• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.1612-1618
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• 2021

The fusion-barrier distribution is very sensitive to the structure of the colliding nuclei such as nuclear quadrupole and hexadecapole deformation parameters and their signs. If the nuclei that enter the fusion reaction are deformed, the barrier problem becomes complicated. Therefore the deformation parameters are taken into account in the calculations. In this study, Neuro-Fuzzy approach, ANFIS, method has been used for the estimation of ground-state quadrupole (𝜀₂) and hexadecapole (𝜀₄) deformation parameters for the nuclei. According to the results, the method is suitable for this task and one can confidently use it to obtain the data that is not available in the literature.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.7
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• pp.2151-2161
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• 2021

Nuclear data (ND) sensitivity and uncertainty (S/U) quantification in shielding applications is performed using deterministic and probabilistic approaches. In this paper the validation of the newly developed deterministic program package ASUSD (ADVANTG + SUSD3D) is presented. ASUSD was developed with the aim of automating the process of ND S/U while retaining the computational efficiency of the deterministic approach to ND S/U analysis. The paper includes a detailed description of each of the programs contained within ASUSD, the computational workflow and validation results. ASUSD was validated on two shielding benchmark experiments from the Shielding Integral Benchmark Archive and Database (SINBAD) - the fission relevant ASPIS Iron 88 experiment and the fusion relevant Frascati Neutron Generator (FNG) Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) Test Blanket Module (TBM) mock-up experiment. The validation process was performed in two stages. Firstly, the Denovo discrete ordinates transport solver was validated as a standalone solver. Secondly, the ASUSD program package as a whole was validated as a ND S/U analysis tool. Both stages of the validation process yielded excellent results, with a maximum difference of 17% in final uncertainties due to ND between ASUSD and the stochastic ND S/U approach. Based on these results, ASUSD has proven to be a user friendly and computationally efficient tool for deterministic ND S/U analysis of shielding geometries.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.1002-1007
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• 2020

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate a spectrum formulation set employed to modify the neutron spectrum of D-D fusion neutrons in a IS plasma focus device using GEANT4, MCNPX2.6, and FLUKA codes. The set consists of a moderator, reflector, collimator and filters of fast neutron and gamma radiation, which placed on the path of 2.45 MeV neutron energy. The treated neutrons eliminate cancerous tissue with minimal damage to other healthy tissue in a method called neutron therapy. The system optimized for a total neutron yield of 10⁹ (n/s). The numerical results indicate that the GEANT4 code for the cubic geometry in the Beam Shaping Assembly 3 (BSA3) is the best choice for the energy of epithermal neutrons.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.759-764
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• 2001

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of activation timing, cell cycle and passage on the development of embryos produced by cumulus cell nuclear transfer in Hanwoo (Korean cattle). Nuclear donor cumulus cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum at $38.5^{\circ}C$ in a humidified atmosphere of 5% $CO_2$ in air. The 1~6 passages of serum deprived or actively dividing cumulus cells were isolated and used as donor cells. The in vitro matured oocytes were enucleated and then the isolated donor cells were introduced. One pulse of 180 volts for $15{\mu}s$ was applied to induce the fusion between karyoplast and cytoplast. The activation was done before or after the fusion. To activate, oocytes were treated with $10{\mu}M$ calcium ionophore for 5 min immediately followed by 2 mM 6-dimethylaminopurine for 3 h. The nuclear transfer embryos were cultured in $500{\mu}l$ of modified CRlaa supplemented with 3 mg/ml BSA in four well dish covered with mineral oil. After 3 days culture, culture medium was changed into modified CRlaa medium containing 1.5 mg/ml BSA and 5% FBS for 4 days. The incubation environment was 5% $CO_2$, 5% $O_2$, 90% $N_2$ at $38.5^{\circ}C$. There was no blastocyst formation when the nuclear transfer embryos were activated before the fusion, whereas, 29.9% of blastocyst formation was shown when the nuclear transfer embryos were activated after the fusion. When serum deprived and actively dividing cumulus cells were used as nuclear donor cells, the developmental rates to blastocyst were 38.5% and 40.6%, respectively. There was no significant difference between serum deprived and actively dividing cells in the developmental rates. The developmental rates to blastocyst according to 1~6 passages were 37.5~44.4%. However, there were no significant differences among passages. These results indicate that 1~6 passage cumulus cell irrespective of cell cycle could support development of nuclear transfer embryos activated after the fusion.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.459-466
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• 2008

The KSTAR Magnet Power Supply (MPS) was dedicated to the SC coil commissioning and $1^{st}$ plasma experiment as a part of the system commissioning. Although many efforts to develop large-current power supplies that are useful for high power electronic devices have been made in various application fields, such as for large metal-plating devices, there were clear discrepancies between conventional power supply technologies and that for the SC coils due to the special SC coil load conditions. Therefore, most of the power supply technologies for the SC coils were a challenge in the domestic research area due to their limited application. However, the MPS commissioning result showed that all of the hardware and controlling software operated well, and this result finally led to the success of SC coil commissioning and the KSTAR $1^{st}$ plasma experiment. This paper will describe key features of KSTAR MPS for the $1^{st}$ plasma experiment, and will also report the commissioning results of the magnet power supplies.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 2011

This study was designed to determine the effect of electric field strength, duration and fusion buffer in fusion parameters on the rate of membrane fusion between the somatic cell and cytoplast for Korean cattle (HanWoo) somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) procedure. Following electrofusion, effect of 5 or $10\;{\mu}M$ $Ca^{2+}$-ionophore of activation treatment on subsequent development was also evaluated. Cell fusion rates were significantly increased from 23.1% at 20 V/mm to 59.7% at 26 V/mm and 52.9% at 27 V/mm (p<0.05). Due to higher cytoplasmic membrane rupture or cellular lysis, overall efficiency was decreased when the strength was increased to 30 V/mm (18.5%) and 40 V/mm (6.3%) and the fusion rate was also decreased when the strength was at 25 V/mm or below. The optimal duration of electric stimulation was significantly higher in $25\;{\mu}s$ than 20 and $30\;{\mu}s$ (18.5% versus 9.3% and 6.3%, respectively, p<0.05). Two nonelectrolyte fusion buffers, Zimmermann's (0.28 M sucrose) and 0.28 M mannitol solution for cell fusion, were used for donor cell and ooplast fusion and the fusion rate was significantly higher in Zimmermann's cell fusion buffer than in 0.28 M mannitol (91.1% versus 48.4%, respectively, p<0.05). The cleavage and blastocyst formation rates of SCNT bovine embryos activated by $5\;{\mu}M$ $Ca^{2+}$-ionophore was significantly higher than the rates of the embryos activated with $10\;{\mu}M$ of $Ca^{2+}$-ionophore (70.0% versus 42.9% and 22.5% versus 14.3%, respectively; p<0.05). This result is the reverse to that of parthenotes which shows significantly higher cleavage and blastocyst rates in $10\;{\mu}M$ $Ca^{2+}$-ionophore than $5\;{\mu}M$ counterpart (65.6% versus 40.3% and 19.5% versus 9.7%, respectively; p<0.05). In conclusion, SCNT couplet fusion by single pulse of 26 V/mm for $25\;{\mu}s$ in Zimmermann's fusion buffer followed by artificial activation with $5\;{\mu}M$ $Ca^{2+}$-ionophore are suggested as optimal fusion and activation methods in Korean cattle SCNT protocol.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.423-432
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• 2005

Japanese activities on fusion structural materials R&D have been well organized under the coordination of university programs and JAERI/NIMS programs more than two decades. Where, two categories of structural materials have been studied, those are; reduced activation martensitic/ferritic steels (RAFs) as reference material and vanadium alloys and SiC/SiC composite materials as advanced materials. The R&D histories of these candidate materials and the present status in Japan are reviewed with the emphasis on materials behavior under radiation damage. The importance of IFMIF and technology development for blanket R&D including ITER-TBRG activity is emphasized and the current status of those activities in Japan is also presented.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.222-228
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• 2023

This study aimed to analyze the applicability of the improved median filter in positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance (MR) fusion images based on parallel imaging using generalized autocalibrating partially parallel acquisition (GRAPPA). In this study, a PET/MR fusion imaging system based on a 3.0T magnetic field and ¹⁸F radioisotope were used. An improved median filter that can set a mask of the median value more efficiently than before was modeled and applied to the acquired image. As quantitative evaluation parameters of the noise level, the contrast to noise ratio (CNR) and coefficient of variation (COV) were calculated. Additionally, no-reference-based evaluation parameters were used to analyze the overall image quality. We confirmed that the CNR and COV values of the PET/MR fusion images to which the improved median filter was applied improved by approximately 3.32 and 2.19 times on average, respectively, compared to the noisy image. In addition, the no-reference-based evaluation results showed a similar trend for the noise-level results. In conclusion, we demonstrated that it can be supplemented by using an improved median filter, which suggests the problem of image quality degradation of PET/MR fusion images that shortens scan time using GRAPPA.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.359-365
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• 2006

Since the start of the KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) project, Instrumentation and Control (I&C) of the Neutral Beam Test Facility (NB-TF) has been striving to answer diverse requests arising from various facets during the project's development and construction phases. Hard-wired electrical circuits have been designed, tested, fabricated, and finally installed to the relevant parts of the system. In relation to the vacuum system I&C, controlling functions for the rotary pumps, a Roots pump, two turbomolecular pumps, and four cryosorption pumps have been constructed. I&C for the ion source operation are the temperature and flow rate signal monitoring, Langmuir probe signal measurements, gradient grid current measurements, and arc detector circuit. For the huge power system to be monitored or safely operated, many temperature measurement functions have also been implemented for the beam line components like the neutralizer, bending magnet, ion dump, and calorimeter. Nearly all of the control and probe signals between the NB test stand and the control room were made to be transmitted through the optical cables. Failures of coolant flow or beam line vacuum pressure were made to be safely blocked from influencing the system by an appropriate interlock circuit that will shut down the extraction voltage application to the system or prevent damages to the vacuum components. Preliminary estimation of the beam power through the calorimetric measurement shows that 87.9% of the total power of the 60kV/18A beam with 200 seconds duration is absorbed by the calorimeter surface. Most of these I&C results would be highly appropriate for the construction of the main NBI facility for the KSTAR national fusion research project.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.353-358
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• 2004