• Title/Summary/Keyword: Nuclear Activity

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ANALYSIS OF ADHESIVE TAPE ACTIVATION DURING REACTOR FLUX MEASUREMENTS

  • Bignell, Lindsey Jordan;Smith, Michael Leslie;Alexiev, Dimitri;Hashemi-Nezhad, Seyed Reza
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.40 no.1
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    • pp.93-98
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    • 2008
  • Several adhesive tapes have been studied in terms of their suitability for securing gold wires into positions for neutron flux measurements in the reactor core and irradiation facilities surrounding the core of the Open Pool Australian Light water (OPAL) reactor. Gamma ray spectrometry has been performed on each irradiated tape in order to identify and quantify activated components. Numerous metallic impurities have been identified in all tapes. Calculations relating to both the effective neutron shielding properties of the tapes and the error in measurement of the $^{198}Au$ activity caused by superfluous activity due to residual tape have been made. The most important identified effects were the prolonged cooling times required before safe enough levels of radioactivity to allow handling were reached, and extra activity caused by residual tape when measured with an ionisation chamber. Knowledge of the most suitable tape can allow a minimal contribution due to these effects, and the use of gamma spectrometry in preference to ionisation chamber measurements of the flux wires is shown to make all systematic errors due to the tape completely negligible.

Heterologous Expression of a Thermostable α-Galactosidase from Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius Isolated from the Lignocellulolytic Microbial Consortium TMC7

  • Wang, Yi;Wang, Chen;Chen, Yonglun;Cui, MingYu;Wang, Qiong;Guo, Peng
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.32 no.6
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    • pp.749-760
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    • 2022
  • α-Galactosidase is a debranching enzyme widely used in the food, feed, paper, and pharmaceuticals industries and plays an important role in hemicellulose degradation. Here, T26, an aerobic bacterial strain with thermostable α-galactosidase activity, was isolated from laboratory-preserved lignocellulolytic microbial consortium TMC7, and identified as Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius. The α-galactosidase, called T26GAL and derived from the T26 culture supernatant, exhibited a maximum enzyme activity of 0.4976 IU/ml when cultured at 60℃ and 180 rpm for 2 days. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the α-galactosidase T26GAL belongs to the GH36 family. Subsequently, the pET-26 vector was used for the heterologous expression of the T26 α-galactosidase gene in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The optimum pH for α-galactosidase T26GAL was determined to be 8.0, while the optimum temperature was 60℃. In addition, T26GAL demonstrated a remarkable thermostability with more than 93% enzyme activity, even at a high temperature of 90℃. Furthermore, Ca2+ and Mg2+ promoted the activity of T26GAL while Zn2+ and Cu2+ inhibited it. The substrate specificity studies revealed that T26GAL efficiently degraded raffinose, stachyose, and guar gum, but not locust bean gum. This study thus facilitated the discovery of an effective heat-resistant α-galactosidase with potent industrial application. Meanwhile, as part of our research on lignocellulose degradation by a microbial consortium, the present work provides an important basis for encouraging further investigation into this enzyme complex.

Linearity Estimation of PET/CT Scanner in List Mode Acquisition (List Mode에서 PET/CT Scanner의 직선성 평가)

  • Choi, Hyun-Jun;Kim, Byung-Jin;Ito, Mikiko;Lee, Hong-Jae;Kim, Jin-Ui;Kim, Hyun-Joo;Lee, Jae-Sung;Lee, Dong-Soo
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.86-90
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    • 2012
  • Purpose: Quantification of myocardial blood flow (MBF) using dynamic PET imaging has the potential to assess coronary artery disease. Rb-82 plays a key role in the clinical assessment of myocardial perfusion using PET. However, MBF could be overestimated due to the underestimation of left ventricular input function in the beginning of the acquisition when the scanner has non-linearity between count rate and activity concentration due to the scanner dead-time. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the count rate linearity as a function of the activity concentration in PET data acquired in list mode. Materials & methods: A cylindrical phantom (diameter, 12 cm length, 10.5 cm) filled with 296 MBq F-18 solution and 800 mL of water was used to estimate the linearity of the Biograph 40 True Point PET/CT scanner. PET data was acquired with 10 min per frame of 1 bed duration in list mode for different activity concentration levels in 7 half-lives. The images were reconstructed by OSEM and FBP algorithms. Prompt, net true and random counts of PET data according to the activity concentration were measured. Total and background counts were measured by drawing ROI on the phantom images and linearity was measured using background correction. Results: The prompt count rates in list mode were linearly increased proportionally to the activity concentration. At a low activity concentration (<30 kBq/mL), the prompt net true and random count rates were increased with the activity concentration. At a high activity concentration (>30 kBq/mL), the increasing rate of the prompt net true rates was slightly decreased while the increasing rate of random counts was increased. There was no difference in the image intensity linearity between OSEM and FBP algorithms. Conclusion: The Biograph 40 True Point PET/CT scanner showed good linearity of count rate even at a high activity concentration (~370 kBq/mL).The result indicates that the scanner is useful for the quantitative analysis of data in heart dynamic studies using Rb-82, N-13, O-15 and F-18.

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APPLICATION OF WHOLE BODY COUNTER TO NEUTRON DOSE ASSESSMENT IN CRITICALITY ACCIDENTS

  • Kurihara, O.;Tsujimura, N.;Takasaki, K.;Momose, T.;Maruo, Y.
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.26 no.3
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    • pp.249-253
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    • 2001
  • Neutron dose assessment in criticality accidents using Whole Body Counter (WBC) was proved to be an effective method as rapid neutron dose estimation at the JCO criticality accident in Tokai-mura. The 1.36MeV gamma-ray of $^{24}Na$ in a body can be detected easily by a germanium detector. The Minimum Detectable Activity (MDA) of $^{24}Na$ is approximately 50Bq for 10miniute measurement by the germanium-type whole body counter at JNC Tokai Works. Neutron energy spectra at the typical shielding conditions in criticality accidents were calculated and the conversion factor, whole body activity-to-organ mass weighted neutron absorbed dose, corresponding to each condition were determined. The conversion factor for uncollied fission spectrum is 7.7 $[(Bq^{24}Na/g^{23}Na)/mGy]$.

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Bowel Activity Caused by Free Tc-99m Pertechnetate Mimicking Urine Leaks during Tc-99m $MAG_{3}$ Renal Scintigraphy (Tc-99m MAG3 신장 스캔시 뇨 누출과 유사한 유리 Tc-99m 과산화테크네슘에 의한 장관내 방사능)

  • Lim, Seok-Tae;Kim, Min-Woo;Sohn, Myung-Hee
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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    • v.37 no.2
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    • pp.135-136
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    • 2003
  • A 43-year-old woman with diabetic nephropathy underwent a Tc-99m MAG3 renal scintigraphy for the evaluation of renal function. Posterior images at 60 minutes demonstrated a migration of radiotracer activity beyond the lower pole of the left kidney, which might be incorrectly interpreted as urine leaks. However, the increased activities were moving along the bowel lumens over time. Another ring-like radioactivity was also seen in the suprasplenic region, and increased with time. These radioactivities were in the gastric fundus and gastrointestinal tract and caused by free Tc-99m pertechnetate.

Incidental Detection of a Pseudoaneurysm at an Amputation Stump in a Tc-99m HMPAO labeled Leukocyte Scan (Tc-99m HMPAO 표지 백혈구스캔상 대퇴 절주에서 우연히 발견된 가성동맥류)

  • Sohn, Myung-Hee;Jeong, Hwan-Jeong;Lim, Seok-Tae
    • Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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    • v.41 no.4
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    • pp.337-338
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    • 2007
  • A 20-year-old man underwent a Tc-99m HMPAO labeled leukocyte scan for the evaluation of an infection at the stump of an AK amputation, which was conducted due to an open communicated fracture of the left lower leg. Blood-flow and blood-pool images demonstrated a pseudoaneurysm with a focus of intense activity medial to the stump, and centered within a large photopenic defect by surrounding hematoma. Delayed image obtained at 3 hours post-injection showed persistent intense and slight increased activity, Contrast angiography confirmed the presence of a pseudoaneurysm arising from a branch of the left superficial femoral artery.