• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권5호
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• pp.709-716
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• 2018

A criticality safety analysis was performed for the APR-1400 spent fuel pool region-II to ensure the safe storage of spent fuel, with credit taken for depletion and in-rack neutron absorbers (Metamic panels). PLUS7 fuel assembly was modeled using TRITON-NEWT of SCALE-6.1. The burnup-dependent cross-section library was generated under limiting core-operating conditions with 5%-w U-235 initial enrichment. MCNP5 was used to evaluate the neutron multiplication factor in an infinite array of rack cells with the axially nonuniformly burnt PLUS7 assemblies under normal, abnormal, and accident conditions; including all biases and uncertainties. The main purpose of this study is to investigate reactivity variations due to the critical depletion and reactor operation parameters. The approach, assumptions, and modeling methods were verified by analyzing the contents of the most important fissile and the associated reactivity effects. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) guidance on k-eff being less than 1.0 for spent fuel pools filled with unborated water was the main criterion used in this study. It was found that assemblies with 49.0 GWd/MTU and 5.0 w/o U-235 initial enrichment loaded in Region-II satisfy this criterion. Moreover, it was found that the end effect resulted in a positive bias, thus ensuring its consideration.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권1호
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• pp.148-154
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• 2020

The radiation induced segregation of Cr at grain boundaries (GBs) in Ferritic/Martensitic steels was modeled assuming vacancy and interstitialcy diffusion mechanisms. In particular, the dependence of segregation on temperature and grain boundary misorientation angle was analyzed. It is found that Cr enriches at grain boundaries at low temperatures primarily through the interstitialcy mechanism while depletes at high temperatures predominantly through the vacancy mechanism. There is a crossover from Cr enrichment to depletion at an intermediate temperature where the Cr:Fe vacancy and interstitialcy diffusion coefficient ratios intersect. The bell-shape Cr enrichment response is attributed to the decreasing void sinks inside the grains as temperature rises. It is also shown that low angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) and special Σ coincidence-site lattice (CSL) grain boundaries exhibit suppressed radiation induced segregation (RIS) response while high angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) have high RIS segregation. This different behavior is attributed to the variations in dislocation density at different grain boundaries.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.340-348
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• 2007

Although considerable effort has been devoted in the mass spectrometric analysis of phosphorylated peptides, successful identification of multi-phosphorylated peptides in enzymatically digested protein samples still remains challenging. The ionization behavior of multi-phosphorylated peptides appears to be somewhat different from that of mono- or di-phosphorylated peptides. In this study, we demonstrate increased sensitivity of detection of multi-phosphorylated peptides of beta casein without using phosphopeptide enrichment techniques. Proteinase K digestion alone increased the detection limit of beta casein multi-phosphorylated peptides in the LC-MS analysis almost 500 fold, compared to conventional trypsin digestion (~50 pmol). In order to understand this effect, various factors affecting the ionization of phosphopeptides were investigated. Unlike ionizations of phosphopeptides with minor modifications, those of multi-phosphorylated peptides appeared to be subject to effects such as selectively suppressed ionization by more ionizable peptides and decreased ionization efficiency by multi-phosphorylation. The enhanced detection limit of multi-phosphorylated peptides resulting from proteinase K digestion was validated using a complex protein sample, namely a lysate of HEK 293 cells. Compared to trypsin digestion, the numbers of phosphopeptides identified and modification sites per peptide were noticeably increased by proteinase K digestion. Non-specific proteases such as proteinase K and elastase have been used in the past to increase detection of phosphorylation sites but the effectiveness of proteinase K digestion for multi-phosphorylated peptides has not been reported.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.242-250
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• 2006

Detailed structures of the counterflow flames formed for different inlet fluid temperatures and different amount of additives are studied numerically. The detailed chemical reactions are modeled by using the CHEMKIN-II code. The discrete ordinates method and the narrow band based WSGGM with a gray gas regrouping technique (WSGGM-RG) are applied for modeling the radiative transfer through non-homogeneous and non-isothermal combustion gas mixtures generated by the counterflow flames. The results compared with those obtained by using the SNB model show that the WSGGM-RG is very successful in modeling the counterflow flames with non-gray gas mixture. The numerical results also show that the addition of $CO_2\;or\;H_2O$ to the oxidant lowers the peak temperature and the NO concentration in flame. But preheat of fuel or oxidant raises the flame temperature and the NO production rates. $O_2$ enrichment also causes to raise the temperature distribution and the NO production in flame. And it is found that the $O_2$ enrichment and the fuel preheat were the major parameters in affecting the flame width.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제42권10호
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• pp.721-728
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• 2019

Non-structural protein 1 (NS1) of influenza virus has been shown to inhibit the innate immune response by blocking the induction of interferon (IFN). In this study, we isolated two single-stranded RNA aptamers specific to NS1 with $K_d$ values of $1.62{\pm}0.30nM$ and $1.97{\pm}0.27nM$, respectively, using a systematic evolution of ligand by exponential enrichment (SELEX) procedure. The selected aptamers were able to inhibit the interaction of NS1 with tripartite motif-containing protein 25 (TRIM25), and suppression of NS1 enabled retinoic acid inducible gene I (RIG-I) to be ubiquitinated regularly by TRIM25. Additional luciferase reporter assay and quantitative real-time PCR (RT-PCR) experiments demonstrated that suppression of NS1 by the selected aptamers induced IFN production. It is noted that viral replication was also inhibited through IFN induction in the presence of the selected aptamers. These results suggest that the isolated aptamers are strongly expected to be new therapeutic agents against influenza infection.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제36권5호
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• pp.450-459
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• 2004

For the evaluation of emission sources by air sampling, airborne particulate matter for fine (<2.5 ${\mu}m2$ EAD : $PM_{2.5}$) and coarse partical (2.5-10 ${\mu}m2$ EAD : $PM_{2.5-10}$ fractions were collected using a Gent stacked filter unit low volume sampler and two types of polycarbonate filters. Air samples were collected twice monthly at two regions in and around Daejeon city in the Republic of Korea from January to December 2002. Monthly mass concentration of $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{2.5-10}$ were measured and the concentrations of 10 marker elements (Al, Sc, Ti ; Na, Cl ; As, V. Sb, Br, Se) were determined by an instrumental neutron activation analysis. Analytical quality control was corried out using certified reference materials. Enrichment factors were also calculated from the monitoring data to classify the anthropogenic and crustal origins.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권6호
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• pp.1955-1963
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• 2021

As the IAEA has applied integrated safeguards and a state level approach to member states, the importance of national inspection has increased. However, the requirements for national inspection for some member states are different from the IAEA safeguards. In particular, the national inspection for the ROK requires on-site U concentration analysis due to a domestic notification. This research proposes an on-site U concentration analysis (OUCA) method for UO₂ pellets using gamma spectroscopy to satisfy the domestic notification requirement. The OUCA method calculates the U concentration of UO₂ pellets using the measured net X-ray counts and declared ²³⁵U enrichment. This research demonstrates the feasibility of the OUCA method using both MCNP simulation and experiment. It simulated and measured the net X-ray counts of different UO₂ pellets with different U concentrations and ²³⁵U enrichments. The simulated and measured net X-ray counts were fitted to polynomials as a function of U concentration and ²³⁵U enrichment. The goodness-of-fit results of both simulation and experiment demonstrated the feasibility of the OUCA method.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.279-288
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• 2019

To obtain insightful knowledge of geochemical process controlling fluoride enrichment in groundwater of the villages near Shilabati river bank, West Bengal, India, multivariate statistical techniques were applied to a subgroup of the dataset generated from major ion analysis of groundwater samples. Water quality analysis of major ion chemistry revealed elevated levels of fluoride concentration in groundwater. Factor analysis (FA) of fifteen hydrochemical parameters demonstrated that fluoride occurrence was due to the weathering and dissolution of fluoride-bearing minerals in the aquifer. A strong positive loading (> 0.75) of fluoride with pH and bicarbonate for FA indicates an alkaline dominated environment responsible for leaching of fluoride from the source material. Mineralogical analysis of soli sediment exhibits the presence of fluoride-bearing minerals in underground geology. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was carried out to isolate the sampling sites according to groundwater quality. With HCA the sampling sites were isolated into three clusters. The occurrence of abundant fluoride in the higher elevated area of the observed three different clusters revealed that there was more contact opportunity of recharging water with the minerals present in the aquifer during infiltration through the vadose zone.

• Mycobiology
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.421-433
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• 2021

Morchella is a genus of fungi with the ability to concentrate Cd both in the fruit-body and mycelium. However, the molecular mechanisms conferring resistance to Cd stress in Morchella are unknown. Here, RNA-based transcriptomic sequencing was used to identify the genes and pathways involved in Cd tolerance in Morchella spongiola. 7444 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by cultivating M. spongiola in media containing 0.15, 0.90, or 1.50 mg/L Cd²⁺. The DEGs were divided into six sub-clusters based on their global expression profiles. GO enrichment analysis indicated that numerous DEGs were associated with catalytic activity, cell cycle control, and the ribosome. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the main pathways under Cd stress were MAPK signaling, oxidative phosphorylation, pyruvate metabolism, and propanoate metabolism. In addition, several DEGs encoding ion transporters, enzymatic/non-enzymatic antioxidants, and transcription factors were identified. Based on these results, a preliminary gene regulatory network was firstly proposed to illustrate the molecular mechanisms of Cd detoxification in M. spongiola. These results provide valuable insights into the Cd tolerance mechanism of M. spongiola and constitute a robust foundation for further studies on detoxification mechanisms in macrofungi that could potentially lead to the development of new and improved fungal bioremediation strategies.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.519-529
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• 2021

This study aims to investigate the impact of Human Resource Management Practices (HRMP) on improving Employee Performance (EP). The study is accomplished by hypothesizing the impact of HRMP on EP, additionally, this impact is theorized to be mediated through job satisfaction. Employee engagement is also taken into account because of the potential moderating effect it has within the theorized model. Data was collected from 480 questionnaires which were distributed among commercial banks' workers in Jordan and were analyzed using structural equation modeling techniques (SEM), path analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Analysis of a moment structures (AMOS) software version 24 was applied to complete our analysis. The results show that HRMP had a positive impact on EP, as well as job satisfaction and its components (job stability and job enrichment). The mediating role of job satisfaction (enrichment and stability) was discovered. Finally, employee engagement emerged as a moderating variable linking HRMP and EP. The findings of this study show the importance of the role played by job satisfaction and employee engagement in achieving human resources performance goals. Future analysis is recommended to gain deeper insight into the relationship between HRMP, job satisfaction, worker training, and performance appraisal.