• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2024.07a
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• pp.383-390
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• 2024

Sand is a vital component within a concrete admixture for variety of structures and is classified as one of the crucial bulk material used. Assessing the Fineness Modulus (FM) of sand is an essential part of concrete production process because FM significantly affects the workability, cost-effectiveness, porosity, and concrete strength. Traditional sand quality inspection methods, like Sieve Analysis Test, are known to be laborious, time-consuming, and cost ineffective. Previous studies had mainly focused on measuring the physical characteristics of individual sand particles rather than real-time quality assessment of sand, particularly its FM during concrete production. This study introduces an image-based method for detecting flawed sand through deep learning techniques to evaluate the quality of sand used in concrete. The method involves categorizing sand images into three groups (Unavailable, Stable, Dangerous) and seven types based on FM. To achieve a high level of generalization ability and computational efficiency, various deep learning architectures (VGG16, ResNet-101 and MobileNetV3 small), were evaluated and chosen; with the inclusion of transfer learning to ensure model accuracy. A dataset of labeled sand images was compiled. Furthermore, image augmentation techniques were employed to effectively enlarge this dataset. The models were trained using the prepared dataset that were categorized into three discrete groups. A comparative analysis of results was performed based on classification performance metrics which identified the VGG16 model as the most effective achieving an impressive 99.87% accuracy in identifying flawed sand. This finding underscores the potential of deep learning techniques for assessing sand quality in terms of FM; positioning this research as a preliminary investigation into this topic of study.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.103-107
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• 2007

We hypothesized that plaque-associated bacteria may have a role in maintenance of alveolar bone. To test it, immortalized gingival epithelial HOK-16B cells were co-cultured with live or lysed eight plaque bacterial species and the expression levels of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-2 and -4 were examined by real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Un-stimulated HOK-16B cells expressed both BMP-2 and -4. Co-culture with plaque bacterial lysates had significant effects on the level of BMP-2 but not on that of BMP-4. Five species including Streptococcus sanguinis, S. gordonii, Veillonella atypica, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Treponema denticola substantially up-regulated the level of BMP-2. In contrary to the upregulatory effect of lysate, live T. denticola suppressed the expression of BMP-2. In addition, in vitro osteoblastic differentiation assay using C2C12 cells and the conditioned medium of HOK-16B cells confirmed the production of BMPs by gingival epithelial cells and the modulation of BMP expression by the lysates of S. sanguinis and T. denticola. In conclusion, we have shown that plaque bacteria can regulate the expression of BMP-2 by gingival epithelial cells, the physiologic meaning of which needs further investigation.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.253-262
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• 2016

Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) is one of the most important bacteria in the formation of dental plaque and dental caries. S. mutans adheres to an acquired pellicle formed on the tooth surface, and aggregates with many oral bacteria. It initiates plaque formation by synthesizing glucan from sucrose, which is catalyzed by glucosyltransferases. Propolis is a resinous mixture produced by honeybees, by mixing saliva and beeswax with secretions gathered from wood sap and flower pollen. Bees prevent pathogenic invasions by coating the propolis to the outer and inner surface of the honeycomb. Propolis has traditionally been used for the treatment of allergic rhinitis, asthma and dermatitis. We investigated the inhibitory effects of propolis ethanol extract on biofilm formation and gene expression of S. mutans. The biofilm formation of S. mutans was determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and safranin staining. We observed that the extract of propolis had an inhibitory effect on the formation of S. mutans biofilms at concentrations higher than 0.2 mg/ml. Real-time PCR analysis showed that the gene expression of biofilm formation, such as gbpB, spaP, brpA, relA and vicR of S. mutans, was significantly decreased in a dose dependent manner. The ethanol extract of propolis showed concentration dependent growth inhibition of S. mutans, and significant inhibition of acid production at concentrations of 0.025, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mg/ml, compared to the control group. These results suggest that the ethanol extract of propolis inhibits gene expression related to biofilm formation in S. mutans.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.7 no.3 s.25
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• pp.71-78
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• 2005

This study focuses on finding out engineering characteristics of asphalt concrete mixtures using mineral fillers with recycled waste lime, which is a by-product in the Soda Ash(Na2CO3) production course. The materials tested in this study were made with 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of mixing ratio based on the conventional mineral filler ratio to analyze the recycle possibility of the waste lime. The asphalt concrete mixtures with recycled waste lime and hydrated lime, and conventional asphalt concrete mixtures were evaluated through their fundamental engineering properties such as Marshall stability, indirect tensile strength, resilient modulus, permanent deformation characteristics, moisture susceptibility and fatigue resistance. The results indicate that the application of recycled waste lime as mineral filler improves the permanent deformation characteristics, stiffness and fatigue endurance of asphalt concrete mixtures at the wide range of temperatures. It is also found that the mixtures with recycled waste lime show higher resistance against stripping than conventional asphalt concrete mixtures. It is concluded from various test results that the waste lime can be used as mineral fillers and especially can greatly improve resistance to permanent deformation of asphalt concrete mixtures at high temperatures.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2001

This paper presents further investigation into the effect of over-expansion cycle in a spark-ignition engine. On the basis of the results obtained in previous studies, several combinations of late-closing (LC) of intake valve and expansion ratio were tested using a single-cylinder production engine. A large volume of intake capacity was inserted into the intake manifold to simulate multi-cylinder engines. With the large capacity volume, LC can decrease the pumping loss and then increase the mechanical efficiency. Increasing the expansion ratio from 11 to 23.9 with LC application can produce about 13% improvement of thermal efficiency which was suggested to be caused by the increased cycle efficiency. The decrease of compression ratio from 11 to 5.5 gives little effect on the thermal efficiency if the expansion ratio could be kept constant. Thus, the expansion ratio is revealed to be a determining factor for cycle efficiency, while compression ratio is no more important, which suggests the usefulness of controlling the intake charge with intake valve closure timing. These were successfully explained by simple thermodynamic calculation and thus the mechanism could be verified by the estimation.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.82-96
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• 2019

A semi-submersible structure has been widely used for offshore drilling and production of oil and gas. The small water plane area makes the structure very sensitive to weight increase in terms of payload and stability. Therefore, it is necessary to lighten the substructure from the early design stage. This study aims at an optimization of hull structure based on a sophisticated yield and buckling strength in accordance with classification rules. An in-house strength assessment system is developed to automate the procedure such as a generation of buckling panels, a collection of required panel information, automatic buckling and yield check and so on. The developed system enables an automatic yield and buckling strength check of all panels composing the hull structure at each iteration of the optimization. Design variables are plate thickness and stiffener section profiles. In order to overcome the difficulty of large number of design variables and the computational burden of FE analysis, various methods are proposed. The steepest descent method is selected as the optimization algorithm for an efficient search. For a reduction of the number of design variables and a direct application to practical design, the stiffener section variable is determined by selecting one from a pre-defined standard library. Plate thickness is also discretized at 0.5t interval. The number of FE analysis is reduced by using equations to analytically estimating the stress changes in gradient calculation and line search steps. As an endeavor to robust optimization, the number of design variables to be simultaneously optimized is divided by grouping the scantling variables by the plane. A sequential optimization is performed group by group. As a verification example, a central column of a semi-submersible structure is optimized and compared with a conventional optimization of all design variables at once.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.5-10
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• 2022

The industrial waste is becoming a big problem in the aspect of spatial and environmental in domestic and international. Therefore, the waste reduction and recycling policy has been being implemented as a way to solve this problem. The engineered stone sludge, which is waste, is generated duing the engineered stone production process. since engineered stone sludge is mostly treated by landfill, an increase in the amount of the sludge leads to an increase in landfill sites and treatment costs. therefore, there is a need for a method of resourcization with engineered stone sludge. So, laboratory tests (Plastic and liquid limits, compaction, unconfined compression and permeability test) were conducted to confirm the possibility of using engineered stone sludge mixed with weathered granite soil as a cover material for landfill in this study. The result shows that the mixed soil material with less that 62.5% of engineered stone sludge can be used as a cover material for landfill.

• International Journal of Molecular Medicine
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.931-938
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• 2020

Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) regulates cell growth, glucose uptake and protein metabolism, and is required for growth hormone (GH) signaling-mediated insulin production and secretion. IGF1 expression is associated with STAT5, which binds to a region (TTCNNNGAA) of the gene. Although sulfur is used in various fields, the toxicity of this element is a significant disadvantage as it causes indigestion, vomiting, diarrhea, pain and migraine. Therefore, it is difficult to conduct in vitro experiments to directly determine the effects of dietary sulfur. Additionally, it is difficult to dissolve non-toxic sulfur (NTS). The present study aimed to identify the role of NTS in GH signaling as a Jak2/STAT5b/IGF-1 pathway regulator. MTT assay was used to identify an optimum NTS concentration for C2C12 mouse muscle cells. Western blotting, RT-PCR, chromatin immunoprecipitation, overexpression and small interfering RNA analyses were performed. NTS was dissolved in 1 mg/ml DMSO and could be used in vitro. Therefore, the present study determined whether NTS induced mouse muscle cell growth via GH signaling. NTS notably increased STAT5b binding to the Igf1 promoter. NTS also promoted GH signaling by upregulating GH receptor expression, similar to GH treatment. NTS enhanced GH signaling by regulating Jak2/STAT5b/IGF-1 signaling pathway factor expression in C2C12 mouse muscle cells. Thus, NTS may be used as a GH-enhancing growth stimulator.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.962-970
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• 2007

A total of 1,200 LinNan Chinese color-feathered chicks were used to study the effects of methionine source [DL-2-hydroxy-4-methylthio-butanoic acid (HMTBa) or DL-methionine (DLM)] and dietary crude protein (CP) level on growth performance, carcass traits, and whole-body nitrogen and fat retention. The trial was designed as a $2{\times}2$ factorial arrangement, including two CP levels (adequate and low) and two methionine sources (HMTBa and DL-methionine). Diets were formulated for three phases, starter (0-21 d), grower (21-42 d), and finisher (42-63 d). Chicks fed HMTBa had higher daily gain and improved feed efficiency than DLM during the grower phase (p<0.05). A significant two-way interaction was observed for growth performance during the finisher phase and overall (0-63 d). Growth performance was greater for chicks fed HMTBa than DLM on adequate-CP diets (p<0.05), but this was not observed at low-CP level (p>0.05). Chicks fed low-CP diets grew slower, used feed less efficiently during the grower, finisher phase and overall. On d 42, regardless of dietary CP levels, birds fed HMTBa had higher carcass weights, breast and thigh weights than DLM-fed birds (p<0.04). Birds fed low-CP diet had lighter carcass weights and less breast muscle, thigh muscle, and dressing percentage at the end of starter, grower and finisher phases (p<0.05). Whole body composition analyses found that birds fed HMTBa tended to contain more protein and less fat compared to those chicks fed DLM at the end of the starter phase (p<0.10). Low-CP diets increased CP concentration in the whole body at the end of the finisher phase (p = 0.05). HMTBa supplementation increased whole-body N retention rate during the finisher phase and overall (p<0.01), and low-CP diets reduced N intake and whole-body fat retention during the finisher phase and overall (p<0.05). In summary, HMTBa was better than DLM on an equimolar basis for growth performance, carcass traits, and N retention in Chinese color-feathered chicks. Low-CP diets lowered growth performance as well as carcass traits in color-feathered birds, probably due to imbalanced AA profiles.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.1643-1650
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• 2017

Objective: The control of psychrotrophic bacteria causing milk spoilage and illness due to toxic compounds is an important issue in the dairy industry. In South Korea, Gangwon-do province is one of the coldest terrains in which eighty percent of the area is mountainous regions, and mainly plays an important role in the agriculture and dairy industries. The purposes of this study were to analyze the indigenous microbiota of raw milk in Gangwon-do and accurately investigate a putative microbial group causing deterioration in milk quality. Methods: We collected raw milk from the bulk tank of 18 dairy farms in the Hoengseong and Pyeongchang regions of Gangwon-do. Milk components were analyzed and the number of viable bacteria was confirmed. The V3 and V4 regions of 16S rRNA gene were amplified and sequenced on an Illumina Miseq platform. Sequences were then assigned to operational taxonomic units, followed by the selection of representative sequences using the QIIME software package. Results: The milk samples from Pyeongchang were higher in fat, protein, lactose, total solid, and solid non-fat, and bacterial cell counts were observed only for the Hoengseong samples. The phylum Proteobacteria was detected most frequently in both the Hoengseong and Pyeongchang samples, followed by the phyla Firmicutes and Actinobacteria. Notably, Corynebacterium, Pediococcus, Macrococcus, and Acinetobacter were significantly different from two regions. Conclusion: Although the predominant phylum in raw milk is same, the abundances of major genera in milk samples were different between Hoengseong and Pyeongchang. We assumed that these differences are caused by regional dissimilar farming environments such as soil, forage, and dairy farming equipment so that the quality of milk raw milk from Pyeongchang is higher than that of Hoengseong. These results could provide the crucial information for identifying the microbiota in raw milk of South Korea.