• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.1902-1906
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• 2010

A microchip electrophoresis (ME) method was developed using a programmed field strength gradients (PFSG) for the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) based fast identification of cattle breeds. Four different Korean cattle (Hanwoo) and Holstein SNP markers amplified by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction were separated in a glass microchip filled with 0.5% poly(ethyleneoxide) ($M_r$ = 8 000 000) by PFSG as follows: 750 V/cm for 0 - 14 s, 166.7 V/cm for 14 - 31 s, 83.3 V/cm for 31 - 46 s, and 750 V/cm for 46 - 100 s. The cattle breeds were clearly distinguished within 45 s. The ME-PFSG method was 7 times and 5 times faster than the constant electric field ME method and the capillary electrophoresis- PFSG method, respectively, with a high resolving power ($R_s$ = 5.05 - 9.98). The proposed methodology could be a powerful tool for the fast and simultaneous determination of SNP markers for various cattle breeds with high accuracy.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.66.2-66.2
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• 2011

The unexpected rising flux of early-type galaxies at decreasing ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths is a long-standing mystery. One important observational constraint is the correlation between UV-optical colours and Mg2 line strengths found by Burstein et al. (1988). The simplest interpretation of this phenomenon is that the UV strength is related to the Mg line-strength. Under this assumption, we expect galaxies with larger Mg gradients to have larger UV colour gradients. By combining UV imaging from GALEX, optical imaging from MDM and SAURON integral-field spectroscopy, we investigate the spatially-resolved relationships between UV colours and stellar population properties of 34 early-type galaxies from the SAURON survey sample. We find that galaxies with old stellar populations show tight correlations between the FUV colours (FUV-V and FUV-NUV) and the Mg b index, $H{\beta}$ index and metallicity [Z/H]. We have also derived logarithmic internal radial colour, measured line strength and derived stellar population gradients for each galaxy and again found a strong dependence of the FUV-V and FUV-NUV colour gradients on both the Mg b line-strength and the metallicity gradients. In particular, global gradients of Mg b and [Z/H] with respect to the UV colour across galaxies are consistent with their local gradients within galaxies, suggesting that the global correlations also hold locally. From a simple model based on multi-band colour fits of UV upturn and UV-weak galaxies, we have identified a plausible range of parameters that reproduces the observed radial colour profiles. In these models, the centers of elliptical galaxies, where the UV flux is strong, are enhanced in metals by roughly 60% compared to UV-weak regions.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.153-158
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• 2008

A microchip-based capillary gel electrophoresis (MCGE) technique was developed for the ultra-fast detection and differentiation of Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum (Candidatus M. haemominutum, California strain) and Mycoplasma haemofelis (M. haemofelis, Ohio strain) in Korean feral cats through the application of programmed field strength gradients (PFSG) in a conventional glass double-T microchip. The effects of the poly (ethyleneoxide) (PEO) concentration and electric field strength on the separation of DNA fragments were investigated. The PCR-amplified products of Candidatus M. haemominutum (202-bp) and M. haemofelis (273-bp) were analyzed by MCGE within 75 s under a constant applied electric field of 117.6 V/cm and a sieving matrix of 0.3% PEO (Mr 8 000 000). When the PFSG was applied, MCGE analysis generated results 6.8-times faster without any loss of resolution or reproducibility. The MCGE-PFSG technique was also applied to eleven samples selected randomly from 33 positive samples. The samples were detected and differentiated within 11 s. The analysis time of the MCGE-PFSG technique was approximately 980-times faster than that using conventional slab gel electrophoresis.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.24-28
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• 2007

Presuming that firing neurons have motions inside the MRI magnet due to the interaction between the neuronal magnetic field and the main magnetic field, we applied motion encoding gradients to dissected snail ganglia to observe faster responding MRI signal than the BOLD signal. To activate the snail ganglia in synchronization with the MRI pulse sequence, we used electrical stimulation with the frequency of 30 Hz and the pulse width of 2s. To observe the fast responding signal, we used the volume selected MRI sequence. The magnetic resonance signal intensity, measured with 8 ms long motion encoding gradient with a 20mT/m gradient strength, decreased about $3.46{\pm}1.48%$ when the ganglia were activated by the electrical stimulation.

• Proceedings of the KSMRM Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.103-105
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• 2003

After fifteen years of development, Magnetic Resonance (MR) technology for human imaging and spectroscopy is reaching a refined state with FDA approved 3T clinical products from Siemens, GE, and Philips. Broker has cleared CE approval with a 4T system. Varian supports a 4T system platform as well. Shielded magnets are standard at 3T from GE, Oxford, Magnex, and IGC. A shielded 4T whole body magnet is available from Oxford. Stronger switched gradients and dynamic shim coils, desired at any field, areespecially useful at higher static magnetic fields B0. In addition to the higher currents required for higher resolution slice or volume selection afforded by higher SNR, whole body gradient coils will be driven at increasing slew rates to meet the needs of new cardiac applications and other requirements. For example 3T and 4T systems are now being equipped with 2kV, 500A gradient coils and amplifiers capable of generating 4G/cm in 200msec, over a 67+/-cm bore diameter. High field EPI applications require oscillation rates at 1 kHz and higher. To achieve a benchmark 0.2 ppm shim over a 30cm sphere in a high field magnet, at least four stages of shimming need to be considered. 1) A good high field magnet will be built to a homogeneity spec. falling in the range of 100 to 150 ppm over this 30cm spherical "sweet spot" 2) Most modern high field magnets will also have superconducting shim coils capable of finding 1.5 ppm by their adjustment during system installation. 3) Passive ferro-magnetic shimming combined with 4) active, high order room temperature shim coils (as many as five orders are now being recommended) will accomplish 0.2 ppm over the 30cm sphere, and 0.1 ppm over a human brain in even the highest field magnets for human studies. Safety concerns for strong, fast gradients at any B0 field include acoustic noise and peripheral nerve stimulation. One or more of the mechanical decoupling methods may lead to quieter gradients. Patient positioning relative to asymmetric or short gradient coils may limit peripheral nerve stimulation at higher slew rates. Gradient designs combining a short coil for local speed and strength with a longer coil for coverage are being developed for 3T systems. Local gradients give another approach to maximizing performance over a limited region while keeping within the physiologically imposed dB0/dt performance limits.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.9-14
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• 2006

Estimations of depth, magnetic orientation, and strength of dipole moments aid discrimination between unexploded ordnance (UXO) and non-UXO using magnetic surveys. Such estimations may be hindered by geologic noise, magnetic clutter, and overlapping tails of nearby dipole fields. An improved method of inversion for anomalies of single or multiple dipoles with arbitrary polarization was developed to include intra-inversion filtering and estimation of background field gradients. Data interpolated to grids are flagged so that only nodes nearest to measurement stations are used. To apply intra-inversion filtering to such data requires a gapped filter. Moreover, for data with significant gaps in coverage, or along the edges or corners of survey areas, intra-inversion filters must be appropriately modified. To that end, edge-adaptive and gapped gradient-nulling filters have been designed and tested. Applications are shown for magnetic field data from Chongcho Lake, Sokcho, Korea and the U. S. Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.197-209
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• 2016

Clayey rock has large clay mineral content. When in contact with water, this expands considerably and may present a significant hazard to the stability of the rock in geotechnical engineering applications. This is particularly important in the present work, which focused on mitigating some unwelcomed properties of clayey rock. Changes in its physical properties were simulated by subjecting the rock to a low voltage direct current (DC) using copper, steel and aluminum electrodes. The modified mechanism of the coupled electrical and chemical fields acting on the clayey rock was analyzed. It was concluded that the essence of clayey rock electrochemical modification is the electrokinetic effect of the DC field, together with the coupled hydraulic and electrical potential gradients in fine-grained clayey rock, including ion migration, electrophoresis and electro-osmosis. The aluminum cathodes were corroded and generated gibbsite at the anode; the steel and copper cathodes showed no obvious change. The electrical resistivity and uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of the modified specimens from the anode, intermediate and cathode zones tended to decrease. Samples taken from these zones showed a positive correlation between electric resistivity and UCS.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.42-49
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• 2004

Purpose : The quantization noise in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems is analyzed. The signal-to-quantization noise ratio (SQNR) in the reconstructed image is derived from the level of quantization in the signal in spatial frequency domain. Based on the derived formula, the SQNRs in various main magnetic fields with different receiver systems are evaluated. From the evaluation, the quantization noise could be a major noise source determining overall system signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in high field MRI system. A few methods to reduce the quantization noise are suggested. Materials and methods : In Fourier imaging methods, spin density distribution is encoded by phase and frequency encoding gradients in such a way that it becomes a distribution in the spatial frequency domain. Thus the quantization noise in the spatial frequency domain is expressed in terms of the SQNR in the reconstructed image. The validity of the derived formula is confirmed by experiments and computer simulation. Results : Using the derived formula, the SQNRs in various main magnetic fields with various receiver systems are evaluated. Since the quantization noise is proportional to the signal amplitude, yet it cannot be reduced by simple signal averaging, it could be a serious problem in high field imaging. In many receiver systems employing analog-to-digital converters (ADC) of 16 bits/sample, the quantization noise could be a major noise source limiting overall system SNR, especially in a high field imaging. Conclusion : The field strength of MRI system keeps going higher for functional imaging and spectroscopy. In high field MRI system, signal amplitude becomes larger with more susceptibility effect and wider spectral separation. Since the quantization noise is proportional to the signal amplitude, if the conversion bits of the ADCs in the receiver system are not large enough, the increase of signal amplitude may not be fully utilized for the SNR enhancement due to the increase of the quantization noise. Evaluation of the SQNR for various systems using the formula shows that the quantization noise could be a major noise source limiting overall system SNR, especially in three dimensional imaging in a high field imaging. Oversampling and off-center sampling would be an alternative solution to reduce the quantization noise without replacement of the receiver system.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.221-242
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• 2021

A numerical study of the performance assesment of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) processes in improved Korean reference disposal system (KRS⁺) for high-level radioactive waste is conducted using TOUGH2-MP/FLAC3D simulator. Decay heat from high-level radioactive waste increases the temperature of the repository, and it decreases as decay heat is reduced. The maximum temperature of the repository is below a maximum temperature criterion of 100℃. Saturation of bentonite buffer adjacent to the canister is initially reduced due to pore water evaporation induced by temperature increase. Bentonite buffer is saturated 250 years after the disposal of high-level radioactive waste by inflow of groundwater from the surrounding rock mass. Initial saturation of rock mass decreases as groundwater in rock mass is moved to bentnonite buffer by suction, but rock mass is saturated after inflow of groundwater from the far-field area. Stress changes at rock mass are compared to the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion and the spalling strength in order to investigate the potential rock failure by thermal stress and swelling pressure. Additional simulations are conducted with the reduced spacing of deposition holes. The maximum temperature of bentonite buffer exceeds 100℃ as deposition hole spacing is smaller than 5.5 m. However, temperature of about 56.1% volume of bentonite buffer is below 90℃. The methodology of numerical modeling used in this study can be applied to the performance assessment of coupled THM processes for high-level radioactive waste repositories with various input parameters and geological conditions such as site-specific stress models and geothermal gradients.