• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.235-247
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• 2022

Background: Ginsenoside Rg3 is one of the main active ingredients in ginseng. Here, we aimed to confirm its protective effect on the heart function in transverse aortic coarctation (TAC)-induced heart failure mice and explore the potential molecular mechanisms involved. Methods: The effects of ginsenoside Rg3 on heart and mitochondrial function were investigated by treating TAC-induced heart failure in mice. The mechanism of ginsenoside Rg3 for improving heart and mitochondrial function in mice with heart failure was predicted through integrative analysis of the proteome and plasma metabolome. Glucose uptake and myocardial insulin sensitivity were evaluated using micro-positron emission tomography. The effect of ginsenoside Rg3 on myocardial insulin sensitivity was clarified by combining in vivo animal experiments and in vitro cell experiments. Results: Treatment of TAC-induced mouse models with ginsenoside Rg3 significantly improved heart function and protected mitochondrial structure and function. Fusion of metabolomics, proteomics, and targeted metabolomics data showed that Rg3 regulated the glycolysis process, and Rg3 not only regulated glucose uptake but also improve myocardial insulin resistance. The molecular mechanism of ginsenoside Rg3 regulation of glucose metabolism was determined by exploring the interaction pathways of AMPK, insulin resistance, and glucose metabolism. The effect of ginsenoside Rg3 on the promotion of glucose uptake in IR-H9c2 cells by AMPK activation was dependent on the insulin signaling pathway. Conclusions: Ginsenoside Rg3 modulates glucose metabolism and significantly ameliorates insulin resistance through activation of the AMPK pathway.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.925-946
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• 2015

This paper presents a new cost-effective hybrid GFRP-Concrete deck system that the GFRP panel serves as both tensile reinforcement and stay-in-place form. In order to understand the fatigue behavior of such hybrid deck, fatigue test on a full-scale specimen under sagging moment was conducted, and a series of static tests were also carried out after certain repeated loading cycles. The fatigue test results indicated that such hybrid deck has a good fatigue performance even after 3.1 million repeated loading cycles. A three-dimensional finite element model of the hybrid deck was established based on experimental work. The results from finite element analyses are in good agreement with those from the tests. In addition, flexural fatigue analysis considering the reduction in flexural stiffness and modulus under cyclic loading was carried out. The predicted flexural strength agreed well with the analytical strength from finite element simulation, and the calculated fatigue failure cycle was consistent with the result based on related S-N curve and finite element analyses. However, the flexural fatigue analytical results tended to be conservative compared to the tested results in safety side. The presented overall investigation may provide reference for the design and construction of such hybrid deck system.

• Journal of Computing Science and Engineering
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.142-154
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• 2015

Fault localization techniques help locate faults in source codes by exploiting collected test information and have shown promising results. To precisely locate faults, the techniques require a large number of test cases that sufficiently exercise the executable statements together with the label information of each test case as a failure or a success. However, during the process of software development, developers may not have high-coverage test cases to effectively locate faults. With the test case generation techniques, a large number of test cases without expected outputs can be automatically generated. Whereas the execution results for generated test cases need to be inspected by developers, which brings much manual effort and potentially hampers fault-localization effectiveness. To address this problem, this paper presents a method to select a few test cases from a number of test cases without expected outputs for result inspection, and in the meantime selected test cases can still support effective fault localization. The experimental results show that our approach can significantly reduce the number of test cases that need to be inspected by developers and the effectiveness of fault localization techniques is close to that of whole test cases.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.265-277
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• 2005

This paper is focused on fractal analysis of the surface cracking, a new tool for safety evaluation of corroded reinforced concrete (RC) beams. Comprehensive experimental investigations, including flexural tests, coupon tests on strength evaluation of corroded concrete and rusty rebar, and pullout tests to determine bond strength between concrete and rebar were carried out on nine Corroded Reinforced Concrete Beams (CRCB) exposed to an aggressive environment for more than 10 years. In combination with test results from a previous study on CRCBs fabricated in the laboratory from accelerated methods, it is found that, for both types of beams, the surface cracking distributions are fractal in character at loading and failure stages. Fractal dimension is calculated for all specimens at different corrosion states based on fractal analysis method. Relationships between the fractal dimension and mechanical properties of corroded concrete, rebar corrosion ratio, and ductility of CRCBs are discussed in detail. It is concluded that the fractal dimension can act as a damage index and can be efficiently used to describe the corrosion state of CRCBs.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.281-300
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• 2014

This study presents the experimental results of twenty three reinforced concrete beams with rectangular web openings externally strengthened with Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP) composites bonded around openings. All tested beams had the same geometry and reinforcement details. At openings locations, the stirrups intercepted the openings were cut during fabrication of reinforcement cage to simulate the condition of inclusion of an opening in an existing beam. Several design parameters are considered including the opening dimensions and location in the shear zone, the wrapping configurations, and the amount and the type of the FRP composites in the vicinity of the openings. The wrapping configurations of FRP included: sheets, strips, U-shape strips, and U-shape strips with bundles of FRP strands placed at the top and sides of the beam forming a fan under the strips to achieve closed wrapping. The effect of these parameters on the failure modes, the ultimate load, and the beam stiffness were investigated. The shear contribution of FRP on the shear capacity of tested beams with web openings was estimated according to ACI Committee 440-08, Canadian Standards S6-06, and Khalifa et al. model and examined against the test results. A modification factor to account for the dimensions of opening chords was applied to the predicted gain in the shear capacity according to ACI 440-08 and CSA S6-06 for bonded Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers (GFRP) around openings. The analytical results after incorporating the modification factor into the codes guidelines showed good agreement with the test results.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.499-518
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• 2013

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) jackets have been widely used as an effective tool for the strengthening and rehabilitation of concrete structures, especially damaged concrete columns. Therefore, a clear understanding of the compressive behavior of FRP-confined concrete is essential. The objective of this paper is to develop a simple efficient method for predicting the compressive strength, the axial strain at the peak stress, and the stress-strain relationship of FRP-confined concrete. In this method, a compressive strength model is established based on Jefferson's failure surface. With the proposed strength model, the strength of FRP-confined concrete can be estimated more precisely. The axial strain at the peak stress is then evaluated using a damage-based formula. Finally, a modified stress-strain relationship is derived based on Lam and Teng's model. The validity of the proposed compressive strength and strain models and the modified stress-strain relationship is verified with a wide range of experimental results collected from the research literature and obtained from the self-conducted test. It can be concluded that, as a competitive alternative, the proposed method can be used to predict the compressive behavior of FRP-confined concrete with reasonable accuracy.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.663-683
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• 2014

In order to study the dynamic failure mechanism and aseismic measure for high concrete gravity dam under earthquake, the comparative models experiment on the shaking table was conducted to investigate the dynamic damage response of concrete gravity dam with and without the presence of reinforcement and evaluate the effectiveness of the strengthening measure. A new model concrete was proposed and applied for maintaining similitude with the prototype. A kind of extra fine wires as a substitute for rebar was embedded in four-points bending specimens of the model concrete to make of reinforced model concrete. The simulation of reinforcement concrete of the weak zones of high dam by the reinforced model concrete meets the similitude requirements. A tank filled with water is mounted at the upstream of the dam models to simulate the reservoir. The Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) that induces the first tensile crack at the head of dam is applied as the basic index for estimating the overload capacity of high concrete dams. For the two model dams with and without strengthening tested, vulnerable parts of them are the necks near the crests. The results also indicate that the reinforcement is beneficial for improving the seismic-resistant capacity of the gravity dam.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.523-540
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• 2023

The failure of slope can cause remarkable damage to either human life or infrastructures. Stabilizing piles are widely utilized to reinforce slope as a slip-resistance structure. The workability of pile-stabilized slopes is affected by various parameters. In this study, the performance of earth slope reinforced with piles and the behavior of piles under static load, by shear reduction strength method using the finite difference software (FLAC^3D) has been investigated. Parametric studies were conducted to investigate the role of pile length (L), different pile distances from each other (S/D), pile head conditions (free and fixed head condition), the effect of sand density (loose, medium, and high-density soil) on the pile behavior, and the performance of pile-stabilized slopes. The performance of the stabilized slopes was analyzed by evaluating the factor of safety, lateral displacement and bending moment of piles, and critical slip mechanism. The results depict that as L increased and S/D reduced, the performance of slopes stabilized with pile gets better by raising the soil density. The greater the amount of bending moment at the shallow depths of the pile in the fixed pile head indicates the effect of the inertial force due to the structure on the pile performance.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.321-333
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• 2023

This paper proposes a comprehensive investigation on lateral stiffness of corner-supported steel modular frame using splice connection. A full-scale modular frame with two stacked steel modules under lateral load is tested. Ductile pattern in the transfer of lateral load is found in the final failure mode. Two types of lateral stiffness, including tangent stiffness and secant stiffness, are defined from the load-displacement due to the observed nonlinearity. The difference between these two types of stiffness is found around 20%. The comparisons between the experimental lateral stiffness and the predictions of classical methods are also conducted. The D-value method using hypothesis of independent case is a conservative option for predicting lateral stiffness, which is more recommended than method of contraflexural bending moment. Analyses on two classical short-rod models, including fix-rod model and pin-rod model, are further conducted. Results indicate that fix-rod model is more recommended than pin-rod model to simplify splice connection for simulation on lateral stiffness of modular frame in elastic design stage.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.6-10
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• 2023

2 K superfluid helium cryogenic system is the crucial component of many large accelerators. When the cryogenic system is operating at 2K@3129Pa, many room-temperature parts are connected to superfluid helium via tubes. Air Leakage in these connections may lead to air contamination of the cryogenic system. Air contamination may cause equipment failure in cryogenic systems and, in extreme cases, render the entire accelerator system inoperable. Helium guard is a technique that guards against air contamination of these sub-atmospheric pressure connections in 2 K superfluid helium cryogenic system. This paper introduces a typical 2 K cryogenic distribution design for large accelerators, and make risk analysis of air contamination. Finally, the analysis of specific leakage points and detailed engineering design are presented, which may be used as a reference when designing of a 2 K superfluid helium cryogenic distribution system.