• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.29-32
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• 1999

The Apolipoprotein E type 4 allele (ApoE ${\varepsilon}4$) is genetically associated with the common late onset familial and sporadic forms of Alzheimer's disease. The BchE-k variant, which is the common variant of the BchE gene, has been reported to show allelic association with AD in subjects who are also carriers of the ${\varepsilon}4$ allele of the ApoE, especially in subjects over the age of 75. This study was performed to evaluate the distribution of the ApoE and the BchE genotypes in the healthy and AD groups and to evaluate the synergy between the BchE-k variant and the ApoE ${\varepsilon}4$ in AD. The ApoE and the BchE genotypes were determined in DNA samples from 610 healthy people and 60 LOAD patients by using ARMS by standard agarose gel electrophoresis. The effect of the ApoE ${\varepsilon}4$ was closely related to AD(p<0.05). A comparison between the AD patients and the healthy individuals, both with the ${\varepsilon}4$ allele, indicated an interaction between the BchE-k and the ApoE ${\varepsilon}4$(p<0.05). The association of the BchE-k with AD was limited to carriers of the ApoE ${\varepsilon}4$ allele, among whom the presence of the BchE-k gave an odds ratio of AD 3.48 (95% C.I. 1.3-9.2). Therefore, these results suggested that further evidence of an association between the ApoE ${\varepsilon}4$ and LOAD, and the BchE-k acts in synergy with the ApoE ${\varepsilon}4$ as a susceptibility gene for AD.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.463-488
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• 2018

In the last decades, research efforts have been spent to investigate the effect of prestressing on the dynamic behaviour of prestressed concrete (PSC) beams. Whereas no agreement has been reached among the achievements obtained by different Researchers and among the theoretical and the experimental results for simply supported beams, very few researches have addressed this problem in continuous PSC beams. This topic is, indeed, worthy of consideration bearing in mind that many relevant bridges and viaducts in the road and railway networks have been designed and constructed with this structural scheme. In this paper the attention is, thus, focused on the dynamic features of continuous PSC bridges taking into account the effect of prestressing. This latter, in fact, contributes to the modification of the distribution of the bending stress along the beam, also by means of the secondary moments, and influences the flexural stiffness of the beam itself. The dynamic properties of a continuous, two spans bridge connected by a nonlinear spring have been extracted by solving an eigenvalue problem in different linearized configurations corresponding to different values of the prestress force. The stiffness of the nonlinear spring has been calculated considering the mechanical behaviour of the PSC beam in the uncracked and in the cracked stage. The application of the proposed methodology to several case studies indicates that the shift from the uncracked to the cracked stage due to an excessive prestress loss is clearly detectable looking at the variation of the dynamic properties of the beam. In service conditions, this shift happens for low values of the prestress losses (up to 20%) for structure with a high value of the ratio between the permanent load and the total load, as happens for instance in long span, continuous box bridges. In such conditions, the detection of the dynamic properties can provide meaningful information regarding the structural state of the PSC beam.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.165-175
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• 2010

Recently, requirement of a long subsea tunnel has increased due to political, economical and social demands such as saving of distribution costs, improvement of traffic convenience, and regional development. Road and railroad tunnel need a shaft for construction and ventilation because of increase of tunnel length. Shaft diameter, lining sectional thickness and rebar quantity have to be determined for design of concrete lining in the shaft. A lot of structural analyses are needed for optimal design of concrete lining considering shaft diameter, load conditions and ground conditions. Design charts are proposed by structural analyses for various conditions in this study. A sectional thickness and rebar quantity can be easily determined using the proposed design charts.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.289-302
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• 2023

Insulating glass units (IGUs) have been widely used in buildings in recent years due to their superior thermal insulation performance. However, because of the panel reciprocating motion and fatigue deterioration of sealants under long-term wind loads, many IGUs have the problem of early failure of watertight properties in real usage. This study aimed to propose a statistical method for wind-induced deflection of IGU panels during the whole life service period, for further precise analysis of the accumulated fatigue damage at the sealed part of the edge bond. By the estimation of the wind occurrence regularity based on wind pressure return period, the events of each wind speed interval during the whole life were obtained for the IGUs at 50m height in Beijing, which are in good agreement with the measured data. Also, the wind-induced deflection analysis method of IGUs based on the formula of airspace coefficient was proposed and verified as an improvement of the original stiffness distribution method with the average relative error compared to the test being about 3% or less. Combining the two methods above, the deformation of the outer and inner panes under wind loads during 30 years was precisely calculated, and the deflection and stress state at selected locations were obtained finally. The results show that the compression displacement at the secondary sealant under the maximum wind pressure is close to 0.3mm (strain 2.5%), and the IGUs are in tens of thousands of times the low amplitude tensile-compression cycle and several times to dozens of times the relatively high amplitude tensile-compression cycle environment. The approach proposed in this paper provides a basis for subsequent studies on the durability of IGUs and the wind-resistant behaviors of curtain wall structures.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.399-407
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• 2024

This study nondestructively examined the evolution of crack density in ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) upon cyclic loading. Uniaxial compression was repeatedly applied to the cylindrical specimens at levels corresponding to 32% and 53% of the maximum load-bearing capacity, each at a steady strain rate. At each stage, both P-wave and S-wave velocities were measured in the absence of the applied load. In particular, the continuous monitoring of P-wave velocity from the first loading prior to the second loading allowed real-time observation of the strengthening effect during loading and the recovery effect afterwards. Increasing the number of cycles resulted in the reduction of both elastic wave velocities and Young's modulus, along with a slight rise in Poisson's ratio in both tested cases. The computed crack density showed a monotonically increasing trend with repeated loading, more significant at 53% than at 32% loading. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of the crack density along the height was achieved, validating the directional dependency of microcracking development. This study demonstrated the capability of the crack density to capture the evolution of microcracks in UHPC under cyclic loading condition, as an early-stage damage indicator.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.117-129
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• 2000

This paper discusses the lateral behavior of group pile in homogeneous and non- homogeneous (two layered) soil. In the group pile, the model tests were to investigate the effects on spacing-to-diameter ratio of pile, pile array, ratio of pile spacing, constraint condition of pile tip, eccentric load and ground condition. The group efficiency and lateral deflection induced in active piles were found to be highly dependent on the spacing-to-diameter ratio of pile, number of pile. Lateral bearing capacities in the group piles of fixed tip, in the case of 6D spacing and $3\times3$ array, were 40-100% higher than those in the group pile of free tip. Based on the results obtained, a spacing-to-diameter of 6.0 seems to be large enough to eliminate the group effect for the case of relative density of 61.8% and 32.8%, and then each pile in such a case behaves essentially the same as a single pile. However, in the case of dense sand, it can be estimated that a spacing-to-diameter of 8.0 seems to be large enough to eliminate the group effect. In this study the group efficiency is illustrated in experimental function with spacing-to-diameter, S/D, relative density and number of pile. The distribution of shear force in lead row piles, in the case of 3$\times$3 array group pile, was 41.6-52.4% for 3D spacing and 34-40% for 6D spacing, respectively. The shadowing effect for the parallel direction of lateral loading appears to be more significant than the one for the perpendicular direction of lateral loading.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Advanced Composite Structures
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.26-31
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• 2015

The domestic and foreign specifications presented the effective width based on flange length to width ratio only. The existing paper on the effective width grasped of the effect of span, load type and cross-section properties, but localized steel bridges. Recently, The studies are going on in progress for the application of fiber reinforced composite material in construction field. Therefore, it is required to optimum design that have a good grasp the deformation characteristic of the displacements and stresses distribution and predict variation of the effective width for serviceability loading. This research addresses the effective width of all composite material box girder bridges using the finite element method. The characteristics of the effective width of composite structures may vary according to several causes, e.g., change of fibers, aspect, etc. Parametric studies were conducted to determine the effective width on the stress elastic analysis of all composite materials box bridges, with interesting observations. The various results through numerical analysis will present an important document for construct all composite material bridges.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.135-143
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• 2017

To upgrade shear performance of reinforced concrete (RC) beams, and particularly of the segments under negative moment within continuous T-section beams, a series of original schemes has been proposed using carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) U-shaped strips for shear-strengthening. The current work focuses on one of them, in which CFRP U-strips are wound around steel bars against the top of the flange of a T-beam and then spliced on its bottom face in addition to being bonded onto its sides. The test results showed that the proposed scheme successfully provided reliable anchorage for U-strips and prevented premature onset of shear failure due to FRP debonding. The governing shear mode of failure changed from peeling of CFRP to its fracture or crushing of concrete. The strengthened specimens displayed an average increase of about 60% in shear capacity over the unstrengthened control one. The specimen with a relatively high ratio and uniform distribution of CFRP reinforcement had a maximum increase of nearly 75% in strength as well as significantly improved ductility. The formulas by various codes or guidelines exhibited different accuracy in estimating FRP contribution to shear resistance of the segments that are subjected to negative moment and strengthened with well-anchored FRP U-strips within continuous T-beams. Further investigation is necessary to find a suitable approach to predicting load-carrying capacity of continuous beams shear strengthened in this way.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 2018

Open-mode cracks could be commonly observed in layered rocks. A concept model is firstly used to explore the mechanism of the vertical cracks (VCs) in the top layer. Then the crack behaviour of the two-layer model is simulated based on a cohesive zone model (CZM) for layer interfaces and a plastic-damage model for rocks. The model indicates that the tensile stress normal to the VCs changes to compression if the crack spacing to layer thickness ratio is lower than a threshold. The results indicate that there is a threshold for interfacial shear strength that controls the crack patterns of the layered system. If the shear strength is lower than the threshold, the top layer is meshed by the VCs and interfacial cracks (ICs). When the shear strength is higher than the threshold, the top layer is meshed by the VCs and parallel cracks (PCs). If the shear strength is comparative to the threshold, a combining pattern of VCs, PCs and ICs for the top layer can be formed. The evolutions of stress distribution in the crack-bound block indicate that the ICs and PCs can reduce the load transferred for the substrate layer, and thus leads to a crack saturation state.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.79-87
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• 1998

Basic design of a 50USRT(175㎾) triple effect absorption chiller driven by hot gas has been carried out for both parallel and series flow cycles. Parallel flow cycle showed higher COP, however, the temperature in the generator was also higher than that in series flow cycle. Dynamic operation behavior of a parallel flow system at off-design conditions, such as the change in heat transfer medium temperature or the construction change of the system components, has been investigated in detail. It was found that the cooling capacity was seriously decreased by reducing hot gas flow rate and UA-value in the high temperature generator. However, the system COP was improved, because thermal load in the system components was reduced. The COP and the cooling capacity was found to be improved as cooling water temperature decreased or chilled water temperature increased. The optimum ratio of solution distribution could be suggested by considering the COP, the cooling capacity and the highest temperature in the system, which is critical for corrosion.