• Mass Spectrometry Letters
• /
• v.5 no.4
• /
• pp.104-109
• /
• 2014

Nonmedical use of prescription stimulants such as methylphenidate (MPH) and amphetamine (AP) by normal persons has been increased to improve cognitive functions. Due to high potential for their abuse, reliable analytical methods were required to detect these prescription stimulants in biological samples. A direct injection liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and implemented for simultaneous determination of MPH, AP and their metabolites ritalinic acid (RA) and 4-hydroxyamphetamine (HAP) in human urine. Urine sample was centrifuged and the upper layer ($100{\mu}L$) was mixed with $800{\mu}L$ of distilled water and $100{\mu}L$ of internal standards ($0.2{\mu}g/mL$ in methanol). The mixture was then directly injected into the LC-MS/MS system. The mobile phase was composed of 0.2% formic acid in distilled water (A) and acetonitrile (B). Chromatographic separation was performed by using a Capcell Pak MG-II C18 ($150mm{\times}2.0mm$ i.d., $5{\mu}m$, Shiseido) column and all analytes were eluted within 5 min. Linear least-squares regression with a 1/x weighting factor was used to generate a calibration curve and the assay was linear from 20 to 1500 ng/mL (HAP), 40-3000 ng/mL (AP and RA) and 2-150 ng/mL (MPH). The intra- and inter-day precisions were within 16.4%. The intra- and inter-day accuracies ranged from -15.6% to 10.8%. The limits of detection for all the analytes were less than 4.7 ng/mL. The suitability of the method was examined by analyzing urine samples from drug abusers.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.12
• /
• pp.2733-2742
• /
• 2020

This paper presents an assessment of applicability of the multigroup cross sections generated with Monte Carlo tools to the fast reactor analysis based on transport calculations. 33-group cross section sets were generated for simple one- (1-D) and two-dimensional (2-D) sodium-cooled fast reactor problems using the SERPENT code and applied to deterministic steady-state and depletion calculations. Relative to the reference continuous-energy SERPENT results, with the transport corrected P₀ scattering cross section, the k-eff value was overestimated by 506 and 588 pcm for 1-D and 2-D problems, respectively, since anisotropic scattering is important in fast reactors. When the scattering order was increased to P₅, the 1-D and 2-D problem errors were increased to 577 and 643 pcm, respectively. A sensitivity and uncertainty analysis with the PERSENT code indicated that these large k-eff errors cannot be attributed to the statistical uncertainties of cross sections and they are likely due to the approximate anisotropic scattering matrices determined by scalar flux weighting. The anisotropic scattering cross sections were alternatively generated using the MC²-3 code and merged with the SERPENT cross sections. The mixed cross section set consistently reduced the errors in k-eff, assembly powers, and nuclide densities. For example, in the 2-D calculation with P3 scattering order, the k-eff error was reduced from 634 pcm to -223 pcm. The maximum error in assembly power was reduced from 2.8% to 0.8% and the RMS error was reduced from 1.4% to 0.4%. The maximum error in the nuclide densities at the end of 12-month depletion that occurred in ²³⁷Np was reduced from 3.4% to 1.5%. The errors of the other nuclides are also reduced consistently, for example, from 1.1% to 0.1% for ²³⁵U, from 2.2% to 0.7% for ²³⁸Pu, and from 1.6% to 0.2% for ²⁴¹Pu. These results indicate that the scalar flux weighted anisotropic scattering cross sections of SERPENT may not be adequate for application to fast reactors where anisotropic scattering is important.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.239-245
• /
• 2014

This study analyzed a comprehensive database including 6331 ready-mixed concrete plant mixtures to quantitatively assess the environmental impact of concrete under mixture proportions variable according to the domestic region and season. The environmental impact indicator includes global warming, photochemical oxidant creation, abiotic resource depletion, acidification, eutrophication and human toxicity, which are determined from categorization, characterization, normalization and weighting process based on Korea lifecycle inventories. The determined environmental impact indicator was also normalized by concrete compressive strength ($f_{ck}$), which is defined as impact index, to calculate the environmental impact per unit strength of 1 MPa. The most common compressive strength of concrete used in the country is estimated to be 24 MPa and 27 MPa. For $f_{ct}$ of 24 MPa, the lowest environmental impact indicator is observed in Ulsan, whereas the highest region is Gwangju and Daegu. This difference according to domestic region is primarily resulted from by the replacement of different supplementary cementitious materials. Furthermore, the impact index of concrete with $f_{ck}$ of 24 MPa is higher by approximately 5% at wintertime than at summertime and standard season. The impact index gradually decreases with the increase of $f_{ck}$ up to 35 MPa, beyond which it remains constant.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.32-43
• /
• 2014

This study set out to identify the importance of each factor influencing facility selection with a survey among public medical facilities under the category of public buildings and apply the importance of economy, technology and environment with the weighting factor method, thus proposing optimal application plans. The research content of each section can be summarized as follows:1) Estimated energy consumption according to the energy simulation was 65,129MWh/yr, which was 18.7% higher than that according to the calculation equation. Of the energy consumption, more than 80% was used by heating and cooling facilities and construction facilities, and 20% was used by electronics such as medical equipments and in and outdoor lighting. 2) The results of a survey on the factors influencing the importance when selecting a new and renewable energy system reveal that the upper items had a priority in economy, environment, and technology in the descending order and that the lower item shad a priority in initial investments, maintenance and repair costs=energy costs, supply reliability, energy efficiency and $CO_2$ emissions in the descending order. 3) The application alternatives were analyzed in economy, technology, and environment. As a result, a geothermal system turned out to be the most excellent one a cross all the upper and lower comparison items. Of the other systems, a solar thermal system was superior in initial investments, maintenance and repair costs, and energy efficiency, where as a photovoltaic system was superior in energy costs, supply reliability, and $CO_2$ emissions. 4) As for the mixed application ratio among economy, technology, and environment, when the percentage of a geothermal system was approximately 80% or higher in anew and renewable energy system, it was the best and most optimal application plan.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.53-73
• /
• 2002

It has been reported that degranulation of mast cells in rats, rabbits and dog was observed after dosing xylazine hydrochloride(Xh) which has been widely used as sedative, analgesic and muscular relaxant. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to examine the relations between Xh and histamine release and to identify the action of ${\alpha}$-adrenoceptors which exists on the suface of mast cells. 1. The content of histamine within serum was measured with HPLC by performing the O-phthalaldehyde(OPA) fluorescent derivation. The pretreatment method had a little modification from the conventional method. The pretreament was carried out in the following method. 0.2$m\ell$ of serum and 1$m\ell$ of butanol were added to mixed together and then the liquid was centrifugally separated at 4$^{\circ}C$ and 2,000 rpm for 3 minutes. 0.4$m\ell$ of 0.1N HCl and 1.6$m\ell$ of heptane were added to 0.8$m\ell$ of supernatant taken from the liquid, and they were mixed together. This mixture was also centrifugally separated at 4$^{\circ}C$ and 2,000 rpm for 5 minutes. The supernatant was thrown away and the OPA fluorescent derivation was carried out with 0.2$m\ell$ of the lower liquid then, 5 minutes after mixing 400${\mu}\ell$ of 0.1N HCl, 120${\mu}\ell$ of 1N NaOH and 40${\mu}\ell$ of 0.1% OPA in the 0.2$m\ell$ of the lower liquid,120${\mu}\ell$ of 3.57N H$_3$PO$_4$ was added to the mixed liquid, and the liquid, was mixed again and syringe-filtered. Then, the measurement was done with HPLC in the 30 : 70(ν/ν) ratio of 0.004M KH$_2$PO$_4$: CH$_3$CN, flow rate of 1.0$m\ell$/min., and a wavelength of λex= 350nm and λem=444nm at the column temperature of 27$^{\circ}C$, using the fluorescence detector. 2. The content of histamine in each laboratory animal appeared to be higher in such an order as rabbit, rat, guinea pig, dog, Korean indigenous goat, swine, Korean indigenous cattle, Holstein, and mouse, of which the individual mean values${\pm}$standard deviation were 2.0668 ${\pm}$ 0.6049. 0.4999 ${\pm}$ 0.2278, 0.4241 ${\pm}$ 0.1974, 0.1054 ${\pm}$ 0.0556, 0.1028 ${\pm}$ 0.0276, 0.0972 ${\pm}$ 0.0513, 0.0872 ${\pm}$ 0.0373, 0.0717 ${\pm}$ 0.0379, and 0.0706 ${\pm}$ 0.0366, respectively. 3. The content of histamine was measured at the moments of 15-, 30-, 60-, 120-minutes after inoamuscular injection of 20mg/100kg Xh into two to 4 years old Holstein weighing 600∼700kg. The result showed that there was a significant increase at the times of 30- and 90-minutes after injection(p<0.05). 4. Intramuscular injection of 3mg/10kg Xh was given to crossbred pug dogs weighing 2.5∼4.3kg. The content of histamine was measured at the times of 30-, 60-, 90- and 120-minutes after injection. The result revealed that there was a significant increase at the times of 60-and 90-minutes after injection(p<0.05). 5. Intramuscular injection of 10mg/$m\ell$∼25mg/$m\ell$ Xh in concentration of 0.1$m\ell$ was applied to Korean indigenous goat over 5 months old. Then, the content of histamine was measured at the times of 15-, 30-, 60- and 90-minutes after injection. A significant increase was shown at the times of 30- and 60-minutes after injection(p<0.05). 6. The content of histamine was measured at the moments of 30- and 60-minutes after intramuscular injection of 0.1-0.2$m\ell$ Xh (20mg/$m\ell$) into male rabbits weighting 2.5-4kg. A significant increase was found at the moment of 60 minutes after injection(p<0.001). 7. After administering Xh to the mast cell taken from the abdominal cavity of mouse, the content of histamine was measured. The result showed that the higher the concentration, the more significantly the content of histamine was increased(p<0.05). 8. Compound 48/80 was administered in concentration of 5$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ and 10$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ to the mast cell picked from the abdominal cavity of mouse. The result showed that there was a significant increase in the content of histamine in case of the concentration of 10$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$(p<0.05). It was found to be about 10,000 to 500,000 times stronger than the Xh. 9. After premedication of 1mg/kg of yohimbine hydrochloride as ${\alpha}$$_2$-adrenergic antagonist to rabbits, the Xh was administered to them. The result was that the value of histamine within serum was decreased significantly(p<0.001). 10. After premeditation of 1mg/kg of prazosin hydrochloride as ${\alpha}$$_1$-adrenergic antagonist to rabbits, the Xh was administered to them. It was found that the value of histamine within serum was decreased significantly(p<0.005). 11, Prazosin hydrochloride and yohimbine hydrochloride as ${\alpha}$$_1$-adrenergic antagonist, respectively, and ${\alpha}$$_2$-adrenergic antagonist were administerd. In this case, the value of histamine within serum was decreased significantly(p<0.0001). As the results, when the Xh is administered to various kinds of animals, the amount of histamine release within serum is increased. In view of the results so far achieved, it is concluded that Xh acted on both a$_1$-adrenoreceptor and ${\alpha}$$_2$-adrenoreceptor induces the degranulation of mast cell.

• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.161-170
• /
• 2018

The epidemic of disorders associated with synthetic stimulants, such as methamphetamine (MA) and amphetamine (AP), is a health, social, legal, and financial problem. Owing to the high potential of their abuse and addiction, reliable analytical methods are required to detect and identify MA, AP, and their metabolites in biological samples. Thus, a dilute-and-shoot liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrophotometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed for simultaneous determination of MA, 4-hydroxymethamphetamine (4HMA), AP, and 4-hydroxyamphetamine (4HA) in urine. Urine sample ($100{\mu}L$) was mixed with $50{\mu}L$ of mobile phase consisting of 0.4 % formic acid and methanol and $50{\mu}L$ of working internal-standard solution. Aliquots of $8{\mu}L$ diluted urine was injected into the LC-MS/MS system. For all analytes, chromatographic separation was performed using a C18 reversed-phase column with gradient elution and a total run time of 5 min. The identification and quantification were performed by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). Linear least-squares regression was conducted to generate a calibration curve, with $1/x^2$ as the weighting factor. The linear ranges were 2.0-200, 1.0-800, and 10-2500 ng/mL for 4HA and 4HMA, AP, and MA, respectively. The inter- and intraday precisions were within 6.6 %, whereas the inter- and intraday accuracies ranged from -14.9 to 11.3 %. The low limits of quantification were 2.0 ng/mL (4HA and 4HMA), 1.0 ng/mL (AP), and 10 ng/mL (MA). The proposed method exhibited satisfactory selectivity, dilution integrity, matrix effect, and stability, which are required for validation. Moreover, the purification efficiency of high-speed centrifugation was clearly higher than 6-15 % for QC samples (n=5), which was higher than that of the membrane-filtration method. The applicability of the proposed method was tested by forensic analysis of urine samples from drug abusers.