• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.661-677
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• 2016

The quasi static test of the steel reinforced concrete (SRC) bridge piers and rigid frame arch bridge structure with SRC piers was conducted in the laboratory, and the seismic performance of SRC piers was compared with that of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers. In the test, the failure process, the failure mechanism, hysteretic curves, skeleton curves, ductility coefficient, stiffness degradation curves and the energy dissipation curves were analyzed. According to the $M-{\Phi}$ relationship of fiber section, the three-wire type theoretical skeleton curve of the lateral force and the pier top displacement was proposed, and the theoretical skeleton curves are well consistent with the experimental curves. Based on the theoretical model, the effects of the concrete strength, axial compression ratio, slenderness ratio, reinforcement ratio, and the stiffness ratio of arch to pier on the skeleton curve were analyzed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.2
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• pp.179-196
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• 2021

Experimental investigations on the seismic behaviors of the PVC-FRP Confined Reinforced Concrete (PFCRC) columns under low cyclic loading are carried out and two variable parameters including CFRP strips spacing and axial compression ratio are considered. The PFCRC column finally fails by bending and is characterized by the crushing of concrete and yielding of the longitudinal reinforcement, and the column with a high axial compression ratio is also accompanied by the cracking of the PVC tube and the fracture of CFRP strips. The hysteretic curves and skeleton curves of the columns are obtained from the experimental data. With the increase of axial compression ratio, the stiffness degradation rate accelerates and the ductility decreases. With the decrease of CFRP strips spacing, the unloading sections of the skeleton curves become steep and the ductility reduces significantly. On the basis of fiber model method, a numerical analysis approach for predicting the skeleton curves of the PFCRC columns is developed. Additionally, a simplified skeleton curve including the elastic stage, strengthening stage and unloading stage is suggested depending on the geometric drawing method. Moreover, the loading and unloading rules of the PFCRC columns are revealed by analyzing the features of the skeleton curves. The quantitative expressions that are used to predict the unloading stiffness of the specimens in each stage are proposed. Eventually, an analytical model for the PFCRC columns under low cyclic loading is established and it agrees well with test data.

• Journal of Advanced Information Technology and Convergence
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.103-113
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• 2019

Motivation: Polymerized actin-based cytoskeletal structures are crucial in shape, dynamics, and resilience of a cell. For example, dynamical actin-containing ruffles are located at leading edges of cells and have a significant impact on cell motility. Other filamentous actin (F-actin) bundles, called stress fibers, are essential in cell attachment and detachment. For this reason, their mechanistic understanding provides crucial information to solve practical problems related to cell interactions with materials in tissue engineering. Detecting and counting actin-based structures in a cellular ensemble is a fundamental first step. In this research, we suggest a new method to characterize F-actin wrapping fibers from confocal fluorescence image stacks. As fluorescently labeled F-actin often envelope the fibers, we first propose to segment these fibers by diminishing an energy based on maximum flow and minimum cut algorithm. The actual actin is detected through the use of bilateral filtering followed by a thresholding step. Later, concave actin bundles are detected through a graph-based procedure that actually determines if the considered actin filament is enclosing the fiber.

• Carbon letters
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.161-166
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• 2012

Carbon materials were synthesized by pyrolysis from fibers of Corn-straw (Zea mays), Rice-straw (Oryza sativa), Jute-straw (Corchorus capsularis) Bamboo (Bombax bambusa), Bagass (Saccharum officinarum), Cotton (Bombax malabaricum), and Coconut (Cocos nucifera); these materials were characterized by scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectra. All carbon materials are micro sized with large pores or channel like morphology. The unique complex spongy, porous and channel like structure of Carbon shows a lot of similarity with the original anatomy of the plant fibers used as precursor. Waxy contents like tyloses and pits present on fiber tracheids that were seen in the inherent anatomy disappear after pyrolysis and only the carbon skeleton remained; XRD analysis shows that carbon shows the development of a (002) plane, with the exception of carbon obtained from bamboo, which shows a very crystalline character. Raman studies of all carbon materials showed the presence of G- and D-bands of almost equal intensities, suggesting the presence of graphitic carbon as well as a disordered graphitic structure. Carbon materials possessing lesser density, larger surface area, more graphitic with less of an $sp^3$ carbon contribution, and having pore sizes around $10{\mu}m$ favor hydrogen adsorption. Carbon materials synthesized from bagass meet these requirements most effectively, followed by cotton fiber, which was more effective than the carbon synthesized from the other plant fibers.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.422-425
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• 2012

Osteoma is one of the most common tumors of the cranial vault and the facial skeleton. For osteoma in the facial region, endoscopic resection is widely used to prevent surgical scarring. Tumors in a total of 14 patients were resected using an endoscopic holmium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Ho:YAG) laser with a long flexible fiber. Aside from having the advantage of not leaving a scar due to the use of endoscopy, this procedure allowed resection at any position, was minimally invasive, and caused less postoperative pain. This method yielded excellent cosmetic results, so the endoscopic Ho:YAG laser is expected to emerge as a good treatment option for osteoma.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.155-164
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• 2020

Here we report our preliminary results about nickel phosphide (Ni-P) electroless coating on the surface of cellulose paper (CP) and its feasibility as the anode for lithium (Li) batteries. In particular, CP can act as a flexible skeleton to maintain the mechanical structure, and the Ni-P film can play the roles of both the anode substrate and the active material in Li batteries. Ni-P films with different P contents were plated uniformly and compactly on the microfiber strands of CP. When they were tested as the anode for Li battery, their theoretical capacity per physical area was comparable to or higher than hypothetical pure graphite and P film electrodes having the same thickness. After the large irreversible capacity loss in the first charge/discharge process, the samples showed relatively reversible charge/discharge characteristics. All samples showed no separation of the plating layer and no detectable micro-cracks after cycling. When the charge cut-off voltage was adjusted, their capacity retention could be improved significantly. The electrochemical result was just about the same before and after mechanical bending with respect to the overall shape of voltage curve and capacity.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.257-267
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• 2019

This paper presents the results of cyclic loading tests on new high-strength concrete (HC) short columns. The seismic performance and deformation capacity of three reinforced high-strength concrete filled Polyvinyl Chloride tube (RHC-PVCT) short columns and one reinforced high-strength concrete (RHC), under pseudo-static tests (PSTs) with vertical axial force was evaluated. The main design parameters of the columns in the tests were the axial compression ratio, confinement type, concrete strength, height-diameter ratio of PVCT. The failure modes, hysteretic curves, skeleton curves of short columns were presented and analyzed. Placing PVCT in the RHC column could be remarkably improved the ultimate strength and energy dissipation of columns. However, no fiber element models have been formulated for computing the seismic responses of RHC-PVCT columns with PVT tubes filled with high-strength concrete. Nonlinear finite element method (FEM) was conducted to predict seismic behaviors. Finite element models were verified through a comparison of FEM results with experimental results. A parametric study was then performed using validated FEM models to investigate the effect of several parameters on the mechanical properties of RHC-PVCT short columns. The parameters study indicated that the concrete strength and the ratio of diameter to height affected the seismic performance of RHC-PVCT short column significantly.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.937-942
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• 2009

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects on growth and muscle development during the growing period of the sex-linked dwarf gene in the background of a Taiwan Country chicken strain, L2, selected for egg production. Eight crossbred males, heterozygous for the DW*DW mutation, were each backcrossed to six females of the L2 strain to produce two genotypes of BC females, either normal (DW*N+/-) or dwarf (DW*DW/-). The experiment included 251 normal and 207 dwarf pullets. The effect of the dwarf gene on body weight and shank length was highly significant from 2 weeks of age. The reduction of body weight by the dwarf gene reached 34.8% and 37.4% as compared to normal sibs at 16 and 20 weeks of age, respectively. Parameters of the growth curve were estimated: the age at inflection (TI) was higher in normal pullets (66.9 days) than in dwarf pullets (61.2 days). A significant effect of the dwarf gene on single muscle fiber cross-section area was found from 12 weeks of age onwards, whereas the dwarf gene had no effect on the total number of muscle fibers. Comparing the effect of the dwarf gene on shank length at different ages revealed an earlier effect on skeleton growth, observed from 2 weeks of age, than on muscle development, which was affected from 8 to 12 weeks of age.