• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.223-228
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• 2009

We attempted to control the maturation promoting factor (MPF) activity and investigated the subsequent reprogramming of bovine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos. Serum-starved adult skin fibroblasts were fused to enucleated oocytes treated with 2.5 mM caffeine or $150\;{\mu}M$ roscovitine. The MPF activity, nuclear remodeling patterns, chromosome constitutions and development of SCNT embryos were evaluated. Methylated DNA of embryos was detected at various developmental stages. The MPF activity was increased by caffeine treatment or reduced by roscovitine treatment (p<0.05). Blastocyst development was higher in the caffeine-treated groups (27.6%) than that of the roscovitine-treated group (8.3%, p<0.05). There was no difference in the apoptotic cell index among the three groups. However, the mean cell number of blastocysts was increased in the caffeine-treated group (p<0.05). Higher methylation levels were observed in the Day 3 embryos of the roscovitine-treated group (50.8%), whereas lower methylation levels were noted at Day 5 in the caffeine-treated group (12.5%, p<0.05). These results reveal that the increase in MPF activity via a caffeine-treatment creates a more suitable condition for nuclear reprogramming after SCNT.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.322-327
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• 2003

It is important to know the accurate radionuclide inventory of radioactive waste for the reliable management. However, estimation of radionuclide concentrations in drummed radioactive waste is difficult and unreliable because of difficulties of direct detection, high cost, and radiation exposure of sampling personnel. In order to overcome these difficulties, scaling factors (SFs) have been used to assess the activities of radionuclides that could not be directly analyzed. A radionuclide assay system has been operated at KORI site since 1996 and consolidated scaling factor method has played a dominant role in determination of radionuclides concentrations. However, some problems are still remained such as uncertainty of estimated scaling factor values, inaccuracy of analyzed sample values, and disparity between the actual and ideal correlation pairs and the others. Therefore, it needs to improve the accuracy of scaling factor values. The scope of this paper is focused on the improvement of accuracy and representativeness of calculated scaling factor values based on statistical techniques. For the selection of reliable activity determination method, the accuracy of estimated SF values for each activity determination method is compared. From the comparison of each activity determination methods, it is recommended that SF determination method should be changed from the arithmetic mean to the geometrical mean for more reliable estimation of radionuclide activity. Arithmetic mean method and geometric mean method are compared based on the data set in KORI system.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.137-141
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• 2005

This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of [$D-Ala^2$, D-Leu^5$]-enkephalin (DADLE) on the spontaneous activity of medial vestibular nuclear neurons of the rat. Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 14 to 16 days, were anesthetized with ether and decapitated. After enzymatic digestion, the brain stem portion of medial vestibular nuclear neuron was obtained by micropunching. The dissociated neurons were transferred to a recording chamber mounted on an inverted microscope, and spontaneous action potentials were recorded by standard patch-clamp techniques. The spontaneous action potentials were increased by DADLE in 12 cells and decreased in 3 cells. The spike frequency and resting membrane potential of these cells were increased by DADLE. The depth of afterhyperpolarization was not affected by DADLE. The potassium currents were decreased in 20 cells and increased in 5 cells. These results suggest that DADLE increases the neuronal activity of the medial vestibular nuclear neurons by altering resting membrane potential.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.781-790
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• 2012

The HyperGam program was developed for the analysis of complex HPGe ${\gamma}$-ray spectra. The previous version of HyperGam was mainly limited to the analysis of ${\gamma}$-ray peaks and the manual logging of the result. In this study, it is specifically developed into a tool for the isotopic analysis of spectra. The newly developed features include nuclide identification and activity determination. An algorithm for nuclide identification was developed to identify the peaks in the spectrum by considering the yield, efficiency, energy and peak area for the ${\gamma}$-ray lines emitted from the radionuclide. The detailed performance of nuclide identification and activity determination was accessed using the IAEA 2002 set of test spectra. By analyzing the test spectra, the numbers of radionuclides identified truly (true hit), falsely (false hit) or missed (misses) were counted and compared with the results from the IAEA 2002 tests. The determined activities of the radionuclides were also compared for four test spectra of several samples. The result of the performance test is promising in comparison with those of the well-known software packages for ${\gamma}$-ray spectrum analysis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.93-98
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• 2008

Several adhesive tapes have been studied in terms of their suitability for securing gold wires into positions for neutron flux measurements in the reactor core and irradiation facilities surrounding the core of the Open Pool Australian Light water (OPAL) reactor. Gamma ray spectrometry has been performed on each irradiated tape in order to identify and quantify activated components. Numerous metallic impurities have been identified in all tapes. Calculations relating to both the effective neutron shielding properties of the tapes and the error in measurement of the $^{198}Au$ activity caused by superfluous activity due to residual tape have been made. The most important identified effects were the prolonged cooling times required before safe enough levels of radioactivity to allow handling were reached, and extra activity caused by residual tape when measured with an ionisation chamber. Knowledge of the most suitable tape can allow a minimal contribution due to these effects, and the use of gamma spectrometry in preference to ionisation chamber measurements of the flux wires is shown to make all systematic errors due to the tape completely negligible.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.749-760
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• 2022

α-Galactosidase is a debranching enzyme widely used in the food, feed, paper, and pharmaceuticals industries and plays an important role in hemicellulose degradation. Here, T26, an aerobic bacterial strain with thermostable α-galactosidase activity, was isolated from laboratory-preserved lignocellulolytic microbial consortium TMC7, and identified as Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius. The α-galactosidase, called T26GAL and derived from the T26 culture supernatant, exhibited a maximum enzyme activity of 0.4976 IU/ml when cultured at 60℃ and 180 rpm for 2 days. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the α-galactosidase T26GAL belongs to the GH36 family. Subsequently, the pET-26 vector was used for the heterologous expression of the T26 α-galactosidase gene in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The optimum pH for α-galactosidase T26GAL was determined to be 8.0, while the optimum temperature was 60℃. In addition, T26GAL demonstrated a remarkable thermostability with more than 93% enzyme activity, even at a high temperature of 90℃. Furthermore, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ promoted the activity of T26GAL while Zn²⁺ and Cu²⁺ inhibited it. The substrate specificity studies revealed that T26GAL efficiently degraded raffinose, stachyose, and guar gum, but not locust bean gum. This study thus facilitated the discovery of an effective heat-resistant α-galactosidase with potent industrial application. Meanwhile, as part of our research on lignocellulose degradation by a microbial consortium, the present work provides an important basis for encouraging further investigation into this enzyme complex.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.86-90
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• 2012

Purpose: Quantification of myocardial blood flow (MBF) using dynamic PET imaging has the potential to assess coronary artery disease. Rb-82 plays a key role in the clinical assessment of myocardial perfusion using PET. However, MBF could be overestimated due to the underestimation of left ventricular input function in the beginning of the acquisition when the scanner has non-linearity between count rate and activity concentration due to the scanner dead-time. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the count rate linearity as a function of the activity concentration in PET data acquired in list mode. Materials & methods: A cylindrical phantom (diameter, 12 cm length, 10.5 cm) filled with 296 MBq F-18 solution and 800 mL of water was used to estimate the linearity of the Biograph 40 True Point PET/CT scanner. PET data was acquired with 10 min per frame of 1 bed duration in list mode for different activity concentration levels in 7 half-lives. The images were reconstructed by OSEM and FBP algorithms. Prompt, net true and random counts of PET data according to the activity concentration were measured. Total and background counts were measured by drawing ROI on the phantom images and linearity was measured using background correction. Results: The prompt count rates in list mode were linearly increased proportionally to the activity concentration. At a low activity concentration (<30 kBq/mL), the prompt net true and random count rates were increased with the activity concentration. At a high activity concentration (>30 kBq/mL), the increasing rate of the prompt net true rates was slightly decreased while the increasing rate of random counts was increased. There was no difference in the image intensity linearity between OSEM and FBP algorithms. Conclusion: The Biograph 40 True Point PET/CT scanner showed good linearity of count rate even at a high activity concentration (~370 kBq/mL).The result indicates that the scanner is useful for the quantitative analysis of data in heart dynamic studies using Rb-82, N-13, O-15 and F-18.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.249-253
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• 2001

Neutron dose assessment in criticality accidents using Whole Body Counter (WBC) was proved to be an effective method as rapid neutron dose estimation at the JCO criticality accident in Tokai-mura. The 1.36MeV gamma-ray of $^{24}Na$ in a body can be detected easily by a germanium detector. The Minimum Detectable Activity (MDA) of $^{24}Na$ is approximately 50Bq for 10miniute measurement by the germanium-type whole body counter at JNC Tokai Works. Neutron energy spectra at the typical shielding conditions in criticality accidents were calculated and the conversion factor, whole body activity-to-organ mass weighted neutron absorbed dose, corresponding to each condition were determined. The conversion factor for uncollied fission spectrum is 7.7 $[(Bq^{24}Na/g^{23}Na)/mGy]$.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.135-136
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• 2003

A 43-year-old woman with diabetic nephropathy underwent a Tc-99m MAG3 renal scintigraphy for the evaluation of renal function. Posterior images at 60 minutes demonstrated a migration of radiotracer activity beyond the lower pole of the left kidney, which might be incorrectly interpreted as urine leaks. However, the increased activities were moving along the bowel lumens over time. Another ring-like radioactivity was also seen in the suprasplenic region, and increased with time. These radioactivities were in the gastric fundus and gastrointestinal tract and caused by free Tc-99m pertechnetate.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.337-338
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• 2007

A 20-year-old man underwent a Tc-99m HMPAO labeled leukocyte scan for the evaluation of an infection at the stump of an AK amputation, which was conducted due to an open communicated fracture of the left lower leg. Blood-flow and blood-pool images demonstrated a pseudoaneurysm with a focus of intense activity medial to the stump, and centered within a large photopenic defect by surrounding hematoma. Delayed image obtained at 3 hours post-injection showed persistent intense and slight increased activity, Contrast angiography confirmed the presence of a pseudoaneurysm arising from a branch of the left superficial femoral artery.