• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.421-429
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• 2005

Purpose: It has been postulated that dopamine release in the striatum underlies the reinforcing properties of nicotine. Substantial evidence in the animal studies demonstrates that nicotine interacts with dopaminergic neuron and regulates the activation of the dopaminergic system. The aim of this study was to visualize the dopamine release by smoking in human brain using PET scan with $[^{11}C]raclopride$. Materials and Methods: Five male non-smokers or ex-smokers with an abstinence period longer than 1 year (mean age of $24.4{\pm}1.7$ years) were enrolled in this study $[^{11}C]raclopride$, a dopamine D2 receptor radioligand, was administrated with bolus-plus-constant infusion. Dynamic PET was performed during 120 minutes ($3{\times}20s,\;2{\times}60s,\;2{\times}120s,\;1{\times}180s\;and\;22{\times}300s$). following the 50 minute-scanning, subjects smoked a cigarette containing 1 mg of nicotine while in the scanner. Blood samples for the measurement of plasma nicotine level were collected at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45, 60, and 90 minute after smoking. Regions for striatal structures were drawn on the coronal summed PET images guided with co-registered MRI. Binding potential, calculated as (striatal-cerebellar)/cerebellar activity, was measured under equilibrium condition at baseline and smoking session. Results: The mean decrease in binding potential of $[^{11}C]raclopride$ between the baseline and smoking in caudate head, anterior putamen and ventral striatum was 4.7%, 4.0% and 7.8%, respectively. This indicated the striatal dopamine release by smoking. Of these, the reduction in binding potential in the ventral striatum was significantly correlated with the cumulated plasma level of the nicotine (Spearman's rho=0.9, p=0.04). Conclusion: These data demonstrate that in vivo imaging with $[^{11}C]raclopride$ PET could measure nicotine-induced dopamine release in the human brain, which has a significant positive correlation with the amount or nicotine administered bt smoking.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.95-103
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• 1994

The safety related components in the nuclear power plant should be designed to withstand the seismic load. Among these components the integrity of reactor internals under earthquake load is important in stand points of safety and economics, because these are classified to Seismic Class I components. So far the modelling methods of reactor internals have been investigated by many authors. In this paper, the dynamic behaviour of reactor internals of Yong Gwang 1&2 nuclear power plants under SSE(Safe Shutdown Earthquake) load is analyzed by using of the simpled Global Beam Model. For this, as a first step, the characteristic analysis of reactor internal components are performed by using of the finite element code ANSYS. And the Global Beam Model for reactor internals which includes beam elements, nonlinear impact springs which have gaps in upper and lower positions, and hydrodynamical couplings which simulate the fluid-filled cylinders of reactor vessel and core barrel structures is established. And for the exciting external force the response spectrum which is applied to reactor support is converted to the time history input. With this excitation and the model the dynamic behaviour of reactor internals is obtained. As the results, the structural integrity of reactor internal components under seismic excitation is verified and the input for the detailed duel assembly series model could be obtained. And the simplicity and effectiveness of Global Beam Model and the economics of the explicit Runge-Kutta-Gills algorithm in impact problem of high frequency interface components are confirmed.