• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.432-438
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• 2018

Worldwide, caffeine is among the most commonly used stimulatory substances. Unfortunately, significant caffeine consumption is associated with several adverse effects, ranging from sleep disturbances (including insomnia) to cardiovascular problems. This study investigates whether treatment with the Evodia rutaecarpa aqueous extract (ERAE) from berries and its major molecular component, evodiamine, can reduce the adverse caffeine-induced sleep-related and excitation effects. We combined measurements from the pentobarbital-induced sleep test, the open field test, and the locomotor activity test in mice that had been dosed with caffeine. We found that ERAE and evodiamine administration reduced the degree of caffeine-induced sleep disruption during the sleep test. Additionally, we found that evodiamine significantly inhibits caffeine-induced excitation during the open field test, as well as decreasing hyperlocomotion in the locomotor activity test. Additional in vitro experiments showed that caffeine administration decreased the expression of ${\gamma}$-aminobutyric acid $(GABA)_A$ receptor subunits in the mouse hypothalamus. However, evodiamine treatment significantly reversed this expression reduction. Taken together, our results demonstrate that ERAE and its major compound, evodiamine, provide an excellent candidate for the treatment or prevention of caffeine-induced sleep disturbances and excitatory states, and that the mechanism of these beneficial effects acts, at least in part, through the $GABA_A$-ergic system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2011

In this study, simulations were done of a 661.6 keV line from a point source of $^{137}Cs$ housed in a lead shield. When increasing the scattering angle from 60 to 120 degrees with a 6061 aluminum alloy target placed at angles of 30 and 45 degrees to the incident beam, the spectra showed that the single scattering component increases and that the multiple scattering component decreases. The investigation of the single and multiple scattering components was carried out using a MCNP5 simulation code. The component of the single Compton scattering photons is proportional to the target electron density at the point where the scattering occurs. The single scattering peak increases according to the thickness of the target and saturates at a certain thickness. The signal-to-noise ratio was found to decrease according to the target thickness. The simulation was experimentally validated by measurements. These results will be used to determine the best conditions under which this method can be applied to testing electron densities or to assess the thickness of samples to locate defects in them.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.1230-1236
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• 2016

This study aims to determine the effect of fly ash with a high replacing ratio of clay on the radiation shielding properties of bricks. Some interaction parameters (mass attenuation coefficients, half value layer, effective atomic number, effective electron density, and absorption efficiency) of clay fly ash bricks were measured with a NaI(Tl) detector at 661.6 keV, 1,173.2 keV, and 1,332.5 keV. For the investigation of their shielding behavior, fly ash bricks were molded using an admixture to clay. A narrow beam transmission geometry condition was used for the measurements. The measured values of these parameters were found in good agreement with the theoretical calculations. The elemental compositions of the clay fly ash bricks were analyzed by using an energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. At selected energies the values of the effective atomic numbers and effective electron densities showed a very modest variation with the composition of the fly ash. This seems to be due to the similarity of their elemental compositions. The obtained results were also compared with concrete, in order to study the effect of fly ash content on the radiation shielding properties of clay fly ash bricks. The clay fly ash bricks showed good shielding properties for moderate energy gamma rays. Therefore, these bricks are feasible and eco-friendly compared with traditional clay bricks used for construction.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.415-420
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• 2013

A determination method for $^{237}Np$ in spent nuclear fuel samples was developed using an isotope dilution method with $^{239}Np$ as a spike. In this method, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was taken for the $^{237}Np$ instead of the previously used alpha spectrometry. $^{237}Np$ and $^{239}Np$ were measured by ICP-MS and gamma spectrometry, respectively. The recovery yield of $^{237}Np$ in synthetic samples was $95.9{\pm}9.7$% (1S, n=4). The $^{237}Np$ contents in the spent fuel samples were 0.15, 0.25, and $1.06{\mu}g/mgU$ and these values were compared with those from ORIGEN-2 code. A fairly good agreement between the measurements (m) and calculations (c) was obtained, giving ratios (m/c) of 0.93, 1.12 and 1.25 for the three PWR spent fuel samples with burnups of 16.7, 19.0, and 55.9 GWd/MtU, respectively.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.290-294
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• 2002

The frequencies of gamma-ray-induced micronuclei (MN) in cytokinesis-blocked (CB) lymphocytes at several doses were measured in three donors of Korean native cattle and Korean native goat. Measurements performed after irradiation showed a dose-related increases in MN frequency in each of the donors studied. When analysed by linear-quadratic model the line of best fit was cattle : y : 0.1016D +$0.0118D^2$+0.0147, goat : y = 0.1353D +$0.0043D^2$+0.0087 (y : number of MN/CB cells and D = irradiation dose in Gy). The relative sensitivity of goat lymphocytes compared with cattle lymphocytes was estimated by best fitting linear-quadratic model based on the radiation-induced MN data over the range from 0 Gy to 4 Gy. In the case of MN frequency with 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8, the relative sensitivities of goat lymphocytes were 1.106. 1.166. 1.140, 1.069 and 0.976 respectively. Our in vitro radiobiological study confirmed that the cytogenetic response obtained in blood from cattle and goat can be utilized for application in environmental studies.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.255-261
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• 2022

A reliable and well-characterized dosimetry system which is traceable to the international measurement system, is the key element to quality assurance in radiation processing with cobalt-60 gamma rays, X-rays, and electron beam. This is specifically the case for health-regulated processes, such as the radiation sterilization of single use medical devices and food irradiation for preservation and disinfestation. Polyethylene is considered to possess a lot of interesting dosimetric characteristics. In this work, a detailed study has been performed to determine the dosimetric characteristics of a commercialized high-density polyethylene (HDPE) film using Fourier transformed infrared spectrometry (FTIR). Correlations have been established between the absorbed dose and radiation induced infrared absorption in polyethylene having a maximum at 965 cm^-1 (transvinylene band) and 1716 cm^-1 (ketone-carbonyl band). We have found that polyethylene dose-response is linear with dose for both bands up to1000 kGy. For transvinylene band, the dose-response is more sensitive if irradiations are made in helium. While, for ketone-carbonyl band, the dose-response is more sensitive when irradiations are carried out in air. The dose-rate effect has been found to be negligible when polyethylene samples are irradiated with electron beam high dose rates. The irradiated polyethylene is relatively stable for several weeks after irradiation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.1330-1338
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• 2024

Information on isotopic composition and geometric structure is necessary for identifying a true warhead. Nevertheless, such classified information should be protected physically or electronically. With a novel Hash encryption algorithm, this paper presents a Monte Carlo-based design of a neutron activation analysis verification module. The verification module employs a thermal neutron source, a non-uniform mask (physically encrypting information about isotopic composition and geometric structure), a gamma detector array, and a Hash encryption algorithm (for electronic encryption). In the physical field, a non-uniform mask is designed to distort the characteristic gamma rays emitted by the inspected item. Furthermore, as part of the Hash algorithm, a key is introduced to encrypt the data and improve the system resolution through electronic design. In order to quantify the difference between items, Hamming distance is used, which allows data encryption and analysis simultaneously. Simulated inspections of simple objects are used to quantify system performance. It is demonstrated that the method retains superior resolution even with 1% noise level. And the performances of anti-statistical attack and anti-brute force cracking are evaluated and found to be very excellent. The verification method lays a solid foundation for nuclear disarmament verification in the upcoming era.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.7
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• pp.2489-2497
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• 2024

The current study aims to develop new clay bricks doped with metallic waste for radiation shielding applications. The aforementioned new bricks were fabricated with various metallic waste concentrations under a pressure rate reaching ≈114 MPa and firing temperature of 1100 ℃. The impacts of the metallic waste and the firing temperature on the developed brick samples' physical, radiation shielding, and structural properties were studied. In order to identify the fabricated bricks' mineral content, the X-ray diffraction pattern was used. Additionally, the fabricated bricks' porosity and density were experimentally determined, where the porosity was reduced by 28.03%, while their densities increased by ≈ 10.5% by raising the concentration of metallic waste. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) for the developed brick was investigated experimentally using a NaI (Tl) scintillation detector over the 0.033-1.408 MeV energy interval. The measured LAC values were enhanced by increasing the concentrations of metallic waste within the fabricated bricks over the examined energy interval. The fabricated brick's LAC enhancement improves the gamma-ray shielding characteristics. Therefore, the fabricated bricks are a cheap and suitable choice for radiation protection applications.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.1932-1940
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• 2024

The current work deals with investigation of the gamma ray shielding properties for various natural stones from Vietnam to be applied in the radiation shielding applications. The physical and chemical properties affecting the γ-ray shielding performance were examined. The MH-300A density meter was utilized to measure the density (ρ, g/cm³) of stone samples, as well as the chemical composition of Vietnamese natural stones was measured using the X-ray fluorescence analyzer (Olympus X-5000). The study shows that the increase in Fe + Ca concentrations within the stone samples increases their density (from 2.48 to 2.86 g/cm³) accompanied with a reduction in the porosity (Φ, %) (from 8.23 to 0.15%) and water absorption (K, %) (from 3.42 to 0.05%) factors. Additionally, the increase in Fe + Ca concentrations increases the linear attenuation coefficient (μ, cm^-1) of the studied stones, where the Vietnamese marble stone (M 3.1) with the highest Fe + Ca concentration (65.97 wt%) has the highest linear attenuation coefficient which varied between 3.781 and 0.155 cm^-1 with raising the gamma ray energy between 0.040 and 1.332 MeV.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.9
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• pp.3914-3924
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• 2024

The release source term of radioactivity becomes a critical foundation for emergency response and accident consequence assessment after a nuclear accident Rapidly and accurately inverting the source term remains an urgent scientific challenge. Today source term inversion based on meteorological data and gamma dose rate measurements is a common method. But gamma dose rate actually includes all nuclides information, and the composition of radioactive nuclides is generally uncertain. This paper introduces a novel nuclear accident source term inversion model, which is Improve Snow Ablation Optimizer-Sensitivity Analysis Pruning Extreme Learning Machine (ISAO-SAELM) model. The model inverts the release rates of 11 radioactive nuclides (I-131, Xe-133, Cs-137, Kr-88, Sr-91, Te-132, Mo-99, Ba-140, La-140, Ce-144, Sb-129). It does not require the use of the physical field of the reactor to obtain prior information and establish a dispersion model. And the robustness is validated through noise analysis test. The mean absolute errors of the release rates of 11 nuclides are 15.52 %, 15.28 %, 15.70 %, 14.99 %, 14.85 %, 15.61 %, 15.96 %, 15.42 %, 15.84 %, 15.13 %, 17.72 %, which show the significant superiority of ISAO-SAELM. ISAO-SAELM model not only achieves notable advancements in accuracy but also receives validation in terms of practicality and feasibility.