• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.2050-2056
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• 2024

Handling of radioisotopes may cause external and internal contamination to occupational workers while using radiation for medical purposes. This research aims to monitor the internal hazard of occupational workers who handle ¹³¹I. Two methods are used: in vivo or direct method and in vitro or indirect method. The in vivo or direct method was performed by assessing thyroid intake with a thyroid uptake monitoring machine. The in vitro or indirect method was performed by assessing urine samples with the help of a gamma-ray spectroscopy practice using a High-Purity Germanium (HPGe) Detector. In this study, fifty-nine thyroid counts and fifty-nine urine samples were collected from seven occupational workers who were in charge of ¹³¹I at the National Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (NINMAS), Dhaka. The result showed that the average annual effective dose of seven workforces from thyroid counts were 0.0208 mSv/y, 0.0180 mSv/y, 0.0135 mSv/y, 0.0169 m Sv/y, 0.0072 mSv/y, 0.0181 mSv/y, 0.0164 mSv/y and in urine samples 0.0832 mSv/y, 0.0770 mSv/y, 0.0732 mSv/y, 0.0693 mSv/y, 0.0715 mSv/y, 0.0662 mSv/y, 0.0708 mSv/y.The total annual effective dose (in vivo and in vitro method) was found among seven workers in average 0.1039 mSv/y, 0.0950 mSv/y, 0.0868 mSv/y, 0.0862 mSv/y, 0.0787 mSv/y, 0.0843 mSv/y, 0.0872 mSv/y. Following the rules of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the annual limit of effective dose for occupational exposure is 20 mSv per year and the finding values from this research work are lesser than this safety boundary.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartD
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• v.14D no.1 s.111
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• pp.121-130
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• 2007

in a software development, the design or architecture prior to implementing the software is essential for the success. This paper presents a case that we successfully designed a software architecture of radiation monitoring system (RMS) for HANARO research reactor currently operating in KAERI by applying the quality attribute-driven design method which is modified from the attribute-driven design (ADD) introduced by Bass[1]. The quality attribute-driven design method consists of following procedures: eliciting functionality and quality requirements of system as architecture drivers, selecting tactics to satisfy the drivers, determining architectures based on the tactics, and implementing and validating the architectures. The availability, maintainability, and interchangeability were elicited as duality requirements, hot-standby dual servers and weak-coupled modulization were selected as tactics, and client-server structure and object-oriented data processing structure were determined at architectures for the RMS. The architecture was implemented using Adroit which is a commercial off-the-shelf software tool and was validated based on performing the function-oriented testing. We found that the design method in this paper is an efficient method for a project which has constraints such as low budget and short period of development time. The architecture will be reused for the development of other RMS in KAERI. Further works are necessary to quantitatively evaluate the architecture.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.30-35
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• 1999

Purpose : To evaluate the significance of squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) as tumor markers in uterine cervix carcinoma. Materials and Methods : In 22 patients with histologically proven primary squamous cell carcinoma of uterine cervix, tumor volume was checked either by using MRI (in 20 patients) or ultrasound (in 2 patients). Pre-treatment serum SCC levels were checked in 22 patients and CEA levels in 21 patients. After curative radiotherapy, post-treatment SCC and CEA were checked regularly. Results : SCC was raised In 68.2$\%$ and CEA was raised in 19.0$\%$ before treatment. The coefficient of correlation between tumor volume and pre-reatment SCC was 0.59382 when one extremely deviated case was excluded. And there was no correlation between tumor volume and CEA. After the treatment, SCC was raised En 9.1$\%$ and CEA was raised in 4.8$\%$. In further follow up measurement, raise of SCC was associated with clinical relapse or persistence of disease. The specificity of raised SCC level in association with recurrent or persistent disease was 93.8$\%$ . The sensitivity in association with recurrent or persistent disease was 100$\%$. The positive predictive values was 85.7$\%$. The median lead time for recurrence was 1.2 months. Conclusions: Both SCC and CEA were good tumor markers for monitoring treatment effect in patients with raised pre-treatment levels. But the sensitivity of pretreatment CEA was low, while that of pretreatment SCC was high. And there was no additional gain by adding CEA measurements to SCC measurements.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.74-79
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• 2017

Purpose Proton therapy can deliver an optimal dose to tumor while reducing unnecessary dose to normal tissue as compared the conventional photon therapy. As proton beams are irradiated into tissue, various positron emitters are produced via nuclear fragmentation reactions. These positron emitters could be used for the dose verification by using PET. However, the short half-life of the radioisotopes makes it hard to obtain the enough amounts of events. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of off-line PET imaging scan time on the PET image quality. Materials and Methods The various diameters of spheres (D=37, 28, 22 mm) filled with distilled water were inserted in a 2001 IEC body phantom. Then proton beams (100 MU) were irradiated into the center of the each sphere using the wobbling technique with the gantry angle of $0^{\circ}$. The modulation widths of the spread out bragg peak were 16.4, 14.7 and 9.3 cm for the spheres of 37, 28 and 22 mm in diameters respectively. After 5 min of the proton irradiation, the PET images of the IEC body phantom were obtained for 50 min. The PET images with different time courses (0-10 min, 11-20 min, 21-30 min, 31-40 min and 41-50 min) were obtained by dividing the frame with a duration of 10 min. In order to evaluate the off-line PET image quality with the different time courses, the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the PET image calculated for each sphere. Results The CNRs of the sphere (D=37 mm) were 0.43, 0.42, 0.40, 0.31 and 0.21 for the time courses of 0-10 min, 11-20 min, 21-30 min, 31-40 min and 41-50 min respectively. The CNRs of the sphere (D=28 mm) were 0.36, 0.32, 0.27, 0.19 and 0.09 for the time courses of 0-10 min, 11-20 min, 21-30 min, 31-40 min and 41-50 min respectively. The CNR of 37 mm sphere was decreased rapidly after 30 min of the proton irradiation. In case of the spheres of 28 mm and 22 mm, the CNR was decreased drastically after 20 min of the irradiation. Conclusion The off-line PET imaging time is an important factor for the monitoring of the proton therapy. In case of the lesion diameter of 22 mm, the off-line PET image should be obtained within 25 min after the proton irradiation. When it comes to small size of tumor, the long PET imaging time will be beneficial for the proton therapy treatment monitoring.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.79-86
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• 2015

$^3He$ gas has been used for neutron monitors as the neutron converter owing to its advantages such as high sensitivity, good ${\gamma}$-discrimination capability, and long-term stability. However, $^3He$ is becoming more difficult to obtain in last few years due to a global shortage of $^3He$ gas. Accordingly, the cost of a neutron monitor using $^3He$ gas as a neutron converter is becoming more expensive. Demand on a neutron monitor using an alternative neutron conversion material is widely increased. $^{10}B$ has many advantages among various $^3He$ alternative materials, as a neutron converter. In order to develop a neutron converter using $^{10}B$ (actually $B_4C$), we calculated the optimal thickness of a neutron converter with a Monte Carlo simulation using MCNP6. In addition, a neutron converter was fabricated by the Ar sputtering method and the neutron signal detection efficiencies were measured with respect to various thicknesses of fabricated a neutron converter. Also, we developed a 2-dimensional multi-wire proportional chamber (MWPC) for neutron beam profile monitoring using the fabricated a neutron converter, and performed experiments for neutron response of the neutron monitor at the 30 MW research reactor HANARO at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. The 2-dimensional MWPC with boron ($B_4C$) neutron converter was proved to be useful for neutron beam monitoring, and can be applied to other types of neutron imaging.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.136-141
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• 2001

Purpose : To evaluate the significance of serum SCC for the monitoring of treatment response and the early detection of distant metastasis during radiotherapy (RT). Materials and Methods : In 13 patients with histologically proven primary squamous cell carcinoma of uterine cervix, serum SCC values were checked in pre-RT point, weekly during RT, and in post-RT point. Results : In 4 of 13 cases, metastasis appeared at the end of external RT, so that intracavitary radiation couldn't be peformed.01 these 4 cases,3 with elevated pre-RT SCC level, who resulted in lung metastasis on chest PA at the end of external RT showed decreased post-RT SCC value despite of metastasis. Of all 10 cases with elevated pre-RT SCC value (including 3 with metastasis at the end of external RT), SCC value was higher than pre-RT value in 7 at 9 Gy and the difference was statistically significant. At 18 Gy, SCC was higher in 4 and lower in 6 than pre-RT value. After 18 Gy, SCC value decreased continuously to the end of RT in all 10 cases. Conclusion : During RT, SCC value increased initially at 9 Gy. To 18 Gy, SCC value decreased to the nearly same with pre-RT value. After 18 Gy, to the end of RT, SCC value decreased continuously and normalized in completely responded cases. In cases with appearance of lung metastasis, SCC value also decreased with the disappearance of main mass of uterine cervix despite metastasis.

• Atmosphere
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.429-438
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• 2011

The climatology of surface UV radiation for Seoul, presented in Cho et al. (1998; 2001), has been updated using measurement of surface erythemal ultraviolet (EUV) and total ultraviolet (TUV) irradiance (wavelength 286.5~363.0 nm) by a Brewer Spectrophotometer (MK-IV) for the period 2004~2010. The analysis was also carried out together with the broadband total (global) solar irradiance (TR ; 305~2800 nm) and cloud amount to compare with the UV variations, measured by Seoul meteorological station of Korean Meteorological Agency located near the present study site. Under all-sky conditions, the day-to-day variability of EUV exhibits annual mean of 98% in increase and 31% in decrease. It has been also shown that the EUV variability is 17 times as high as the total ozone in positive change, whereas this is 6 times higher in negative change. Thus, the day to day variability is dominantly caused rather by the daily synoptic situations than by the ozone variability. Annual mean value of daily EUV and TUV shows $1.62kJm^{-2}$ and $0.63MJm^{-2}$ respectively, whereas mean value of TR is $12.4MJm^{-2}$ ($143.1Wm^{-2}$). The yearly maximum in noon-time UV Index (UVI) varies between 9 and 11 depending on time of year. The highest UVI shows 11 on 20 July, 2008 during the period 2004~2010, but for the period 1994~2000, the index of 12 was recorded on 13 July, 1994 (Cho et al., 2001). A 40% of daily maximum UVI belongs to "low (UVI < 2)", whereas the UVI less than 5% of the maximum show "very high (8 < UVI < 10)". On average, the maximum UVI exceeded 8 on 9 days per year. The values of Tropospheric Emission Monitoring Internet Service (TEMIS) EUV and UVI under cloud-free conditions are 1.8 times and 1.5 times, respectively, higher than the all-sky measurements by the Brewer. The trend analysis in fractional deviation of monthly UV from the reference value shows a decrease of -0.83% and -0.90% $decade^{-1}$ in the EUV and TUV, respectively, whereas the TR trend is near zero (+0.11% $decade^{-1}$). The trend is statistically significant except for TR trend (p = 0.279). It is possible that the recent UV decrease is mainly associated with increase in total ozone, but the trend in TR can be attributed to the other parameters such as clouds except the ozone. Certainly, the cloud effects suggest that the reason for the differences between UV and TR trends can be explained. In order to estimate cloud effects, the EUV, TUV and TR irradiances have been also evaluated for clear skies (cloud cover < 25%) and cloudy skies (cloud cover ${\geq}$ 75%). Annual mean values show that EUV, TUV and TR are $2.15kJm^{-2}$, $0.83MJm^{-2}$, and $17.9MJm^{-2}$ for clear skies, and $1.24kJm^{-2}$, $0.46MJm^{-2}$, and $7.2MJm^{-2}$ for cloudy skies, respectively. As results, the transmission of radiation through clouds under cloudy-sky conditions is observed to be 58%, 55% and 40% for EUV, TUV and TR, respectively. Consequently, it is clear that the cloud effects on EUV and TUV are 18% and 15%, respectively lower than the effects on TR under cloudy-sky conditions. Clouds under all-sky conditions (average of cloud cover is 5 tenths) reduced the EUV and TUV to about 25% of the clear-sky (cloud cover < 25%) values, whereas for TR, this was 31%. As a result, it is noted that the UV radiation is attenuated less than TR by clouds under all weather conditions.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.283-290
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• 2003

Purpose: To evaluate the long term significance of the squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) antigen (Ag) as a tumor marker in uterine cervix carcinoma. Materials and Methods: The SCC antigen levels of pre-radiotherapy and serial post-radiotherapy serum were analyzed in 48 patients who received radiotherapy with histologically proven primary SCC of the uterine cervix. Results: Pre-radiotherapy SCC Ag level was high ($\geq$2 ng/ml) at 79.2$\%$. After the treatment, the SCC Ag level was significantly decreased. The SCC Ag level measured at about 3 months after radiotherapy was high at 23.0$\%$. In further follow up measurements, a rise of the SCC Ag to a high level was well associated with clinical relapse. The specificity of the elevated SCC Ag level in association with recurrent or persistent disease was 100$\%$, and the sensitivity was 85.7$\%$. In 3 of 4 lung metastasis cases, lung lesions were detected in chest PA before elevation of the SCC Ag level. The median lead time of the high SCC Ag level to clinical recurrence was 4 months. Conclusion: SCC Ag was a good tumor marker for monitoring treatment effect in patients with increased pre-treatment levels except in case of early lung metastasis. Elevation of the SCC Ag level after radiotherapy accurately predicted the treatment failure with lead time of 4 months. But, in early lung metastasis cases, the SCC level may be normal temporarily. Thus, chest PA should be checked to evaluate the presence of lung metastasis.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2008

The flow rate measurements in a multi-phase flow pipeline were evaluated quantitatively by means of a clamp-on sealed radioisotope based on a cross correlation signal processing technique. The flow rates were calculated by a determination of the transit time between two sealed gamma sources by using a cross correlation function following FFT filtering, then corrected with vapor fraction in the pipeline which was measured by the ${\gamma}$-ray attenuation method. The pipeline model was manufactured by acrylic resin(ID. 8 cm, L=3.5 m, t=10 mm), and the multi-phase flow patterns were realized by an injection of compressed $N_2$ gas. Two sealed gamma sources of $^{137}Cs$ (E=0.662 MeV, ${\Gamma}$ $factor=0.326\;R{\cdot}h^{-1}{\cdot}m^2{\cdot}Ci^{-1}$) of 20 mCi and 17 mCi, and radiation detectors of $2"{\times}2"$ NaI(Tl) scintillation counter (Eberline, SP-3) were used for this study. Under the given conditions(the distance between two sources: 4D(D; inner diameter), N/S ratio: $0.12{\sim}0.15$, sampling time ${\Delta}t$: 4msec), the measured flow rates showed the maximum. relative error of 1.7 % when compared to the real ones through the vapor content corrections($6.1\;%{\sim}9.2\;%$). From a subsequent experiment, it was proven that the closer the distance between the two sealed sources is, the more precise the measured flow rates are. Provided additional studies related to the selection of radioisotopes their activity, and an optimization of the experimental geometry are carried out, it is anticipated that a radioisotope application for flow rate measurements can be used as an important tool for monitoring multi-phase facilities belonging to petrochemical and refinery industries and contributes economically in the light of maintenance and control of them.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.535-540
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• 2017

The changes in the electrical characteristics of CMOS ICs due to coupling with a narrow-band electromagnetic wave were analyzed in this study. A magnetron (3 kW, 2.45 GHz) was used as the narrow-band electromagnetic source. The DUT was a CMOS logic IC and the gate output was in the ON state. The malfunction of the ICs was confirmed by monitoring the variation of the gate output voltage. It was observed that malfunction (self-reset) and destruction of the ICs occurred as the electric field increased. To confirm the variation of electrical characteristics of the ICs due to the narrow-band electromagnetic wave, the pin-to-pin resistances (Vcc-GND, Vcc-Input1, Input1-GND) and input capacitance of the ICs were measured. The pin-to-pin resistances and input capacitance of the ICs before exposure to the narrow-band electromagnetic waves were $8.57M{\Omega}$ (Vcc-GND), $14.14M{\Omega}$ (Vcc-Input1), $18.24M{\Omega}$ (Input1-GND), and 5 pF (input capacitance). The ICs exposed to narrow-band electromagnetic waves showed mostly similar values, but some error values were observed, such as $2.5{\Omega}$, $50M{\Omega}$, or 71 pF. This is attributed to the breakdown of the pn junction when latch-up in CMOS occurred. In order to confirm surface damage of the ICs, the epoxy molding compound was removed and then studied with an optical microscope. In general, there was severe deterioration in the PCB trace. It is considered that the current density of the trace increased due to the electromagnetic wave, resulting in the deterioration of the trace. The results of this study can be applied as basic data for the analysis of the effect of narrow-band high-power electromagnetic waves on ICs.