• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권2호
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• pp.507-513
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• 2022

When X-ray energy above 8 MV is used, photoneutrons are generated by the photonuclear reaction, which activates the components of linear accelerator (linac). Safely managing the radioactive material, when disposing linac or replacing components, is difficult, as the standards for the radioactive material management are not clear in Korea. We surveyed the management status of radioactive components occurred from medical linacs in Korea. And we also measured the activation of each part of the discarded Elekta linac using a survey meter and portable High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. We found that most medical institutions did not perform radiation measurements when disposing of radioactive components. The radioactive material was either stored within the institution or collected by the manufacturer. The surface dose rate measurements showed that the parts with high surface dose rates were target, primary collimator, and multileaf collimator (MLC). ⁶⁰Co nuclide was detected in most parts, whereas for the target, ⁶⁰Co and ¹⁸⁴Re nuclides were detected. Results suggest that most institutions in Korea did not have the regulations for disposing radioactive waste from linac or the management procedures and standards were unclear. Further studies are underway to evaluate short-lived radionuclides and to lay the foundation for radioactive waste management from medical linacs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권6호
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• pp.2311-2320
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• 2022

The main outcomes of the experiments H2P6 performed in the thermal-hydraulics large-scale PANDA facility at PSI in the frame of the OECD/NEA HYMERES-2 project are presented in this article. The experiments of the H2P6 series consists of two PANDA tests characterized by the activation of three (H2P6_1) or one (H2P6_2) cooler(s) in an initially stratified and pressurized containment atmosphere. The initial stratification is defined by a helium-rich region located in the upper part of the vessel and a steam/air atmosphere in the lower part. The activation of the cooler(s) results i) in the condensation of the steam in the vicinity of the cooler(s), ii) the corresponding activation of large scale natural circulation currents in the vessel atmosphere, with the result of iii) the re-distribution and mixing of the Helium stratification initially located in the upper half of the vessel and iv) the continuous pressure decay. The initial helium layer represents hydrogen generated in a postulated severe accident. The main question to be answered by the experiments is whether or not the interaction of the different, localized cooler units would be important for the application of numerical methods. The paper describes the initial and boundary conditions and the experimental results of the H2P6 series with the suggestion of simple scaling laws for both experiments in terms of i) the temperature difference(s) across the cooler(s), ii) the transient steam and helium content and iii) the pressure decay in the vessel. The outcomes of this scaling indicate that the interaction between separate, closely localized units does not play a prominent role for the present experiments. It is therefore reasonable to model several units as one large component with equivalent heat transfer area and total water flow rate.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권3호
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• pp.959-964
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• 2022

Lead is an important material, both for fusion or fission reactors. The cross sections of natural lead should be validated because lead is a main component of lithium-lead modules suggested for fusion power plants and it directly affects the crucial variable, tritium breeding ratio. The presented study discusses a validation of the lead transport libraries by dint of the activation of carefully selected activation samples. The high emission standard ²⁵²Cf neutron source was used as a neutron source for the presented validation experiment. In the irradiation setup, the samples were placed behind 5 and 10 cm of the lead material. Samples were measured using a gamma spectrometry to infer the reaction rate and compared with MCNP6 calculations using ENDF/B-VIII.0 lead cross sections. The experiment used validated IRDFF-II dosimetric reactions to validate lead cross sections, namely ¹⁹⁷Au(n, 2n)¹⁹⁶Au, ⁵⁸Ni(n,p)⁵⁸Co, ⁹³Nb(n, 2n)^92mNb, ¹¹⁵In(n,n')^115mIn, ¹¹⁵In(n,γ)^116mIn, ¹⁹⁷Au(n,γ)¹⁹⁸Au and ⁶³Cu(n,γ)⁶⁴Cu reactions. The threshold reactions agree reasonably with calculations; however, the experimental data suggests a higher thermal neutron flux behind lead bricks. The paper also suggests ²⁵²Cf isotropic source as a valuable tool for validation of some cross-sections important for fusion applications, i.e. reactions on structural materials, e.g. Cu, Pb, etc.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권11호
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• pp.4265-4271
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• 2022

Determination of ¹³⁷Cs, ⁴⁰K and ²¹⁰Po in water, bottom sediments and suspended matter of river systems of the Can Gio Biosphere Reserve, Vietnam was carried out. The average activity concentration of ¹³⁷Cs in waters of Ca Gau and Long Tau was 0.89 ± 0.14 and 1.08 ± 0.15 Bq m^-3 and was comparable to the levels of this radioisotope in waters of the East Sea. The activity concentration of ¹³⁷Cs in bottom sediments was 2.23 ± 0.81 and 3.63 ± 1.24 Bq kg^-1. The activity concentration of ¹³⁷Cs in water and bottom sediments could be characterized as low. So, the water areas of the Ca Gau and Long Tau rivers could be attributed to areas with insignificant pollution by technogenic radionuclides. The ²¹⁰Po activity concentration in bottom sediments of the Ca Gau and Long Tau rivers ranged from 9.2 ± 1.2 to 25.5 ± 2.1 Bq kg^-1, which is typical for river bottom sediments. Such values indicate the absence of anthropogenic enhancement of the entry of this radionuclide into the Can Gio river systems. The ⁴⁰K activity concentration varied within 467 ± 42-651 ± 39 Bq kg^-1 and represented typical values of potassium content in the bottom sediments of coastal water bodies, subject to a significant influence of the lithogenic component of suspended matter.

• Animal Bioscience
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• 제36권8호
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• pp.1199-1208
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• 2023

Objective: The purpose of this study was to perform a comparative analysis of metabolite levels in serum and milk obtained from cows fed on different concentrate to forage feed ratios. Methods: Eight lactating Holstein cows were divided into two groups: a high forage ratio diet (HF; 80% Italian ryegrass and 20% concentrate of daily intake of dry matter) group and a high concentrate diet (HC; 20% Italian ryegrass and 80% concentrate) group. Blood was collected from the jugular vein, and milk was sampled using a milking machine. Metabolite levels in serum and milk were estimated using proton nuclear magnetic resonance and subjected to qualitative and quantitative analyses performed using Chenomx 8.4. For statistical analysis, Student's t-test and multivariate analysis were performed using Metaboanalyst 4.0. Results: In the principal component analysis, a clear distinction between the two groups regarding milk metabolites while serum metabolites were shown in similar. In serum, 95 metabolites were identified, and 13 metabolites (include leucine, lactulose, glucose, betaine, etc.) showed significant differences between the two groups. In milk, 122 metabolites were identified, and 20 metabolites (include urea, carnitine, acetate, butyrate, arabinitol, etc.) showed significant differences. Conclusion: Our results show that different concentrate to forage feed ratios impact the metabolite levels in the serum and milk of lactating Holstein cows. A higher number of metabolites in milk, including those associated with milk fat synthesis and the presence of Escherichia coli in the rumen, differed between the two groups compared to that in the serum. The results of this study provide a useful insight into the metabolites associated with different concentrate to forge feed ratios in cows and may aid in the search for potential biomarkers for subacute ruminal acidosis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권2호
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• pp.655-668
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• 2023

In radiography, an antiscatter grid is a well-known device for eliminating unexpected x-ray scatter. We investigate a new stationary grid artifact suppression method based on a nonsubsampled contourlet transform (NSCT) incorporated with Gaussian band-pass filtering. The proposed method has an advantage that extracts the Moiré components while minimizing the loss of image information and apply the prior information of Moiré component positions in multi-decomposition sub-band images. We implemented the proposed algorithm and performed a simulation and an experiment to demonstrate its viability. We did this experiment using an x-ray tube (M-113T, Varian, focal spot size: 0.1 mm), a flat-panel detector (ROSE-M Sensor, Aspenstate, pixel dimension: 3032 × 3800 pixels, pixel size: 0.076 mm), and carbon graphite-interspaced grids (JPI Healthcare, 18 cm × 24 cm, line density: 103 LP/inch and 150 LP/inch, ratio: 5:1, focal distance: 65 cm). Our results indicate that the proposed method successfully suppressed grid artifacts by reducing them without either reducing the spatial resolution or causing negative side effects. Consequently, we anticipate that the proposed method can improve image acquisition in a stationary grid x-ray system as well as in extended x-ray imaging.

• 한국산업정보학회논문지
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• 제28권6호
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• pp.1-10
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• 2023

원전 계측제어계통은 정상운전 시 자가 진단기능의 유지보수를 위해 일정 주기로 건전성을 확인하고 있으며, 계획예방정비 기간 동안 기능 및 성능점검을 실시하여 필요한 경우 유지보수를 하고 있다. 하지만 원전의 정보를 계측하고 제어하는 계측제어계통에서도 선제적으로 고장을 진단하고 대처하여 사고전파를 방지할 수 있는 기술개발이 필요하다. 이에 본 논문에서는 계측제어 장비의 환경조건과 자가 진단 데이터를 활용한 신뢰도 함수 추정 방안을 연구하였으며, 고장데이터의 획득을 위해 계측제어 장비의 부품에 대한 Feature 별 확률분포를 가정하여 가상 고장데이터를 생산하였다. 이러한 고장데이터를 바탕으로 생존분석에서 활용되는 대표적인 인공지능 모델(DeepSurve, DeepHit)을 이용하여 신뢰도 함수를 추정하였고, 그와 동시에 전통적인 준모수적 방법론인 Cox 회귀모델을 통해 신뢰도 함수를 추정하여 환경조건과 진단 데이터를 바탕으로 한 잔여 수명 계산을 통해 적용 가능성을 확인하였다.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.9-16
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• 2005

목적 : 원격존기의 전이가 없는 비인강암에서 동시항암화학방사선치료를 시행 받은 환자에서 진단 당시 시행한 양전자단층촬영의 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) 섭취정도가 예후에 미치는 영향을 알아보고자 하였다. 대상 및 방법 : 본원에서 원격장기의 전이가 없는 비인강암으로 진단 받고 진단 당시 ($[18^F]$FDG-PET을 시행한 환자는 총 41명이었다. PET 검사는 모두 항암방사선치료 전에 시행되었다. FOG 섭취 정도를 알아보기 위해서 종양 내에서 측정된 최대 standardized uptake value (SUV)를 측정하였다. 결과 : 항암화학방사선지료 후 모든 환자는 완전반응을 보였다. 전체 41명 중에서 10명이 재발하였는데 재발하지 않은 환자의 $SUV_{max}$ 중앙값은 6.48 (range: $2.31\~26.07$)이었고 재발한 환자의 중앙 $SUV_{max}$는 $8.55(2.49\~14.81)$이었다. 양 군 간의 5UV의 차이는 p값이 0.0505로 통계적 차이가 관찰되지 않았다. $SUV_{max}$를 중앙값을 기준으로 나누어 보았을 때 $SUV_{max}$가 높은 환자의 3년 생존율이 통계적으로 유의하게 저조하였다($51\%\;{\nu}91\%$, p=0.0070). 결론 : 원격전이가 없는 비인강암에서 항암화학방사선치료를 시행 받은 환자에서 진단 당시 시행한 FDG 섭취 정도는 예후를 예측하는데 유용할 것으로 생각되었다. 따라서 진단 당시 시행한 FDG-PET에서 SUV가 높은 경우(8 이상)에는 좀더 적극적인 치료가 필요할 것으로 생각하였다.

• 미생물학회지
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• 제53권4호
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• pp.292-296
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• 2017

진핵생물에서 THO/TREX 복합체는 전사 신장, pre-mRNA 가공 및 mRNA의 핵에서 방출에 중요한 역할을 담당한다. 이 복합체는 진화적으로 잘 보존되어 있지만, 생명체에 따라 구성성분과 기능에 차이가 존재한다. 이 논문에서는 출아효모보다는 고등생물과 더 유사한 분열효모 Schizosaccharomyces pombe에서 THO/TREX 복합체의 한 구성요소인 spTex1가 생장과 mRNA의 방출에 필수적이지 않다는 것을 보였다. spTex1 유전자의 결실과 과발현 어느 것도 생장의 결함과 $poly(A)^+$ RNA가 핵 안에 축적되는 현상을 거의 보이지 않았다. 또한 spTex1-GFP 단백질은 주로 핵 안에 위치하였다. Yeast two-hybrid와 Co-immunoprecipitation 분석에서 S. pombe Tex1은 THO/TREX 복합체의 주요 구성인자인 spHpr1 (THOC1), spTho2 (THOC2)과 상호작용을 하였다. 이와 같은 결과들은 S. pombe의 Tex1도 THO/TREX 복합체의 구성인자이지만, 생장과 mRNA 방출에는 중요한 역할을 하지 않음을 의미한다.

• 핵의학기술
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.42-45
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• 2016

$^{18}F-Florbetaben$은 베타아밀로이드 병리를 확인하여 인지 장애 및 의심 환자에게 보조적 진단으로 사용되고 있다. 지질 친화성의 특성과 에탄올이 첨가된 약제의 특성상 주사 후 3-way Set에 잔량과 주사 시 환자의 통증이 관심의 대상이 된다. 본 연구는 효과적인 방사성의약품의 주사와 환자 케어 및 우수한 영상을 위함이다. 내원환자 70명을 대상으로 하였고, 환자들에게 평균 $259{\pm}74MBq$의 $^{18}F-FDG$ (20명), $^{18}F-FP-CIT$ (20명), $^{18}F-Florbetaben$ (30명)을 3-way Set으로 주사(Reflusing 2회, Reflusing 3회 이상)를 하여 주사 후 잔량을 측정하였고, $^{18}F-Florbetaben$ 주사 시 사용되는 3-way Set와 Heparin Cap의 효율적인 주사방법을 알아보기 위해서 주사 후 잔량을 측정하여 SPSS 12.0 ANOVA, t-test 통계분석을 통하여 잔량을 비교분석 하였다. 그리고 $^{18}F-Florbetaben$의 통증 유발 성분의 에탄올 양을 측정하기 위하여 Gas Chromatography로 추가 분석을 실시해보았다. Reflusing 2회 시 $^{18}F-FDG$: 1.48 MBq (0.04 mCi), $^{18}F-FP-CIT$: 7.4 MBq (0.2 mCi), $^{18}F-Florbetaben$: 32.6 MBq (0.88 mCi)의 잔량이 측정 되었고 Reflusing 3회 이상 시 $^{18}F-FDG$: 1.85 MBq (0.05 mCi), $^{18}F-FP-CIT$: 3.7 MBq (0.10 mCi), $^{18}F-Florbetaben$: 36.3 MBq(0.98 mCi)의 잔량이 측정 되었다. 다중 비교결과 Reflusing 2회 시 잔량이 유의미한 차이가 있었고(P < 0.05), 3회 이상 시 $^{18}F-Florbetaben$과 $^{18}F-FDG$, $^{18}F-FP-CIT$는 잔량의 유의미한 차이가 있었으며(P < 0.05), $^{18}F-FDG$와 $^{18}F-FP-CIT$는 유의미한 차이가 없었다(P > 0.05). $^{18}F-Florbetaben$ 주사 후 잔량은 3-way Set: 32.6 MBq (0.88 mCi), 36.3 MBq (0.98 mCi)였고 Heparin Cap: 7.03 MBq (0.19 mCi)으로 유의미한 차이가 있었다(P < 0.05). Gas Chromatography 분석결과 에탄올: 207665 ppm, 아세톤: 377.4 ppm으로 나타났다. $^{18}F-Florbetaben$은 $^{18}F-FDG$와 $^{18}F-FP-CIT$에 비해 주사 후 잔량이 많았고, 통증을 유발하는 에탄올 성분의 수치가 높게 나타났다. 주사 시 3-way Set 방식보다는 Heparin Cap을 사용함이 잔량 감소에 더 효과적이었다. 그리고 주사 시 환자의 통증 완화를 위해서 천천히 주사함을 권고한다.