• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.25-32
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• 1999

The pharmacological actions of ambrein were investigated alone or in combination as a pretreatment with agonists (adrenaline, noradrenaline, acetylcholine, histamine, nicotine), antagonists (atropine, atenolol) and calcium channel blocker (verapamil) in vivo in anaesthetized SWR rats using blood pressure, heart rate and myocardial contractility as parameters. Ambrein in the dose range of 50-200 mg/kg to the normotensive anaesthetized rats demonstrated negative chronotropic effect and increased the myocardial contractility significantly. At the mid dose (100 mg/kg) this increase in contractile force was 36% and 44% above the normal at 30 min and 60 min intervals post-treatment, respectively. Both of the lower and high doses (50 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg) had similar effects. Furthermore, this contractile response was dose related. Also, this compound produced a considerable increase in myocardial contractility when used as a pretreatment with some agonists and antagonists. The results on blood pressure did not show a considerable change when ambrein was used alone. However, ambrein pretreatment at the dose of 100 mg/kg did not block the effects of adrenaline, noradrenaline, isoprenaline and acetylcholine on heart rate and blood pressure. On the other hand, this pretreatment attenuated the sympathoadrenal effects of nicotine significantly. Chronotropic and blood pressure changes produced by histamine were also inhibited by ambrein pretreatment. This pretreatment significantly reversed the effects of atenolol but failed to demonstrate any change in the negative chronotropic, inotropic and hypotensive responses induced by verapamil. It is concluded that ambrein induced nonselective dose dependent antagonism of the effects of some agonists and antagonists require contribution of some neuromediators. However, the positive isotropic effects of ambrein possibly involve the enhancement of slow Ca channels and/or activation of ${\beta}-adrenergic$ receptors in the heart. At this moment it is difficult to explain the exact mode of action of ambrein and the studies dealing with Ca channel blocker and adrenergic blocker followed by ambrein may help to define the factors which contribute to its positive inotropic effects.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.193-200
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• 2019

Purpose: To explore the role of salvage radiotherapy (RT) for recurrent thymoma as an alternative to surgery. Materials and Methods: Between 2007 and 2015, 47 patients who received salvage RT for recurrent thymoma at Yonsei Cancer Center were included in this study. Recurrent sites included initial tumor bed (n = 4), pleura (n = 19), lung parenchyma (n = 10), distant (n = 9), and multiple regions (n = 5). Three-dimensional conformal and intensity-modulated RT were used in 29 and 18 patients, respectively. Median prescribed dose to gross tumor was 52 Gy (range, 30 to 70 Gy), with equivalent doses in 2-Gy fractions (EQD₂). We investigated overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and patterns of failure. Local failure after salvage RT was defined as recurrence at the target volume receiving >50% of the prescription dose. Results: Median follow-up time was 83 months (range, 8 to 299 months). Five-year OS and PFS were 70% and 22%, respectively. The overall response rate was 97.9%; complete response, 34%; partial response, 44.7%; and stable disease, 19.1%. In multivariate analysis, histologic type and salvage RT dose (≥52 Gy, EQD₂) were significantly associated with OS. The high dose group (≥52 Gy, EQD₂) had significantly better outcomes than the low dose group (5-year OS: 80% vs. 59%, p = 0.046; 5-year PFS: 30% vs. 14%, p=0.002). Treatment failure occurred in 34 patients; out-of-field failure was dominant (intra-thoracic recurrence 35.3%; extrathoracic recurrence 11.8%), while local failure rate was 5.8%. Conclusion: Salvage RT for recurrent thymoma using high doses and advanced precision techniques produced favorable outcomes, providing evidence that recurrent thymoma is radiosensitive.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.367-373
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• 2020

Most of the spatial scattered dose caused by the scattered rays generated by the collision between the object and X-rays is relatively easily absorbed by the human body as electromagnetic waves in the low energy region, thereby increasing the degree of radiation exposure. Such spatial scattering dose is also used as an indicator of the degree of radiation exposure of radiation workers and patients, and there is a need for a method to reduce exposure by reducing the spatial scattered dose that occurs indirectly. Therefore, in this study, a lead-free radiation shielding sheet was proposed as a way to reduce the spatial scattering dose, and a Monte Carlo (MC) simulation was performed based on a chest X-ray examination. The absorbed dose was calculated and the measured value and the shielding rate were compared and evaluated.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.375-382
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• 2020

PET/CT is a medical equipment that detects 0.511 MeV of gamma rays. The radiation workers are inevitably exposed to ionizing radiation in the process of handling the isotope. Accordingly, PET/CT workers use syringe shields made of lead and tungsten to protect their hands. However, lead and tungsten are known to generate very high scattering particles by interacting with gamma rays. Therefore, in this study, we tried to find out the effect on the scattering particles emitted from the syringe shield. In the experiment, first, the exposure dose to the hand (Rod phantom) was evaluated according to the metal material (lead, tungsten, iron, stainless steel) using Monte Carlo simulation. The exposure dose was compared according to whether or not plastic is attached. Second, the exposure dose of scattering particles was measured using a dosimeter and lead. As a result of the experiment, the shielding rate of plastics using the Monte Carlo simulation showed the largest difference in dose of about 40 % in lead, and the lowest in iron, about 15 %. As a result of the dosimeter test, when the plastic tape was wound on lead, it was found that the reduction rate was about 15 %, 28 %, and 39 % depending on the thickness. Based on the above results, it was found that 0.511 MeV of gamma ray interacts with the shielding tool to emit scattered rays and has a very large effect on radiation exposure. However, it was considered that the scattering particles could be sufficiently removed with plastics with a low atomic number. From now on, when using high-energy radiation, the shielding tool and the skin should not be in direct contact, and should be covered with a material with a low atomic number.

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.51-65
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• 2009

The purpose of a phase I clinical trial is to determine the maximum tolerated dose(MTD) of a new drug. This paper investigates the performance of standard method, continual reassessment method and accelerated titration designs in phase I clinical trials. Especially we study the precision and safety at the MTD of these methods. We utilize hyperbolic tangent function and power function to define dose-toxicity model. For each method, expected toxicity rate at MTD is computed and compared with target toxicity probability. We also suggest some modifications of these methods and show some improvements in performance.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2013

This paper describes the radiation doses to human and non-human biota in the Republic of Korea, as a result of the Fukushima nuclear accident. By using the measured airborne activity and ground deposition, the effective and thyroid doses of five human age groups (infant, 5 years, 10 years, 15 years and adult) were estimated by the ECOSYS code, and the whole body absorbed dose rate of the eight Korean reference animals and plants (RAPs) was estimated by the K-BIOTA (the Korean computer code to assess the risk of radioactivity to wildlife). The first-year effective and thyroid human doses ranged from 5.7E-5 mSv in the infant group to 2.0E-4 mSv in the 5 years group, and from 5.0E-4 mSv in the infant group to 3.4E-3 mSv in the 5 years group, respectively. The life-time (70 years) effective and thyroid human doses ranged from 1.5E-4 mSv in the infant group to 3.0E-4 mSv in the 5 years group, and from 6.0E-4 mSv in the infant group to 3.5E-3 mSv in the 5 years group, respectively. The estimated maximum whole body absorbed dose rate to the Korean RAPs was 6.7E-7 mGy/d for a snake living in soil (terrestrial biota), and 2.0E-5 mGy/d for freshwater fish (aquatic biota), both of which were far less than the generic dose criteria to protect biota from ionizing radiation. Also, the screening level assessment for ERICA's (Environmental Risks from Ionizing Contaminants: Assessments and management) limiting organisms showed that the risk quotient (RQ) for the estimated maximum soil and water activity was significantly less than unity for both the terrestrial and freshwater organisms. Conclusively, the radiological risk of the radioactivity released into the environment by the Fukushima nuclear accident to the public and the non-human biota in the republic of Korea is considered negligible.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.8
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• pp.2018-2025
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• 2019

This study systematically compared two hybrid deterministic/Monte Carlo transport codes, ADVANTG/MCNP and MAVRIC, in solving a difficult shielding problem for a real-world spent fuel storage cask. Both hybrid codes were developed based on the consistent adjoint driven importance sampling (CADIS) methodology but with different implementations. The dose rate distributions on the cask surface were of primary interest and their predicted results were compared with each other and with a straightforward MCNP calculation as a baseline case. Forward-Weighted CADIS was applied for optimization toward uniform statistical uncertainties for all tallies on the cask surface. Both ADVANTG/MCNP and MAVRIC achieved substantial improvements in overall computational efficiencies, especially for gamma-ray transport. Compared with the continuous-energy ADVANTG/MCNP calculations, the coarse-group MAVRIC calculations underestimated the neutron dose rates on the cask's side surface by an approximate factor of two and slightly overestimated the dose rates on the cask's top and side surfaces for fuel gamma and hardware gamma sources because of the impact of multigroup approximation. The fine-group MAVRIC calculations improved to a certain extent and the addition of continuous-energy treatment to the Monte Carlo code in the latest MAVRIC sequence greatly reduced these discrepancies. For the two continuous-energy calculations of ADVANTG/MCNP and MAVRIC, a remaining difference of approximately 30% between the neutron dose rates on the cask's side surface resulted from inconsistent use of thermal scattering treatment of hydrogen in concrete.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of a software-based quality assurance system based on Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy treatment plan. Evaluate treatment plan through the D VH analysis, PTV mean dose ($D_{mean}$) and PTV 95% dose($D_{95}$) compare the MFX based on original treatment plan, Average error rate was $0.9{\pm}0.6%$, $1.0{\pm}0.8%$, respectively. Measuring point dose using phantom and ion chamber, the average error rate between the ionization chamber and MFX was $0.9{\pm}0.7%$, $1.1{\pm}0.7%$ (high dose region), $1.1{\pm}0.9%$, $1.2{\pm}0.7%$ (low dose region). The average gamma though of MFX and $Delta^{4PT}$ is $98.7{\pm}1.2%$, $98.4{\pm}.3%$, respectively. Through this study, A software based QA system that simplifies hardware based QA procedures that involve a lot of time and effort. It can be used as a simple and useful tool in clinical practice.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.371-381
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• 2023

Evaluating the effectiveness of the radiation protection measures deployed at the Centralized Radioactive Waste Management Facility in Ghana is pivotal to guaranteeing the safety of personnel, public and the environment, thus the need for this study. Radiagem^TM 2000 was used in measuring the dose rate of the facility whilst the personal radiation exposure of the personnel from 2011 to 2022 was measured from the thermoluminescent dosimeter badges using Harshaw 6600 Plus Automated TLD Reader. The decay store containing scrap metals from dismantled disused sealed radioactive sources (DSRS), and low-level wastes measured the highest dose rate of 1.06 ± 0.92 µSv·h^-1. The range of the mean annual average personnel dose equivalent is 0.41-2.07 mSv. The annual effective doses are below the ICRP limit of 20 mSv. From the multivariate principal component analysis biplot, all the personal dose equivalent formed a cluster, and the cluster is mostly influenced by the radiological data from the outer wall surface of the facility where no DSRS are stored. The personal dose equivalents are not primarily due to the radiation exposures of staff during operations with DSRS at the facility but can be attributed to environmental radiation, thus the current radiation protection measures at the Facility can be deemed as effective.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.519-526
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• 2023

This study was intended to evaluate the shielding rate of radiation shields manufactured using 3D printers that have recently been used in various fields by comparing them with existing shields made of lead, and to find out their applicability through experiments. A 3D printer shield made of tungsten filament 1 mm, 2 mm, 4 mm shield, RNS-TX (nanotungsten) 1.1 mm, lead 0.2 mmPb, and 1mmPb were exposed to ^99mTc, ¹⁸F, and ²⁰¹TI for 15, 30, 45 minutes, and 60 minutes after measuring cumulative dose three times. Based on this, the shielding rate of each shield was calculated based on the dose in the absence of the shield. In addition, ^99mTc, ¹⁸F, and ²⁰¹TI were located 100 cm away from the phantom in which the OSLD nano Dot device was inserted, and if there was no shield for 60 minutes, the dose of thyroid was measured using 1.0 mm of lead shield, 1.1 mm of RNS-TX shield, and 2 mm of tungsten shield made by 3D printer. The use of shields during radiation shielding emitted from open radiation sources all resulted in a reduction in dose. The radiation dose emitted from the radionuclides under the experiment was all reduced when the shield was used. This study has been confirmed that tungsten is a material that can replace lead due to its excellent performance and efficiency as shield, and that it even shows the possibility of manufacturing a customized shield using 3D printer.