• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.69-74
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• 2001

Purpose: $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO is a radiopharmaceutical for imaging cerebral blood flow. HMPAO (RR, SS)-4.8-diaza-3,6,6,9-tetramethylundecan-2,10- dione bisoxime) has three stereoismers such as, meso-. d-, and l-HMPAO. Techentium complexes of meso-HMPAO and d,l-HMPAO are known to have different in vivo brain uptakes. In this study, enantiomers of HMPAO (d-HMPAO and l-HMPAO) were separated from d,l-HMPAO. These enantiomers were labeled with $^{99m}Tc$ and the biodistribution studies were performed in mice. Materials and Methods: An intermediate imine product was produced from 2,3-butanedione monooxime and 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine (54% yield) and was reduced into a mixture of three isomers (35% yield). The meso-isomer was separated from d,l-mixture by repeated fractional crystallization (11 % yield). The d- and l-enantiomers were subsequently separated by co-crystallization with optical isomers of tartaric acid (25% and 5% yield. respectively). Each enantiomeric HMPAO was labeled with $^{99m}Tc$ by reacting with $SnCI_2{\cdot}2H_2O\;and\;^{99m}Tc$-pertechnetate. Biodistribution study was performed 1 hr after tail vein injection to ICR mice. Results: Radiochemical purities of each compound were over 80%. In biodistribution study. the brain uptakes of d,l- d- and l-form were 1.34, 1.12 and 1.67% ID/g, respectively. In case of l-lsomer the brain uptake was higher (1.5 fold) than d-isomer. Conclusion: We successfully purified each enantiomeric HMPAO. In biodistribution study of stereoismers of $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO in mice, l-HMPAO may show better brain image than d,l-HMPAO which was supplied in a commercial kit.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.11 no.7
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• pp.627-635
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• 2017

Brachytherapy is generally performed in conjunction with external radiation therapy, and the treatment course is very complicated, which can lead to radiation accidents. In order to solve this problem, we designed the process map by applying the failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) method to the Brachytherapy and scored the risk priority number (RPN) for each treatment course based on this process map. The process map consisted of five steps, Patient consulting", "Brachytherapy simulation", "CT simulation", "Brachytherapy treatment planning" and "Treatment". In order to calculate the RPN, doctor, medical physicist, dose planners, therapist, and nurse participated in the study and evaluated occurrence, severity, and lack of detectability at each detail step. Overall, the process map is preceded by a patient identification procedure at each treatment stage, which can be mistaken for another patient, and a different treatment plan may be established to cause a radiation accident. As a result of evaluating the RPN for the detailed steps based on the process map, overall "Patient consulting" and "Brachytherapy treatment planning" step were evaluated as high risk. The nurses showed a tendency to be different from each other, and the nurses had a risk of 55 points or more for all the procedures except "Treatment", and the "Brachytherapy simulation" step was the highest with 88.8 points. Since the treatment stage differs somewhat for each medical institution performing radiotherapy, it is thought that the risk management should be performed intensively by preparing the process map for each institution and calculating the risk RPN.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.261-276
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• 2016

The occurrence of natural radioactive materials such as uranium and radon-222 in groundwater was examined with hydrogeochemistry and geology at ○○ village in the Yongin area. Two rounds of 19 groundwater and 5 surface water sampling were collected for analysis. The range of pH value in groundwaters was 5.81 to 7.79 and the geochemical types of the groundwater were mostly Ca(Na)-HCO₃ and Ca(Na)-NO₃(Cl)-HCO₃. Uranium and radon-222 concentrations in the groundwater ranged from 0.06 to 411 μg/L and from 5.56 to 903 Bq/L, respectively. Two deep groundwaters used as common potable well-water sources exceeded the maximum contaminant levels of the uranium and radon-222 proposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). Three groundwater samples from residential areas contained unsuitable levels of uranium, and 12 groundwater samples were unsuitable due to radon-222 concentrations. Radioactive materials in the unsuitable groundwater are naturally occurring in a Jurassic amphibole- and biotite-bearing granitic gneiss. High uranium and radon-222 groundwater concentrations were only observed in two common wells; the others showed no relationship between bedrock geology and groundwater geochemical constituents. With such high concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive materials in groundwater, the affected areas may extend tens of meters for uranium and even farther for radon-222. Therefore, we suggest the radon-222 and the uranium did not originate from the same source. Based on the distribution of radon-222 in the study area, zones of higher radon-222 concentrations may be the result of diffusion through cracks, joint, or faults. Surface radioactivity and uranium concentrations in the groundwater show a positive relationship, and the impact areas may extend for ~200m beyond the well in the case of wells containing high concentrations of uranium. The highest uranium and thorium concentrations in rock samples were detected in thorite and monazite.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.271-278
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• 2004

This paper shows our experiment is performed to understand the exposure tendency of $^{137}Cs$ according to the height of area and also, to supplement it by considering chemical characters of $^{137}Cs$ exposed to the soil. The samples we use for this experiment are from the general flat area of Yeonggwang county where it has NPPs, the high places of Keumjung & Bulgap mountains, and Naejan mountain where it is quite far from the NPPs. The data from this experiment show that the exposure of $^{137}Cs$ is not harmful since its range is around 252 Bq/kg-dry in most of sampled soils such as from the general flat area, the high place of Keumjung mountain where is 2 km away from the NPPs, the other high place of Bulgap mountain where is about 20 km away from the NPPs, and Naejan mountain where it is far from the NPPs. Not like the general flat area, however, the data show that the higher the area is the more $^{137}Cs$ is exposed. That is, at the top of mountains, the more $^{137}Cs$ is exposed compared to at the bottom area. It is almost $2{\~}6$ times more than the general flat area of Yeonggwang county where it has NPPs. The data also show that the spread of $^{137}Cs$ is deeply related to the geographical(the height of area, rainfall, etc..) factors and chemical factors of soils. As the geographical factors, there are far more chances to be exposed of $^{137}Cs$ at the high area of mountains through the air compared to at lower area and therefore, we can get more high-leveled readings of $^{137}Cs$ at the high area while it is low-leveled ones at the general flat area even if both of them have the same soil conditions. Regarding the chemical factors of soil, it is clarified that the CEC is the key factor. The CEC means the capability of sticking $^{137}Cs$ accumulated into the soil. Hence, the more CEC it has the more high-leveled readings of $^{137}Cs$ we get under the same geographical condition.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.557-576
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• 2015

Groundwaters in granite, gneiss, and two-mica granite formations, including faults, in the Hoengseong area are examined to determine the relationship between their uranium and radon-222 contents and rock types. The chemical compositions of 38 groundwater samples and four surface water samples collected in the study area were analyzed. Sixteen of the samples showing high uranium and radon-222 contents were repeatedly analyzed. Surface radioactivities were measured at 30 points. The uranium and radon-222 concentrations in the groundwater samples were in the ranges of 0.02-49.3 μg/L and 20-906 Bq/L, respectively. Four samples for uranium and 35 samples for radon had concentrations exceeding the alternative maximum contaminant level of the US EPA. The chemical compositions of groundwaters indicated Ca(Na)-HCO₃ and Ca(Na)-NO₃(HCO₃+Cl) types. The pH values ranged from 5.71 to 8.66. High uranium and radon-222 contents in the groundwaters occurred mainly at the boundary between granite and gneiss, and in the granite area. The occurrence of uranium did not show any distinct relationship to that of radon-222. The radon-222, an inert gas, appeared to be dissolved in the groundwater of the aquifer after wide diffusion along rock fractures, having been derived from the decay of uranium in underground rocks. The results in this study indicate that groundwater of neutral or weakly alkaline pH, under oxidizing conditions and with a high bicarbonate content is favorable for the dissolution of uranium and uranium complexes such as uranyl or uranyl-carbonate.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.72-80
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• 2015

Purpose Serum estradiol ($E_2$) measurement is requested for diagnosing menstrual cycles, ovulation induction, infertility, and menopause. $E_2$ is measured using several methods and kits including radioimmunoassay (RIA) and chemiluminescece immunoassay (CLIA). The purpose of this study was to evaluate quality of these methods and to compare them with each other. Materials and Methods Seven radioimmunoassay kits and two CLIA methods were included in the analysis. Using standard samples and patient samples, intra-assay precision, inter-assay precision, correlation between other methods, sensitivity, and recovery rate were evaluated. Results For all tested kits and methods, coefficients of variance (CVs) of intra-assay precision test were 10.9~13.6% in low-level samples and less than 10% in medium and high-level samples. CVs of inter-assay precision test were 10.8~12.3% in low-level samples and less than 10% in medium and high-level samples with all tested kits and methods. Recovery rates were $92.7{\pm}12.4%$ for SIEMENS, $101.4{\pm}18.4%$ for DIAsource, $95.1{\pm}11.5%$ for AMP, $108.4{\pm}18.5%$ for BECKMAN COULTER, $104.2{\pm}13.5%$ for BECKMAN COULTER Ultra Sensitive, $101.3{\pm}11.6%$ for CIS Bio, and $93.1{\pm}13.2%$ for MP kits. Sensitivity was 7.5, 6.2, 5.7, 6.2, 5.3, 4.5, and 5.5 pg/mL for SIEMENS, DIAsource, AMP, BECKMAN COULTER, BECKMAN COULTER Ultra Sensitive, CIS Bio, and MP kits, respectively. The measurement by MP kit was slightly higher than those by other kits in low-level samples, and the measurement by E170 was slightly higher than those of other kits in medium and high-level samples. In the measurement of standard sample for external quality control, SIEMENS kit produced relatively lower values whereas E170, Architect, and MP kits produced relatively higher values compared with other kits. Conclusion All tested kits for $E_2$ measurement have satisfactory performance for clinical use. However, correlation between kits should be considered when test kits are to be changed, because some pairs of kits do not have correlations with each other.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.243-250
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• 2018

BACKGROUND: Recently, the use of $^{131}I$ for diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer has been increasing, and the radionuclide is continuously released into aquatic ecosystem. This study was carried out to investigate the $^{131}I$ concentrations in mainstreams, tributaries, and sewage wastewater treatment plants (SWTPs) of the Yeongsan River Basin and to identify their origins from the assessment of behaviors in the rivers. METHODS AND RESULTS: The water samples were collected from 19 sites including mainstreams (13), tributaries (4) and SWTPs (2). The $^{131}I$ concentration was measured using a gamma-ray spectrometry with a HPGe detector. The $^{131}I$ in SWTPs was detected mostly in the discharged effluent at the sampling sites. However, from the surface water of the rivers, $^{131}I$ was found only at two sites from each sampling period of the first (MS4 and MS10) and the second half (MS4 and MS7) of the year 2017. The concentrations of $^{131}I$ in the effluent discharged from SWTPs were in the range of 0.0870 to 3.87 Bq/L for SWTP1, and $^{131}I$ in the river revealed that it was not detected in the upper streams of the mainstreams and tributaries, while continuous detection was found in the SWTPs and downstream sites affected by the effluent. However, the concentration of $^{131}I$ decreased downstream, eventually becoming undetectable. Such behavior was closely related to the behavior found in the SWTPs. CONCLUSION: These results indicated that medically-derived $^{131}I$ was discharged to the river via sewage effluent at the SWTPs. It is necessary to evaluate the influence of aquatic ecosystems through continuous monitoring in the future.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.53-65
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• 2001

Purpose : To improve the local control of patients with nasopharyngeal cancer, we have implemented 3-D conformal radiotherapy and forward intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) to used of compensating filters. Three dimension conformal radiotherapy with intensity modulation is a new modality for cancer treatments. We designed 3-D treatment planning with 3-D RTP (radiation treatment planning system) and evaluation dose distribution with tumor control probability (TCP) and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP). Material and Methods : We have developed a treatment plan consisting four intensity modulated photon fields that are delivered through the compensating tilters and block transmission for critical organs. We get a full size CT imaging including head and neck as 3 mm slices, and delineating PTV (planning target volume) and surrounding critical organs, and reconstructed 3D imaging on the computer windows. In the planning stage, the planner specifies the number of beams and their directions including non-coplanar, and the prescribed doses for the target volume and the permissible dose of normal organs and the overlap regions. We designed compensating filter according to tissue deficit and PTV volume shape also dose weighting for each field to obtain adequate dose distribution, and shielding blocks weighting for transmission. Therapeutic gains were evaluated by numerical equation of tumor control probability and normal tissue complication probability. The TCP and NTCP by DVH (dose volume histogram) were compared with the 3-D conformal radiotherapy and forward intensity modulated conformal radiotherapy by compensator and blocks weighting. Optimization for the weight distribution was peformed iteration with initial guess weight or the even weight distribution. The TCP and NTCP by DVH were compared with the 3-D conformal radiotherapy and intensitiy modulated conformal radiotherapy by compensator and blocks weighting. Results : Using a four field IMRT plan, we have customized dose distribution to conform and deliver sufficient dose to the PTV. In addition, in the overlap regions between the PTV and the normal organs (spinal cord, salivary grand, pituitary, optic nerves), the dose is kept within the tolerance of the respective organs. We evaluated to obtain sufficient TCP value and acceptable NTCP using compensating filters. Quality assurance checks show acceptable agreement between the planned and the implemented MLC(multi-leaf collimator). Conclusion : IMRT provides a powerful and efficient solution for complex planning problems where the surrounding normal tissues place severe constraints on the prescription dose. The intensity modulated fields can be efficaciously and accurately delivered using compensating filters.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.101-106
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• 2000

Purpose : This study was peformed to evaluate the effectiveness and tolerance of craniospinal irradiation for patients with modulloblastoma and to define the optimal radiotherapeutic regimen. Materials and Methods : We retrospectively analyzed the records of 43 patients with modulloblastoma who were treated with external beam craniospinal radiotherapy at our institution between May, 1984 and April, 1998. Median follow up period was 47 months with range of 18 to U months. Twenty seven patients were male and sixteen patients were female, a male to female ratio of 1.7:1. Surgery consisted of biopsy alone in 5 patients, subtotal excision in 24 patients, and gross total excision in 14 patients. All of the patients were treated with craniospinal irradiation. All of the patients except four received at least 5,000 cGy to the posterior fossa and forty patients received more than 3,000 cGy to the spinal cord. Results : The overall survival rates at 5 and 7 years for entire group of patients were 57$\%$ and 56$\%$, respectively. Corresponding disease free survival rates were 60$\%$ and 51$\%$, respectively, The rates of disease control in the posterior fossa were 77$\%$ and 67$\%$ at 5 and 7 years. Gross total excision and subtotal excision resulted in 5 year overall survival rates of 76$\%$ and 66$\%$, respectively, In contrast, those patients who had biopsy alone had a 5 year survival rate of only 40$\%$. Posterior fossa was a component of failure in 11 of the 18 recurrences. Seven recurrences were isolated to the posterior fossa. Four patients had neuraxis recurrences, three had distant metastasis alone and four had multiple sites of failure, all involving the primary site. Conclusion : Craniospinal irradiation for patients with moduiloblastoma is an effective adjuvant treatment without significant treatment related toxicitles. There is room for Improvement in terms of posterior fossa control, especially in biopsy alone patients. The advances in radiotherapy including hypefractionation, stereotactic radiosurgery and 3D conformal radiotherapy would be evolved to improve the tumor control rate at primary site.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.157-164
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to analyze the dose distribution when wedge filter is used in the various tissue electron density materials. The dose distribution was assessed that the enhanced dynamic wedge filter and physical wedge filter were used in the solid water phantom, cork phantom, and air cavity. The film dosimetry was suitable simple to measure 2D dose distribution. Therefore, the radiochromic films (Gafchromic EBT2, ISP, NJ, USA) were selected to measure and to analyze the dose distributions. A linear accelerator using 6 MV photon were irradiated to field size of $10{\times}10cm^2$ with 400 MUs. The dose distributions of EBT2 films were analyzed the in-field area and penumbra regions by using dose analysis program. In the dose distributions of wedge field, the dose from a physical wedge was higher than that from a dynamic wedge at the same electron density materials. A dose distributions of wedge type in the solid water phantom and the cork phantom were in agreements with 2%. However, the dose distribution in air cavity showed the large difference with those in the solid water phantom or cork phantom dose distributions. Dose distribution of wedge field in air cavity was not shown the wedge effect. The penumbra width, out of the field of thick and thin, was observed larger from 1 cm to 2 cm at the thick end. The penumbra of physical wedge filter was much larger average 6% than the dynamic wedge filter. If the physical wedge filter is used, the dose was increased to effect the scatter that interacted with photon and physical wedge. In the case of difference in electron like the soft tissue, lung, and air, the transmission, absorption, and scattering were changed in the medium at high energy photon. Therefore, the treatment at the difference electron density should be inhomogeneity correction in treatment planning system.