• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.329-348
• /
• 2019

The main objective of this experimental research was to investigate the Seismic performance of reinforced concrete frames infilled with perforated clay brick masonry wall of a type commonly used in Algeria. Four one story-one bay reinforced concrete infilled frames of half scale of an existing building were tested at the National Earthquake Engineering Research Center Laboratory, CGS, Algeria. The experiments were carried out under a combined constant vertical and reversed cyclic lateral loading simulating seismic action. This experimental program was performed in order to evaluate the effect and the contribution of the infill masonry wall on the lateral stiffness, strength, ductility and failure mode of the reinforced concrete frames. Numerical models were developed and calibrated using the experimental results to match the load-drift envelope curve of the considered specimens. These models were used as a bench mark to assess the effect of normalized axial load on the seismic performance of the RC frames with and without masonry panels. The main experimental and analytical results are presented in this paper.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.107-119
• /
• 2019

In-service reinforced concrete structures are simultaneously subjected to a combination of multi-deterioration environmental actions and mechanical loads. The combination of two or more deteriorative actions in environments can potentially accelerate the degradation and aging of concrete materials and structures. This paper reviews the coupling and synergistic mechanisms among various deteriorative driving forces (e.g. chloride salts- and carbonation-induced reinforcement corrosion, cyclic freeze-thaw action, alkali-silica reaction, and sulfate attack). In addition, the effects of mechanical loads on detrimental environmental factors are discussed, focusing on the transport properties and damage evolution in concrete. Recommendations for advancing current testing methods and predictive modeling on assessing the long-term durability of concrete with consideration of the coupling effects are provided.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.76-81
• /
• 2023

Tolvaptan is a highly selective vasopressin receptor 2 antagonist that regulates cyclic adenosine monophosphate levels to inhibit both epithelial cell proliferation and chloride ion excretion, two mechanisms known to induce cyst expansion in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Tolvaptan is currently the preferred treatment of rapidly progressive disease ADPKD in adult patients; however, since cyst formation in ADPKD begins early in life, (frequently in utero), and significant disease progression with cyst expansion occurs in the first decade, tolvaptan may be advantageous as a preemptive treatment in children with ADPKD. Tolvaptan has already been used to successfully treat refractory edema or hyponatremia in children; this literature review provides insight into the biochemical basis of its action to contextualize its use in the pediatric population.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.457-465
• /
• 2007

In this paper, polymer-modified repair materials using polymer dispersions with six repair methods are prepared with various polymer-cement ratios, and tested for compressive and flexural strengths through each curing condition such as dry cure, water cure, and freezing and thawing cyclic action. And, the adhesive interface between the polymer-modified mortar and mortar substrate is observed by a scanning electron microscope. From the test results, the compressive and flexural strengths of cement mortar repaired by polymer-modified mortar are improved with a rise in the polymer-cement ratio regardless of the type of polymer and curing conditions. Such an improvement in the strengths of polymer-modified repair materials to ordinary cement mortar is explained by the high adhesion of polymer-modified mortar. Strength reduction of polymer-modified repair materials after freezing and thawing cyclic actions is recognized, but it is lower than that of unmodified mortar. Especially, cement mortar repaired by polymer-modified mortar with a St/BA emulsion has good strength properties compared with those of SBR latex and PA emulsion. Accordingly, it is judged that polymer-modified mortars with a St/BA emulsion are possible to use as repair materials to ordinary cement mortar and concrete.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.21 no.5
• /
• pp.1017-1029
• /
• 2016

When a welded circular hollow section (CHS) tubular joint is subjected to brace axial loading, failure position is located usually at the weld toe on the chord surface due to the weak flexural stiffness of the thin-walled chord. The failure mode is local yielding or buckling in most cases for a tubular joint subjected to axial load at the brace end. Especially when a cyclic axial load is applied, fracture failure at the weld toe may occur because both high stress concentration and welding residual stress along the brace/chord intersection cause the material in this region to become brittle. To improve the ductility as well as to increase the static strength, a tubular joint can be reinforced by increasing the chord thickness locally near the brace/chord intersection. Both experimental investigation and finite element analysis have been carried out to study the hysteretic behaviour of the reinforced tubular joint. In the experimental study, the hysteretic performance of two full-scale circular tubular T-joints subjected to cyclic load in the axial direction of the brace was investigated. The two specimens include a reinforced specimen by increasing the wall thickness of the chord locally at the brace/chord intersection and a corresponding un-reinforced specimen. The hysteretic loops are obtained from the measured load-displacement curves. Based on the hysteretic curves, it is found that the reinforced specimen is more ductile than the un-reinforced one because no fracture failure is observed after experiencing similar loading cycles. The area enclosed by the hysteretic curves of the reinforced specimen is much bigger, which shows that more energy can be dissipated by the reinforced specimen to indicate the advantage of the reinforcing method in resisting seismic action. Additionally, finite element analysis is carried out to study the effect of the thickness and the length of the reinforced chord segment on the hysteretic behaviour of CHS tubular T-joints. The optimized reinforcing method is recommended for design purposes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2015.08a
• /
• pp.158-158
• /
• 2015

Myoblast are myogenic precursors that proliferate, activate, and differentiate on muscle injury to sustain the regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle; The neuronal isoform of nitric oxide synthase (nNOS, termed also NOS-I) is expressed in normal adult skeletal muscle, suggesting important functions for Nitric oxide (NO) in muscle biology1,2,3. However, the expression and subcellular localization of NO in muscle development and myoblast differentiation are largely unknown. In this study, we examined effects of the nitric oxide generated by a microwave plasma torch, on proliferation/differentiation of rat myoblastic L6 cells. Experimental data pertaining to nitric oxide production are presented in terms of the oxygen input in units of cubic centimetres per minute. The various levels of nitric oxide are observed depending on the flow rate of nitrogen gas, the ratio of oxygen gas, and the microwave power4. In order to evaluate the potential of nitric oxide as an activator of cell differentiation, we applied nitric oxide generated from the microwave plasma torch to L6 skeletal muscles. Differentiation of L6 cells into myotubes was significantly enhanced the differentiation after nitric oxide treatment. Nitric oxide treatment also increase the expression of myogenesis marker proteins and mRNA level, such as myogenin and myosin heavy chain (MHC), as well as cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), However during the myotube differentiation we found that NO activate oxidative stress signaling erks expression. Therefore, these results establish a role of NO and cGMP in regulating myoblast differentiation and elucidate their mechanism of action, providing a direct link with oxidative stress signalling, which is a key player in myogenesis. Based on these findings, nitric oxide generated by plasma can be used as a possible activator of cell differentiation and tissue regeneration.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.95-100
• /
• 2004

Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) has been accepted as a heart protection phenomenon against ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury. The activation of ATP-sensitive potassium $(K_{ATP})$ channels and the release of myocardial nitric oxide (NO) induced by IPC were demonstrated as the triggers or mediators of IPC. A common action mechanism of NO is a direct or indirect increase in tissue cGMP content. Furthermore, cGMP has also been shown to contribute cardiac protective effect to reduce heart I/R-induced infarction. The present investigation tested the hypothesis that $K_{ATP}$ channels attenuate DNA strand breaks and oxidative damage in an in vitro model of I/R utilizing rat ventricular myocytes. We estimated DNA strand breaks and oxidative damage by mean of single cell gel electrophoresis with endonuclease III cutting sites (comet assay). In the I/R model, the level of DNA damage increased massively. Preconditioning with a single 5-min anoxia, diazoxide $(100\;{\mu}M)$, SNAP $(300\;{\mu}M)$ and 8-(4-Chlorophenylthio)-guanosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (8-pCPT-cGMP) $(100\;{\mu}M)$ followed by 15 min reoxygenation reduced DNA damage level against subsequent 30 min anoxia and 60 min reoxygenation. These protective effects were blocked by the concomitant presence of glibenclamide $(50\;{\mu}M)$, 5-hydroxydecanoate (5-HD) $(100\;{\mu}M)$ and 8-(4-Chlorophenylthio)-guanosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphate, Rp-isomer (Rp-8-pCPT-cGMP) $(100\;{\mu}M)$. These results suggest that NO-cGMP-protein kinase G (PKG) pathway contributes to cardioprotective effect of $K_{ATP}$ channels in rat ventricular myocytes.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.9 no.3
• /
• pp.220-228
• /
• 2018

This study introduced a carbon-free electrode for $Li-O_2$ cells with the aim of suppressing the side reactions activated by carbon material. Micro-particles of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), a conducting polymer, were used as the base material for the air electrode of $Li-O_2$cells. The PEDOT micro-particles were treated with $H_2SO_4$ to improve their electronic conductivity, and LiBr and CsBr were used as the redox mediators to facilitate the dissociation of there action products in the electrode and reduce the over-potential of the $Li-O_2$ cells. The capacity of the electrode employing PEDOT micro-particles was significantly enhanced via $H_2SO_4$ treatment, which is attributed to the increased electronic conductivity. The considerable capacity enhancement and relatively low over-potential of the electrode employing $H_2SO_4$-treated PEDOT micro-particles indicate that the treated PEDOT micro-particles can act as reaction sites and provide storage space for the reaction products. The cyclic performance of the electrode employing $H_2SO_4$-treated PEDOT micro-particles was superior to that of a carbon electrode. The results of the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic analysis showed that the accumulation of residual reaction products during cycling was significantly reduced by introducing the carbon-free electrode based on $H_2SO_4$-treated PEDOT micro-particles, compared with that of the carbon electrode. The cycle life was improved owing to the effect of the redox mediators. The refore, the use of the carbon -free electrode combined with redox mediators could realize excellent cyclic performance and low over-potential simultaneously.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.317-326
• /
• 2003

The influence of cyclic bending moment on the delamination and the fatigue crack propagation behavior in Al/GFRP laminate such as the wing section was investigated. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between crack profile and delamination behavior. And a propose parameter on the delamination growth rate(d $A_{D}$/da) of Al/GFRP laminates with a saw-cut using relationship between delamination area( $A_{D}$) and cycles(N), crack length(a), stress intensity factor range($\Delta$K). Also, the fiber bridging effect factor( $F_{BE}$ ) was propose that the fiber bridging modification factor($\beta$$_{fb}$ ) to evaluate using the delamination growth rate(d $A_{D}$/da). The shape and size of the delamination zone formed along the fatigue crack between aluminum alloy sheet. Class fiber-adhesive layer were measured by an ultrasonic C-scan image. The shape of delamination zone turns out to be semi-elliptic with the contour decreased non-linearly toward the crack tip. It represents that relationship between crack length and delamination growth rate(d $A_{D}$/da) were interdependent by reciprocal action, therefore it's applicable present a model for the delamination growth rate(dA/sib D//da) in Al/GFRP laminates.minates.s.

• Journal of KIISE
• /
• v.43 no.10
• /
• pp.1079-1084
• /
• 2016

Single-state parsing automata have a characteristic such that the decision of an action depends only on the current state but not on the parsing history. The memory space and the parsing time of single-state parsing automata are less than the memory space and the parsing time of LR automata. However, the applicable grammar class of single-state parsing automata is less than that of LR automata. This paper provides extended single-state parsing automata, which are applicable to LR grammars. In the prior work, the special state, referred to as the cyclic state was not treated in the construction of single-state parsing automata, and hence, the applicable grammar class was less than LR grammars. The paper solves the problem of cyclic states by processing dynamic information depending on an input string. The proposed method expands the application of grammar class of single-state parsing automata to LR grammars.