• 한국전산구조공학회논문집
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• 제24권4호
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• pp.391-398
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• 2011

철근콘크리트 구조물은 타설 후 시간이 경과함에 따라 물리적인 요인과 화학적인 요인으로 인하여 열화가 진행된다. 열화된 구조물의 효율적인 구조해석을 수행하기 위하여 구조물의 거동과 밀접한 관련이 있는 중요열화변수를 정의하는 것은 필요하다. 본 연구에서는 경년열화된 철근콘크리트 전단벽의 중요변수를 분석하기 위하여 일계이차모멘트법을 이용하여 민감도해석을 수행하였다. 콘크리트의 경화현상을 고려하지 않을 경우 구조물의 열화성능이 과소평가될 수 있으므로 콘크리트의 경화에 따른 해석변수들의 민감도를 분석하였다. 열화된 전단벽에서 변수의 중요도는 토네이도 다이어그램으로 나타내었다.

• 한국전산구조공학회논문집
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.131-138
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• 2013

면진장치는 상부구조물의 지진력을 감소시키는데 크게 기여하지만, 고감쇠고무 적층받침에 사용되는 고무재료는 시간이 경과함에 따라 열화되어 상부구조물의 동특성과 기기들의 지진응답에 영향을 줄 수 있다. 따라서 면진장치의 경년열화를 고려한 구조물의 지진응답을 분석하는 연구가 필요하다. 본 연구에서는 기존 문헌을 통하여 분석된 고무의 경년열화 특성을 사용하여 면진장치를 모델링하였다. 면진된 원전의 지진응답을 평가하기 위하여 격납건물과 보조건물을 대상 구조물로 선정하고, 진동수 성분이 다양한 입력지진동을 사용하여 구조물의 고유진동수, 최대지진응답, 층응답스펙트럼을 시간의 경과에 따라 분석하였다. 해석결과에 의하면 면진장치의 경년열화에 의하여 지진응답이 소폭 증가하였으며, 면진장치가 설치된 후 20년까지 지진응답의 증가율이 크게 나타나므로 이 기간에 상세한 검사가 시행되어야 할 것이다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권2호
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• pp.526-535
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• 2024

This paper proposes a safety-critical standby component unavailability model that contains aging effects caused by the elapsed time from installation, component degradation due to surveillance tests, and imperfect maintenance actions. An application of the model to a Motor-Operated Valve and a Motor-Driven Pump involved in the HPIS of a VVER/1000-V446 nuclear power plant is demonstrated and compared with other existing models at component and system levels. In addition, the effects of different unavailability models are reflected in the NPP's risk criterion, i.e., core damage frequency, over five maintenance periods. The results show that, compared with other models that do not simultaneously consider the full effects of degradation and maintenance impacts, the proposed model realistically evaluates the unavailabilities of the safety-related components and the involved systems as a plant age function. Therefore, it can effectively reflect the age-dependent CDF impact of a given testing and maintenance policy in a specified time horizon.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제37권6호
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• pp.81-88
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• 2022

It is necessary to better understand the effect of age-related degradation on the performance of reinforced concrete shear walls in nuclear power plants in order to ensure their structural safety in the event of earthquakes. Therefore, this paper studies seismic fragility of the typical shear wall in nuclear power plants under earthquake excitation Reinforced concrete shear wall is composed of wall, horizontal and vertical flanges. Due to characteristics of its geometry, it is difficult to predict the ultimate behavior of shear wall under earthquake excitation. In this study, for more realistic numerical simulation, the Latin Hyper-Cube (LHC) simulation technique was used to generate uncertain variables for the material properties of concrete shear walls. The effects of crack, characteristics of inelastic behavior of concrete, and loss of cross section were considered in the nonlinear finite element analysis. The effects of aging-related deterioration were investigated on the performance of reinforced concrete shear walls through analysis of undegraded concrete shear walls and degraded concrete shear walls. The resulting seismic fragility curves present the change of performance of concrete shear wall due to age-related degradation.

• BMB Reports
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• 제48권9호
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• pp.525-530
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• 2015

Activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway plays a pathogenic role in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and is thus a potential target for the development of therapeutics for this disease. Here, we demonstrated that Wnt5a antagonized β-catenin response transcription (CRT) induced with Wnt3a by promoting β-catenin phosphorylation at Ser33/Ser37/Thr41 and its subsequent degradation in human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. Wnt5a decreased the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), which was up-regulated by Wnt3a. Furthermore, Wnt5a increased E-cadherin expression and decreased cell migration by down-regulating Snail expression, thereby abrogating the Wnt3a-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in human RPE cells. Our findings suggest that Wnt5a suppresses the pathogenic effects of canonical Wnt signaling in human RPE cells by promoting β-catenin phosphorylation and degradation. Therefore, Wnt5a has significant therapeutic potential for the treatment of AMD. [BMB Reports 2015; 48(9): 525-530]

• 한국산학기술학회논문지
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• 제16권10호
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• pp.7078-7088
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• 2015

본 연구의 목적은 노인 고혈압 환자의 건강행태, 수면 관련 요인이 인지기능에 미치는 영향을 파악하는 것이다. 연구대상은 지역사회에 거주하는 65세 이상 노인 중 고혈압을 진단 받은 140명이었다. 자료 수집은 2013년 2월 5일부터 5월 1일까지로 일대일면접 설문조사로 시행되었다. 연구도구는 Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale(ESS)와 한국어판 노인용 간이정신상태 검사 도구를 사용하여 측정하였다. 연구결과, 노인고혈압 환자의 인지기능은 수면의 질 저하와 유의한 음의 상관관계를 나타냈다(r=-.29, p<.001). 수면시간은 체질량지수(r=-.18, p=.032) 및 수면의 질 저하(r=-.59, p<.001)와 유의한 음의 상관관계가 있었고, 주간졸음과는 유의한 양의 상관관계가 있었다(r=.22, p=.008). 위계적 회귀분석 결과, 노인 고혈압 환자의 연령, 교육수준, 거주유형은 인지기능과 유의한 관련성이 있으며(F=8.56, p<.001, Adjusted $R^2=.14$), 인구사회학적 특성과 건강행태를 통제한 상태에서 수면의 질 저하(${\beta}=-.27$, p=.008)는 인지기능에 유의한 영향을 미치며, 최종 모형의 설명력은 17%였다(F=4.09, p<.001). 그러므로 노인 고혈압 환자의 인지기능 향상전략은 연령, 교육수준, 거주유형을 고려하고, 낮은 수면의 질을 향상 시킬 수 있는 치료적인 중재가 도움이 될 것으로 사료된다.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제46권11호
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• pp.675-687
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• 2023

Accumulation of pathogenic amyloid-β disrupts the tight junction of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), one of its senescence-like structural alterations. In the clearance of amyloid-β, the autophagy-lysosome pathway plays the crucial role. In this context, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibits the process of autophagy and lysosomal degradation, acting as a potential therapeutic target for age-associated disorders. However, efficacy of targeting mTOR to treat age-related macular degeneration remains largely elusive. Here, we validated the therapeutic efficacy of the mTOR inhibitors, Torin and PP242, in clearing amyloid-β by inducing the autophagy-lysosome pathway in a mouse model with pathogenic amyloid-β with tight junction disruption of RPE, which is evident in dry age-related macular degeneration. High concentration of amyloid-β oligomers induced autophagy-lysosome pathway impairment accompanied by the accumulation of p62 and decreased lysosomal activity in RPE cells. However, Torin and PP242 treatment restored the lysosomal activity via activation of LAMP2 and facilitated the clearance of amyloid-β in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, clearance of amyloid-β by Torin and PP242 ameliorated the tight junction disruption of RPE in vivo. Overall, our findings suggest mTOR inhibition as a new therapeutic strategy for the restoration of tight junctions in age-related macular degeneration.

• Osteoporosis and Sarcopenia
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• 제3권3호
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• pp.117-122
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• 2017

Sarcopenia is the degenerative loss of muscle mass and function with aging. Recently sarcopenia was recognized as a clinical disease by the International Classification of Disease, 10th revision, Clinical Modification. An imbalance between protein synthesis and degradation causes a gradual loss of muscle mass, resulting in a decline of muscle function as a progress of sarcopenia. Many mechanisms involved in the onset of sarcopenia include age-related factors as well as activity-, disease-, and nutrition-related factors. The stage of sarcopenia reflecting the severity of conditions assists clinical management of sarcopenia. It is important that systemic descriptions of the disease conditions include age, sex, and other environmental risk factors as well as levels of physical function. To develop a new therapeutic intervention needed is the detailed understanding of molecular and cellular mechanisms by which apoptosis, autophagy, atrophy, and hypertrophy occur in the muscle stem cells, myotubes, and/or neuromuscular junction. The new strategy to managing sarcopenia will be signal-modulating small molecules, natural compounds, repurposing of old drugs, and muscle-specific microRNAs.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• 제62권2호
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• pp.247-262
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• 2020

Birth weight and subsequent weight gain is of critical importance in the survival and performance of piglets on a commercial swine farm setting. Oropharyngeal microbiome could influence immunity, and feeding behavior thus impacting health and weight gain. We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to profile the composition and predicted metabolic functionality of the oropharyngeal microbiota in 8 piglets (4 with a birthweight ≤ 1.0 kg and 4 with a birthweight ≥ 1.7 kg) at 11, 26, and 63 days of age. We found 9 genera that were significantly associated with average daily gain (ADG) at 11 days (false discovery rate, FDR < 0.05) and 26 days of age (FDR < 0.1), respectively. The microbial functional profile revealed several pathways associated with ADG (FDR < 0.05). Among these, pathways related to degradation of catechols showed a positive association with ADG at 11, 26, and 63 days of age, implying a potential to breakdown the host-derived catecholamines. We also noted that pathways related to the biodegradation of nucleosides and nucleotides increased with ADG during the pre-weaning phase, while those involved in their biosynthesis decreased. Our findings provide insights into the oropharyngeal microbial memberships and metabolic pathways that are involved in a piglet's weight gain. Thus, providing a basis for the development of strategies aimed at improving weight gain in pigs.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• 제6권3호
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• pp.507-528
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• 2014

In the ship and offshore structure design, age-related problems such as corrosion damage, local denting, and fatigue damage are important factors to be considered in building a reliable structure as they have a significant influence on the residual structural capacity. In shipping, corrosion addition methods are widely adopted in structural design to prevent structural capacity degradation. The present study focuses on the historical trend of corrosion addition rules for ship structural design and investigates their effects on the ultimate strength performance such as hull girder and stiffened panel of double hull oil tankers. Three types of rules based on corrosion addition models, namely historic corrosion rules (pre-CSR), Common Structural Rules (CSR), and harmonised Common Structural Rules (CSR-H) are considered and compared with two other corrosion models namely UGS model, suggested by the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS), and Time-Dependent Corrosion Wastage Model (TDCWM). To identify the general trend in the effects of corrosion damage on the ultimate longitudinal strength performance, the corrosion addition rules are applied to four representative sizes of double hull oil tankers namely Panamax, Aframax, Suezmax, and VLCC. The results are helpful in understanding the trend of corrosion additions for tanker structures.