Flexural behavior of reinforced lightweight concrete beams under reversed cyclic loading

Chien, Li-Kai,Kuo, Yi-Hao,Huang, Chung-Ho,Chen, How-Ji,Cheng, Ping-Hu Techno-Press 2014 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.52 No.3

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the flexural behavior of doubly reinforced lightweight concrete (R.L.C.) beams tested under cyclic loading. A total of 20 beam specimens were tested. Test results are presented in terms of ductility index, the degradation of strength and stiffness, and energy dissipation. The flexural properties of R.L.C. beam were compared to those of normal concrete (R.C.) beams. Test results show that R.L.C. beam with low and medium concrete strength (20, 40MPa) performed displacement ductility similar to the R.C. beam. The ductility can be improved by enhancing the concrete strength or decreasing the tension reinforcement ratio. Using lightweight aggregate in concrete is advantageous to the dynamic stiffness of R.L.C. beam. Enhancement of concrete strength and increase of reinforcement ratio will lead to increase of the stiffness degradation of beam. The energy dissipation of R.L.C beam, similar to R.C. beam, increase with the increase of tension reinforcement ratio. The energy dissipation of unit load cycle for smaller tension reinforcement ratio is relatively less than that of beam with higher reinforcement ratio.

Flexural behavior of reinforced lightweight concrete beams under reversed cyclic loading

Li-Kai Chien,Yi-Hao Kuo,Chung-Ho Huang,How-Ji Chen,Ping-Hu Cheng 국제구조공학회 2014 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.52 No.3

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the flexural behavior of doubly reinforced lightweight concrete (R.L.C.) beams tested under cyclic loading. A total of 20 beam specimens were tested. Test results are presented in terms of ductility index, the degradation of strength and stiffness, and energy dissipation. The flexural properties of R.L.C. beam were compared to those of normal concrete (R.C.) beams. Test results show that R.L.C. beam with low and medium concrete strength (20, 40MPa) performed displacement ductility similar to the R.C. beam. The ductility can be improved by enhancing the concrete strength or decreasing the tension reinforcement ratio. Using lightweight aggregate in concrete is advantageous to the dynamic stiffness of R.L.C. beam. Enhancement of concrete strength and increase of reinforcement ratio will lead to increase of the stiffness degradation of beam. The energy dissipation of R.L.C beam, similar to R.C. beam, increase with the increase of tension reinforcement ratio. The energy dissipation of unit load cycle for smaller tension reinforcement ratio is relatively less than that of beam with higher reinforcement ratio.

Angelica dahurica attenuates melanogenesis in B16F0 cells by repressing Wnt/β-catenin signaling

Fang Chien-Liang,Goswami Debakshee,Kuo Chia-Hua,Day Cecilia Hsuan,Lin Mei-Yi,Ho Tsung-Jung,Yang Liang-Yo,Hsieh Dennis Jine-Yuan,Lin Tzu-Kai,Huang Chih-Yang 대한독성 유전단백체 학회 2023 Molecular & cellular toxicology Vol.19 No.1

Background Melanogenesis is a complex process which is tightly regulated by several enzymes. However, abnormal melanogenesis can cause severe dermatological problems. Roots of Angelica dahurica have been used for skin care as a part of traditional Chinese medicine for many generations. However, the role of A. dahurica in melanogenesis remains unclear. Objective Previous in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that NK-1R exerts positive effects in melanogenesis via the Wnt/βcatenin signaling pathway. In this study, we investigated the effects of A. dahurica ethanol extract (ADE) on NK-1R and Wnt/β-catenin signaling, and evaluated the effect of NK-1R on melanogenesis in B16F0 cells. Results Angelica dahurica ethanol extract efficiently downregulated Neurokinin-1 receptor and Wnt/β-catenin signaling by decreasing the expression of β-catenin, MITF, LEF-1, TYR, TRP1, and TRP2 and increasing the expression of GSK3β, which resulted from the weakened expression of the Neurokinin-1 receptor inhibitor [Sar9,Met(O2 )11]-Substance P (SMSP). Furthermore, the intracellular melanin assay and cellular tyrosinase activity confirmed these findings. Conclusion This study suggests that ADE has potential to downregulate Neurokinin-1 receptor in SMSP-induced B16F0 cells, thereby repressing the Wnt/β-catenin signaling and reduces melanin production.

User Identification Design by Fusion of Face Recognition and Speaker Recognition

Chao-Yu Lin,Kai-Tai Song,Yi-Wen Chen,Shuo-Cheng Chien,Sin-Horng Chen,Chen-Yu Chiang,Jyh-Her Yang,Yi-Chiao Wu,Tzu-Jui Liu 제어로봇시스템학회 2012 제어로봇시스템학회 국제학술대회 논문집 Vol.2012 No.10

Intelligent human-robot interface helps a mobile robot to extract external information and interact with a user. User identification information allows a robot to generate appropriate behaviors and make personalized human-robot interaction (PHRI) more natural and safe. Most of service robots move around in various application settings, and biometric features always change during relative movements. In this work, a fusion recognition system based on face and speaker classifiers is designed to achieve the user recognition in various environments. We propose a method to fuse face and speech recognition results based on the concept of confidence indices. Through the derived confidence indices, the system combines the two classifiers and gives improved recognition results. Experiments on a laboratory home service robot show that person recognition rates in 15 environmental situations all outperform those of using single modality.

Performance-based optimization of LQR for active mass damper using symbiotic organisms search

Pei-Ching Chen,Bryan J. Sugiarto,Kai-Yi Chien 국제구조공학회 2021 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.27 No.4

The linear-quadratic regulator (LQR) has been applied to structural vibration control for decades; however, selection of the weighting matrices of an LQR mostly depends on trial and error. In this study, a novel metaheuristic optimization method named as symbiotic organisms search (SOS) algorithm is applied to tuning LQR weighting matrices for active mass damper (AMD) control systems. A 10-story shear building with an active mass damper installed at the top is adopted as a benchmark for numerical simulation in order to realize the optimization performance considering three objective functions for mitigation of structural acceleration. Two common optimization methods including genetic algorithm (GA), and particle swarm optimization (PSO) are also applied to this benchmark for comparison purposes. Numerical simulation results indicate that SOS is superior to GA and PSO on searching the minimized solution of the three objective functions. Meanwhile, minimizing the square root of the sum of the squares of peak modal acceleration achieves the best control performance of structural acceleration among the three objective functions. In addition, force saturation is proposed and applied in the optimization process such that the control force level is close to the force capacity of AMD under specified earthquake intensity. Furthermore, the control performance of the optimized LQR is compared with that of the LQR designed by applying three common weighting selection methods when the 10-story building is subjected to various earthquake excitations. Simulation results demonstrate that the optimized LQR significantly outperforms the three LQRs on structural acceleration responses as expected and reduces story drift slightly better than the three LQRs. Finally, the performance-based optimized LQR is experimentally validated by conducting shake table testing in the laboratory. The experimental results and structural control performance are discussed and summarized thoroughly.

Effects of post anneal for the INZO films prepared by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis

Lan, Wen-How,Li, Yue-Lin,Chung, Yu-Chieh,Yu, Cheng-Chang,Chou, Yi-Chun,Wu, Yi-Da,Huang, Kai-Feng,Chen, Lung-Chien Techno-Press 2014 Advances in nano research Vol.2 No.4

Indium-nitrogen co-doped zinc oxide thin films (INZO) were prepared on glass substrates in the atmosphere by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. The aqueous solution of zinc acetate, ammonium acetate and different indium sources: indium (III) chloride and indium (III) nitrate were used as the precursors. After film deposition, different anneal temperature treatment as 350, 450, $550^{\circ}C$ were applied. Electrical properties as concentration and mobility were characterized by Hall measurement. The surface morphology and crystalline quality were characterized by SEM and XRD. With the activation energy analysis for both films, the concentration variation of the films at different heat treatment temperature was realized. Donors correspond to zinc related states dominate the conduction mechanism for these INZO films after $550^{\circ}C$ high temperature heat treatment process.