• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
• /
• 2001.06a
• /
• pp.1615-1615
• /
• 2001

During the past ten years, Near Infrared Spectroscopy has been successfully applied to the analysis of a great variety of agriculture products. Previous works (Morra et al., 1991; Salgo et al., 1998) have shown the potential of this technology for soil analysis, estimating different parameters just with one single scan. The main advantages of NIR applications in soils are the speed of response, allowing the increase of the number of samples analysed to define a particular soil, and the instantaneous elaboration of recommendations for fertilization and soil amendment. Another advantage is to avoid the use of chemical reagents at all, being an environmentally safe technique. In this paper, we have studied a set of 129 soil samples selected from representative glasshouse soils from Southern Spain. The samples were dried, milled, and sieved to pass a 2 mm sieve and then analysed for organic carbon, total nitrogen, inorganic nitrogen (nitrate ammonium), hygroscopic humidity, pH and electrical conductivity in the 1:1 extract. NIR spectra of all samples were obtained in reflectance mode using a Foss NIR Systems 6500 spectrophotometer equipped with a spinning module. Calibration equations were developed for seven analytical parameters (ph, Total nitrogen, organic nitrogen, organic carbon, C/N ratio and Electric Conductivity). Preliminary results show good correlation coefficients and standard errors of cross validation in equations obtained for Organic Carbon, Organic Nitrogen, Total Nitrogen and C/N ratio. Calibrations for nitrates and nitrites, ammonia and electric conductivity were not acceptable. Calibration obtained for pH had an acceptable SECV, but the determination coefficient was found very poor probably due to the reduced range in reference values. Since the estimation of Organic Carbon and C/N ratio are acceptable NIIRS could be used as a fast method to assess the necessity of organic amendments in soils from Mediterranean regions where the low level of organic matter in soils constitutes an important agronomic problem. Furthermore, the possibility of a single and fast estimation of Total Nitrogen (tedious determination by modifications of the Kjeldahl procedure) could provide and interesting data to use in the estimation of nitrogen fertilizer rates by means of nitrogen balances.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.111-127
• /
• 2023

Purpose: Gallium-68 (⁶⁸Ga) is increasingly used in nuclear medicine imaging for various conditions such as lymphoma and neuroendocrine tumors by labeling tracers like Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) and DOTA-TOC. However, compared to Fluorine-18 (¹⁸F) used in conventional nuclear medicine imaging, ⁶⁸Ga has lower spatial resolution and relatively higher Signal to Background Ratio (SBR). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the optimized parameters and reconstruction methods for PET/CT imaging using the ⁶⁸Ga radiotracer through model-based image evaluation. Materials and Methods: Based on clinical images of ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA PET/CT, a NEMA/IEC 2008 PET phantom model was prepared with a Hot vs Background (H/B) ratio of 10:1. Images were acquired for 9 minutes in list mode using DMIDR (GE, Milwaukee WI, USA). Subsequently, reconstructions were performed for 1 to 8 minutes using OS-EM (Ordered Subset Expectation Maximization) + TOF (Time of Flight) + Sharp IR (VPFX-S), and BSREM (Block Sequential Regularized Expectation Maximization) + TOF + Sharp IR (QCFX-S-400), followed by comparative evaluation. Based on the previous experimental results, images were reconstructed for BSREM + TOF + Sharp IR / 2 minutes (QCFX-S-2min) with varying β-strength values from 100 to 700. The image quality was evaluated using AMIDE (freeware, Ver.1.0.1) and Advanced Workstation (GE, USA). Results: Images reconstructed with QCFX-S-400 showed relatively higher values for SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio), CNR (Contrast to Noise Ratio), count, RC (Recovery Coefficient), and SUV (Standardized Uptake Value) compared to VPFX-S. SNR, CNR, and SUV exhibited the highest values at 2 minutes/bed acquisition time. RC showed the highest values for a 10 mm sphere at 2 minutes/bed acquisition time. For small spheres of 10 mm and 13 mm, an inverse relationship between β-strength increase and count was observed. SNR and CNR peaked at β-strength 400 and then decreased, while SUV and RC exhibited a normal distribution based on sphere size for β-strength values of 400 and above. Conclusion: Based on the experiments, PET/CT imaging using the ⁶⁸Ga radiotracer yielded the most favorable quantitative and qualitative results with a 2 minutes/bed acquisition time and BSREM reconstruction, particularly when applying β-strength 400. The application of BSREM can enhance accurate quantification and image quality in ⁶⁸Ga PET/CT imaging, and an optimization process tailored to each institution's imaging objectives appears necessary.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
• /
• v.51 no.9
• /
• pp.82-90
• /
• 2014

In this paper, a couple of 4-channel differential transimpedance amplifier arrays are realized in a standard 0.18um CMOS technology for the applications of linear LADAR(laser detection and ranging) systems. Each array targets 1.25-Gb/s operations, where the current-mode chip consists of current-mirror input stage, a single-to-differential amplifier, and an output buffer. The input stage exploits the local feedback current-mirror configuration for low input resistance and low noise characteristics. Measurements demonstrate that each channel achieves $69-dB{\Omega}$ transimpedance gain, 2.2-GHz bandwidth, 21.5-pA/sqrt(Hz) average noise current spectral density (corresponding to the optical sensitivity of -20.5-dBm), and the 4-channel total power dissipation of 147.6-mW from a single 1.8-V supply. The measured eye-diagrams confirms wide and clear eye-openings for 1.25-Gb/s operations. Meanwhile, the voltage-mode chip consists of inverter input stage for low noise characteristics, a single-to-differential amplifier, and an output buffer. Test chips reveal that each channel achieves $73-dB{\Omega}$ transimpedance gain, 1.1-GHz bandwidth, 13.2-pA/sqrt(Hz) average noise current spectral density (corresponding to the optical sensitivity of -22.8-dBm), and the 4-channel total power dissipation of 138.4-mW from a single 1.8-V supply. The measured eye-diagrams confirms wide and clear eye-openings for 1.25-Gb/s operations.

• Atmosphere
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.20-42
• /
• 2002

Based on the "Mid to Long Term Plan for Space Development", a project to launch COMeS (Communication, Oceanography, and Meteorological Satellite) into the geostationary orbit is undergoing. Accordingly, KMA (Korea Meteorological Administration) has defined the meteorological missions and prepared the user requirements to fulfill the missions. To make a realistic user requirements, we prepared a first draft based on the ideal meteorological products derivable from a geostationary platform and sent the RFI (request for information) to the sensor manufacturers. Based on the responses to the RFI and other considerations, we revised the user requirement to be a realistic plan for the 2008 launch of the satellite. This manuscript introduces the revised user requirements briefly. The major mission defined in the revised user requirement is the augmentation of the detection and prediction ability of the severe weather phenomena, especially around the Korean Peninsula. The required payload is an enhanced Imager, which includes the major observation channels of the current geostationary sounder. To derive the required meteorological products from the Imager, at least 12 channels are required with the optimum of 16 channels. The minimum 12 channels are 6 wavelength bands used for current geostationary satellite, and additional channels in two visible bands, a near infrared band, two water vapor bands and one ozone absorption band. From these enhanced channel observation, we are going to derive and utilize the information of water vapor, stability index, wind field, and analysis of special weather phenomena such as the yellow sand event in addition to the standard derived products from the current geostationary Imager data. For a better temporal coverage, the Imager is required to acquire the full disk data within 15 minutes and to have the rapid scan mode for the limited area coverage. The required thresholds of spatial resolutions are 1 km and 2 km for visible and infrared channels, respectively, while the target resolutions are 0.5 km and 1 km.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.108-123
• /
• 2003

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the contribution of $^{18}$ F-FDG brain PET in the differentiating Idiopathic parkinson's diesease (IPD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and multiple system atrophy (MSA). We studied 24 patients with parkinsonism : 8 patients (mean age 67.9$\pm$10.7 y: M/F : 3/5) with IPD, 9 patients (57.9$\pm$9.2 y : M/F : 4/5) with MSA and 7 patients (67.6$\pm$4.8 y : M/F 3/4) with PSP. All patients with parkinsonism and 22 age-matched normal controls underwent $^{18}$ F FDG PET in 3D mode after the injection of 370 MBq $^{118}$ F FDG. The patients with IPD, MSh and PSP were compared with a normal control group by a two-sided t-test of SPM99 (uncorrected P<0.001, extent threshold>100 voxel). All three parkinsonism groups, showed significant hypometabolism in the cerebral neocortex compared to the normal control group. However, the three groups displayed different metabolism in the subcortical structure, brain stem, and cerebellum. In IPD, there was no significant hypometabolism in the putamen, brain stem and cerebellum. However, MSA patients showed significant hypometabolism in the striatum, pons, and cerebellum compared to the normal controls and IPD patients. In addition, PSP showed significant hypometabolism in the caudate nuclei, the thalamus, midbrain, and the cingulate gyrus compared to the normal controls, the IPD, and MSA groups (IPD vs Normal sensitivity/specificity : 75%/l00%, MSA vs Normal sensitivity/specificity :100%/87%, PSP vs Normal sensitivity/specificity : 86%/94%). Our results show that the regional metabolism of IPD, MSA, and PSP is different mainly in the striatum, thalamus, brain stem and cerebellum. An assessment of the $^{18}$ F-FDG PET scan images using SPM may be a useful adjunct to a clinical examination in making a differential diagnosis of Parkinsonism.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.318-324
• /
• 2004

Purpose: Philips GEMINI is a newly introduced whole-body GSO PET/CT scanner. In this study, performance of the scanner including spatial resolution, sensitivity, scatter fraction, noise equivalent count ratio (NECR) was measured utilizing NEMA NU2-2001 standard protocol and compared with performance of LSO, BGO crystal scanner. Methods: GEMINI is composed of the Philips ALLEGRO PET and MX8000 D multi-slice CT scanners. The PET scanner has 28 detector segments which have an array of 29 by 22 GSO crystals ($4{\times}6{\times}20$ mm), covering axial FOV of 18 cm. PET data to measure spatial resolution, sensitivity, scatter fraction, and NECR were acquired in 3D mode according to the NEMA NU2 protocols (coincidence window: 8 ns, energy window: $409[\sim}664$ keV). For the measurement of spatial resolution, images were reconstructed with FBP using ramp filter and an iterative reconstruction algorithm, 3D RAMLA. Data for sensitivity measurement were acquired using NEMA sensitivity phantom filled with F-18 solution and surrounded by $1{\sim}5$ aluminum sleeves after we confirmed that dead time loss did not exceed 1%. To measure NECR and scatter fraction, 1110 MBq of F-18 solution was injected into a NEMA scatter phantom with a length of 70 cm and dynamic scan with 20-min frame duration was acquired for 7 half-lives. Oblique sinograms were collapsed into transaxial slices using single slice rebinning method, and true to background (scatter+random) ratio for each slice and frame was estimated. Scatter fraction was determined by averaging the true to background ratio of last 3 frames in which the dead time loss was below 1%. Results: Transverse and axial resolutions at 1cm radius were (1) 5.3 and 6.5 mm (FBP), (2) 5.1 and 5.9 mm (3D RAMLA). Transverse radial, transverse tangential, and axial resolution at 10 cm were (1) 5.7, 5.7, and 7.0 mm (FBP), (2) 5.4, 5.4, and 6.4 mm (3D RAMLA). Attenuation free values of sensitivity were 3,620 counts/sec/MBq at the center of transaxial FOV and 4,324 counts/sec/MBq at 10 cm offset from the center. Scatter fraction was 40.6%, and peak true count rate and NECR were 88.9 kcps @ 12.9 kBq/mL and 34.3 kcps @ 8.84 kBq/mL. These characteristics are better than that of ECAT EXACT PET scanner with BGO crystal. Conclusion: The results of this field test demonstrate high resolution, sensitivity and count rate performance of the 3D PET/CT scanner with GSO crystal. The data provided here will be useful for the comparative study with other 3D PET/CT scanners using BGO or LSO crystals.