• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.245-251
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• 2017

This study measured the exposure dose during abdominal-pelvic CT exam which occupies 70% of CT exam and tried to propose a protocol for optimized exposure dose in abdomen and pelvis without affecting the imagery interpretation. The study scanned abdomen-pelvis using the current clinical scan method, the 120 kVp, auto exposure control(AEC), as 1 phase. As for the newly proposed 2 phase scan method, the study divided into 1 phase abdomen exam and 2 phase pelvis exam and each conducted tube voltage 120 kVp, AEC for abdomen exam, and fixed tube current method in 120 kVp, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400 mA for pelvis exam. The exposure dose value was compared using $CTDI_{VOL}$, DLP value measured during scan, and average value of CT attenuation coefficient, noise, SNR from each scan image were obtained to evaluate the image. As for the result, scanning of 2 phase showed significant difference compared to 1 phase. In $CTDI_{VOL}$ value, the 2 phase showed 26% decrease in abdomen, 1.8~59.5% decrease in pelvis for 100~250 mA, 12.7%~30% increase in pelvis for 300~400 mA. Also, DLP value showed 53% decrease in abdomen and 41~81% decrease in pelvis when scanned by 2 phase compared to 1 phase, but it was not statistically significant. As for the SNR, when scanning 2 phase close to heart, scanning 1 phase close to pelvis, scanning and scanning 1 phase at upper and lower abdomen, it was higher when scanning 2 phase for 200~250 mA. Also, the CT number and noise was overall similar, but the noise was high close to pelvis. However, when scanning 2 phase for 250 mA close to pelvis, the noise value came out similar to 1 phase, and did not show statistically significant difference. It seems when separating pelvis to scan in 250 mA rather than 400 mA in 1 phase as before, it is expected to have reduced effect of exposure dose without difference in the quality of image. Thus, for patients who often get abdominal-pelvic CT exam, fertile women or children, this study proposes 2 phase exam for smaller exposure dose with same image quality.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.15-24
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• 2013

Purpose: With the demand of SPECT/CT increasing, the interest in complex diagnostic information of CT is rising along with the expansion of various studies on potential performance value. But the study on reduction of exposure dose generated by CT is not being conducted enough. Therefore, in this study, the goal is to identify how much dose reduction exists when performing the extremity bone SPECT/CT using the flat-panel CT. Materials and Methods: The extremity bone SPECT/CT was performed with two equipments -BrightView XCT (Philips Healthcare, Cleveland, USA) and Brilliance 16 CT (Philips Healthcare, Cleveland, USA)-to identify the exposed dose and image quality resulted by changing scan parameter (mAs) applying for both equipment respectively. The noise value of image and spatial resolution were measured with AAPM CT phantom. Tube voltage (kVp) was fixed to 120 kVp, tube current (mAs) calculated at different mA (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80) was applied to both equipments respectively. DLP (dose length product) were calculated at the same distance at respective mAs. Also, we acquired images and % contrast with NEMA IEC body phantom to confirm the effect on image. The output of statistics was analyzed by SPSS ver.18. Results: Regarding AAPM phantom, the noise decreased as the tube current (mAs) increased and flat-panel had less noise than Helical CT. This difference increased at lower dose exposure. As to the evaluation of spatial resolution, we can differentiate the space up to 0.75 mm with both equipments. With scan parameter (mA) growing, the value of DLP increased up to 54-216 mGy cm at flat-panel CT and up to 177-709 mGy cm at Helical CT. Regarding NEMA IEC body phantom, same sphere with varied parameter (mA) shows that similar results. Conclusion: There is no significant differences of image quality in both flat-panel and Helical CT when the scan parameter (mA) is changed respectively. Moreover, we can identify the reduction of exposure dose and confirm %contrast analysis value with maintaining image quality. Therefore, at the extremity bone SPECT/CT requiring high spital resolution without the wide ROI, the flat-panel CT is considered to be more useful and it expected to result in the similar image quality with lower exposure dose compared to Helical CT. Additionally, through this study, we expect to help the reduction of the unnecessary exposure dose.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2020

Magnesium silicate minerals such as serpentine [Mg₃Si₂O₅(OH)₄] have a high potential for the sequestration of CO₂; thus, their reactivity toward dissolution under CO₂-free and CO₂-containing conditions in acidic solvents is a critical process with respect to their carbonation reactions. To examine the carbonation efficiency and dissolution mechanism of serpentine, hydrothermal treatment was performed to the starting material via a modified direct aqueous carbonation process at 100 and 150℃. The serpentine dissolution experiments were conducted in H₂SO₄ solution with concentration range of 0.3-1 M and at a CO₂ partial pressure of 3 MPa. The initial pH of the solution was adjusted to 13 for the carbonation process. Under CO₂-free and CO₂-containing conditions, the carbonation efficiency increased in proportion to the concentration of H₂SO₄ and the reaction temperature. The leaching rate under CO₂-containing conditions was higher than that under CO₂-free conditions. This suggests that shows the presence of CO₂ affects the carbonation reaction. The leaching and carbonation efficiencies at 150℃ in 1 M H₂SO₄ solution under CO₂-containing conditions were 85 and 84%, respectively. The dissolution rate of Mg was higher than that of Si, such that the Mg : Si ratio of the reacted serpentine decreased from the inner part (approximately 1.5) to the outer part (less than 0.1). The resultant silica-rich layer of the reaction product ultimately changed through the Mg-depleted skeletal phase and the pseudo-serpentine phase to the amorphous silica phase. A passivating silica layer was not observed on the outer surface of the reacted serpentine.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.29-34
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• 2012

Purpose : Presently, hardwares and softwares for reducing radiation exposure are continually developed for PET/CT examination. Purpose of this study is to evaluate effectiveness of reducing radiation exposure dose of CT and SUV changes of PET when applied each kernel to ACCT (Attenuation Correction Computed Tomography) according to adopted IRIS (Iterative Reconstruction in Image Space) software. Materials and Methods : Biograph mCT (Siemens, Germany) was used as a PET/CT scanner. Using AAPM CT performance phantom, from standard (120 kVp, 100 mAs), 7 scans were conducted by reducing 15 mAs each. After image reconstruction by FBP (Filtered Back Projection) and IRIS, noise and spatial resolution were evaluated. The same method was applied to anthropomorphic chest phantom and acquired images were compared. NEMA IEC body phantom was used for SUV evaluation. Injected dose rate for hot sphere (hot) and background cylinder (BKG) were 1:8. CT dose condition (120 kVp, 50 mAs) was the same for each scan and PET scan durations were 1, 2, 3 and 4min. After scanning, each kernel of IRIS was applied to ACCT. And PET images were reconstructed by ACCT adopted IRIS for comparing SUV changes. Results : AAPM phantom test for noise evaluation, SD for FBP 100 mAs, IRIS 55 mAs were 8.8 and 8.9. FBP 85 mAs, IRIS 40 mAs were 9.5 and 9.7. FBP 70 mAs, IRIS 25 mAs were 11.9 and 11.1. Above mAs condition for FBP and IRIS, SD showed similar values. And for spatial resolution test, there was no significant difference. For chest phantom test, when applied the same mAs and kernel to both of FBP and IRIS, every applied kernels showed reduced noise. Lower mAs and higher kernel value showed higher noise reduction. There was no considerable difference only except for I70 very sharp kernel for SUV comparison using NEMA IEC body phantom. Conclusion : In this study, low mAs (55 mAs) applied IRIS and standard mAs (100 mAs) applied FBP showed similar noise. And only except for I70 kernel, there was no significant SUV changes. It is possible to reduce needless radiation exposure and acquire better image quality than FBP's through applying appropriate kernel of IRIS to PET/CT.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.44-57
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• 2003

Seasonal variations of bacterial abundance and production, heterotrophic nanoflagellate (HNF) abundance and HNF ingestion rates on bacteria using FLB together with environmental variables were investigated at intervals of a month in Kyeonggi Bay from December 1991 to November 1998. Bacterial abundance and production ranged from 0.38$\times$10$^{9}$ ~ 3.25$\times$10$^{9}$ cells 1$^{-1}$ (average 1.19$\pm$0.69$\times$10$^{9}$ cells 1$^{-1}$ ) and from 1.51 to 20.4 cells 1$^{-1}$ h$^{-1}$ (average 6.04$\pm$ 1.88$\times$10$^{6}$ cells 1$^{-1}$ h$^{-1}$ ), respectively. Bacterial abundance and production showed no differences at the high tide and low tide, and bacterial abundances were not different with depth, but bacterial production decreased with depth. Seasonal variation of bacterial abundance showed almost similar fluctuation pattern to those of DOC (dissolved organic carbon). HNF abundances ranged from 388 to 4,374 cells ml$^{-1}$ (average 1,344$\pm$130 cells ml$^{-1}$ ), were high in March, April, July and August. HNF abundance showed no difference between the high tide and low tide, and was not different with depth. The ingestion rates of HNF on bacteria were 1.0 to 6.3$\pm$10$^{6}$ bacteria 1$^{-1}$ h$^{-1}$ (average 3.12$\pm$0.55$\times$10$^{6}$ bacteria 1$^{-1}$ h$^{-1}$ ), resulting ingestion rates of HNF removed 19.4 to 141.4 %(average 62.3$\pm$12.0%) of bacterial production. Ingestion rates and grazing pressure of HNF on bacteria showed high correlation with HNF abundance. Although we cannot exactly discussion about seasonal variation of bacteria community in this study area where physical and chemical parameters were very complex, the results indicate that bacterial abundance and production were mainly controlled by resources supply as dissolved organic carbon and chlorophyll-a(bottom-up) except March which bacterial abundance and production uncoupled chlorophyll-a because of low dissolved organic carbon and low temperature, and were controlled by HNF grazing pressure(top-down) in the warm seasons except the winter.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.202-209
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• 2004

Flat panel based digital radiography (DR) systems have recently become useful and important in the field of diagnostic radiology. For DRs with amorphous silicon photosensors, CsI(TI) is normally used as the scintillator, which produces visible light corresponding to the absorbed radiation energy. The visible light photons are converted into electric signal in the amorphous silicon photodiodes which constitute a two dimensional array. In order to produce good quality images, detailed behaviors of DR detectors to radiation must be studied. The relationship between air exposure and the DR outputs has been investigated in many studies. But this relationship was investigated under the condition of the fixed tube voltage. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the DR outputs and X-ray in terms of the absorbed energy in the detector rather than the air exposure using SPEC-l8, an X-ray energy spectrum model. Measured exposure was compared with calculated exposure for obtaining the inherent filtration that is a important input variable of SPEC-l8. The absorbed energy in the detector was calculated using algorithm of calculating the absorbed energy in the material and pixel values of real images under various conditions was obtained. The characteristic curve was obtained using the relationship of two parameter and the results were verified using phantoms made of water and aluminum. The pixel values of the phantom image were estimated and compared with the characteristic curve under various conditions. It was found that the relationship between the DR outputs and the absorbed energy in the detector was almost linear. In a experiment using the phantoms, the estimated pixel values agreed with the characteristic curve, although the effect of scattered photons introduced some errors. However, effect of a scattered X-ray must be studied because it was not included in the calculation algorithm. The result of this study can provide useful information about a pre-processing of digital radiography.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.93-98
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to see the usefulness of lead apron for critical organs near the breast under examining. For clinical experiment, 30 female volunteers who agreed to their participation in the experiments, were chosen and divided into two groups, 15 in group A and 15 in group B respectively. group A is to see whether each side of breast under mammography affects to other side glandular on the critical organs is same, because it is not allowed to scan the both breast for same person or to scan repeatedly. Group B is to see the effectiveness of lead apron during the mammography of right breast. Glass dosimeters were placed on the thyroid, the contralateral breast, and lower abdomen where near the breast during examining. The average glandular doses on the surface in mammography of the thyroid gland, the contralateral breast, the lower abdomen were 0.0692 mGy, 0.6790 mGy, and 0.0122 mGy, respectively, which was an extremely low level of glandular dose. In group B, as to the thyroid gland, average dose was decreased from 0.0922 mGy to 0.0158 mGy. The average dose of contralateral breast was decreased from 0.8575 mGy to 0.0286 mGy. The average doses of lower abdomen was decrease 0.0150 mGy to 0.0173 mGy. As to the lower abdomen, dose decreased from 0.0150 mGy before the use of an apron down to 0.0173 mGy after the use. As p-value was under 0.05, statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups. Wearing an apron can have the protective effects on the thyroid gland up to 20 times lower than not wearing one. Besides, it is also necessary to protect the other breast during the examination by wearing one.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.190-200
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• 2019

It is reported that the absence of lipoxygenase-3 (LOX-3) may contribute to a reduction in stale flavor after the storage of rice. To improve the quality of stored rice of the Korean japonica rice cultivar, we conducted a breeding program to develop near-isogenic rice without LOX-3 in the genetic background of Saenuri, a mega variety of Korea. In the first step of the breeding program, we used a donor parent of LOX-3 null, Daw Dam, and a recurrent japonica parent, Sindongjin, to develop HR27873-AC12 by backcross (BC₁), color test for introgression of lox-3, and anther culture for rapid fixation. In the second step, we used the donor parent, HR27873-AC12, and the recurrent parent, Saenuri, to develop HR28896-31-3-1-1 by backcross (BC₁), marker-assisted selection (MAS) for lox-3, and phenotypic selection (PS) for agronomic traits. Finally, in the third step, we developed HR30960-186-2-1-2-1 (Jeonju624), derived from a cross between Saenuri and HR28896-31-3-1-1, by MAS for lox-3 and PS with high selection pressure for agronomic characteristics. Jeonju624 was confirmed with the introgression of lox-3 by molecular marker. Jeonju624 was a mid-late maturing rice with similar agronomic characteristics to Saenuri, lodging tolerance with short culm, erect plant architecture, and resistance to bacterial blight and rice stripe virus. The yield components of Jeonju624 were mostly similar to Saenuri, except for the 1,000-grain weight of brown rice. The appearance of the grain of Jeonju624 was better than that of Saenuri, and the characteristics of cooked rice were similar to those of Saenuri. In the genetic background analysis using 406 KASP (Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR) markers, Jeonju624 was confirmed to be the near-isogenic line (NIL) of Saenuri with a 95.8% recovery rate. Jeonju624 is the NIL of Saenuri without LOX-3, and overcomes the linkage drag of Daw Dam with similar agronomic characteristics and genetic background to Saenuri. Jeonju624 can be utilized as a practical cultivar to improve the quality of stored rice, breeding material for the introgression of lox-3, and genetic material to elucidate the effect of introgressed genes.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.504-514
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• 2019

'Yechan' is a high grain quality mid-late maturing rice cultivar with lodging tolerance and multiple disease resistance. It was a derived from a cross between 'Hopum' and 'Iksan537' (cultivar name 'Haepum'). 'Hopum' is a high grain quality mid-late maturing rice cultivar with strong lodging tolerance and 'Haepum' is a high grain quality medium maturing rice cultivar with multiple disease resistance. To shorten the breeding period, another culture method was applied to the F₁ plants. 'Yechan' was selected through the pedigree method, yield trials, and local adaptability tests, with a high selection pressure for grain quality, lodging, and disease resistance. The heading date of 'Yechan' was August 14, one day later than that of 'Nampyeong'. 'Yechan' is a cultivar tolerant to lodging and it has short culms. It has multiple disease resistance against rice blast, rice stripe virus, and bacterial blight, including the K3a race, the most virulent race in Korea. The yield of 'Yechan' was similar to that of 'Nampyeong'. 'Yechan' showed excellent grain appearance, superior taste when cooked, and enhanced milling performance; thus, we concluded that it could contribute to the improvement of Korean japonica rice cultivar quality. 'Yechan', a high grain quality mid-late maturing rice cultivar with lodging tolerance and multiple disease resistance, would be suitable for cultivation in the southern plain area in Korea and has been utilized in the breeding programs aimed at enhancing the grain quality and stability for the cultivation of Korean japonica rice (Registration No. 7647).