• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.393-410
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• 2012

Conventional geotechnical instrumentation techniques available for monitoring of slopes, especially soil-nailed slopes have limitations such as electromagnetic interference, low accuracy, poor longterm reliability and difficulty in mounting a series of strain sensors on a soil nail bar with a small-diameter. This paper presents a slope monitoring system based on fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensing technology. This monitoring system is designed to perform long-term monitoring of slope movements, strains along soil nails, and other slope reinforcement elements. All these FBG sensors are fabricated and calibrated in laboratory and a trial of this monitoring system has been successfully conducted on a roadside slope in Hong Kong. As part of the slope stability improvement works, soil nails and a toe support soldier-pile wall were constructed. During the slope works, more than 100 FBG sensors were installed on a soil nail, a soldier pile, and an in- place inclinometer. The paper presents the layout and arrangement of the instruments as well as the installation procedures adopted. Monitoring data have been collected since March 2008. This trial has demonstrated the great potential of the optical fibre monitoring system for long-term monitoring of slope performance. The advantages of the slope monitoring system and experience gained in the field implementation are also discussed in the paper.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.1299-1306
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• 2015

This study aims to investigate the mechanism of action of the cinnamon bark essential oil (CB), when used singly and also in combination with piperacillin, for its antimicrobial and synergistic activity against beta-lactamase TEM-1 plasmid-conferred Escherichia coli J53 R1. Viable count of bacteria for this combination of essential oil and antibiotic showed a complete killing profile at 20 h and further confirmed its synergistic effect by reducing the bacteria cell numbers. Analysis on the stability of treated cultures for cell membrane permeability by CB when tested against sodium dodecyl sulfate revealed that the bacterial cell membrane was disrupted by the essential oil. Scanning electron microscopy observation and bacterial surface charge measurement also revealed that CB causes irreversible membrane damage and reduces the bacterial surface charge. In addition, bioluminescence expression of Escherichia coli [pSB1075] and E. coli [pSB401] by CB showed reduction, indicating the possibility of the presence of quorum sensing (QS) inhibitors. Gas-chromatography and mass spectrometry of the essential oil of Cinnamomum verum showed that trans-cinnamaldehyde (72.81%), benzyl alcohol (12.5%), and eugenol (6.57%) were the major components in the essential oil. From this study, CB has the potential to reverse E. coli J53 R1 resistance to piperacillin through two pathways; modification in the permeability of the outer membrane or bacterial QS inhibition.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.267-278
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• 2022

Pre-stressed concrete circular spun piles are widely used in various infrastructure projects around the world and offer an economical deep foundation system with consistent and superior quality compared to cast in-situ and other concrete piles. Conventional methods for measuring the lateral response of piles have been limited to conventional instrumentation, such as electrical based gauges and pressure transducers. The problem with existing technology is that the sensors are not able to assist in recording the lateral stiffness changes of the pile which varies along the length depending on the distribution of the flexural moments and appearance of tensile cracks. This paper describes a full-scale bending test of a 1-m diameter spun pile of 30 m long and instrumented using advanced fibre optic distributed sensor, known as Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis (BOTDA). Optical fibre sensors were embedded inside the concrete during the manufacturing stage and attached on the concrete surface in order to measure the pile's full-length flexural behaviour under the prescribed serviceability and ultimate limit state. The relationship between moments-deflections and bending moments-curvatures are examined with respect to the lateral forces. Tensile cracks were measured and compared with the peak strains observed from BOTDA data which corroborated very well. By analysing the moment-curvature response of the pile, the structure can be represented by two bending stiffness parameters, namely the pre-yield (EI) and post-yield (EI_cr), where the cracks reduce the stiffness property by 89%. The pile deflection profile can be attained from optical fibre data through closed-form solutions, which generally matched with the displacements recorded by Linear Voltage Displacement Transducers (LVDTs).

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.65-70
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• 1987

In Girder to measure the pressure and weight decrease of drying sample during the vacuum drying process of food, sensing devices were designed and constructed with strain gauge. Microcomputer based vacuum drying system was made up of these devices interfaced to apple II microcomputer. The electrical output signal from vacuum sensor which constituted with Bourdon tube whereon strain gauge attached were digitalized and input to microcomputer through the MC 6821 interface I.C. chip. The relationship between read-out digital value (D) from microcomputer and readings of vacuum gauge (P, mmHg) was P=-146.136+3.620D'(r=0.9994) The pressure control of vacuum dryer was successfully conducted in the range of $400{\sim}600\;mmHg$ accuracy. The digitalized load cell output (D) could be correlated with the real weight (W, g) as W=-14,000+0.585D (r=0.9998) Drying curves of green red pepper under $64^{\circ}C$, $400{\sim}600\;mmHg$ was similar to those of red pepper and differently affected by the degree of vacuum pressure but was varied according to their shape (cut or whole). Moisture movement of green red pepper during the vacuum drying process was fitted to Page model. The empirical equations obtained were $M-M_e/M_o-M_e={\exp}\;(-0.0673{\theta}^{1.177})$ and $M-M_e/M_o-M_e={\exp}\;(-0.0655\;{\theta}^{1.477})$ for whole and cut green red pepper, respectively.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.40 no.9
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• pp.815-820
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• 2016

An elastic polymer (e.g., PDMS) blended with EFG particles is a promising conductive composite for fabricating soft sensors that can detect an object's deformation up to or more than 50%. Here, we develop large-strain, sprayable soft sensors using a mixture of PDMS and EFG particles, which are used as a host elastomer and electrically conductive particles, respectively. A solution for a conductive composite mixture is prepared by the microwave-assisted graphite exfoliation, followed by ultrasonication-induced fragmentation of the exfoliated graphite and ultrasonic blending of PDMS and EFG. Using the prepared solutions for composite and pure PDMS, 1-, 2-, and 3-axis soft sensors are fabricated by airbrush stencil technique where composite mixture and pure PDMS are materials for sensing and insulating layers, respectively. We characterize the soft strain sensors after investigating the effect of PDMS/EFG wt% on mechanical compliance and electrical conductance of the conductive composite.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.311-322
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• 2022

This study performed 4-point flexural tests of reinforced concrete to which was attached a distributed optical fiber sheet and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets in order to assess the effect of the CFRP sheets and the applicability of a BOTDR sensor simultaneously. To evaluate the reinforcing effect, various degrees of CFRP sheet attachment were manufactured, and to evaluate the sensing ability, strains obtained from a BOTDR sensor were compared with strains measured from electric resistance strain gauges that were attached to the concrete surface. From the results, the reinforcing effects were evidently different according to the attachment type of the CFRP sheets, and it was confirmed that the main influencing factor on the reinforcing effect was the type of attachment rather than the attachment area. The reinforced concrete structural behavior was visualized with strains measured from the BOTDR sensor as load increased, and it was identified that load was concentrated in the CFRP reinforced area. Strains from the BOTDR sensor were similar to those from the electric resistance strain gauge; thereby a BOTDR sensor can be effective in the analysis of structural behaviorsof massive infrastructure. Finally, the strain from a BOTDR sensor was high where CFRP sheet fall-off occurs, and it would therefore be efficient to track local damage locations of CFRP sheets by utilizing a BOTDR sensor.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.431-438
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• 2009

The alkaline serine protease asp, which was shown to be a virulence factor of Vibrio alginolyticus as a purified protein, was cloned from V. alginolyticus EPGS, a strain recently isolated from moribund Epinephelus coioides in an outbreak of vibriosis in a mariculture farm of Shenzhen. The asp null mutant was constructed by homologous recombination with suicide plasmid pNQ705-1. Compared with the wild-type strain, the asp null mutant exhibited a significant decrease of total extracellular protease activity, and caused a IS-fold decrease in virulence of V. alginolyticus. In our previous study, the luxO and $luxR_{val}$ genes from V. alginolyticus MVP01 were cloned and identified, and the luxO-$luxR_{val}$ regulatory couple was shown to regulate various genes expression, suggesting that it played a central role in the quorum sensing system of V. alginolyticus. In this study, the regulation of the asp gene was analyzed by using RT-PCR and quantitative real-time PCR methods; we proved that its transcription was greatly induced at the late stage of growth and was regulated by a luxO-$luxR_{val}$ regulatory system.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.415-424
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the global regulatory mechanism known as quorum sensing and expression of virulence factors in Escherichia coli O157:87. A nonpolar luxS deletion was introduced into the chromosome of strain CI03J, a human clinical isolate from South Korea, to create the ${\Delta}luxS$ mutant strain ML03J. Phenotypic characterization of wild-type and mutant strains demonstrated that ML03J had no obvious growth or metabolic defects on 0.2% glucose LB medium, produced a functionally defective flagellum, and could not utilize sorbose; the biological significance of sorbose utilization is unknown. Omics-based analysis revealed the involvement of LuxS in the transcriptional activation of several flagella/chemotaxisrelated genes (flhD; fliA, C, D, S, Z; and cheA, Y, Z), repression of glutamate-dependent acid resistance genes (gadAB), and expression of virulence factors including Shiga toxin, hemolysin, and SepD within the LEE pathogenicity island.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.852-858
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• 2009

The homeostasis of the pyridine nucleotide pool [NAD(P)H and NAD(P)$^+$] is maintained in Rhodobacter sphaeroides mutant strains defective in the cytochrome bci complex or the cytochrome c oxidases in terms of its concentration and redox state. Aerobic derepression of the puf operon, which is under the control of the PrrBA two-component system, in the CBB3 mutant strain of R. sphaeroides was shown to be not the result of changes in the redox state of the pyridine nucleotides and the ubiquinone/ubiquinol pool. Using the bc$_1$ complex knock-out mutant strain of R. sphaeroides, we clearly demonstrated that the inhibitory effect of cbb$_3$, oxidase on spectral complex formation is not caused indirectly by the redox change of the ubiquinone/ubiquinol pool.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.642-647
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• 2018

Gas compressors are mostly driven by motors. It is important to measure the power of motors to evaluate their power efficiency, because the mechanical loads of gas compressors are always varied. In order to measure the power given to the driving motors, the torque should be measured. Manufacturers of compressors usually use the torque data to calculate the compressors qualities such as power consumption, efficiencies and failures. In general, measurements for the shaft torque of the compressors have been based upon contact types, strain gauges. In the cases of larger compressors, the contact type of strain gauges have several disadvantages such as large size and high cost. In this study, a relatively inexpensive and simple torque sensing technique that is not restricted to shaft diameter is introduced using visualization technique. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) has been adopted to complete non-contact torques measurements for rotating motors. In order to compare the performance of the newly constructed torque measurement technique, torque measurement by a transducer based on MEMS technology has been performed simultaneously during experiments.