• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.320-333
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• 2019

Objective: The Shanghai Holstein cattle breed is susceptible to severe mastitis and other diseases due to the hot weather and long-term humidity in Shanghai, which is the main distribution centre for providing Holstein semen to various farms throughout China. Our objective was to determine the genetic mechanisms influencing economically important traits, especially diseases that have huge impact on the yield and quality of milk as well as reproduction. Methods: In our study, we detected the structural variations of 1,092 Shanghai Holstein cows by using next-generation sequencing. We used the DELLY software to identify deletions and insertions, cn.MOPS to identify copy-number variants (CNVs). Furthermore, we annotated these structural variations using different bioinformatics tools, such as gene ontology, cattle quantitative trait locus (QTL) database and ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA). Results: The average number of high-quality reads was 3,046,279. After filtering, a total of 16,831 deletions, 12,735 insertions and 490 CNVs were identified. The annotation results showed that these mapped genes were significantly enriched for specific biological functions, such as disease and reproduction. In addition, the enrichment results based on the cattle QTL database showed that the number of variants related to milk and reproduction was higher than the number of variants related to other traits. IPA core analysis found that the structural variations were related to reproduction, lipid metabolism, and inflammation. According to the functional analysis, structural variations were important factors affecting the variation of different traits in Shanghai Holstein cattle. Our results provide meaningful information about structural variations, which may be useful in future assessments of the associations between variations and important phenotypes in Shanghai Holstein cattle. Conclusion: Structural variations identified in this study were extremely different from those of previous studies. Many structural variations were found to be associated with mastitis and reproductive system diseases; these results are in accordance with the characteristics of the environment that Shanghai Holstein cattle experience.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.651-656
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• 2007

Changes in measured structural responses induced by a damage could be significantly smaller than those by environmental effects such as temperature and temperature gradients. It is highly desirable to develop a methodology to distinguish the changes due to the structural damage from those by the environmental variations. In this study, a novel method to extract the damage-induced deflection under temperature variations is presented using the outlier analysis on the deflections obtained using the modal flexibility matrices. The main idea is that temperature change in a bridge would produce global increase or decrease in deflections over the whole bridge while structural damages may cause local variations in deflections near the damage locations. Hence, the correlation between the deflection measurements may show high abnormality near the damage locations. A series of laboratory tests were carried out on a bridge model with a steel box-girder for 14 days. It has been found that the damage existence assessment and localization can carried out for a case with relatively small damage under the temperature variations

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.225-246
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• 2017

Excessive dynamic-tension variations on the top-tensioned risers (TTRs) deteriorate the structural integrity and cause potential safety hazards. This phenomenon has become more remarkable in the development of deep-water fields with harsher environmental loads. The conventional prediction method of tension variations in hydro-pneumatic tensioner (HPT) has the disadvantage to underestimate the magnitude of cyclic loads. The actual excessive dynamic tension variations are larger when considering the viscous frictional fluid effects. In this paper, a suppression method of tension variations in HPT is modeled by incorporating the magneto-rheological (MR) damper and linear-force actuator. The mathematical models of the combined HPT and MR damper are developed and a force-control scheme is introduced to compensate the excessive tension variations on the riser tensioner ring. Numerical simulations and analyses are conducted to evaluate the suppression of tension variations in HPT under both regular- and irregular-wave conditions for a drilling riser of a tensioned-leg platform (TLP). The results show that significant reduction of tension variations can be achieved by introducing the proposed system. This research has provided a theoretical foundation for the HPT tension control and related structural protection.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 1991

Some sections of concrete highway pavements have been viewed with great concern by highway officials and engineers due to the severe cracking and failure problems. This is mainly due to the traffic loads in addition to temperature variations between top and bottom of concrete slab, which cause the concrete slab to curl up and down depending on the thermal gradient, respectively. Subsequently, a major consideration was given to the derivation of stiffness matrix and equivalent nodal loads due to the uniform gravity load, temperature and shrinkage of concrete. And the structural behavior of concrete highway pavement due to the temperature variations throughout the nations has been emphasized.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.42 no.7
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• pp.512-522
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• 2019

Chromosomes located in the nucleus form discrete units of genetic material composed of DNA and protein complexes. The genetic information is encoded in linear DNA sequences, but its interpretation requires an understanding of three-dimensional (3D) structure of the chromosome, in which distant DNA sequences can be juxtaposed by highly condensed chromatin packing in the space of nucleus to precisely control gene expression. Recent technological innovations in exploring higher-order chromatin structure have uncovered organizational principles of the 3D genome and its various biological implications. Very recently, it has been reported that large-scale genomic variations may disrupt higher-order chromatin organization and as a consequence, greatly contribute to disease-specific gene regulation for a range of human diseases. Here, we review recent developments in studying the effect of structural variation in gene regulation, and the detection and the interpretation of structural variations in the context of 3D chromatin structure.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.1-9
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to develop questions for fashion design development, by applying 7 elements of the scamper to the fashion design elements, and to present a scamper checklist of fashion design elements, and item structures. In this study, the scope of research was limited to clothing design among various fashion products, and among various design development stages. Fashion design development focusing on design sketching, was limited to the research scope. The research method was based on an empirical study that derived scamper questions through FGI (Focus Group Interview), consisting of 5 fashion experts. Fashion design elements applied to development of scamper questions consisted of silhouettes, constructive lines, structural details, decorative details, patterns and textures of fabrics, and item structures, derived by applying these elements to the individual 7 elements of the scamper: substitute, combine, adjust, modify, put to other uses, eliminate, and reverse. Results of the study included 7 questions for substituting, 8 questions for combining, 6 questions for applying, 15 questions for modifying, 4 questions for putting to other uses, 4 questions for eliminating, and 7 questions for reversal. The scamper checklist for fashion design elements and item structures drew to 5 lists of silhouette variations, 7 lists of constructive line variations, 11 lists of structural detail variations, 10 lists of decorative detail variations, 11 lists of fabric variations, and 9 lists of structural modifications of items.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.541-558
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• 2011

This paper presents an analysis of stochastic eigenvalue problem of plane bar structures. Particular attention is paid to the effect of spatial variations of the flexural properties of the structure on the first four eigenvalues. The problem of spatial variations of the structure properties and their effect on the first four eigenvalues is analyzed in detail. The stochastic eigenvalue problem was solved independently by stochastic finite element method (stochastic FEM) and Monte Carlo techniques. It was revealed that the spatial variations of the structural parameters along the structure may substantially affect the eigenvalues with quite wide gap between the two extreme cases of zero- and full-correlation. This is particularly evident for the multi-segment structures for which technology may dictate natural bounds of zero- and full-correlation cases.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2018

The Zhuhai Opera House has an external structure consisting of a type of spatial steel, where the stress of steel elements varies with the ambient temperature. A structural health monitoring system was implemented at Zhuhai Opera House, and the temperatures and stresses of the structures were monitored in real time. The relationship between the stress distribution and temperature variations was analysed by measuring the temperature and stresses of the steel elements. In addition to measurements of the structure stresses and temperatures, further simulation analysis was carried out to provide the detailed relationship between the stress distributions and temperature variations. The limited temperature measurements were used to simulate the structure temperature distribution, and the stress distributions of all steel elements of the structure were analysed by building a finite element model of the Zhuhai Opera House spatial steel structure. This study aims to reveal the stress distributions of steel elements in a real-world project based on temperature variations, and to supply a basic database for the optimal construction time of a spatial steel structure. This will not only provide convenient, rapid and safe early warnings and decision-making for the spatial steel structure construction and operation processes, but also improve the structural safety and construction accuracy of steel space structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 2018

Structural modal parameters i.e. natural frequencies, damping ratios and mode shapes are dynamic features obtained either by measuring the vibration responses of a structure or by means of finite elements models. Over the past two decades, modal parameters have been used to detect damage in structures by observing its variations over time. However, such variations can also be caused by environmental factors such as humidity, wind and, more importantly, temperature. In so doing, the use of modal parameters as damage indicators can be seriously compromised if these effects are not properly tackled. Many researchers around the world have found numerous methods to mitigate the influence of such environmental factors from modal parameters and many advanced damage indicators have been developed and proposed to improve the reliability of structural health monitoring. In this paper, several vibration tests are performed on a simply supported steel beam subjected to different damage scenarios and temperature conditions, aiming to describe the variation in modal parameters due to temperature changes. Moreover, four statistical methodologies are proposed to identify damage. Results show a slightly linear decrease in the modal parameters due to temperature increase, although it is not possible to establish an empirical equation to describe this tendency.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1991.04a
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• pp.26-28
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• 1991

In the recent years, a rigid pavement composed of a flat concrete slab has ken constructed due to the desirable structural strength of concrete, durability and economy. However, despite of precise design and construction of concrete highway pavement, some sections of the 88 Olympic express highway, Jung-bu express highway, and Kyung-bu express highway, which have shown premature cracking, faulting, and pumping before the end of their intended service life, have already been viewed with great concerns by highway officials and engineers. Since environmental variations and traffic loads might be considered as major factors to cause pavement failure problems, the thermal load due to temperature variations between top and bottom surface of the concrete slab was highlighted to verify analytical behavior of concrete slab using the finite element method.