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Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company, Ltd., has operated the Wolsong Tritium Removal Facility (WTRF) since 2007 to reduce tritium concentrations in the moderator and coolant of the Wolsong nuclear p...

PurposeTo reduce patient and procedure identification errors by human interactions in radiotherapy delivery and surgery, a Biometric Automated Patient and Procedure Identification System (BAPPIS) was developed. BAPPIS is a patient identification and treatment procedure verification system using fingerprints.MethodsThe system was developed using C++, the Microsoft Foundation Class Library, the Oracle database system, and a fingerprint scanner. To register a patient, the BAPPIS system requires three steps: capturing a photograph using a web camera for photo identification, taking at least two fingerprints, and recording other specific patient information including name, date of birth, allergies, etc. To identify a patient, the BAPPIS reads a fingerprint, identifies the patient, verifies with a second fingerprint to confirm when multiple patients have same fingerprint features, and connects to the patient’s record in electronic medical record (EMR) systems. To validate the system, 143 and 21 patients ranging from 36 to 98 years of ages were recruited from radiotherapy and breast surgery, respectively. The registration process for surgery patients includes an additional module, which has a 3D patient model. A surgeon could mark ‘O’ on the model and save a snap shot of patient in the preparation room. In the surgery room, a webcam displayed the patient’s real-time image next to the 3D model. This may prevent a possible surgical mistake.Results1,271 (96.9%) of 1,311 fingerprints were verified by BAPPIS using patients’ 2nd fingerprints from 143 patients as the system designed. A false positive recognition was not reported. The 96.9% completion ratio is because the operator did not verify with another fingerprint after identifying the first fingerprint. The reason may be due to lack of training at the beginning of the study.ConclusionWe successfully demonstrated the use of BAPPIS to correctly identify and recall patient’s record in EMR. BAPPIS may significantly reduce errors by limiting the number of non-automated steps.

The effects of stocking density on the performance, egg quality, leukocyte concentration, blood biochemistry, corticosterone levels, bone mineral density, and noxious gas emission of laying hens were investigated. Eight hundred 34-week-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens (Gallus gallus domesticus) were randomly assigned to one of 4 treatments, each of which was replicated 4 times. Four stocking densities, including 5, 6, 7, and 10 birds/m2, were compared. A commercial-type basal diet was formulated to meet or exceed nutrient recommendations for laying hens from the National Research Council. The diet was fed to the hens ad libitum for 8 wk. Results indicated that hen-day egg production, egg mass, and feed intake were less for (P < 0.01) 10 birds/m2 stock density than other stock densities. Production rate of floor and broken eggs and eggshell strength were greater (P < 0.01) for 10 birds/m2 stock density than other stock densities. There were no significant differences in the level of leukocytes among densities. However, heterophils and the H/L ratio were greater (P < 0.01) for 10 birds/m2 than in stock density of 6 or 7 birds/m2. Serum corticosterone was greater (P < 0.01) 10 birds/m2 than stock density than other stock densities. Litter moisture and gas emission (CO2 and NH3) were greater (P < 0.01) for 10 birds/m2 than stock density than 6 and 7 birds/m2 stock density. Bone mineral content was not influenced by increasing stock density. However, bone mineral density was less (P < 0.05) for 10 m2 stock density than other stock densities. These results indicate that increasing the density beyond 5 birds/m2 elicits some negative effects on laying performance of Hy-Line brown laying hens.

A study of printed cross-dipole antenna with slow-wave parasitic elements used to achieve high efficiency and directivity is presented. The proposed antenna is designed to operate at WLAN channels (5.15–5.85 GHz), and can produce dual-orthogonal polarisation through a crossed structure. The printed slow-wave elements play a role that concentrates on travelling wave and delays propagation of electromagnetic wave. Measurement results of this antenna show that it has high gain, low side-lobe level and wide bandwidth. This proposed design has advantages in terms of manufacturing the antenna easily and optimising the radiation characteristics.

Composite plans created from different image sets are generated through Deformable Image Registration (DIR) and present a challenge in accurately presenting uncertainties, which vary with anatomy. Our effort focuses on the application of Fuzzy Set theory to provide an accurate dose representation of such a composite treatment plan. The accuracy of the DIR is generally verified through geometrical visual checks, including the confirmation of the corresponding anatomies with edge features, such as bone or organ boundaries. However, the remaining volume of the image (mostly soft tissues) has few significant image features and therefore greater uncertainty. We fuzzified the deformation vector and derived a fuzzy composite dose. The fuzzification was implemented using Gaussian functions based on the varying uncertainties in the DIR. After establishing the theoretical basis for this new approach, we present two-and three-dimensional examples as proof-of-concept. Using Fuzzy Set theory, composite dose plans displaying locality-based uncertainties were successfully created, providing information previously unavailable to clinicians. Previous to Fuzzy Set dose presentations, clinicians had no measure of confidence in the accuracy of a composite dose plan. Using fuzzified composite dose presentations, clinicians can determine a safe additional dose to previously treated anatomy. This will possibly increase the treatment success rate and reduce the rate of complications.

The effect of aerosol loading on solar radiation and the subsequent effect on photosynthesis is a relevant question for estimating climate feedback mechanisms. This effect is quantified in the present study using ground-based measurements from five remote sites in boreal and hemiboreal (coniferous and mixed) forests of Eurasia. The diffuse fraction of global radiation associated with the direct effect of aerosols, i.e. excluding the effect of clouds, increases with an increase in the aerosol loading. The increase in the diffuse fraction of global radiation from approximately 0.11 on days characterized by low aerosol loading to 0.2–0.27 on days with relatively high aerosol loading leads to an increase in gross primary production (GPP) between 6 % and 14 % at all sites. The largest increase in GPP (relative to days with low aerosol loading) is observed for two types of ecosystems: a coniferous forest at high latitudes and a mixed forest at the middle latitudes. For the former ecosystem the change in GPP due to the relatively large increase in the diffuse radiation is compensated for by the moderate increase in the light use efficiency. For the latter ecosystem, the increase in the diffuse radiation is smaller for the same aerosol loading, but the smaller change in GPP due to this relationship between radiation and aerosol loading is compensated for by the higher increase in the light use efficiency. The dependence of GPP on the diffuse fraction of solar radiation has a weakly pronounced maximum related to clouds.

Purpose: To develop a measuring method between two contours, which can be used for validating a PTV during IGRT,organ motion and/or deformation studies. Methods: Quantifying the geometric difference between two organ/target surfaces is essential for Radiation therapy planning and delivery. Point‐to‐surface distance measures have been utilized to evaluate and visualize the local surface differences. However, previously well‐known distance measures have critical shortfalls. Normal distance (ND) measure suffers when the reference surface is strongly curved. Minimum distance (MD) measure (a.k.a. Hausdorff distance) suffers when the test surface is strongly curved. Our new distance measure named Error‐Proof Distance (EPD) can deal with both difficult cases.EPD measure calculates the maximum value between the Forward Minimum Distance (FMinD) and the Backward Maximum Distance (BMaxD) at each point. The FMinD denotes the minimum distance to the test surface from a point on the reference surface. The BMaxD means the maximum value among the minimum distances from all points of the test surface to the point on the reference surface. We tested EPD using three 2‐D contour examples including a 20mm shifted contour, and two 3‐D clinical cases. Results: In case of 2‐D contour examples, ND and MD measure failed in strongly curved areas, but EPD measure outperformed the others. The maximum distance measured between a reference and a 20mm shifted test contour should be equal to 20mm, but ND erroneously measured 24mm. Furthermore, ND reported erroneous distances where the reference surface is strongly curved in 3‐D clinical cases. Conclusions: We succeeded to prove that a new EPD is arobust and accurate distance measure to compare two 2D or 3D surfaces. EPD measure can be used to evaluate and visualize the surface difference of organ contours. It is also helpful for proving PTV margin during IGRT, and organ motion and/or deformation studies. This project is partially supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) grant 1R18HS017424‐01A2.

This article proposes quantitative analysis tools and digital phantoms to quantify intrinsic errors of deformable image registration (DIR) systems and establish quality assurance (QA) procedures for clinical use of DIR systems utilizing local and global error analysis methods with clinically realistic digital image phantoms. Landmark-based image registration verifications are suitable only for images with significant feature points. To address this shortfall, we adapted a deformation vector field (DVF) comparison approach with new analysis techniques to quantify the results. Digital image phantoms are derived from data sets of actual patient images (a reference image set, R, a test image set, T). Image sets from the same patient taken at different times are registered with deformable methods producing a reference DVFref. Applying DVFref to the original reference image deforms T into a new image R'. The data set, R', T, and DVFref, is from a realistic truth set and therefore can be used to analyze any DIR system and expose intrinsic errors by comparing DVFref and DVFtest. For quantitative error analysis, calculating and delineating differences between DVFs, 2 methods were used, (1) a local error analysis tool that displays deformation error magnitudes with color mapping on each image slice and (2) a global error analysis tool that calculates a deformation error histogram, which describes a cumulative probability function of errors for each anatomical structure. Three digital image phantoms were generated from three patients with a head and neck, a lung and a liver cancer. The DIR QA was evaluated using the case with head and neck.

Summary This study aimed to determine the effect of different dietary levels of a Chlorella by-product (CBP) on the growth performance, immune response, intestinal microflora and intestinal mucosal morphology of broilers. In total, 480 one-day-old broiler chickens were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments with four replicated pens consisting of 30 chicks. The basal diet was formulated to be adequate in energy and nutrients. Three additional diets were prepared by supplementing 25, 50 or 75 g/kg of CBP to the basal diet. The diets were fed to the broilers ad libitum for 35 days. Result indicated that increasing inclusion level of CBP improved BW gain (linear, p

RAPD markers were used to analyze the genetic diversity among six populations of Taxus cuspidata collected from natural forests along the Baekdu trail in South Korea. Six of 10-mer primers were selected based on primary screening from group OPA01–OPA20 as single primers for PCR amplification. The primers OPA11 and OPA16 gave the fewest and the highest number of bands, respectively. A total of 93 bands were scored and 44 (47.31%) were polymorphic with polymorphism level ranging from 42.86% to 52.94% depending on the individual's origin and a mean of 48.11%. Shannon's information indices ranged from 0.368 (Deog yu Mt) to 1.342 (Jiri Mt), while the genetic diversity ranged from −0.141 (Deog yu Mt) to 0.328 (Jiri Mt and So baek Mt). Nei's genetic distance (D) varied from 0.182 (Ga chil Mt/Deog yu Mt) to 1.099 (Ga chil Mt/Tae baek Mt and So baek Mt/Tae baek Mt), which suggested a high level of genetic differentiation among pairs of populations. A dendogram revealed that the six populations were separated into ...

Purpose: To accurately quantify the local difference between two contour surfaces in two- or three-dimensional space, a new, robust point-to-surface distance measure is developed. Methods: To evaluate and visualize the local surface differences, point-to-surface distance measures have been utilized. However, previously well-known point-to-surface distance measures have critical shortfalls. Previous distance measures termed “normal distance (ND),” “radial distance,” or “minimum distance (MD)” can report erroneous results at certain points where the surfaces under comparison meet certain conditions. These skewed results are due to the monodirectional characteristics of these methods. ComGrad distance was also proposed to overcome asymmetric characteristics of previous point-to-surface distance measures, but their critical incapability of dealing with a fold or concave contours. In this regard, a new distance measure termed the bidirectional local distance (BLD) is proposed which minimizes errors of the previous methods by taking into account the bidirectional characteristics with the forward and backward directions. BLD measure works through three steps which calculate the maximum value between the forward minimum distance (FMinD) and the backward maximum distance (BMaxD) at each point. The first step calculates the FMinD as the minimum distance to the test surface from a point,p ref on the reference surface. The second step involves calculating the minimum distances at every point on the test surface to the reference surface. During the last step, the BMaxD is calculated as the maximum distance among the minimum distances found at p ref on the reference surface. Tests are performed on two- and three-dimensional artificial contour sets in comparison to MD and ND measure techniques. Three-dimensional tests performed on actual liver and head-and-neck cancer patients. Results: The proposed BLD measure provides local distances between segmentations, even in situations where ND, MD, or ComGrad measures fail. In particular, the standard deviation measure is not distorted at certain geometries where ND, MD, and ComGrad measures report skewed results. Conclusions: The proposed measure provides more reliable statistics on contour comparisons. From the statistics, specific local and global distances can be extracted. Bidirectional local distance is a reliable distance measure in comparing two- or three-dimensional organ segmentations.

To evaluate the ultrasonographic features of adenoma malignum, a minimal deviation adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix.Eighteen consecutive patients with pathologically confirmed adenoma malignum were enrolled in this study at two institutions. Preoperative ultrasound examination was performed and the results were available in 11 patients. We analyzed retrospectively the gray-scale ultrasound findings for the following morphologic characteristics: cervical enlargement, as well as size, location and ultrasonographic characteristics of lesions. In five patients we also evaluated Doppler features with regard to intralesional vascularity.The cervix was enlarged in 73% (8/11) of cases. The mean greatest tumor diameter was 4.2 (range, 2.5-6.8) cm. In five (45%) cases, the cervix was completely infiltrated by the tumor. At gray-scale ultrasound examination, three (27%) tumors were multilocular lesions, four (36%) were multilocular lesions with solid components and four (36%) were solid lesions. In the multilocular lesions with or without a solid component, locules tended to be 1 cm or less in average diameter (86%, 6/7 cases) and there tended to be 11-20 in number (57%, 4/7 cases). In most (57%, 4/7) cases the locular fluid was homogeneously hypoechoic. Most (75%, 3/4) solid lesions manifested heterogeneous echogenicity. The five (100%) tumors examined with Doppler manifested moderate or abundant color content on color or power Doppler.Adenoma malignum can appear sonographically as solid, multilocular and multilocular solid cervical lesions. Awareness of its clinical and ultrasonographic features might improve diagnosis before surgery.

Purpose: To develop a new metric for image registration that incorporates the (sub)pixelwise differential importance along spatial location and to demonstrate its application for image guided radiation therapy(IGRT). Methods: It is well known that rigid-body image registration with mutual information is dependent on the size and location of the image subset on which the alignment analysis is based [the designated region of interest (ROI)]. Therefore, careful review and manual adjustments of the resulting registration are frequently necessary. Although there were some investigations of weighted mutual information (WMI), these efforts could not apply the differential importance to a particular spatial location since WMI only applies the weight to the joint histogram space. The authors developed the spatially weighted mutual information (SWMI) metric by incorporating an adaptable weight function with spatial localization into mutual information. SWMI enables the user to apply the selected transform to medically “important” areas such as tumors and critical structures, so SWMI is neither dominated by, nor neglects the neighboring structures. Since SWMI can be utilized with any weight function form, the authors presented two examples of weight functions for IGRT application: A Gaussian-shaped weight function (GW) applied to a user-defined location and a structures-of-interest (SOI) based weight function. An image registration example using a synthesized 2D image is presented to illustrate the efficacy of SWMI. The convergence and feasibility of the registration method as applied to clinical imaging is illustrated by fusing a prostate treatment planning CT with a clinical cone beam CT(CBCT)image set acquired for patient alignment. Forty-one trials are run to test the speed of convergence. The authors also applied SWMI registration using two types of weight functions to two head and neck cases and a prostate case with clinically acquired CBCT/MVCT image sets. The SWMI registration with a Gaussian weight function (SWMI-GW) was tested between two different imaging modalities: CT and MRIimage sets. Results: SWMI-GW converges 10% faster than registration using mutual information with an ROI. SWMI-GW as well as SWMI with SOI-based weight function (SWMI-SOI) shows better compensation of the target organ’s deformation and neighboring critical organs’ deformation. SWMI-GW was also used to successfully fuse MRI and CTimages. Conclusions: Rigid-body image registration using our SWMI-GW and SWMI-SOI as cost functions can achieve better registration results in (a) designated image region(s) as well as faster convergence. With the theoretical foundation established, we believe SWMI could be extended to larger clinical testing.

The purpose of this study was to compare the short- and long-term changes in condylar position related to the glenoid fossa, and skeletal and occlusal stability after orthognathic surgery. All of the study patients were assessed by cone-beam computed tomography images for condylar rotational changes and anteroposterior position in the pre-surgery, post-surgery and post-retention period. The condylar positions were evaluated on three planes: axial, coronal and sagittal. In the skeletal and occlusal measurements, there was no significant difference between the post-surgery group and the post-retention group. After sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO), the condyle on the axial plane rotated inward (P < 0.05) and maintained during the post-retention period. In the anteroposterior condylar position related to the glenoid fossa, the condyles had changed from the anterior position in the pre-surgery group to a concentric position in the post-surgery group and then returned to the anterior position in the post-retention groups. These results suggested that the changed anteroposterior condylar position in the glenoid fossa after SSRO with rigid fixation had moved from a concentric to anterior position for post-retention period.

The influence of the cloned-cattle meat diets upon reproduction in mammals was rarely studied. This study was performed to analyze the effects of the diets containing cloned-cattle (Korean native beef, Hanwoo) meat on the reproductive physiology in rats. The male and female rats were fed with the diets containing 5% or 10% of normal- (N-5 or N-10) or cloned- (C-5 or C-10) cattle meat during test periods. The rats fed with commercial pellets were used as control. Lower food consumption in normaland cloned-cattle meat diet groups is detected in both male and female rats compared with that of control ( P , 0.05, 0.01 and 0.001). No signs of cloned-cattle meat diets on male reproductive parameters are found in all groups, except for lower sperm deformity in C-5 group ( P , 0.05) and higher testosterone concentration in C-10 group ( P , 0.05), respectively. There are no significant test substance-related differences of Caesarean section and delivery in dams and external examination and physiological development test in neonate compared with control and normal meat groups. Based on these results, it can be postulated that there are no obvious negative effects on the reproductive physiology in rats fed with cloned-cattle meat diets compared to their comparators.

Poultry Science Division, National Institute of Animal Science, R.D.A., KoreaABSTRACT This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of Cherry Valley and Grimaud strain. A total of two hundred eighty eight, one day old duck breeders (Cherry Valley and Grimaud strain) were randomly divided into two groups with 4 replicates of 36 birds each and fed a commercially available diet for 24 weeks. Overall body weight gain was significantly higher in Cherry Valley (3,064 g) than in Grimaud strain (2,851 g). Feed intake was significantly increased in Grimaud strain compared with Cherry Valley strain (p

Extension Planning Division, R.D.A., KoreaABSTRACT The experiment were protein and metabolizable energy level in performance and carcass rate in cross bred chicks. One day old, 720 male and female cross bred chick were used for the experiments, and 20 chicks were placed at each pen. The energy level of feed was maintained about 2,950, 3,000, 3,050 kcal/kg, and protein content was adjusted about 19, 20, 21% from 0 to 5 weeks and energy level was maintained about 3,100, 3,150, 3,200 kcal/kg, and protein content was adjusted about 17, 18, 19% from the 6 to 10 weeks old of the experiment. At the whole time, ME 3,100 (2,950), 3,150 (3,000) and 3,200 (3,050) kcal/kg treatment groups was not significant difference in weight gain, feed intake, but 3,150 (3,000), 3,200 (3,050) kcal/kg treated groups revealed to show improved feed conversion rate than the group treated with ME 3,100 (2,950) kcal (P

A previous study showed that the handle vibration of a walking type cultivator can be reduced by adding a mass to the handle. This study was conducted to determine the optimum magnitude and location of the mass to be added for the same cultivator. The possible locations of added mass were determined by investigating nodal points of the handle vibration by an ODS (operational deflection shapes) test at an engine frequency of 52 Hz. The optimum location was then determined as one that moved the nodal points to the hand grip of the handle bar. To determine the optimum magnitude of the mass, the possible locations were added by a mass from 0.2 to 2.0 kg in an increment of 0.2 kg. The optimum magnitude was then determined as a mass which minimized the vibration level at the hand grip. For the case of this study, the z-axis vibration at the hand grip was reduced from resulting in a reduction of 67% and the total vibration from resulting in a 20% reduction by adding an optimum mass to the optimum location.

Magnetic poly(ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate) (PECA) nanoparticles containing anti-cancer drugs (Cisplatin and Gemcitabine) were prepared by inter-facial polymerization. The spherical nanoparticles (d = 250 +/- 15 nm) with smooth surfaces and moderately uniform size distributions were obtained. The amount of magnetite encapsulated inside the polymer matrix was increased up to 14.26% (w/w) by controlling the initial weight ratio of monomer/magnetite. It was found that the amount of Cisplatin encapsulated in the magnetic nanoparticle is much higher than that of Gemcitabine because Cisplatin (hydrophobic) is highly soluble in the oil phase and encapsulated easier inside nanoparticles compared to Gemcitabine (hydrophilic). The presence of magnetite and its super-paramagnetic characteristic were confirmed by FTIR spectra and VSM. In-vitro experiments of drug release and magnetic mobility under external magnetic field demonstrated that magnetic poly(ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate) (PECA) nanoparticles can be a highly versatile magnetic drug carrier with sustained release behaviour and sufficient magnetic susceptibility.

Precision tillage is designed to till lands variably according to their firmness. Therefore, it is necessary to measure soil firmness in fields and present it in a form with which the variable tillage on be performed. Such forms may be classified into two categories: sensor-based and map-based forms. The map-based approach appears to be inevitable until the technology develops high enough to secure the sensor-based approaches. The first step for map-based precision tillage may be to develop a tillage recommendation map. In this study, a tractor-mountable automatic soil firmness measurement system was developed to construct a cone index map. The system is comprised of three ASAE Standard cone penetrometers and a hydraulic unit for controlling operation of the penetrometers. The system is designed to conduct stop-and-go measurements in fields. The measurements from the three penetrometers are transferred to a microcomputer and the average cone index was calculated. This average cone index was taken as soil firmness of the location where the measurement was made. The cone indices thus determined were used to construct a cone index map using the ArcView software. The system also displays the soil penetration resistance, cone index and soil depth as the cone penetrates into the soil. The field performance of the system was evaluated and the cone index maps at different depths were also presented.

Critical flow simulation for non-homogeneous, non-equilibrium two-phase flows is improved by applying a new sound speed model which is derived from the characteristic analysis of hyperbolic two-fluid model. The hyperbolicity of two-fluid model was based on the concept of surface tension for the interfacial pressure jump terms in the momentum equations. Real eigenvalues obtained as the closed-form solution of characteristic polynomial represent the sound speeds in the bubbly flow regime that agree well with the existing experimental data. The analytic sound speed is consistent with that obtained by the earlier study of Nguyen et al. though there is a difference between them especially in the limiting condition. The present sound speed shows more reasonable result in that condition than Nguyen et al.’s does. The present critical flow criterion derived by the present sound speed is employed in the MARS code and is assessed by treating several nozzle flow tests. The assessment results, without any adjustment made by some discharge coefficients, demonstrate more accurate predictions of critical flow rate than those of the earlier critical flow calculations in the bubbly flow regime.

For age determination, the single aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) method was applied to quartz from archaeological materials, using luminescence stimulated by blue light. The quartz samples were extracted from sediment from the hydroponic farm related to rice cultivation in an area of archaeological interest in Buyeo, south of Seoul. The optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates obtained offered good agreement with the ages derived by typological assessment and 14C ages. These ages should contribute significantly to interpretation of the history of rice cultivation in Korea.

In this paper a surface area calculation for non-axisymmetric deep drawing products of elliptical shape was constructed for the design of blank shapes of deep drawing products by using an AutoLISP function in AutoCAD software. A computer-aided process planning (CAPP) system for rotationally symmetric deep drawing products has been developed. In this study, a CAPP system for non-axisymmetric deep drawing products of elliptical shape was constructed using process sequence design. The system developed consists of four modules. The first is the recognition of shape module for recognising non-axisymmetric products. The second is a 3D modelling module for calculating the surface area for non-axisymmetric products. The third is a blank design module for creating an oval-shaped blank with an identical surface area. The fourth is a process planning module based on production rules that play the most important role in an expert system for manufacturing. The production rules are generated and upgraded by interviewing field engineers. The drawing coefficient, the punch and die radii for elliptical shape products are considered as the main design parameters. The suitability of this system was verified by applying it to a real deep drawing product. This surface area calculation and CAPP system should be very useful for reducing the lead-time for manufacturing and for improving the accuracy of products.

Yolk-shell-structured MoSe₂ microspheres were prepared via a simple selenization process of MoO₃ microspheres. The yolk-shell-structured MoSe₂ and MoO₃ microspheres delivered initial discharge capacities of 527 and 465 mA h g(-1) in the voltage range of 0.001-3 V vs. Na/Na(+) at a current density of 0.2 A g(-1), respectively, and their discharge capacities after 50 cycles were 433 and 141 mA h g(-1), respectively. The yolk-shell-structured MoSe₂ microspheres also exhibited outstanding high rate capabilities. The hierarchical yolk-shell structure comprised of wrinkled nanosheets facilitated fast Na-ion and electron kinetics, and buffered the large volume changes encountered during cycling.

Laser Doppler perfusion imaging (LDI), recently developed, can generate a color-coded image of tissue perfusion, making it possible to assess the spatial distribution of skin perfusion without touching the surface. Using this apparatus, we investigated ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced perfusion profile of the skin and compared the results with those obtained from laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF). Fifteen adult male Korean volunteers were irradiated with several doses of UVB ranging from 25 mJ/cm 2 to 186 mJ/cm 2 . Twenty-four hours later, the erythema reaction was evaluated with LDF and LDI systems. There was a significant correlation between the logarithmic dose of UVB and erythema values. The curves consisted of two parts, an initial, flat phase and then a linear, steep one. Also, there was a good correlation between LDF and LDI. The LDI is as sensitive as conventional LDF, but has the many advantages of measuring blood flow over large areas without contact with the skin surface. This instrument will be useful in the measurement of skin blood flow in many areas of dermatological application.

AIM: To compare the therapeutic efficacy of calcipotriol-PUVA therapy and PUVA in Korean patients with psoriasis. METHODS: A total of 38 patients were treated with conventional PUVA and 37 with calcipotriol PUVA. A comparison was made between the total number of PUVA treatments and the total UVA dose required to reach clearance in the two groups. Thereafter, categorization into clearing, improvement and failure was undertaken, with measurement of the psoriasis area and severity index made at each visit. RESULTS: Cumulative UVA dose as well as the number and duration of treatments in the calcipotriol-PUVA group were significantly lower than in the PUVA-treated group. Some 86% of patients treated with calcipotriol-PUVA showed clearing compared with 66% of those treated by PUVA. In the calcipotriol-PUVA group, the patients with only moderate extent required fewer irradiation treatments, shorter durations of treatment, and a lower final and cumulative UVA dose to reach clearance than the severely affected gro...

EPR spectroscopy has been employed for the direct detection of a variety of free radicals formed from reaction of Fe(II)–oxalate and H2O2 in the presence of carbohydrates and related compounds: this system has been designed to model the proposed mode of action of brown rot fungi. The observed hyperfine splittings allow characterization of individual radicals formed at different positions in the carbohydrate rings. Relative signal intensities in steady-state spectra indicate the rapid generation of the hydroxyl radical, followed by relatively unselective attack of ˙OH on the substrates’ C–H bonds: the rapidity of oxidation by Fe(III) of oxygen-conjugated carbon-centred radicals (typically k 108 dm3 mol–1 s–1) is significantly reduced if there is an eclipsing β-oxygen substituent. The relevance of these findings to cellulose-cleaving reactions of certain fungi is discussed.

It was demonstrated that UVB increases synthesis and expression of IL-1 alpha and GM-CSF by keratinocytes. Upregulation of GM-CSF by UVB is reported to be mediated by IL-1 alpha. However, regulation of IL-1 alpha and GM-CSF by UVA is not well-known. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of UVA on IL-1 alpha and GM-CSF production. Here we used a competitive RT-PCR for measuring cytokine gene expression in an epidermal cell line after UVA irradiation. IL-1 alpha and GM-CSF mRNA did not show any change at 1 h and 6 h following exposure to UVA. After UVA irradiation, however, IL-1 alpha mRNA decreased and GM-CSF mRNA increased at 24 h and the level of GM-CSF in culture supernatant increased at 24 h and 48 h. Addition of antihuman IL-1 alpha neutralizing antibody to UVA irradiated cells did not prevent the increase of GM-CSF mRNA expression. These results suggest that UVA radiation may induce GM-CSF production through an IL-1 alpha independent pathway.

2-Diazocycloheptanone traps nitric oxide to produce a mixture of radicals consisting mainly of the (Z)-iminoxyl radical together with minor amounts of the (E)-iminoxyl radical, a dialkyl aminoxyl and an acyl aminoxyl. Best EPR spectra have been obtained from solutions in tert-butylbenzene which give signals lasting for several hours in the dark. Nitric oxide in aqueous solution could be detected by means of the EPR spectrum obtained on extraction with a tert-butylbenzene solution of the spin trap. Nitric oxide release by isoamyl nitrite has been disclosed with the same spin trap although, under photolytic conditions, the spectrum is dominated by the dialkyl aminoxyl. The main stable product from the reaction of nitric oxide with 2-diazocycloheptanone has been found to be cyclohexanecarboxylic acid. Satisfactory EPR spectra were not obtained from nitric oxide using 5-diazouracil as spin trap in aqueous solution.

Pure nitric oxide does not add to alkenes containing acceptor or donor substituents, or to conjugated dienes, to afford β-nitrosoalkyl radicals. EPR spectra show that reactions are initiated by NO2 addition to carbon–carbon double bonds to produce β-nitroalkyl radicals which combine with nitric oxide to yield β-nitro-nitroso-compounds. The latter trap other radicals to afford mixtures of aminoxyl radicals and, where possible, the nitroso-compounds tautomerise to oximes which oxidise to iminoxyl radicals. EPR spectra obtained on reaction of NO–NO2 mixtures with 2,5-dimethylhexa-2,4-diene have shown the presence of a di-tert-alkylaminoxyl plus a tert,sec-dialkylaminoxyl, providing good support for this mechanism. Product analyses have established that 2-oxo-4-methylpent-3-ene and 1-acetylcyclohexene undergo extensive oxidative degradation. For enol ethers, reaction with NO–NO2 leads to hydrolysis giving the corresponding carbonyl compound and alcohol, followed by ketal and ester formation.

Hyperspectral camera was applied to establish the models of catechin concentration for green tea. The possibility of improvement for the models was checked by the multi-year models and the mutual prediction. ECg, EGCg and the ester catechin (ECg & EGCg) decreased with the growth but EC, EGC and the free cat echin (EC & EGC) were changed by the covering. In partial least square regression (PLSR) models for each catechin, R 2 (Relative Error for validation) was more than 0.785 (13.4%) for a single year data, 0.723 (13.3%) for two years data, and 0.756 (13.6%) for three years data except several catechins. It was possible to improve the precision and accuracy of models using the combination of catechin (free and ester type) or the combination of multi-year data. When each and each type of catechin model was predicted by the other year data, the accu racy of two years model improved compar ing with it of a single year data. It means that the multi-year models might be more accurate than a single year models to predic t the unknown data. Keywords: hyperspectral camera, green tea, catechin concentr ation, new shoots, partial least square regression

The morphology of BaMgAl 10 O 17 :Eu 2+ phosphor particles was controlled by changing the precursor solution used in the spray pyrolysis. The colloidal and aqueous solutions were obtained using aluminum isopropoxide and aluminum nitrate as the source of aluminum. The characteristics of particles prepared from colloidal solution were compared with those of particles prepared from aqueous solution. The particles prepared from colloidal solution maintained their spherical structure and nonaggregation characteristics of as-prepared particles even after post-treatment at 1400°C while aggregation was observed to take place in the particles prepared from aqueous solution. The high thermal stability of particles prepared from colloidal solution was attributed to the stable intermediate, MgAl 2 O 4 . For the highest crystallinity and brightness of particles, the optimum post-treatment temperature was found to be 1200°C. The particles prepared from colloidal solution had higher crystallinity than those prepared from aqueous solution.

An integrated cryogenic system to separate carbon dioxide (CO2) and produce LNG from landfill gas is investigated and designed. The main objective of this design is to eliminate the requirement of a standard CO2 removal process in the liquefaction system such distillation or (temperature or pressure) swing adsorption, and to directly separate carbon dioxide as frost at the liquefying channel of methane. Two identical sets of heat exchangers are installed in parallel and switched alternatively with a time period so that one is in separation‐liquefaction mode while the other is in CO2 clean‐up mode. A thermal regeneration scheme is presented for the purpose of saving energy and avoiding the stoppage of LNG production followed by the flow switching. The switching period is determined from results of a combined heat and mass transfer analysis on the CO2 freeze‐out process.

The chemistry leading to the selective potentiometric response toward salicylate of polymer membranes doped with 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl(porphyrinato)tin(IV) dichloride (Sn(TPP)Cl 2 ) is examined via 119 Sn NMR, 3 H 2 O uptake, spectrophotometric, and solution conductometric techniques. The response properties of ion-selective electrodes prepared with such membranes suggest a complex mechanism of anion binding within the membrane phase. In the pure organic phase, spectroscopic data indicate that salicylate binds directly to one or both axial coordination sites of Sn(IV), displacing the initial chloride ligands. In the presence of water, however, both chloride and salicylate are displaced by water molecules, resulting in a dipositively charged metalloporphyrincation. Furthermore, conductance measurements point to the formation of salicylate—porphyrin complexes with greater than 2:1 stoichiometry. The results of these studies are discussed in conjunction with the anomalous cationic emf response of Sn(TPP)Cl 2 -based membranes at high concentrations of salicylate. A response mechanism is proposed which involves outer-sphere coordination of salicylate to a diaquo ligated metalloporphyrin as a key step in the observed anion extraction/equilibrium with the membrane phase.