• Title/Summary/Keyword: x-rays: background

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CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES: SHOCK WAVES AND COSMIC RAYS

  • RYU DONGSU;KANG HYESUNG
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.36 no.3
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    • pp.105-110
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    • 2003
  • Recent observations of galaxy clusters in radio and X-ray indicate that cosmic rays and magnetic fields may be energetically important in the intracluster medium. According to the estimates based on theses observational studies, the combined pressure of these two components of the intracluster medium may range between $10\%{\~}100\%$ of gas pressure, although their total energy is probably time dependent. Hence, these non-thermal components may have influenced the formation and evolution of cosmic structures, and may provide unique and vital diagnostic information through various radiations emitted via their interactions with surrounding matter and cosmic background photons. We suggest that shock waves associated with cosmic structures, along with individual sources such as active galactic nuclei and radio galaxies, supply the cosmic rays and magnetic fields to the intracluster medium and to surrounding large scale structures. In order to study 1) the properties of cosmic shock waves emerging during the large scale structure formation of the universe, and 2) the dynamical influence of cosmic rays, which were ejected by AGN-like sources into the intracluster medium, on structure formation, we have performed two sets of N-body /hydrodynamic simulations of cosmic structure formation. In this contribution, we report the preliminary results of these simulations.

Analysis Method of X-Ray Diffraction Characteristic Values and Measured Strain for Steep Stress Gradient of Metal Material Surface Layer (금속재료 표면층의 급격한 응력구배에 대한 X-Ray회절 특성값과 측정된 변형률의 해석방법)

  • Chang-Suk Han;Chan-Woo Lee
    • Korean Journal of Materials Research
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    • v.33 no.2
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    • pp.54-62
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    • 2023
  • The most comprehensive and particularly reliable method for non-destructively measuring the residual stress of the surface layer of metals is the sin2ψ method. When X-rays were used the relationship of εφψ-sin2ψ measured on the surface layer of the processing metal did not show linearity when the sin2ψ method was used. In this case, since the effective penetration depth changes according to the changing direction of the incident X-ray, σφ becomes a sin2ψ function. Since σφ cannot be used as a constant, the relationship in εφψ-sin2ψ cannot be linear. Therefore, in this paper, the orthogonal function method according to Warren's diffraction theory and the basic profile of normal distribution were synthesized, and the X-ray diffraction profile was calculated and reviewed when there was a linear strain (stress) gradient on the surface. When there is a strain gradient, the X-ray diffraction profile becomes asymmetric, and as a result, the peak position, the position of half-maximum, and the centroid position show different values. The difference between the peak position and the centroid position appeared more clearly as the strain (stress) gradient became larger, and the basic profile width was smaller. The weighted average strain enables stress analysis when there is a strain (stress) gradient, based on the strain value corresponding to the centroid position of the diffracted X-rays. At the 1/5 Imax max height of X-ray diffraction, the position where the diffracted X-ray is divided into two by drawing a straight line parallel to the background, corresponds approximately to the centroid position.

LOW-LEVEL RADIO EMISSION FROM RADIO GALAXIES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE LARGE SCALE STRUCTURE

  • KRISHNA GOPAL;WIITA PAUL J.;BARAI PARAMITA
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.37 no.5
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    • pp.517-525
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    • 2004
  • We present an update on our proposal that during the 'quasar era' (1.5 $\le$ z $\le$ 3), powerful radio galaxies could have played a major role in the enhanced global star-formation, and in the widespread magnetization and metal pollution of the universe. A key ingredient of this proposal is our estimate that the true cosmological evolution of the radio galaxy population is likely to be even steeper than what has been inferred from flux-limited samples of radio sources with redshift data, when an allowance is made for the inverse Compton losses on the cosmic microwave background which were much greater at higher redshifts. We thus estimate that a large fraction of the clumps of proto-galactic material within the cosmic web of filaments was probably impacted by the expanding lobes of radio galaxies during the quasar era. Some recently published observational evidence and simulations which provide support for this picture are pointed out. We also show that the inverse Compton x-ray emission from the population of radio galaxies during the quasar era, which we inferred to be largely missing from the derived radio luminosity function, is still only a small fraction of the observed soft x-ray background (XRB) and hence the limit imposed on this scenario by the XRB is not violated.

The Implications of X-ray Use in Chuna Manual Therapy from the Viewpoint of Korean Medicine Doctors

  • Kim, Tae Gyu;Gi, Yumi;Yang, Kyu Jin;Lee, Ki-Beom;Jo, Hooin;Choi, Jongho;Lee, Yoon Jae;Lee, Sanghun;Ha, In-Hyuk
    • Journal of Acupuncture Research
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    • v.35 no.3
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    • pp.108-114
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    • 2018
  • Background: The purpose of this survey study was to understand how utilization of X-rays as an adjunct to Chuna manual therapy (CT) supports treatment, as assessed by Korean medicine doctors (KMDs). Methods: A survey was emailed to all 18,289 members of the Association of Korean Oriental Medicine (AKOM)to determine the implications of X-ray use in CT. Surveys were collected from September 22, 2017 to October 15, 2017. Results: Of the 18,289 KMDs 562 completed the survey. The implications of a radiological diagnosis (X-ray) with CT was assessed using 5 items in a questionnaire: time to diagnosis, accuracy of treatment, patient comprehension and satisfaction, CT effect, and safety of CT. Survey participants identified improvement in patient comprehension and satisfaction as the most important factor for X-ray use with CT, followed by increased safety of CT. From the determinant factors for selection of CT intensity and specific techniques, severity of clinical symptoms was shown to be the most influential factor. Degenerative changes of the spine and degree of spinal malposition were also reported to be highly influential. Conclusion: The KMDs' that participated in this study indicated that utilization of X-rays in conjunction with CT administration improved patient comprehension and satisfaction, and CT safety. Installation of radiological equipment in Korean medicine clinics where CT is provided may increase safety and patients' satisfaction.

GALAXY CLUSTERS IN GAMMA-RAYS: AN ASSESSMENT FROM OBSERVATIONS

  • REIMER OLAF
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.37 no.5
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    • pp.307-313
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    • 2004
  • Clusters of galaxies are believed to constitute a population of astrophysical objects potentially able to emit electromagnetic radiation up to gamma-ray energies. Evidence of the existence of non-thermal radiation processes in galaxy clusters is indicated from observations of diffuse radio halos, hard X-ray and EUV excess emission. The presence of cosmic ray acceleration processes and its confinement on cosmological timescales nearly inevitably yields in predicting energetic gamma-ray emission, either directly deduceably from a cluster's multifreqency emission characteristics or indirectly during large-scale cosmological structure formation processes. This theoretical reasoning suggests several scenarios to actually detect galaxy clusters at gamma-ray wavelengths: Either resolved as individual sources of point-like or extended gamma-ray emission, by investigating spatial-statistical correlations with unidentified gamma-ray sources or, if unresolved, through their contribution to the extragalactic diffuse gamma-ray background. In the following I review the situation concerning the proposed relation between galaxy clusters and high-energy gamma-ray observations from an observational point-of-view.

EUV AND SOFT X-RAY EMISSION IN CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES

  • BOWYER STUART
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.37 no.5
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    • pp.295-297
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    • 2004
  • Observations with EUVE, ROSAT, and BeepoSAX have shown that some clusters of galaxies produce intense EUV emission. These findings have produced considerable interest; over 100 papers have been published on this topic in the refereed literature. A notable suggestion as to the source of this radiation is that it is a 'warm' (106 K) intracluster medium which, if present, would constitute the major baryonic component of the universe. A more recent variation of this theme is that this material is 'warm-hot' intergalactic material condensing onto clusters. Alternatively, inverse Compton scattering of low energy cosmic rays against cosmic microwave background photons has been proposed as the source of this emission. Various origins of these particles have been posited, including an old (${\~}$Giga year) population of cluster cosmic rays; particles associated with relativistic jets in the cluster; and cascading particles produced by shocks from sub-cluster merging. The observational situation has been quite uncertain with many reports of detections which have been subsequently contradicted by analyses carried out by other groups. Evidence supporting a thermal and a non-thermal origin has been reported. The existing EUV, FUV, and optical data will be briefly reviewed and clarified. Direct observational evidence from a number of different satellites now rules out a thermal origin for this radiation. A new examination of subtle details of the EUV data suggests a new source mechanism: inverse Compton scattered emission from secondary electrons in the cluster. This suggestion will be discussed in the context of the data.

Unleashing the Potential of Vision Transformer for Automated Bone Age Assessment in Hand X-rays (자동 뼈 연령 평가를 위한 비전 트랜스포머와 손 X 선 영상 분석)

  • Kyunghee Jung;Sammy Yap Xiang Bang;Nguyen Duc Toan;Hyunseung Choo
    • Proceedings of the Korea Information Processing Society Conference
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    • 2023.05a
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    • pp.687-688
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    • 2023
  • Bone age assessment is a crucial task in pediatric radiology for assessing growth and development in children. In this paper, we explore the potential of Vision Transformer, a state-of-the-art deep learning model, for bone age assessment using X-ray images. We generate heatmap outputs using a pre-trained Vision Transformer model on a publicly available dataset of hand X-ray images and show that the model tends to focus on the overall hand and only the bone part of the image, indicating its potential for accurately identifying the regions of interest for bone age assessment without the need for pre-processing to remove background noise. We also suggest two methods for extracting the region of interest from the heatmap output. Our study suggests that Vision Transformer holds great potential for bone age assessment using X-ray images, as it can provide accurate and interpretable output that may assist radiologists in identifying potential abnormalities or areas of interest in the X-ray image.

Age-related low skeletal muscle mass correlates with joint space narrowing in knee osteoarthritis in a South Korean population: a cross-sectional, case-control study

  • Kim, Hyun-Je;Hong, Young-Hoon
    • Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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    • v.39 no.4
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    • pp.285-293
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    • 2022
  • Background: This study was conducted to analyze the effects of low skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) and obesity on aging-related osteoarthritis (OA) in the Korean population. Methods: A total of 16,601 participants who underwent a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and 3,976 subjects with knee X-rays according to the modified Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) system were enrolled. Knees of ≥KL grade 2 were classified as radiologic OA. The severity of joint space narrowing (JSN) was classified by X-rays as normal, mild-to-moderate, and severe JSN in radiologic OA. The subjects were grouped as normal SMI (SMI of ≥-1 standard deviation [SD] of the mean), low SMI class I (SMI of ≥-2 SDs and <-1 SD), and low SMI class II (SMI of <-2 SDs). Obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) of ≥27.5 kg/m2. Results: The modified KL grade and JSN severity were negatively correlated with the SMI and positively correlated with BMI and age. The SMI was negatively correlated with age. JSN severity was significantly associated with a low SMI class compared to a normal SMI, which was more prominent in low SMI class II than class I. Obesity was significantly associated with more severe JSN, only for obesity with a low SMI class. Furthermore, patients with a low SMI class, regardless of obesity, were prone to having more severe JSN. Conclusion: This study suggested that a low SMI class was associated with aging and that an age-related low SMI was more critically related to the severity of JSN in OA.

X-Rays through the Looking Glass: Mobile Imaging Dosimetry and Image Quality of Suspected COVID-19 Patients

  • Schelleman, Alexandra;Boyd, Chris
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.46 no.3
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    • pp.120-126
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    • 2021
  • Background: This paper aims to evaluate the clinical utility and radiation dosimetry, for the mobile X-ray imaging of patients with known or suspected infectious diseases, through the window of an isolation room. The suitability of this technique for imaging coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients is of particular focus here, although it is expected to have equal relevance to many infectious respiratory disease outbreaks. Materials and Methods: Two exposure levels were examined, a "typical" mobile exposure of 100 kVp/1.6 mAs and a "high" exposure of 120 kVp/5 mAs. Exposures of an anthropomorphic phantom were made, with and without a glass window present in the beam. The resultant phantom images were provided to experienced radiographers for image quality evaluation, using a Likert scale to rate the anatomical structure visibility. Results and Discussion: The incident air kerma doubled using the high exposure technique, from 29.47 µGy to 67.82 µGy and scattered radiation inside and outside the room increased. Despite an increase in beam energy, high exposure technique images received higher image quality scores than images acquired using lower exposure settings. Conclusion: Increased scattered radiation was very low and can be further mitigated by ensuring surrounding staff are appropriately distanced from both the patient and X-ray tube. Although an increase in incident air kerma was observed, practical advantages in infection control and personal protective equipment conservation were identified. Sites are encouraged to consider the use of this technique where appropriate, following the completion of standard justification practices.

Energy Spectrum Measurement of High Power and High Energy (6 and 9 MeV) Pulsed X-ray Source for Industrial Use

  • Takagi, Hiroyuki;Murata, Isao
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.41 no.2
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    • pp.93-99
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    • 2016
  • Background: Industrial X-ray CT system is normally applied to non-destructive testing (NDT) for industrial product made from metal. Furthermore there are some special CT systems, which have an ability to inspect nuclear fuel assemblies or rocket motors, using high power and high energy (more than 6 MeV) pulsed X-ray source. In these case, pulsed X-ray are produced by the electron linear accelerator, and a huge number of photons with a wide energy spectrum are produced within a very short period. Consequently, it is difficult to measure the X-ray energy spectrum for such accelerator-based X-ray sources using simple spectrometry. Due to this difficulty, unexpected images and artifacts which lead to incorrect density information and dimensions of specimens cannot be avoided in CT images. For getting highly precise CT images, it is important to know the precise energy spectrum of emitted X-rays. Materials and Methods: In order to realize it we investigated a new approach utilizing the Bayesian estimation method combined with an attenuation curve measurement using step shaped attenuation material. This method was validated by precise measurement of energy spectrum from a 1 MeV electron accelerator. In this study, to extend the applicable X-ray energy range we tried to measure energy spectra of X-ray sources from 6 and 9 MeV linear accelerators by using the recently developed method. Results and Discussion: In this study, an attenuation curves are measured by using a step-shaped attenuation materials of aluminum and steel individually, and the each X-ray spectrum is reconstructed from the measured attenuation curve by the spectrum type Bayesian estimation method. Conclusion: The obtained result shows good agreement with simulated spectra, and the presently developed technique is adaptable for high energy X-ray source more than 6 MeV.