• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.66
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• pp.114-121
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• 2023

Selective cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibition is a novel strategy to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal side effects caused by conventional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. However, some selective COX-2 inhibitors have become apparent to increase the risk of severe cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to examine the anti-inflammatory effect of rosemary extract (RE) and confirm the safety of cardiovascular side effects. Inhibition of COX enzyme activity was assessed, and the levels of COX-2 and prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) and COX-1 and thromboxane B₂ (TXB₂) were evaluated in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 cells. The 40% RE group showed increased COX-2 inhibition activity in a dose-dependent manner, whereas the 50% RE group only exhibited at 100 ㎍/mL. In a cell-based study, COX-2 mRNA expression was similar in both RE groups and PGE₂ levels tended to decrease in the 40% RE group compared to the LPS group in the LPS pretreatment condition. In the LPS posttreatment condition, the COX-2 mRNA expression decreased in the 40% RE group, and PGE₂ levels were increased in the 40 and 50% RE groups. In both conditions, there was no significant difference in COX-1 and TXB₂ levels. In conclusion, 40 and 50% RE showed significant COX-2 inhibition, similar to the positive control group. It was confirmed that the inhibition of the COX-2 expression, but the effect did not affect the balance between prostacyclin and TXB₂. These results indicate that rosemary showed COX-2 inhibition activity with a low risk of cardiovascular diseases.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.12
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• pp.4447-4464
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• 2023

This paper focuses on the development of a new computational model of the CNESTEN's TRIGA Mark II research reactor using the 3D continuous energy Monte-Carlo code TRIPOLI-4 (T4). This new model was developed to assess neutronic simulations and determine quantities of interest such as kinetic parameters of the reactor, control rods worth, power peaking factors and neutron flux distributions. This model is also a key tool used to accurately design new experiments in the TRIGA reactor, to analyze these experiments and to carry out sensitivity and uncertainty studies. The geometry and materials data, as part of the MCNP reference model, were used to build the T4 model. In this regard, the differences between the two models are mainly due to mathematical approaches of both codes. Indeed, the study presented in this article is divided into two parts: the first part deals with the development and the validation of the T4 model. The results obtained with the T4 model were compared to the existing MCNP reference model and to the experimental results from the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR). Different core configurations were investigated via simulations to test the computational model reliability in predicting the physical parameters of the reactor. As a fairly good agreement among the results was deduced, it seems reasonable to assume that the T4 model can accurately reproduce the MCNP calculated values. The second part of this study is devoted to the sensitivity and uncertainty (S/U) studies that were carried out to quantify the nuclear data uncertainty in the multiplication factor k_eff. For that purpose, the T4 model was used to calculate the sensitivity profiles of the k_eff to the nuclear data. The integrated-sensitivities were compared to the results obtained from the previous works that were carried out with MCNP and SCALE-6.2 simulation tools and differences of less than 5% were obtained for most of these quantities except for the C-graphite sensitivities. Moreover, the nuclear data uncertainties in the k_eff were derived using the COMAC-V2.1 covariance matrices library and the calculated sensitivities. The results have shown that the total nuclear data uncertainty in the k_eff is around 585 pcm using the COMAC-V2.1. This study also demonstrates that the contribution of zirconium isotopes to the nuclear data uncertainty in the k_eff is not negligible and should be taken into account when performing S/U analysis.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.191-208
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• 2024

In this study, a hydro-mechanical-damage coupled analysis model was developed to evaluate the structural safety of radioactive waste disposal structures. The Mazars damage model, widely used to model the fracture behavior of brittle materials such as rocks or concrete, was coupled with conventional hydro-mechanical analysis and the developed model was verified via theoretical solutions from literature. To derive the numerical input values for damage-coupled analysis, uniaxial compressive strength and Brazilian tensile strength tests were performed on concrete samples made using the mix ratio of the disposal concrete silo cured under dry and saturated conditions. The input factors derived from the laboratory-scale experiments were applied to a two-dimensional finite element model of the concrete silos at the Wolseong Nuclear Environmental Management Center in Gyeongju and numerical analysis was conducted to analyze the effects of damage consideration, analysis technique, and waste loading conditions. The hydro-mechanical-damage coupled model developed in this study will be applied to the long-term behavior and stability analysis of deep geological repositories for high-level radioactive waste disposal.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2024

A car horn serves a crucial safety role as a means of communication between drivers and a part that alerts pedestrians in advance. While previous studies have utilized finite element method and electric circuit model to simulate and analyze characteristics of the car horns, there remains a lack of research on design methods of a trumpet horn. This paper presents a design approach that predicts the operating frequency based on the acoustic reactance at the throat of the horn, once the vibrating part is determined. We deal with a horn combining both an exponential horn and a waveguide in the acoustic section, and confirm that the acoustic reactance at the horn throat measured by impedance tube experiment agrees well compared with the numerical result obtained using the finite element method. The resonance frequency of the car horn is predicted using the COMSOL Multiphysics finite element numerical analysis model, and the proposed design method is validated by measuring the operating frequency of the designed horn in a sound pressure experiment. As a result, the resonance measured in a semi-anechoic chamber environment by applying a DC voltage of 12 [V] excluding the holder occurs accurately within a few [Hz] of the design operating frequency. This paper discuss the design method of a trumpet horn from the perspective of the horn's acoustic reactance, and is expected to be useful for designing horn systems.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2024

An image-reconstruction technology, involving the deployment of an unmanned mobility equipped with high-speed LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) has been proposed to reconstruct the shape of abandoned mine. Unmanned mobility operation is remarkably useful in abandoned mines fraught with operational difficulties including, but not limited to, obstacles, sludge, underwater and narrow tunnel with the diameter of 1.5 m or more. For cases of real abandoned mines, quadruped robots, quadcopter drones and underwater drones are respectively deployed on land, air, and water-filled sites. In addition to the advantage of scanning the abandoned mines with 2D solid-state lidar sensors, rotation of radiation at an inclination angle offers an increased efficiency for simultaneous reconstruction of mineshaft shapes and detecting obstacles. Sensor and robot posture were used for computing rotation matrices that helped compute geographical coordinates of the solid-state lidar data. Next, the quadruped robot scanned the actual site to reconstruct tunnel shape. Lastly, the optimal elements necessary to increase utility in actual fields were found and proposed.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.232-243
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• 2024

Purpose: Recently, large-scale forest fires caused by climate change, natural disasters, and human factors have been increasing every year in the East Coast and Taebaek Mountains region. Although forest fire extinguishing using helicopters is currently increasing, the need to introduce air force transport aircraft has continued to be raised due to the importance of early fire extinguishment to respond to large forest fires and the difficulty of extinguishing forest fires between sheep. This study seeks to present a plan for developing a post-fire management system for several aspects - achieving operational objectives, overcoming the operating environment, selecting a staging area, and efficient operation measures - to efficiently perform forest fire extinguishing missions using Air Force transport aircraft. Method: Based on literature research on forest fire extinguishing, forest fire extinguishing experiments using fixed-wing aircraft, and the operation status and operation method of forest fire extinguishing helicopters, the pros and cons of helicopter operation and the effects of large forest fire extinguishing using a large transport aircraft (C-130) Analyze the effectiveness of operation through analysis. Results: When extinguishing a large forest fire, an effective CM (Consequence Management) application plan was derived, including effective operation, control, command system, dispatch request, and forest fire extinguishment when integrating helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft (C-130). Conclusion: The application of the concept of CM (Consequence Management) is partially applied to some areas of chemical, biological, and radiological (CBRNE) protection in Korea, but efficient operation, control, and command systems are established when integrated operation of helicopters and large aircraft (C-130) in forest fire extinguishment. the concept of CM (Consequence Management), which is operated in advanced countries, was applied for safety management, dispatch requests, and forest fire extinguishing, thereby contributing to the establishment of a more advanced disaster and post-disaster management system.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.169-176
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• 2024

Purpose: In this paper, an experimental study was conducted to analyze the difference in shear strength caused by the problem of excluding coarse particles due to the size of the test specimen in the direct shear test. Method: A large-scale direct shear test was conducted on three weathered soils containing coarse aggregates with a maximum diameter of 50mm. In addition, a small-scale direct shear test was performed using a sample with a maximum diameter of 5 mm, excluding coarse aggregates. Result: In the case of the small-scale direct shear test, compared to the results of the large-scale direct shear test containing large particles, the internal friction angle was about 2.3% smaller, and there was no significant difference. In terms of cohesion, compared to the large-scale direct shear test, the small-scale direct shear test derived about 80.3% smaller value, showing a relatively large difference. Conclusion: In the large-scale direct shear test, it was analyzed that the coarse particles had a greater impact on the cohesion than the internal friction angle. Therefore, granite weathered clay containing coarse particles is judged to have the same shear strength as the cohesive force that is not affected by vertical stress. In this study, it was analyzed that the small-scale direct shear test, which excludes the coarse particles that are commonly used, provides results on the safety side by excluding the effect of coarse particles.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.89-103
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• 2024

In the disposal environment, gases can be generated at the interface between canister and buffer due to various factors such as anaerobic corrosion, radiolysis, and microbial degradation. If the gas generation rate exceeds the diffusion rate, the gas within the buffer may compress, resulting in physical damage to the buffer due to the increased pore pressure. In particular, the rapid movement of gases, known as gas breakthroughs, through the dilatancy pathway formed during this process may lead to releasing radionuclide. Therefore, understanding these gas generation and movement mechanism is essential for the safety assessment of the disposal systems. In this study, an experimental apparatus for investigating gas migration within buffer was constructed based on a literature review. Subsequently, a gas injection experiment was conducted on a compacted bentonite block made of Bentonile WRK (Clariant Ltd.) powder. The results clearly demonstrated a sharp increase in stress and pressure typically observed at the onset of gas breakthrough within the buffer. Additionally, the range of stresses induced by the swelling phenomenon of the buffer, was 4.7 to 9.1 MPa. The apparent gas entry pressure was determined to be approximately 7.8 MPa. The equipment established in this study is expected to be utilized for various experiments aimed at building a database on the initial properties of buffer and the conditions during gas injection, contributing to understanding the gas migration phenomena.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.41-54
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• 2024

Regular monitoring plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety of geotechnical structures. Currently, nondestructive methods are employed to monitor such structures to minimize the impact, e.g., sensor-based accelerometers, displacement meters, image-based lasers, and drone imaging. These technologies can observe surface changes; however, they frequently suffer difficulties in terms of identifying changes in internal properties. To monitor changes in internal properties, in situ geotechnical investigations can be employed. A nondestructive test that can be used for this purpose is the spectral analysis of surface wave (SASW) test using geophones. The SASW test is a nondestructive method; however, due to the time required for data interpretation and the difficulty in analyzing the data, it is challenging to use the SASW test for monitoring applications that require frequent observations. However, it is possible to apply the first-step analysis, which yields the dispersion curve, for monitoring rather than the complete SASW analysis, which yields the shear wave velocity. Thus, this paper presents a fundamental study on the phase difference that derives the dispersion curve to utilize the SASW test for monitoring. The reliability of each phase difference interval is examined to determine the boundary to the subjected monitor. The study used phase difference data obtained using a geophone from a single-layered, homogeneous ground site to evaluate reliable boundaries. The findings of this study are expected to improve the utility of monitoring by identifying the ideal boundary for phase difference data.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.99-108
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• 2012

These days, spontaneous ignition phenomena by oxidizing heat frequently occur in the circumstances of processing and storing waste tires. Therefore, to examine the phenomena, in this work, this researcher conducted the tests of fires of fragmented waste tires (shredded tire), closely investigated components of the fire residual materials collected in the processing and storing place, and analyzed the temperature of the starting of the ignition, weight loss, and heat of reaction. For the study, this researcher conducted fire tests with fragmented waste tires in the range of 2.5 mm to 15 mm, whose heat could be easily accumulated, and performed heat analysis through DSC and TGA, DTA, DTG, and GC/MS to give scientific probability to the possibility of spontaneous ignition. According to the tests, at the 48-hour storage, rapid increase in temperature ($178^{\circ}C$), Graphite phenomenon, smoking were observed. And the result from the DTA and DTG analysis showed that at $166.15^{\circ}C$, the minimum weight loss occurred. And, the result from the test on the waste tire analysis material 1 (Unburnt) through DSC and TGA analysis revealed that at $180^{\circ}C$ or so, thermal decomposition started. As a result, the starting temperature of ignition was considered to be $160^{\circ}C$ to $180^{\circ}C$. And, at $305^{\circ}C$, 10 % of the initial weight of the material reduced, and at $416.12^{\circ}C$, 50 % of the intial weight of the material decreased. The result from the test on oxidation and self-reaction through GC/MS and DSC analysis presented that oxidized components like 1,3 cyclopentnadiene were detected a lot. But according to the result from the heat analysis test on standard materials and fragmented waste tires, their heat value was lower than the basis value so that self-reaction was not found. Therefore, to prevent spontaneous ignition by oxidizing heat of waste tires, it is necessary to convert the conventional process into Cryogenic Process that has no or few heat accumulation at the time of fragmentation. And the current storing method in which broken and fragmented materials are stored into large burlap bags (500 kg) should be changed to the method in which they are stored into small burlap bags in order to prevent heat accumulation.