• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.1769-1780
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• 2022

A new method of dose calculation algorithm, called GPU-accelerated Monte Carlo and collapsed cone Convolution (GMCC) was developed to improve the calculation speed of BNCT treatment planning system. The GPU-accelerated Monte Carlo routine in GMCC is used to simulate the neutron transport over whole energy range and the Collapsed Cone Convolution method is to calculate the gamma dose. Other dose components due to alpha particles and protons, are calculated using the calculated neutron flux and reaction data. The mathematical principle and the algorithm architecture are introduced. The accuracy and performance of the GMCC were verified by comparing with the FLUKA results. A water phantom and a head CT voxel model were simulated. The neutron flux and the absorbed dose obtained by the GMCC were consistent well with the FLUKA results. In the case of head CT voxel model, the mean absolute percentage error for the neutron flux and the absorbed dose were 3.98% and 3.91%, respectively. The calculation speed of the absorbed dose by the GMCC was 56 times faster than the FLUKA code. It was verified that the GMCC could be a good candidate tool instead of the Monte Carlo method in the BNCT dose calculations.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.94-102
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• 2002

An interesting recent application of intermolecular NOE experiment is the saturation transfer difference NMR(STD-NMR) method that is useful in screening compound libraries to identify bio-active ligands. This technique also identifies the group epitopes of the bound ligand in a reversibly forming protein-ligand complex. We present here a complete relaxation and conformational exchange matrix (CORCEMA) theory (Moseley et al., J. Magn. Reson. B, 108, 243-261 (1995)) applicable for the STD-NMR experiment. Using some ideal model systems we have analyzed the factors that influence the STD intensity changes in the ligand proton NMR spectrum when the resonances from some protons on the receptor protein are saturated. These factors will be discussed and some examples of its application in some model systems will be presented. This CORCEMA theory for STD-NMR and the associated algorithm are useful in a quantitative interpretation of the STD-NMR effects, and are likely to be useful in structure-based drug design efforts. They are also useful in a quantitative characterization of protein-protein (or protein-nucleic acid) contact surfaces from an intermolecular cross-saturation NMR experiment.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1871-1877
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• 2023

The main goal of the coordinated project development of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals of Y-90 and Re-188 is to exploit advancements in radionuclide production technology. Here, direct and indirect production methods with medium reactor and cyclotron are compared to evaluate derived neutron flux and production yield. First, nano-sized ¹⁸⁶W and ⁸⁹Y specimens are suspended in water in a quartz vial by FLUKA simulation. Then, the solution is irradiated for 4 days under 9E+14 n/cm2/s neutron flux of reactor. Also, a neutron activator including three layers-lead moderator, graphite reflector, and polyethylene absorbent- is simulated and tungsten target is irradiated by 60 MeV protons of cyclotron to generate induced neutrons for ¹⁸⁸W and ⁹⁰Sr production via neutron capture. As the neutron energy reduced, the flux gradually increased towards epithermal range to satisfy (n/2n,γ) reactions. The obtained specific activities at saturation were higher than the reported experimental values because the accumulated epithermal flux and nano-sized specimens influence the outcomes. The beta emitters, which are widely utilized in brachytherapy, appeal an alternative route to locally achieve a rational yield. Therefore, the proposed method via neutron activator may ascertain these broad requirements.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.141-146
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• 2023

The efficient use of a chiral shift agent (3) containing bifunctional group (thiourea and tertiary amine) for the determination of the enantiomeric purity of racemic mixture (Hemiesters) has been studied. The diastereomeric complexes derived from a chiral shift agent (3) with various hemiesters gave rise to well separate signals of the methoxy protons of hemiesters. Good splitting signals for enantiomers of hemiesters in ¹H NMR are originated form the hydrogen bonds between carbonyl groups of hemiester and bifunctional groups of a chiral shift agent (3) such as thiourea moiety and tertiary amine. This study provides a quick and simple way to determine the chiral purity of hemiester using chiral transfer agent (3).

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.37.1-37.1
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• 2020

Cosmic-ray protons (CRp) are efficiently produced at starburst galaxies (SBGs), where the star formation rate (SFR) rate is high. In this talk, we present estimates of gamma-ray and neutrino emissions from nearby SBGs, M82, NGC253, and Arp220. Inside the starburst nucleus (SBN), CRp are accelerated at supernova remnant (SNR) shocks as well as at stellar wind (SW) termination shocks, and their transport is governed by the advection due to starburst-driven wind and diffusion mediated by turbulence. We here model the momentum distributions of SNR and SW-produced CRp with single or a double power-law forms. We also employ two different diffusion models, where CRp are resonantly scattered off large-scale turbulence in SBN or self-excited waves driven by CR streaming instability. We then calculate gamma-ray/neutrino fluxes. The observed gamma-ray fluxes by Fermi-LAT, Veritas, and H.E.S.S are well reproduced with double power-law distribution for SNR-produced CRp and the CRp diffusion by self-excited turbulence. The estimated neutrino fluxes are <~10-3 of the atmospheric neutrino flux in the energy range of Eneutrino <~100 GeV and <~10-1 of the IceCube point source sensitivity in the energy range of Eneutrino >~60 TeV.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.10
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• pp.3692-3699
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• 2023

The Rare isotope Accelerator complex for ON-line experiments in Korea houses several accelerator complexes. Among them, the µSR facility will be initially equipped with a 600 MeV and 100 kW proton beam to generate surface muons, and will be upgraded to 400 kW with the same energy. Accelerated proton beams lose approximately 20% of the power at the target, and the remaining power is concentrated in the beam direction. Therefore, to ensure safe operation of the facility, concentrated protons must be distributed and absorbed at the beam dump. Additionally, effective dose levels must be lower than the legal standard, and the beam dumps used at 100 kW should be reused at 400 kW to minimize the generation of radioactive waste. In this study, we introduce a tailored method for designing beam dumps based on the characteristics of the µSR facility. To optimize the geometry, the absorbed power and effective dose were calculated using the MCNP6 code. The temperature and stress were determined using the ANSYS Mechanical code. Thus, the beam dump design consists of six structures when operated at 100 kW, and a 400 kW beam dump consisting of 24 structures was developed by reusing the 100 kW beam dump.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.10
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• pp.3700-3708
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• 2023

The stochastic origin ensembles method with resolution recovery (SOE-RR) has been proposed to reconstruct proton-induced prompt gammas (PGs), and the reconstructed PG image was used for range verification. However, due to low detection efficiency, the number of valid events is low. Such a low-count condition can degrade the accuracy of the SOE-RR method for proton range verification. In this study, we proposed two strategies to improve the reconstruction of the SOE-RR algorithm for low-count PG imaging. We also studied the number of iterations and repetitions required to achieve reliable range verification. We simulated a proton beam (10⁸ protons) irradiated on a water phantom and used a two-layer Compton camera to detect 4.44-MeV PGs. Our simulated results show that combining the SOE-RR algorithm with restricted volume (SOE-RR-RV) can reduce the error of the estimation of the Bragg peak position from 5.0 mm to 2.5 mm. We also found that the SOE-RR-RV algorithm initialized using a back-projection image could improve the convergence rate while maintaining accurate range verification. Finally, we observed that the improved SOE-RR algorithm set for 60,000 iterations and 25 repetitions could provide reliable PG images. Based on the proposed reconstruction strategies, the SOE-RR algorithm has the potential to achieve a positioning error of 2.5 mm for low-count PG imaging.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.10-19
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• 2024

The bipolar membrane is an ion exchange membrane consisting of a cation exchange layer, an anion exchange layer, and an interface layer, and is a membrane that generates protons and hydroxide ions based on water dissociation characteristics. Using these properties, research is being conducted in various application fields such as the chemical industry, food processing, environmental protection, and energy conversion and storage. This paper investigated the concept of bipolar membrane, water dissociation mechanism, and water dissociation catalyst to provide a comprehensive understanding of bipolar membrane technology, were investigated. Lastly, we also investigated the bipolar membrane process that has been recently applied to energy technology.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.106-109
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• 2002

Archaeal rhodopsins possess retinal molecule as their chromophores, and their light-energy and light-signal conversions are triggered by all-trans to 13-cis isomerization of the retinal chromophore. Relaxation through structural changes of protein then leads to functional processes, proton pump in bacteriorhodopsin (bR) and transducer activation in phoborhodopsin (pR). It is known that sensory rhodopsins can pump protons in the absence of their transducers. Thus, there should be common and specific features in their protein structural changes for function. In this paper, our r ecent studies on pR from Natronobacterium pharaonis (ppR) by means of low-temperature Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy are compared with those of bR. In particular, protein structural changes upon retinal photoisomerization are studied. Comparative investigation of ppR and bR revealed the similar structures of the polyene chain of the chromophore and water-containing hydrogen-bonding network, whereas the structural changes upon photoisomerization were more extended in ppR than in bR. Extended protein structural changes were clearly shown by the assignment of the C=O stretch of Asnl05. FTIR studies of a ppR mutant with the same retinal binding site as in bR revealed that the Schiff base region is important to determine their colors.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.455-460
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• 1998

In the course of screening for new antitumor substances, a novel cytotoxic agent inducing apoptotic cell death was isolated from the culture broth of marine bacterial strain SCRC A-20. Strain SCRC A-20 was separated from a mollusk and was chemotaxonomically identified as a Streptomyces sp. The cytotoxic substance was purified by organic solvent extraction followed by silica gel column chromatography and preparative TLC. HRFAB-MS determined its molecular formula to be $C_{30}H_{40}N_2O_5$ (MW 508). The 1D and 2D NMR spectral data demonstrated that the substance has a novel lactam structure of a 20-membered macrocycle coupled with a unique acyl tetramine and bicyclo［3.3.0］ octane, which includes three methyl groups, six olefinic protons, five carbonyl groups, a conjugated diene and a dienone. The substance, named aburatubolactam C, appeared to be cytotoxic for various continuously proliferating tumor cells of human and murine origins. The $IC_{50}$ values determined by MIT assay were in the range of 0.3 to $5.8\mug/ml$. When Jurkat T cells were treated with $3\mug/ml$. of aburatubolactam C, the apoptotic DNA fragmentation was detectable within 3 h, indicating that the cytotoxic effect of aburatubolactam C on tumor cells is attributable to the induced apoptosis.