• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.337-353
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• 2018

The present study focuses on examining the structural behaviour of steel-fibre-reinforced concrete (SFRC) beams under high rates of loading largely associated with impact problems. Fibres are added to the concrete mix to enhance ductility and energy absorption, which is important for impact-resistant design. A simple, yet practical non-linear finite-element analysis (NLFEA) model was used in the present study. Experimental static and impact tests were also carried out on beams spanning 1.3 meter with weights dropped from heights of 1.5 m and 2.5 m, respectively. The numerical model realistically describes the fully-brittle tensile behaviour of plain concrete as well as the contribution of steel fibres to the post-cracking response (the latter was allowed for by conveniently adjusting the constitutive relations for plain concrete, mainly in uniaxial tension). Suitable material relations (describing compression, tension and shear) were selected for SFRC and incorporated into ABAQUS software Brittle Cracking concrete model. A more complex model (i.e., the Damaged Plasticity concrete model in ABAQUS) was also considered and it was found that the seemingly simple (but fundamental) Brittle Cracking model yielded reliable results. Published data obtained from drop-weight experimental tests on RC and SFRC beams indicates that there is an increase in the maximum load recorded (compared to the corresponding static one) and a reduction in the portion of the beam span reacting to the impact load. However, there is considerable scatter and the specimens were often tested to complete destruction and thus yielding post-failure characteristics of little design value and making it difficult to pinpoint the actual load-carrying capacity and identify the associated true ultimate limit state (ULS). To address this, dynamic NLFEA was employed and the impact load applied was reduced gradually and applied in pulses to pinpoint the actual failure point. Different case studies were considered covering impact loading responses at both the material and structural levels as well as comparisons between RC and SFRC specimens. Steel fibres were found to increase the load-carrying capacity and deformability by offering better control over the cracking process concrete undergoes and allowing the impact energy to be absorbed more effectively compared to conventional RC members. This is useful for impact-resistant design of SFRC beams.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.2219-2225
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• 2015

SHP1 negatively regulates the Janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK2/STAT) signaling pathway, which is constitutively activated in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) and leukemia. Promoter hypermethylation resulting in epigenetic inactivation of SHP1 has been reported in myelomas, leukemias and other cancers. However, whether SHP1 hypermethylation occurs in MPNs, especially in Chinese patients, has remained unclear. Here, we report that aberrant hypermethylation of SHP1 was observed in several leukemic cell lines and bone marrow mononuclear cells from MPN patients. About 51 of 118 (43.2%) MPN patients including 23 of 50 (46%) polycythaemia vera patients, 20 of 50 (40%) essential thrombocythaemia and 8 of 18 (44.4%) idiopathic myelofibrosis showed hypermethylation by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction. However, SHP1 methylation was not measured in 20 healthy volunteers. Hypermethylation of SHP1 was found in MPN patients with both positive (34/81, 42%) and negative (17/37, 45.9%) JAK2V617F mutation. The levels of SHP1 mRNA were significantly lower in hypermethylated samples than unmethylated samples, suggesting SHP1 may be epigenetically inactivated in MPN patients. Furthermore, treatment with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (AZA) in K562 cells showing hypermethylation of SHP1 led to progressive demethylation of SHP1, with consequently increased reexpression of SHP1. Meanwhile, phosphorylated JAK2 and STAT3 were progressively reduced. Finally, AZA increased the expression of SHP1 in primary MPN cells with hypermethylation of SHP1. Therefore, our data suggest that epigenetic inactivation of SHP1 contributes to the constitutive activation of JAK2/STAT signaling. Restoration of SHP1 expression by AZA may contribute to clinical treatment for MPN patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10187-10192
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• 2015

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes are a large family of constitutive and inducible mono-oxygenase enzymes that play a central role in the oxidative metabolism of both xenobiotic and endogenous compounds. Several CYPs are involved in metabolism of oxysterols, which are cholesterol oxidation products whose expression may be dysregulated in inflammation-related diseases including cancer. This study focused on CYP39A1, which can metabolize 24-hydroxycholesterol (24-OH) that plays important roles in the inflammatory response and oxidative stress. We aimed to investigate the expression status of CYP39A1 and its transcription factor (RUNX2) in relation to clinical significance in cholangiocarcinoma (CCAs) and to determine whether 24-OH could induce oxidative stress in CCA cell lines. Immunohistochemistry showed that 70% and 30% of CCA patients had low and high expression of CYP39A1, respectively. Low expression of CYP39A1 demonstrated a significant correlation with metastasis. Our results also revealed that the expression of RUNX2 had a positive correlation with CYP39A1. Low expression of both CYP39A1 (70%) and RUNX2 (37%) was significantly related with poor prognosis of CCA patients. Interestingly, oxidized alpha-1 antitrypsin (ox-A1AT), an oxidative stress marker, was significantly increased in CCA tissues in which CYP39A1 and RUNX2 were down regulated. Additionally, immunocytochemistry showed that 24-OH could induce ox-A1AT in CCA cell lines. In conclusion, our study revealed putative roles of the CYP39A1 enzyme in prognostic determination of CCAs.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.197-203
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• 2009

An indole oxygenase originated from Rhodococcus sp. RHA1 was cloned into the expression vector, pTrc99A, in Escherichia coli, and designated pTCAN1. The pTCAN2 was constructed from pTCAN1 by the deletion of $lacI^q$ for the constitutive expression of indole oxygenase without adding IPTG in the medium. The complete open reading frame of indole oxygenase was 1,224 bp long, which encodes a protein of 407amino acids. Crude extracts of E. coli $DH5{\alpha}$/pTCAN1 and pTCAN2, respectively, were prepared and subjected to SDS-PAGE analysis. A band corresponding to molecular mass of about 43 kDa was appeared and this result correlated with the predicted molecular mass of cloned indole oxygenase. The E. coli harboring pTCAN1 and pTCAN2, respectively, showed blue color colony in LB plate. The pigment showing blue color was prepared from E. coli $DH5{\alpha}$/pTCAN2, and identified as indigo by experiments using spectrophotometer, HPLC, and TLC. The indigo-forming activity of indole oxygenases from the whole cell of E. coli $DH5{\alpha}/pTCAN1$ cultured at LB medium added 1mM of IPTG and that of E. coli/pTCAN2 showed about 1.75nmol/min/mg DCW (dry cell weight) and 3.85 nmol/min/mg DCW, respectively. Also, the E. coli $DH5{\alpha}$/pTCAN2 produced about $236{\mu}M$ of indigo after 48 hours incubation in TB medium supplemented with 2.5 mM of tryptophan.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.341-345
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• 2007

Fifty endophytic bacteria, which produced slime around the colonies, were isolated from Pueraria roots. In particular, HDN-14, TDG-3, and TNB-3 strains, which appeared to be high viscosity producers, were selected. These strains produced high levels of polysaccharides in Puerara root medium extract. The purified polysaccharide was digested with 1N HCI and analyzed by HPLC, with glucose ($45.6{\sim}63.1%$), maltose ($14.6{\sim}23.7%$), and fructose ($17.4{\sim}23.7%$) detected as constitutive sugars. When determined by the homology relationship of the 16S rDNA sequence with the relative taxa, the HDN-14 and TNB-3 strains were closely ($99.06{\sim}99.32%$) related to the Pseudomonas $koreensis^T$ and Pseudomonas $jessenii^T$, while TDG-3 were closely ($99.48{\sim}99.74%$) related to Pseudomonas $plecoglossicida^T$, Pseudomonas $mosselii^T$, and Pseudomonas $monteilii^T$. The major cellular Pseudomonas acids are $3OH-C_{10:0}$, $2OH-C_{12:0}$, $3OH-C_{12:0}$, and $3OH-C_{12:1}$, with these strains being further differentiated in species belonging to the genus Pseudomonas.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.4353-4358
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• 2014

Background: PI3/AKT and NF-kB signaling pathways are constitutively active in acute myeloid leukemia and cross-talk between the two has been shown in various cancers. However, their role in acute myeloid leukemia has not been completely explored. We therefore used cell penetrating inhibitor peptides to define the contributions of AKT and NF-kB to survival and multi drug resistance (MDR) in HL-60 cells. Materials and Methods: Inhibition of AKT and NF-kB activity by AKT inhibitor peptide and NBD inhibitor peptide, respectively, resulted in decreased expression of mRNA for the MDR1 gene as assessed by real time PCR. In addition, treatment of HL-60 cells with AKT and NBD inhibitor peptides led to inhibition of cell viability and induction of apoptosis in a dose dependent manner as detected by flow cytometer. Results: Finally, co-treatment of HL-60 cells with sub-optimal doses of AKT and NBD inhibitor peptides led to synergistic apoptotic responses in AML cells. Conclusions: These data support a strong biological link between NF-kB and PI3-kinase/AKT pathways in the modulation of antiapoptotic and multi drug resistant effects in AML cells. Synergistic targeting of these pathways using NF-kB and PI3-kinase/AK inhibitor peptides may have a therapeutic potential for AML and possibly other malignancies with constitutive activation of these pathways.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.45 no.1 s.142
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• pp.15-24
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• 2006

Inhibitor kB (IkB)-like gene has been found in the genome of Cotesia plutellae bracovirus (CpBV), which is the obligatory symbiont of an endoparsitoid wasp, C. plutellae. The open reading frame of CpBV-IkB was 417 bp and encoded 138 amino acids. Four ankyrin repeat domains were found in CpBV-IkB, which shared high homology with other known polydnavirus IkBs. Considering a presumptive cellular IkB based on Drosophila Cactus, CpBV-IkB exhibited a truncated structure with deletion of signal-receiving domains, which suggested its irreversible inhibitory role in NFkB signal transduction pathway of the parasitized host in response to the wasp parasitization. CpBV-IkB was expressed only in the parasitized diamondback moth, Plutella flostella. Its expression was estimated by quantitative RT-PCR during parasitization period, showing a constitutive expression pattern from the first day of parasitization. An indirect functional analysis of CpBV-IkB was conducted and suggested a hypothesis of host antivirus inhibition.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.429-436
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• 2014

This paper presents the seismic performance of a geometrically unsymmetrical reinforced concrete building considering torsional effect and material nonlinearity of concrete and steel. The reinforced concrete building is a structure for seismic performance evaluation in the SMART-2013 international benchmark program. Nonlinear constitutive models for concrete and steel were constructed, and their numerical performance was demonstrated by various local tests. Modal analysis showed that the first three natural frequencies and mode shapes were close to the experimental results from the SMART-2013 program. In the time history analysis for low-intensity seismic loadings, displacement and acceleration responses at sampling points were similar to the experimental results. In the end, nonlinear time history analysis was conducted for Northridge earthquake to predict the behavior of the reinforced concrete structure under high-intensity seismic loadings.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2009

The prediction of pressure drop for a droplet flow in a confined micro channel is presented using FE-FTM (Finite Element - Front Tracking Method). A single droplet is passing through 5:1:5 contraction - straight narrow channel - expansion flow domain. The pressure drop is investigated especially when the droplet flows in the straight narrow channel. We explore the effects of droplet size, capillary number (Ca), viscosity ratio ($\chi$) between droplet and medium, and fluid elasticity represented by the Oldroyd-B constitutive model on the excess pressure drop (${\Delta}p^+$) against single phase flow. The tightly fitted droplets in the narrow channel are mainly considered in the range of $0.001{\leq}Ca{\leq}1$ and $0.01{\leq}{\chi}{\leq}100$. In Newtonian droplet/Newtonian medium, two characteristic features are observed. First, an approximate relation ${\Delta}p^+{\sim}{\chi}$ observed for ${\chi}{\geq}1$. The excess pressure drop necessary for droplet flow is roughly proportional to $\chi$. Second, ${\Delta}p^+$ seems inversely proportional to Ca, which is represented as ${\Delta}p^+{\sim}Ca^m$ with negative m irrespective of $\chi$. In addition, we observe that the film thickness (${\delta}_f$) between droplet interface and channel wall decreases with decreasing Ca, showing ${\delta}_f{\sim}Ca^n$ Can with positive n independent of $\chi$. Consequently, the excess pressure drop (${\Delta}p^+$) is strongly dependent on the film thickness (${\delta}_f$). The droplets larger than the channel width show enhancement of ${\Delta}p^+$, whereas the smaller droplets show no significant change in ${\Delta}p^+$. Also, the droplet deformation in the narrow channel is affected by the flow history of the contraction flow at the entrance region, but rather surprisingly ${\Delta}p^+$ is not affected by this flow history. Instead, ${\Delta}p^+$ is more dependent on ${\delta}_f$ irrespective of the droplet shape. As for the effect of fluid elasticity, an increase in ${\delta}_f$ induced by the normal stress difference in viscoelastic medium results in a drastic reduction of ${\Delta}p^+$.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.59-72
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• 1985

This paper deals with the numerical analysis by the (mite element method introducing Biot's theory of consolidation and the modified Cambridge model proposed by Roscoe school of Cambridge University as constitutive equation and using Christian-Boehner's technique. Especially, time interval and division of elements are investigated in vies of stability and economics. In order to check the validity of author's program, the program was tested with one-dimensional consolidation case followed by Terzaghi's exact solution and with the results of the Magnan's analysis for existing banking carried out for study at Cubzac-les-ports in France. The main conclusions obtained are summarized as follows: 1. In the case of one-dimensional consolidation, the more divided the elements are near the surface of the foundation, the higher the accuracy of the numerical analysis is. 2. For the time interval, it is stable to divide 20 times per 1-lg cycle. 3. At the element which has long drain distance, the Mandel-fryer effect appears due to time lag. 4. Lateral displacement at an initial loading stage predicted by author's program, in which the load was assumed as not concentrative. but rather in grid form, is well consistent with the value of observation. 5. The pore water pressure predicted by author's program has a better accordance with the value of observation compared with Magnan's results. 6. Optimum construction control by Matsuo-Kawamura's method is possible with the predicted lateral displacement and settlement by the program.