• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.12
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• pp.4367-4381
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• 2023

Nuclear power plants are increasingly being equipped with digital I&C systems. Although some probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) models for the digital I&C of nuclear power plants have been constructed, there is currently no specific internationally agreed guidance for their modeling. This paper presents an initiative by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency called "Digital I&C PSA - Comparative application of DIGital I&C Modelling Approaches for PSA (DIGMAP)", which aimed to advance the field towards practical and defendable modeling principles. The task, carried out in 2017-2021, used a simplified description of a plant focusing on the digital I&C systems important to safety, for which the participating organizations independently developed their own PSA models. Through comparison of the PSA models, sensitivity analyses as well as observations throughout the whole activity, both qualitative and quantitative lessons were learned. These include insights on failure behavior of digital I&C systems, experience from models with different levels of abstraction, benefits from benchmarking as well as major contributors to the core damage frequency and those with minor effect. The study also highlighted the challenges with modeling of large common cause component groups and the difficulties associated with estimation of key software and common cause failure parameters.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.335-343
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• 2010

Objectives: To compared the effect of different levels of moisture of root canal on the sealing ability after filling with four different types of sealer. Materials and Methods: Single-rooted teeth (n = 90) instrumented to and apical size of 0.06 / 45 were randomly assigned to 12 experimental groups (n = 7 per group), positive/negative control groups (n = 3 per group). The teeth of the experimental groups (a. DRY; b. PAPER POINT DRY; c. WET) were obturated with sealer (Group 1-3: Sealapex; Group 4-6: AH plus; Group 7-9: Tubuli-seal; Group 10-12: EndoRez) and warm vertical compaction method. After 7 days in $37^{\circ}C$, 100% humidity, the coronal-to-apical microleakage was evaluated quantitatively using a glucose leakage model. The leaked glucose concentration was measured with spectrophotometer at 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 30 days. Data were recorded ad mmol/L and statistically analysed with the two-way ANOVA and Duncan test (p = 0.05). Results: Throughout the experimental period Tubuli-seal/WET (Group 9) showed the highest mean cumulative glucose penetration (178.75 mmol/L), whereas AH plus/DRY (Group 4) had the least (20.78 mmol/L). Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrated that the moisture condition of root canals at the time of obturation and the type of sealer that was used had a significant effect on leakage and sealing ability. Thus drying procedure according to sealer types is a critical step and should not be missed in endodontic treatment.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.501-508
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• 2001

Objectives : Hemifacial spasm is painless uncommon disorder characterized by involuntary paroxysmal movement on one side of face. It is known that hemifacial spasm is mainly due to pulsatile compression by vessels at the root exit zone(REZ) of the facial nerve. Microvascular decompression at REZ of the facial nerve has become the standard treatment modality for hemifacial spasm. The authors have analized patients with hemifacial spasm treated with microvascular decompression to evaluate operation result and clinical course after operation. Patients and Methods : From 1992 to 1999, 41 patients with hemifacial spasm underwent this operation. Retrospective analysis of operation results and clinical recovery patterns was done. The length of observation had been more than 6 months in all cases. Results : The ratio of male to female was 1:1.4, and age at operation ranged from 24 to 66 years. Their mean age was 47.6 years and the mean preoperative duration of symptoms was 7.2 years. Most common offending vessels were AICA in 18 cases(48%) and second most common were PICA in 13 cases(31.7%). The rest of them were 3 case in vertebral artery, and 7 cases(13%) in multiple offending vessels. Patterns of improvement after surgery could be divided into 4 clinical types. There was complete recovery in 3 days after operation in 24 cases(58.6%, Immediate complete recovery). There was complete recovery in 3 days after operation, and symptom was recurred partially, which was gradually subsided in 2 weeks after operation in 4 cases(9.8%, Delayed complete recovery type I). There was partial recovery after operation and symptom was compretely disappeared gradually in 6 months after operation in 7 cases(17.1%, Delayed complete recovery type II). Finally, there was partial recovery after operation, and symptom was somewhat remained after 6 months later(14.5%, Delayed partial recovery). Conclusion : In conclusion, microvascular decompression for hemifacial spasm is a safe and reliable treatment modality with good results of improvement and there are 4 recovery patterns in clinical course after operation in our series. Therefore, follow-up observation after microvascular decompression is necessary to evaluate the operative results and complication, especially in the delayed resolved cases.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.131-135
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• 2008

Objective : Hemifacial spasm (HFS) is considered as a reversible pathophysiological condition mainly induced by continuous vascular compression of the facial nerve root exit zone (REZ) at the cerebellopontine angle. As an offending vessel, vertebrobasilar artery tends to compress much more heavily than others. The authors analyzed HFS caused by vertebrobasilar artery and described the relationships between microsurgical findings and clinical courses. Methods : Out of 1,798 cases treated with microvascular decompression (MVD) from Jan. 1980 to Dec. 2004. the causative vessels were either vertebral artery or basilar artery in 87 patients. Seventy-nine patients were enrolled in this study. Preoperatively, computed tomography (CT) or brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with 3-dimentional short range MR technique was performed and CT was checked immediately or 2-3 days after anesthetic recovery. The authors retrospectively analyzed the clinical features. the compression patterns of the vessels at the time of surgery and treatment outcomes. Results : There were 47 were male and 32 female patients. HFS developed on the left side in 52 cases and on the right side in 27. The mean age of onset was 52.3 years (range 19-60) and the mean duration of symptoms was 10.7 years. Many patients (39 cases; 49.1%) had past history of hypertension. HFS caused only by the vertebral artery was 8 cases although most of the other cases were caused by vertebral artery (VA) in combination with its branching arteries. Most frequently, the VA and the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) were the simultaneous causative blood vessels comprising 32 cases (40.5%). and in 27 cases (34.2 %) the VA and the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) were the offenders. Facial symptoms disappeared in 61 cases (77.2%) immediately after the operation and 68 cases (86.1%) showed good outcome after 6 months. Surgical outcome just after the operation was poor in whom the perforators arose from the offending vessels concurrently (p<0.05). Conclusion : In case where the vertebral artery is a cause of HFS, commonly branching arteries associated with main arterial compression on facial REZ requires more definite treatment for proper decompression because of its relatively poor results compared to the condition caused by other vascular compressive origins.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.265-270
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• 2006

Objective : Microvascular decompression[MVD] at root exit zone[REZ] of the facial nerve has been largely popularized and it has become the standard treatment for patients with hemifacial spasm[HFS]. This sturdy is performed to evaluate the efficacy of MVD over the course of time. Methods : From 1994 to 2003, 50 patients with HFS who underwent MVD were followed up for more than 6 months. We retrospectively analyzed results with medical records and telephone researches. Results : The mean age of patients at the time operation was 57.6 years and 84% of the patients were female. The mean duration of follow-up after operation was 3.4 years [range $0.5{\sim}7.8\;years$]. One day after MVD, 54% of patients had complete relief of spasm immediately. Continuous improvements of HFS were observed during the follow-up period and these improvements were statistically significant with time (P< 0.05). Until 6 months after operation, complete relief of spasm was observed in 84% of patients. The delayed relief of spasm was observed in 35.7% of our patients who experienced complete relief. Conclusion : The efficacy of MVD in HFS is improves with time. Continuous follow-up evaluations for the duration of more than at least 6 months after MVD are important for the decision of its clinical results because delayed relief of spasms occurs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.10
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• pp.3133-3150
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• 2021

This work deals with the validation of a high-fidelity multiphysics system coupling the Serpent 2 Monte Carlo neutron transport code with SUBCHANFLOW, a subchannel thermalhydraulics code, and TRANSURANUS, a fuel-performance analysis code. The results for a full-core pin-by-pin burnup calculation for the ninth operating cycle of the Temelín II VVER-1000 plant, which starts from a fresh core, are presented and assessed using experimental data. A good agreement is found comparing the critical boron concentration and a set of pin-level neutron flux profiles against measurements. In addition, the calculated axial and radial power distributions match closely the values reported by the core monitoring system. To demonstrate the modeling capabilities of the three-code coupling, pin-level neutronic, thermalhydraulic and thermomechanic results are shown as well. These studies are encompassed in the final phase of the EU Horizon 2020 McSAFE project, during which the Serpent-SUBCHANFLOW-TRANSURANUS system was developed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2021

The criticality analysis of VVER-1000 mock-up benchmark experiments from the LR-0 research reactor operated by the Research Center Rez in the Czech Republic has been conducted with the MCS Monte Carlo code developed at the Computational Reactor Physics and Experiment laboratory of the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology. The main purpose of this work is to evaluate the newest ENDF/B-VIII.0 nuclear data library against the VVER-1000 mock-up integral experiments and to validate the criticality analysis capability of MCS for light water reactors with hexagonal fuel lattices. A preliminary code/code comparison between MCS and MCNP6 is first conducted to verify the suitability of MCS for the benchmark interpretation, then the validation against experimental data is performed with both ENDF/B-VII.1 and ENDF/B-VIII.0 libraries. The investigated experimental data comprises six experimental critical configurations and four experimental pin-by-pin power maps. The MCS and MCNP6 inputs used for the criticality analysis of the VVER-1000 mock-up are available as supplementary material of this article.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.186-193
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• 2001

Objectives : Trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm are caused by vascular compression of the REZ(root entry or exit zone) of the 5th and the 7th cranial nerve. Preoperative detection of neurovascular compression is essential for accurate diagnosis, appropriate treatment, and the good operative results. Three dimensional Fourier Transformation-Constructive Interference in Steady State(3DFT-CISS) images are known to give good contrast between CSF, nerve, and vessels. We applied a 3DFT-CISS imaging technique for the preoperative evaluation of patients with these diseases and estimated the diagnostic accuracy and usefulness of this study. Methods : A series of 71 patients with trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm were treated by microvascular decompression. Among them 34 patients with trigeminal neuralgia and 24 patients with hemifacial spasm had preoperative CISS images. We compared the radiologic finding with the operative finding, and analysed the diagnostic usefulness of 3DFT-CISS imaging. Results : The sensitivity of CISS images of detecting the neurovascular compression was 90.3% in trigeminal neuralgia and 100% in hemifacial spasm. There were one false-positive and three false-negative cases in trigeminal neuralgia, and one false-positive case in hemifacial spasm. The accuracy in diagnosing the causative vessel was 73.5% in trigeminal neuralgia and 83.3% in hemifacial spasm. Conclusion : CISS image is very useful diagnostic tool for preoperative evaluation of neurovascular compression in patients with trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm. No additional neuroradiologic examination other than CISS image and MRA is needed for preoperative evaluation of patients with trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.993-1001
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• 2024

The TANDEM project is a European initiative funded under the EURATOM program. The project started on September 2022 and has a duration of 36 months. TANDEM stands for Small Modular ReacTor for a European sAfe aNd Decarbonized Energy Mix. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) can be hybridized with other energy sources, storage systems and energy conversion applications to provide electricity, heat and hydrogen. Hybrid energy systems have the potential to strongly contribute to the energy decarbonization targeting carbon-neutrality in Europe by 2050. However, the integration of nuclear reactors, particularly SMRs, in hybrid energy systems, is a new R&D topic to be investigated. In this context, the TANDEM project aims to develop assessments and tools to facilitate the safe and efficient integration of SMRs into low-carbon hybrid energy systems. An open-source "TANDEM" model library of hybrid system components will be developed in Modelica language which, by coupling, will extend the capabilities of existing tools implemented in the project. The project proposes to specifically address the safety issues of SMRs related to their integration into hybrid energy systems, involving specific interactions between SMRs and the rest of the hybrid systems; new initiating events may have to be considered in the safety approach. TANDEM will study two hybrid systems covering the main trends of the European energy policy and market evolution at 2035's horizon: a district heating network and power supply in a large urban area, and an energy hub serving energy conversion systems, including hydrogen production; the energy hub is inspired from a harbor-like infrastructure. TANDEM will provide assessments on SMR safety, hybrid system operationality and techno-economics. Societal considerations will also be encased by analyzing European citizen engagement in SMR technology safety.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.12-16
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• 2015

Purpose Principal component analysis (PCA) is a method often used in the neuroimagre analysis as a multivariate analysis technique for describing the structure of high dimensional correlation as the structure of lower dimensional space. PCA is a statistical procedure that uses an orthogonal transformation to convert a set of observations of correlated variables into a set of values of linearly independent variables called principal components. In this study, in order to investigate the usefulness of PCA in the brain PET image analysis, we tried to analyze C[11]-PIB PET image as a representative case. Materials and Methods Nineteen subjects were included in this study (normal = 9, AD/MCI = 10). For C[11]-PIB, PET scan were acquired for 20 min starting 40 min after intravenous injection of 9.6 MBq/kg C[11]-PIB. All emission recordings were acquired with the Biograph 6 Hi-Rez (Siemens-CTI, Knoxville, TN) in three-dimensional acquisition mode. Transmission map for attenuation-correction was acquired using the CT emission scans (130 kVp, 240 mA). Standardized uptake values (SUVs) of C[11]-PIB calculated from PET/CT. In normal subjects, 3T MRI T1-weighted images were obtained to create a C[11]-PIB template. Spatial normalization and smoothing were conducted as a pre-processing for PCA using SPM8 and PCA was conducted using Matlab2012b. Results Through the PCA, we obtained linearly uncorrelated independent principal component images. Principal component images obtained through the PCA can simplify the variation of whole C[11]-PIB images into several principal components including the variation of neocortex and white matter and the variation of deep brain structure such as pons. Conclusion PCA is useful to analyze and extract the main pattern of C[11]-PIB image. PCA, as a method of multivariate analysis, might be useful for pattern recognition of neuroimages such as FDG-PET or fMRI as well as C[11]-PIB image.