• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.1456-1463
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• 2022

The aim of this work is to study the radiation shielding properties of cement samples with waste glass incortated into its composition. The mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) of the samples were experimentally determined to evaluate their radiation shielding ability. The experimental coefficient was evaluated using NaI detector for gamma energies between 59.53 keV and 1408.01 keV using different radioactive point sources Am-241, Eu-152, Co-60, and Cs-137, and the gamma transmission parameters half-value layer, mean free path, and transmission factor were calculated. The theoretical coefficient of the composites was determined using Geant4 and XCOM software. The results were also compared against Geant4 and XCOM simulations by calculating the relative deviation between the values to determine the accuracy of the results. In addition the mechanical properties (including Compressive and porosity) as well as the thermogravimetric analysis were tested for the present samples. Overall, it was concluded that the cement sample with 50% waste glass has the greatest shielding potential for radiation shielding applications and is a useful way to reuse waste glass.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.1218-1224
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• 2023

We investigated the radiation shielding competence for TeO₂-V₂O₅-MoO₃ glasses. The Phy-X software was used to report the radiation shielding parameters for the present glasses. With an increase in TeO₂ and MoO₃ content, the samples' linear attenuation coefficient improves. However, at low energies, this change is more apparent. At low energy, the present samples have an effective atomic number (Z_eff) that is relatively high (in order of 16.17-24.48 at 0.347 MeV). In addition, the findings demonstrated that the density of the samples is a very critical factor in determining the half value layer (HVL). The minimal HVL for each sample can be found at 0.347 MeV and corresponds to 1.776, 1.519, 1.391, 1.210 and 1.167 cm for Te1 to Te5 respectively. However, the highest HVL of these glasses is recorded at 1.33 MeV, which corresponds to 3.773, 3.365, 3.218, 2.925 and 2.908 cm respectively. The tenth value layer results indicate that the thickness of the specimens needs to be increased in order to shield the photons that have a greater energy. Also, the TVL results demonstrated that the sample with the greatest TeO₂ and MoO₃ concentration has a higher capacity to attenuate photons.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.184-196
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• 2023

Background: Radiation protection is crucial in various fields due to the harmful effects of radiation. Shielding is used to reduce radiation exposure, but gamma radiation poses challenges due to its high energy and penetration capabilities. Materials and Methods: This work investigates the radiation shielding properties of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) samples containing different weight fraction of tungsten carbide (WC), tungsten trioxide (WO₃), and tungsten disulfide (WS₂). Parameters such as the mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), half-value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP), effective atomic number (Z_eff), and macroscopic effective removal cross-section for fast neutrons (Σ_R) were calculated using the Phy-X/PSD software. EpiXS simulations were conducted for MAC validation. Results and Discussion: Increasing the weight fraction of the additives resulted in higher MAC values, indicating improved radiation shielding. PVDF-xWC showed the highest percentage increase in MAC values. MFP results indicated that PVDF-0.20WC has the lowest values, suggesting superior shielding properties compared to PVDF-0.20WO₃ and PVDF-0.20WS₂. PVDF-0.20WC also exhibited the highest Z_eff values, while PVDF-0.20WS₂ showed a slightly higher increase in Z_eff at energies of 0.662 and 1.333 MeV. PVDF-0.20WC has demonstrated the highest Σ_R value, indicating effective shielding against fast neutrons, while PVDF-0.20WS₂ had the lowest Σ_R value. The Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport version 5 (MCNP5) simulations showed that PVDF-xWC attenuates gamma radiation more than pure PVDF, significantly decreasing the dose equivalent rate. Conclusion: Overall, this research provides insights into the radiation shielding properties of PVDF mixtures, with PVDF-xWC showing the most promising results.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.03a
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• pp.3-11
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• 2002

Source parameters for forty nine recent earthquakes occurred in and around Korean Peninsula are determined and the relations among them are studied. The corner frequency and seismic moment are estimated from three different methods. The spectral fitting of the source displacement spectrum with the $\omega$-square source model of Brune(1970) and Snoke(1987)'s method are applied to all events and empirical Green's function method for two events are adopted. The source parameters determined in this study show different values depending on the adopted method and on the stations of which seismograms are recorded. It is interpreted that the disagreements principally originate from insufficient consideration of source radiation pattern and attenuation and amplification according to path direction. The corner frequencies and seismic moments are averaged to exclude the directional effects and other source parameters are estimated from the mean corner frequency and seismic moment. The static stress drops estimated in this study tend to be independent of seismic moment or magnitude for events above a certain size. For earthquakes with the size less than about 3.0$\times$10$^{21}$dyne-cm(nearly same as M$_{L}$=3.7), the stress drop tends to decrease with the decreasing moment. This fact suggests a breakdown of scaling law of source parameters below the threshold magnitude. The moment magnitudes calculated from source parameters appear to be slightly larger than the Richter's local magnitudes in the range above M$_{L}$=3.5.3.5.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.1061-1070
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• 2023

Over the last few years, lead-free inorganic metal perovskites have gained impressive ground in empowering satellites in space exploration owing to their material stability and performance evolution under extreme space environments. The present work has examined the versatility of eight such perovskites as space radiation shielding materials by computing their photon, charged particles and neutron interaction parameters. Photon interaction parameters were calculated for a wide energy range using PAGEX software. The ranges of heavy charged particles (H, He, C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si and Fe ions) in these perovskites were estimated using SRIM software in the energy range 1 keV-10 GeV, and that of electrons was computed using ESTAR NIST software in the energy range 0.01 MeV-1 GeV. Further, the macroscopic fast neutron removal cross-sections were also calculated to estimate the neutron shielding efficiencies. The examined shielding parameters of the perovskites varied depending on the radiation type and energy. Among the selected perovskites, Cs₂TiI₆ and Ba₂AgIO₆ displayed superior photon attenuation properties. A 3.5 cm thick Ba₂AgIO₆-based shield could reduce the incident radiation intensity to half its initial value, a thickness even lesser than that of Pb-glass. Besides, CsSnBr₃ and La_0.8Ca_0.2Ni_0.5Ti_0.5O₃ displayed the highest and lowest range values, respectively, for all heavy charged particles. Ba₂AgIO₆ showed electron stopping power (on par with Kovar) better than that of other examined materials. Interestingly, La_0.8Ca_0.2Ni_0.5Ti_0.5O₃ demonstrated neutron removal cross-section values greater than that of standard neutron shielding materials - aluminium and polyethylene. On the whole, the present study not only demonstrates the employment prospects of eco-friendly perovskites for shielding space radiations but also suggests future prospects for research in this direction.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.1297-1303
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• 2020

In this study, nuclear radiation shielding and rigidity parameters of Y (0.1-x)B0.6Bi1.8O3La2x glassy system were investigated in order to determine it's suitability for use as nuclear radiation shielding materials. Therefore, a group of bismuth borate glass samples with La₂O₃ additive were synthesized using the technique of melt quenching. According to the results, the increase of the La₂O₃ additive increases the density of the glass samples and the mass attenuation coefficient (μ_m) values, whereas the half-value layer (HVL) and mean free path (MFP) values decrease. The effective atomic number (Z_eff) is also enhanced with an increment of both mass removal cross section for neutron (Σ_R) and absorption neutron scattering cross section (σ_abs). In addition to the other parameters, rigidity parameter values were theoretically examined. The increase of La₂O₃ causes some other important magnitudes to increase. These are the average crosslink density, the number of bonds per unit volume, as well as the stretching force constant values of these glass samples. These results are in concordance with the increase of elastic moduli in terms of the Makishima-Mackenzie model. This model showed an increase in the rigidity of the glass samples as a function of La₂O₃.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.2661-2668
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• 2021

Gamma radiation shielding features for three series of binary alloys identified as (Pb-Sn), (Pb-Zn), and (Zn-Sn) have been investigated. The mass attenuation coefficients (µ/ρ) for the selected alloys were simulated using the MCNP-5 code in the energy range between 0.01 and 15 MeV. Moreover, the (µ/ρ) values were computed using WinXCOM database in the same energy range to validate the simulation results. Results reveal a good agreement between the simulated and computed values. The half value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP), effective atomic number (Z_eff) and exposure buildup factor (EBF) were evaluated for the selected binary alloys. Results showed that the PS1, PZ1, and ZS2 alloys have the best shielding parameters and better than the commercially standard and available radiation shielding materials. Therefore, the investigated alloys can be used as effective radiation shielding materials against gamma ray with energies between 0.01 and 15 MeV.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1783-1790
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• 2023

Barium Bismuth Oxide Borate (BBOB) has been synthesized for the first time using solution combustion technique. SEM analysis reveal flower shape of the nanoparticles. The formation of the nanoparticles has been confirmed through XRD & FTIR studies which gives the physical and chemical structure of the novel material. The UV light absorption is observed in the range 200-300 nm. The present study highlights the radiation shielding ability of BBOB for different radiations like X/Gamma rays, Bremsstrauhlung and neutrons. The gamma shielding efficiency is comparable to that of lead in lower energy range and lesser than lead in the higher energy range. The bremsstrauhlung exposure constant is comparably larger for BBOB NPs than that of concrete and steel however it is lesser than that of lead. The beauty of BBOB nanoparticles lies in, high absorption of radiations and low emission of secondary radiations when compared to lead. In addition, the neutron shielding parameters like scattering length, absorption and scattering cross sections of BBOB are found to be much better than lead, steel and concrete. Thus, BBOB nanoparticles are highly efficient in absorbing X/Gamma rays, neutrons and bremsstrauhlung radiations.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.2854-2863
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• 2023

Objective: To present a hybrid approach that incorporates a constrained beam-hardening estimator (CBHE) and deep learning (DL)-based post-refinement for metal artifact reduction in dental cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Methods: Constrained beam-hardening estimator (CBHE) is derived from a polychromatic X-ray attenuation model with respect to X-ray transmission length, which calculates associated parameters numerically. Deep-learning-based post-refinement with an artifact disentanglement network (ADN) is performed to mitigate the remaining dark shading regions around a metal. Artifact disentanglement network (ADN) supports an unsupervised learning approach, in which no paired CBCT images are required. The network consists of an encoder that separates artifacts and content and a decoder for the content. Additionally, ADN with data normalization replaces metal regions with values from bone or soft tissue regions. Finally, the metal regions obtained from the CBHE are blended into reconstructed images. The proposed approach is systematically assessed using a dental phantom with two types of metal objects for qualitative and quantitative comparisons. Results: The proposed hybrid scheme provides improved image quality in areas surrounding the metal while preserving native structures. Conclusion: This study may significantly improve the detection of areas of interest in many dentomaxillofacial applications.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.28-36
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• 2001

Objective: To provide a systematic overview of the effects of various parameters on contrast enhancement within the same population, an animal experiment as well as a computer-aided simulation study was performed. Materials and Methods: In an animal experiment, single-level dynamic CT through the liver was performed at 5-second intervals just after the injection of contrast medium for 3 minutes. Combinations of three different amounts (1, 2, 3 mL/kg), concentrations (150, 200, 300 mgI/mL), and injection rates (0.5, 1, 2 mL/sec) were used. The CT number of the aorta (A), portal vein (P) and liver (L) was measured in each image, and time-attenuation curves for A, P and L were thus obtained. The degree of maximum enhancement (Imax) and time to reach peak enhancement (Tmax) of A, P and L were determined, and times to equilibrium (Teq) were analyzed. In the computed-aided simulation model, a program based on the amount, flow, and diffusion coefficient of body fluid in various compartments of the human body was designed. The input variables were the concentrations, volumes and injection rates of the contrast media used. The program generated the time-attenuation curves of A, P and L, as well as liver-to-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) contrast curves. On each curve, we calculated and plotted the optimal temporal window (time period above the lower threshold, which in this experiment was 10 Hounsfield units), the total area under the curve above the lower threshold, and the area within the optimal range. Results: A. Animal Experiment: At a given concentration and injection rate, an increased volume of contrast medium led to increases in Imax A, P and L. In addition, Tmax A, P, L and Teq were prolonged in parallel with increases in injection time The time-attenuation curve shifted upward and to the right. For a given volume and injection rate, an increased concentration of contrast medium increased the degree of aortic, portal and hepatic enhancement, though Tmax A, P and L remained the same. The time-attenuation curve shifted upward. For a given volume and concentration of contrast medium, changes in the injection rate had a prominent effect on aortic enhancement, and that of the portal vein and hepatic parenchyma also showed some increase, though the effect was less prominent. A increased in the rate of contrast injection led to shifting of the time enhancement curve to the left and upward. B. Computer Simulation: At a faster injection rate, there was minimal change in the degree of hepatic attenuation, though the duration of the optimal temporal window decreased. The area between 10 and 30 HU was greatest when contrast media was delivered at a rate of 2 3 mL/sec. Although the total area under the curve increased in proportion to the injection rate, most of this increase was above the upper threshould and thus the temporal window was narrow and the optimal area decreased. Conclusion: Increases in volume, concentration and injection rate all resulted in improved arterial enhancement. If cost was disregarded, increasing the injection volume was the most reliable way of obtaining good quality enhancement. The optimal way of delivering a given amount of contrast medium can be calculated using a computer-based mathematical model.