pre-treatment, cryoprotectant agents, and preservation temperature. But recently, several studies have reported that thawing methods also play an important role in the occurrence of macroscopic and microscopic cracks. This study was designed to investigate the cell injury after thawing, using a rabbit model to clarify the effect of thawing methods on cryopreserved arteries. Material and Method: Segments of the rabbit aorta were obtained and divided into 3 groups (n=60) according to whether the specimens were fresh (control, n=20), cryopreserved and rapidly thawed (RT) at 37$^{\circ}C$ (n=20), or cryopreserved and subjected to controlled, automated slow thawing (ST)(n=20). Cell damage was established using the TUNEL method and the morphological changes were also evaluated. Result: In the group that was rapidly thawed, the expression of TUNEL (＋) cells increased significantly more than in the slowly thawed group. In addition, the endothelial denudation, microvesicles and edema were significant in the rapidly thawed group compared with those changes in the slowly thawed group. Conclusion: Our study suggests that the rapid thawing method may be one of the major causes of cellular damage and delayed rupture in cryopresewed arterial allografts. The expression of TUNEL (＋) cells and structural changes were significantly low in the slowly thawed group, which might have contributed to the improvement of graft failure after transplantation.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.71-84
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• 1996

In order to investigate the influence of slanting angle of reticulated root piles(RRP) on their bearing capacities, model tests of compressive and uplift loads on RRP with different slanting angles, which were installed in sandy soils with a relative density of 47%, were carried out. Each pile which is made of a steel bar of 5mm in diameter and 300mm in length, is coated with sand to be 6.5mm in diameter. One set of RRP consists of 8 piles which are installed in circular patterns forming two concentric circles, each of which has 4 piles. Slanting angles of RRP for load tests are 0$^{\circ}$, 5$^{\circ}$, 10$^{\circ}$, 15$^{\circ}$, 20$^{\circ}$, and 25$^{\circ}$. In addition, compressive load tests on circular footing whose diameter is the same as the outer circle of RRP were carried out. Test results show that maximum load bearing capacities of RRP by regression analysis are obtained at about 12$^{\circ}$ and 13$^{\circ}$ of slanting angles for compressive and uplift load tests, respectively. Maximum compressive bearing capacity is estimated to be 13oA bigger than that of the vertical RRP and 95% bigger than that of surface footing. Maximum uplift capacity is estimated to be 21% bigger than that of the vertical RRP. And it can be appreciated that increasing the slanting angle makes the load -Settlement behavior more ductile.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.69-75
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• 2014

Rock fall protection system installed against rock slope is one of the most conventional way to protect nearby infra structures. Despite of wide application of typical rectangular nets, virtually installed to protect rock slope face, several problems have also been pointed out up to date. Rectangular draped nets are vulnerable to a sudden external shock such as rock fall, because it doesn't have any systematical buffers or shock absorbers. Furthermore, it has been widely recognized from the some cases of rock fall accident in Korea that rock fall protection nets cause wide range of failure in the rock slope faces due to insufficient pullout bearing capacity of fixing parts. Therefore, in this study, we tried to make a consideration about the problems of existing standard rock fall protection nets in Korea, and develop a new type of hexagonal net with a shock absorber based on design rock fall energy. In this paper, laboratory and full scale test procedure is described to analysis the performance of newly developed hexagonal rock fall net, and the key results are presented and discussed.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.401-413
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• 2013

Slurry shield tunnelling ensures stability by pressurizing the tunnel face with the slurry contained in the chamber. It resists water and earth pressure in order to prevent the failure in the tunnel face during tunnel excavation. If the ground is relatively coarse, slurry can not clog the tunnel face and excessive slurry infiltration will occur. In this case chemical compounds or additives should be added to the slurry in order to improve the clogging phenomena at the tunnel face. In this study, the effect of the carbon dioxide gas as an additive to the slurry instead of chemical compounds on the capability of enhancing the clogging in the tunnel face is investigated. Bubbles arising from the carbonate-added slurry are trapped in the soil voids enhancing the clogging capability. This effect is studied in this paper by performing laboratory model tests simulating in-situ conditions, and by adopting the fine particle clogging theory. Tunnel face stability analysis was also performed and it was found that the effective size ($D_{10}$) of soils which can guarantee tunnel stability utilizing the carbonate-added slurry increased from 1.0 mm up to 2.6 mm. Moreover, Stability analysis showed that the tunnel face is stable if the ${\lambda}$(deposition coefficient) value is greater than $0.007sec^{-1}$.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.1025-1037
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• 2015

Flexible base isolation bearings that separate superstructure from ground have been widely used in the construction field because they make a significant contribution to increasing the fundamental period of the structure, thereby decreasing response acceleration transmitted into the superstructure. However, the established bearing devices installed to uphold the whole building give rise to some problems involved with failure and collapse due to lack of the capacity as modern structures are getting more massive and higher. Therefore, this study suggests new isolation bearings assembled with additional restrainers enabled to reinforcing and recentering, and then evaluates their performance to withstand the seismic load. The superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) bars are installed into the conventional lead-rubber bearing (LRB) devices in order to provide recentering forces. These new systems are modeled as component spring models for the purpose of conducting nonlinear dynamic analyses with near fault ground motion data. The LRB devices with steel bars are also designed and analyzed to compare their responses with those of new systems. After numerical analyses, ultimate strength, maximum displacement, permanent deformation, and recentering ratio are compared to each model with an aim to investigate which base isolation models are superior. It can be shown that LRB models with superelastic SMA bars are superior to other models compared to each other in terms of seismic resistance and recentering effect.