• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.9
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• pp.3317-3323
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• 2022

Half Value Layer calculations theoretically need prior specification of linear attenuation calculations, since the HVL value is derived by dividing ln(2) by the linear attenuation coefficient. The purpose of this study was to establish a direct computational model for determining HVL, a vital parameter in nuclear radiation safety studies and shielding material design. Accordingly, a typical gamma-ray transmission setup has been modeled using MCNPX (version 2.4.0) general-purpose Monte Carlo code. The MCNPX code's INPUT file was designed with two detection locations for primary and secondary gamma-rays, as well as attenuator material between those detectors. Next, Half Value Layer values of some well-known gamma-ray shielding materials such as lead and ordinary concrete have been calculated throughout a broad gamma-ray energy range. The outcomes were then compared to data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The Half Value Layer values obtained from MCNPX were reported to be highly compatible with the HVL values obtained from the NIST standard database. Our results indicate that the developed INPUT file may be utilized for direct computations of Half Value Layer values for nuclear safety assessments as well as medical radiation applications. In conclusion, advanced simulation methods such as the Monte Carlo code are very powerful and useful instruments that should be considered for daily radiation safety measures. The modeled MCNPX input file will be provided to the scientific community upon reasonable request.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.3 s.234
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• pp.462-469
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• 2005

Single phase bainite structure which is obtained by the conventional austempering treatment reduces the ductility of ductile cast iron. Because of the reduction of ductility it is possible to worsen the fatigue properties. Therefore, semi austempered ductile iron which is treated from ${\alpha}+{\gamma}$ is prepared to investigate the static strength and fatigue properties in comparison with fully austempered ductile iron (is treated from ${\gamma}$). In spite of semi austempered ductile iron shows the $86{\%}$ increase of ductility. Also, semi austempered ductile iron shows the higher fatigue limit and lower fatigue crack growth rate as compared with fully austempered ductile iron. By the fractographical analysis, it is revealed that the ferrite obtained by semi austempering process brings about the plastic deformation(ductile striation) of crack tip and gives the prior path of crack propagation. The relatively low crack growth rate in semi austempered specimen is caused by above fractographical reasons.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.1051-1056
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• 2001

Data for teat number for Landrace (L), Yorkshire (Y), crossbred of Landrace and Yorkshire (LY), and crossbred of Landrace, Yorkshire and Chinese indigenous Min Pig (LYM) were analyzed using Gibbs sampling. In Bayesian inference, flat priors and some informative priors were used to examine their influence on posterior estimates. The posterior mean estimates of heritabilities with flat priors were $0.661{\pm}0.035$ for L, $0.540{\pm}0.072$ for Y, $0.789{\pm}0.074$ for LY, and $0.577{\pm}0.058$ for LYM, and they did not differ (p>0.05) from their corresponding estimates of REML. When inverse Gamma densities for variance components were used as priors with the shape parameter of 4, the posterior estimates were still corresponding (p>0.05) to REML estimates and mean estimates using Gibbs sampling with flat priors. However, when the inverse Gamma densities with the shape parameter of 10 were utilized, some posterior estimates differed (p<0.10) from REML estimates and/or from other Gibbs mean estimates. The use of moderate degree of belief was influential to the posterior estimates, especially for Y and for LY where data sizes were small. When the data size is small, REML estimates of variance components have unknown distributions. On the other hand, Bayesian approach gives exact posterior densities of variance components. However, when the data size is small and prior knowledge is lacked, researchers should be careful with even moderate priors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.275.1-275.1
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• 2014

The effects of the interfacial buffer layer and temperature on the organic bulk heterojunction (BHJ) nanostructures of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) and fullerene (C60) systems were investigated using real time in-situ x-ray scattering. In the CuPc:C60 BHJ structures, standing-on configured ${\gamma}$-CuPc phase was formed by co-deposition of CuPc and C60. Once formed ${\gamma}$-phase was thermally stable during the annealing upon $180^{\circ}C$. Meanwhile, the insertion of CuI buffer layer prior to deposition of the CuPc:C60 BHJ layer induced lying-down configured CuPc crystals in the BHJ layer. The lying CuPc peak intensity and the lattice parameter were increased by the thermal annealing. This increment of the intensity seemed to be related to the strain at the interface between CuPc:C60 and CuI, which was proportional to the enhancement of the power conversion efficiency of the device.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.317-321
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• 2012

In this study, Cu-5Ni-10Sn(wt%) spinodal alloy was manufactured by gas atomization spray forming, and the microstructural features and mechanical properties of Cu-5Ni-10Sn alloy have been investigated during homogenization, cold working and age-hardening. The spray formed Cu-5Ni-10Sn alloy consisted of an equiaxed microstructure with a mixture of solid solution ${\alpha}$-(CuNiSn) grains and lamellar-structure grains. Homogenization at $800^{\circ}C$ and subsequent rapid quenching formed a uniform solid solution ${\alpha}$-(CuNiSn) phase. Direct aging at $350^{\circ}C$ from the homogenized Cu-5Ni-10Sn alloy promoted the precipitation of finely distributed ${\gamma}$' or ${\gamma}-(Cu,Ni)_3Sn$ phase throughout the matrix, resulting in a significant increase in microhardness and tensile strength. Cold working prior to aging was effective in strengthening Cu-5Ni-10Sn alloy, which gave rise to a maximum tensile strength of 1165 MPa. Subsequent aging treatment slightly reduced the tensile strength to 1000-1100 MPa due to annealing effects.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.829-834
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• 2016

Free radicals originate due to the radiolysis of cytoplasmic water with low "Linear Energy Transfer" (LET) radiations. Naringenin (Ng) is a natural antioxidative compound found in citrus fruits. This study revealed that Naringenin (Ng) reduced the radiation damage of critical organs by scavenging oxidative free radicals. In the study, Ng was orally administrated to rats daily for 7 consecutive days, prior to whole body exposure to gamma-rays. The scavenging efficacy was evaluated biochemically by measuring the concentration of cytotoxic byproducts and the activity of enzymes relevant to oxidative free radicals, after extracting the organs from the exposed rat. We observed increased levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration, and decrease in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in the exposed control group. However, pretreatment with Ng significantly reduced the MDA concentration, and increased the activities of SOD and CAT, as compared to the control group, due to the free radical scavenging by Ng. The results indicate that Ng administration prior to irradiation could protect critical organs from radiation damage.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.683-687
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• 1998

We have examined in vitro and in vivo radioprotective effects of a well-known thiol-containing compound, dithiothreitol (DTT). The treatment of both 0.5 and 1mM of DTT significantly increased clonogenic survival of ${\gamma}$-ray irradiated Chinese hamster (V79-4) cells. In order to investigate the possible radioprotective mechanism of DTT, we measured gamma-ray induced chromosome aberration by micronucleus assay. In the presence of 0.5mM or 1mM DTT, the frequencies of micronuclei were greatly reduced in all dose range examined (1.5-8 GY). Slightly higher reduction in micronucleus formation was observed in 1mM DTT-treated cells than in 0.5mM DTT-treated cells. In addition, incubation with both 0.5 and 1mM of DTT prior to gamma-ray irradiation reduced nucleosomal DNA fragmentation at about same extent, this result suggests that treatment of DTT at concentrations of 0.5 and 1mM reduced radiation-induced apoptosis. In vivo experiments, we also observed that DTT treatment reduced the incidence of apoptotic cells in mouse small intestine crypts. In irradiated control group 4.4${\pm}$0.5 apoptotic cells per crypt were observed. In DTT-administered and irradiated mice, only 2.1${\pm}$0.4 apoptotic cells per crypt was observed. In vitro and in vivo data obtained in this study showed that DTT reduced radiation-induced damages and it seems that the possible radioprotective mechanisms of action of DTT are prevention of chromosome aberration.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.110-116
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• 2005

Background: As an attempt to develop a strategy to improve the protective immune response to GM-CSF-secreting CT26 (GM-CSF/CT26) tumor vaccine, we have investigated whether the apoptogenic treatment of GM-CSF/CT26 prior to vaccination enhances the induction of anti-tumor immune response in mouse model. Methods: A carcinogeninduced mouse colorectal tumor, CT26 was transfected with GM-CSF gene using a retroviral vector to generate GM-CSF-secreting CT26 (CT26/GM-CSF). The CT26/GM-CSF was treated with ${\gamma}$-irradiation or mitomycin C to induce apoptosis and vaccinated into BALB/c mice. After 7 days, the mice were injected with a lethal dose of challenge live CT26 cells to examine the protective effect of tumor vaccination in vivo. Results: Although both apoptotic and necrotic CT26/GM-CSF vaccines were able to enhance anti-tumor immune response, apoptotic CT26/GM-CSF induced by pretreatment with ${\gamma}$-irradiation (50,000 rads) was the most potent in generating the anti-tumor immunity, and thus 100% of mice vaccinated with the apoptotic cells remained tumor free for more than 60 days after tumor challenge. Conclusion: Apoptogenic pretreatment of GM-CSF-secreting CT26 tumor vaccine by ${\gamma}$-irradiation (50,000 rads) resulted in a significant enhancement in inducing the protective anti-tumor immunity. A rapid induction of apoptosis of CT26/GM-CSF tumor vaccine at the vaccine site might be critical for the enhancement in anti-tumor immune response to tumor vaccine.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.286-292
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• 2007

Objective : Gamma Knife Stereotactic Radiosurgery (GK SRS) has become an important treatment modality for vestibular schwannomas. We evaluated the tumor control rate, patterns of tumor volume change and preservation of hearing following low-dose radiation for vestibular schwannomas in a homogeneous cohort group in which the mean marginal dose was 12 Gy. Methods : A total of 59 patients were enrolled in this study. All enrolled patients were followed-up for at least 5 years and the radiation dose was 11-13 Gy. Regular MRI, audiometry and clinical evaluations were done and tumor volumes were obtained from MRI using the OSIRIS program. Results : The tumor control rate was 97%. We were able to classify the patterns of change in tumor volume into three categories. Transient increases in tumor volume were detected in 29% of the patients and the maximum transient increase in tumor volume was identified at 6 to 30 months after GK SRS. The transient increases in tumor volume ranged from 121% to 188%. Hearing was preserved in 4 of the 12 patients who had serviceable hearing prior to treatment. There were no other complications associated with GK SRS. Conclusion : Low-dose GK SRS was an effective and safe mode of treatment for vestibular schwannomas in comparison to the previously used high-dose GK SRS. Transient increases in tumor volume can be identified during the follow-up period after low-dose GK SRS for vestibular schwannomas. Physicians should be aware that these increases are not always indicative of treatment failure and that close observation is required following treatments. Unfortunately, a satisfactory hearing preservation rate was not achieved by reducing the radiation dose. It is thought that hearing preservation is a more sophisticated problem and further research is required.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.92-96
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• 2007

Objective : The authors have speculated that metastatic brain lesions from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) show diverse radiological patterns and tumor responses after Gamma knife surgery (GKS), and have hypothesized that these can be predicted from tumor radiological characteristics. The goal of the current study was to identify the radiological characteristics of RCC brain metastases and the predictors of initial radiosurgical response after GKS. Methods : A retrospective analysis was performed on 48 lesions in 18 patients with RCC brain metastasis treated by GKS. The radiological characteristics of these lesions in magnetic resonance images (MRI) were classified into 3 categories according to enhancement patterns in T1-weighted images and signal intensity characteristics in T2-weighted images. Responses to GKS were analyzed according to these categories, and in addition, other potential predictive factors were also evaluated. Results : MRI findings in the three categories were diverse, though numbers of the lesion were comparable. At 2-month MRI follow-ups after GKS, response rate was 54% and the local tumor control rate 83%. T2 signal intensity was found to be the principal predictive factor of response to GKS, namely negative predictive factor. Other variables such as age, sex, tumor volume, dose, duration from initial diagnosis to GKS, and previous systemic therapies failed to show significant relationships with treatment response by multivariate analysis. Conclusion : Careful evaluation of the radiological characteristics of brain metastases from RCC is important prior to GKS because MRI heterogeneity has predictive value in terms of determining initial tumor response.