• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2021

The aim of this study was to provide a new assessment of rotator cuff muscle activity. Eight male subjects (24.7 ± 3.2 years old,171.2 ± 9.8 cm tall, and weighing 63.8 ± 11.9 kg) performed the study exercises. The subjects performed 10 sets of the exercise while fixing the elbow at 90 degrees flexure and lying supine on a bed. One exercise set consisted of the subject performing external shoulder rotation 50 times using training equipment. Two imaging protocols were employed: (a) true fast imaging with steady precession (TrueFISP) at an acquisition time of 12 seconds and (b) multi-shot spin-echo echo-planar imaging (MSSE-EPI) at an acquisition time of 30 seconds for one echo. The main method of assessing rotator cuff muscle activity was functional T2 mapping using ultrafast imaging (fast-acquired muscle functional MRI [fast-mfMRI]). Fast-mfMRI enabled real-time imaging for the identification and evaluation of the degree of muscle activity induced by the exercise. Regions of interest were set at several places in the musculus subscapularis (sub), musculus supraspinatus (sup), musculus teres minor (ter), and deltoid muscle (del). We used the MR signal of the images and transverse relaxation time (T2) for comparison. Most of the TrueFISP signal was not changed by exercise and there was no significant difference from the resting values. Only the T2 in the musculus teres minor was increased after one set and the change were seen on the T2 images. Additionally, except for those after one and two sets, the changes in T2 were significant compared to those at rest (P < 0.01). We also demonstrated identify and visualize the extent to which muscles involved in muscle activity by exercise. In addition, we showed that muscle activity in a region such as a shoulder, which is susceptible to B0 inhomogeneity, could be easily detected using this technique.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.195-206
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• 2022

Gaining an understanding of bird communities in different habitat types is essential for the conservation of ecologically important habitats. Wetlands possess different types of habitats and provide an important environment for wintering waterbird communities. This study compares avian communities in five different habitat types in the Moeyungyi Wetland Wildlife Sanctuary (MWWS), Myanmar. From December 2014 to the first week of February in 2015, bird and habitat data were collected from representative areas of five habitat types (i.e., short grassland, tall grassland, lotus fields, open water areas, and rice fields) at MWWS. We established nine sampling plots in each habitat type, and used the point quadrat method to survey habitats and the point count method to survey birds in the habitats. Simple one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc tests were used to determine differences between bird communities. We made 95 detections during 19 daily visits to each of the five habitat types. During the survey period, we recorded a total of 10,389 individuals belonging to 52 different bird species, based on 7-min observations at each of the 45 point count stations. Furthermore, we detected significant differences by habitat structure (i.e., vegetation coverage, height, and density; water depth; and plant species diversity) as well as bird communities (i.e., species richness, abundance, and diversity indices). In addition, the detailed analysis of 52 avian species revealed significant differences among 45 species with respect to the mean numbers of observed individuals in the survey habitats. The findings of this study revealed significant differences in the structure and composition of waterbird communities among the five assessed habitat types. Because natural marshes provide preferable habitats for a larger number and greater diversity of birds, relative to rice fields, natural marshes should be prioritized for conservation and restoration in Moeyungyi Wetland Wildlife Sanctuary.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.1-11
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• 2021

The research intended to understand the lateral behavior in core and offset outrigger system. To achieve this goal, a structural analysis and design of 70 stories building was carried out by making use of MIDAS-Gen. And the primary parameters of this analysis were the stiffness of outrigger and the location of outrigger in plan. On the basis of the analysis results, we analyzed the lateral behavior of structural elements such as slab, outrigger and exterior columns in core and offset outrigger. In this analysis research, it is indicated that the stiffness of outrigger and the outrigger location in plan had an any impact on lateral behavior in outrigger system of tall building. Specially, slab stresses in core outrigger system were highly distributed in the slab near the outrigger system to connect shear walls and exterior columns while slab stresses in offset outrigger system were highly distributed in the slab between the outrigger system and shear walls. Also the study results can be of significant help to obtaining the engineering data for the reasonable structure design of the high-rise outrigger system.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.425-430
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• 2022

Concrete used for the foundation of high-rise buildings is often placed through in an integrated pouring to ensure construction efficiency and quality. However, if concrete is placed integrally, there is a high risk of temperature cracking during the hydration reaction, and it is necessary to determine the optimal mixing design of high-performance, high-durable concrete through the replacement of the admixture. In this study, experiments on salt damage, carbonation, and sulfate were conducted on the specimen manufactured from the optimal high-performance low-heating concrete combination determined in the author's previous study. The resistance of the cement matrix to chlorine ion diffusion coefficient, carbonation coefficient, and sulfate was quantitatively evaluated. In the terms of compression strength, it was measured as 141% compared to the structural design standard of KCI at 91 days. Excellent durability was expressed in carbonation and chlorine ion diffusivity performance evaluation. In particular, the chlorine ion diffusion coefficient, which should be considered the most strictly in the marine environment, was measured at a value of 4.09×E-12m²/y(1.2898×E-10m²/s), and is expected to be used as a material property value in salt damage durability analysis. These results confirmed that the latent hydroponics were due to mixing of the admixture and high resistance was due to the pozzolane reaction.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.55-66
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• 2022

Tall buildings are often subjected to steady and unsteady forces due to external wind flows. Measurement and mitigation of these forces becomes critical to structural design in engineering applications. Over the last few decades, many approaches such as modification of the external geometry of structures have been investigated to mitigate wind-induced load. One such proven geometric modification involved the rounding of sharp corners. In this work, we systematically analyze the impact of rounded corner radii on the reducing the flow-induced loading on a square cylinder. We perform 3-Dimensional (3D) simulations for high Reynolds number flows (Re=1 × 105) which are more likely to be encountered in practical applications. An Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (IDDES) method capable of capturing flow accurately at large Reynolds numbers is employed in this study. The IDDES formulation uses a k-ω Shear Stress Transport (SST) model for near-wall modelling that prevents mesh-induced separation of the boundary layer. The effects of these corner modifications are analyzed in terms of the resulting variations in the mean and fluctuating components of the aerodynamic forces compared to a square cylinder with no geometric changes. Plots of the angular distribution of the mean and fluctuating coefficient of pressure along the square cylinder's surface illustrate the effects of corner modifications on the different parts of the cylinder. The windward corner's separation angle was observed to decrease with an increase in radius, resulting in a narrower and longer recirculation region. Furthermore, with an increase in radius, a reduction in the fluctuating lift, mean drag, and fluctuating drag coefficients has been observed.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.93-105
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• 2023

Seismic isolation and vibration control techniques have been developed and put into practical use by challenging researchers and engineers worldwide since the latter half of the 20th century, and after more than 40 years, they are now used in thousands of buildings, private residences, highways in many seismic areas in the world. Seismic isolation and vibration control structures can keep the structures undamaged even in a major earthquake and realize continuous occupancy. This performance has come to be recognized not only by engineers but also by ordinary people, becoming indispensable for the formation of a resilient society. However, the dynamic characteristics of seismically isolated bearings, the key elements, are highly dependent on the size effect and rate-of-loading, especially under extreme loading conditions. Therefore, confirming the actual properties and performance of these bearings with full-scale specimens under prescribed dynamic loading protocols is essential. The number of testing facilities with such capacity is still limited and even though the existing labs in the US, China, Taiwan, Italy, etc. are conducting these tests, their dynamic loading test setups are subjected to friction generated by the large vertical loads and inertial force of the heavy table which affect the accuracy of measured forces. To solve this problem, the authors have proposed a direct reaction force measuring system that can eliminate the effects of friction and inertia forces, and a seismic isolation testing facility with the proposed system (E-isolation) will be completed on March 2023 in Japan. This test facility is designed to conduct not only dynamic loading tests of seismic isolation bearings and dampers but also to perform hybrid simulations of seismically isolated structures. In this paper, design details and the realization of this system into an actual dynamic testing facility are presented and the outcomes are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.8
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• pp.41-48
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• 2023

Microbially induced calcite precipitation(MICP) is a novel cementation method meant to enhance soil engineering properties through the use of microorganisms. This study investigates the effect of different MICP concentrations on plant growth. Tall fescue seeds are grown in plant columns filled with Jumunjin sand. Following plant growth, the soil samples are treated with MICP via spraying method. The results indicate that the MICP-treated plants exhibit hampered growth compared with the untreated plants. pH and electrical conductivity(EC) tests are performed to analyze the changes in soil properties by MICP. The MICP-treated soils exhibit a pH = 7, similar to the untreated soil. However, the EC dramatically increases with the increase in the MICP concentration, which leads to an increase in the osmotic pressure of the soil surrounding the plant roots. Eventually, the higher osmotic pressure in MICP-treated soil hinders the absorption of water and nutrients in plant roots, thus inhibiting plant growth.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.241-263
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• 2022

The conventional wind and twisted-wind effect on aerodynamic properties of neighboring buildings arranged in side-by-side and tandem systems at 2B and 5B spacings are systematically investigated by large eddy simulation. Different physical interactions between different wind profiles and neighboring buildings will be deeply understood. The neighboring-building system under two different types of wind profiles, i.e., conventional wind profile (CWP), twisted wind profiles (TWP) with the maximum twisted angle of 30°, is used to evaluate the variation of physical mechanism between wind and buildings. Aerodynamic characteristics including mean and RMS pressure coefficient, and velocity field were systematically analyzed and compared between different scenario. It was found that the distribution of mean pressure, root-mean-square x velocity and the streamline of wind flow for TWP greatly deviated from CWP, and the effect of TWP on the downstream building, was drastically different from that of CWP, such as the size of vortexes after the lower stream building being bigger when exposed to TWP, and the mean pressure distribution on the building surfaces are also different. Moreover, evidence of buildings arranged in side-by-side and tandem configurations having interchangeable properties under TWP was also discovered, that two buildings being arranged side-by-side exposed to TWP could be identified as being arranged in tandem with a different wind twist angle, or vice versa.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.975-985
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• 2021

The sufficient amount of protein supply is crucial for improving the growth performance of growing beef cattle. In addition, due to the improvement in the genetic potential of the carcass weight of Hanwoo steers, dietary protein requirements may be increased during the rapid growth period. Accordingly, the dietary crude protein (CP) level in growing Hanwoo steers has been increasing in the field. However, little scientific evidence is available in relation to this. Therefore, this study was conducted to test whether a higher dietary CP level than convention would improve the growth performance and body metabolism in growing Hanwoo steers. Fifty growing Hanwoo steers were randomly divided into two groups and fed either a commercial diet (CON) or a higher CP (HCP) concentrate mix, provided with a similar level of dietary energy. Tall fescue hay was provided ad libitum. The dietary CP level did not affect growth performance and blood metabolite. Nitrogen intake, predicted nitrogen excretion, and retained nitrogen were higher in the HCP group than in the CON group (p < 0.01). Although there was no difference in the nitrogen utilization efficiency, the growth efficiency per retained nitrogen decreased in the HCP group (p = 0.02). A higher dietary CP level may increase nitrogen retention in growing Hanwoo steers without improving growth performance, which leads to reduced growth efficiency per retained nitrogen. Furthermore, considering the high price of feed protein and increased nitrogen excretion to the environment, a further increase in the protein level may not be sustainable.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.353-364
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• 2023

In this study, a method has been proposed for the static and dynamic nonlinear analysis of multi-storey buildings, which takes into account the contribution of axial deformations in vertical load-bearing elements, which are especially important in tall and narrow structures. Shear deformations on the shear walls were also taken into account in the study. The presented method takes into account the effects that are not considered in the fishbone and flexural-shear beam models developed in the literature. In the Fishbone model, only frame systems are modeled. In the flexural shear beam model developed for shear wall systems, shear deformations and axial deformations in the walls are neglected. Unlike the literature, with the model proposed in this study, both shear deformations in the walls and axial deformations in the columns and walls are taken into account. In the proposed model, multi-storey building is represented as a sandwich beam consisting of Timoshenko beams pieced together with a double-hinged beam. At each storey, the total moment capacities of the frame beams and the coupled beams in the coupled shear walls are represented as the equivalent shear capacity. On the other hand, The sums of individual columns and walls moment at the relevant floor level are represented as equivalent moment capacity at that floor level. At the end of the study, examples were solved to show the suitability of the proposed method in this study. The SAP2000 program is employed in analyses. In a conclusion, it is observed that among the solved examples, the proposed sandwich beam model gives good results. As can be seen from these results, it is seen that the presented method, especially in terms of base shear force, gives very close results to the detailed finite element method.