An induction melting facility includes several work health and safety risks. To manage the work health and safety risks, care must be taken to identify reasonably foreseeable hazards that could give rise to risks to health and safety, to eliminate risks to health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable. If it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate risks to health and safety, attention have to be given to minimize those risks so far as is reasonably practicable by implementing risk control measures according to the hierarchy of control in regulation, to ensure the control measure is, and is maintained so that it remains, effective, and to review and as necessary revise control measures implemented to maintain, so far as is reasonably practicable, a work environment that is without risks to health or safety. The way to manage the risks associated with induction melting works is to identify hazards and find out what could cause harm from melting works, to assess risks if necessary – understand the nature of the harm that could be caused by the hazard, how serious the harm could be and the likelihood of it happening, to control risks – implement the most effective control measures that are reasonably practicable in the circumstances, and to review control measures to ensure they are working as planned.

Avian colibacillosis is severe respiratory and systemic disease caused by avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC). The disease results in economic loss because of early mortality and reduced productivity in chickens. Several antimicrobials have been used extensively for reducing the losses due to colibacillosis. β-lactams, including penicillin derivatives, cephalosporins, and carbapenems, are one of the most commonly used, clinically important antibiotics. In this study, the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of 14 CTX-M-producing APEC were investigated. Two types of CTX-M genes were detected, namely, CTX-M-1 gene (8 isolates) and CTX-M-15 gene (6 isolates), and all CTX-M-producing APEC were multidrug resistant. Moreover, 10 of the 14 CTX-M-producing E. coli isolates carried the TEM-1 gene, and 8 of the 14 isolates contained class 1 integrons. The following three different gene cassette arrangements were identified in six isolates: aadA1 (n=2), dfrA1 (n=2), and aadA1+dfrA1 (n=2). All CTX-M-producing APEC isolates harbored IncF plasmids, including F, FII, FIA, and FIB. CTX-M-1 gene was located on I1, F, and FIB, and CTX-M-15 gene on FII, FIA, and FIB. The findings from this study indicate that E. coli carrying CTX-M gene are circulating in the broiler poultry industry. Comprehensive surveillance and persistent monitoring of the integrated broiler operations are warranted to prevent the dissemination of resistant isolates.

The decommissioning of nuclear power plant (NPP) generates large amount of waste. Since the most of the concretes are slightly surface contaminated, the accurate characterization and regionspecific surface decontamination are important for the efficient waste management. After the effective surface decontamination and separation, most of the concrete waste from decommissioning of NPP can be classified as a clearance waste. Various surface characterization and decontamination technologies are suggested. The mechanical technologies are simple and offers direct application. The laser-based technologies offer efficient separation and surface contamination. The high price, however, hesitates the application of the process. The nitro-jet technology, which is based on the evaporation of liquid nitrogen, allows the effective decontamination. However, the high price and uncertainty of large are application hinders the practical application in NPP decommissioning. In this paper, various technologies for characterization, handling, treatment, etc., will be discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of the technologies will be discussed, in terms of practical applications.

For transport containers for radioactive wastes, a drop test should be performed at a height of 0.3– 1.2 m on a rigid target depending on the weight as a normal condition in the regulation. In the drop test, a strain gauge is commonly used to measure the local strain, and the position of the strain gauges is determined by the experiences of the engineer in advance of the test. For this reason, the strains can be measured at only predetermined points. The DIC (Digital Image Correlation) method using highspeed cameras can be used to measure the change in strain over the region of interest. In addition, it is possible to measure effectively even in areas with high strain gradients that are difficult to measure with strain gauges. Therefore, the DIC method can measure the strain change according to time over the entire load path. When the drop test of the transport container is performed, the impact load is delivered through the lower corner fittings-corner posts-upper corner fittings-lids. In this study, white spray was sprayed on these main load path, and black speckles were created on the spayed surface to trace the rigid motion of speckles. The images taken during the drop test can be used to create a strain field over region of interest.

In this study, a drop analysis of metallic disposal containers for radioactive wastes is performed according to accident scenarios at the disposal site. The weight of the disposal container is about 8 tons, and the ingot-type wastes are loaded in the disposal container. To simulate the floor of the disposal site as the impact target, the reinforced concrete pad is modeled. High impact energy of the disposal container due to their heavy weight and high drop height causes excessive deformation and failure of the concrete target having relatively weak strength. Dynamic growth of cracks due to such failures causes penetration and delamination of concrete. Since the impact force delivered to the container strongly depends on the failure of the concrete pad, it is important to properly simulate the failure of the concrete in the drop analysis. A material erosion method can be used to simulate the concrete failure. In the case of applying erosion based on the finite element method (FEM), the element is deleted when the element exceeds a certain criterion, which causes material and energy loss problem. To solve this problem, mesh-free methods such as smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) can be commonly used, but the mesh-free method has the disadvantage of incurring high numerical cost. Therefore, an adaptive method combining SPH and FEM-based SOLID elements is used for concrete target modeling to simulate excessive deformation and failure of the concrete target. In the adaptive coupling method of SPH and SOLID, the concrete target is first modeled as a solid element. When the damage of concrete exceeds the failure criterion, the solid element is eroded and the SPH element replacing the solid element is activated. Since the activated SPH element continues to participate in the impact, the problem of loss of materials and energy can be effectively solved. In this way, analysis results consistent with actual physical phenomena can be obtained.

This paper presents a strategic adoption model for blockchain technology in nuclear nonproliferation by analysing the implementation of legally binding agreements and leveraging results from governmentleading sectors. Blockchain has been emerging as not only a single promising technology but a foundational one which can be combined with diverse sectors. From the national point of view, it is imperative that the government formulates policy for fostering blockchain-related industries, thereby, gaining a competitive advantage at the national level. Accordingly, the Korean government has established the Blockchain Technology Development and Diffusion Strategies in 2018 and 2020, respectively, to verify the technology by supporting pilot projects for apposite industries, such as customs clearance, transhipment of containers, record-keeping of meat processing, and smart contracts. In addition, the strategies announce to support liaison with regulatory sandbox and cooperation between the projects. Internationally, on the other hand, nuclear nonproliferation imposes the duties of verifying that member states under the NPT and the Safeguards Agreement obey the IAEA mandate, “Atoms for Peace and Development”. Similarly, bilateral nuclear cooperation agreements and administrative arrangements specify reporting obligations for the origin and history records of the Trigger List items. Meanwhile, commercial and industrial secrets and other confidential information of any entities involved have to be securely protected. Provided accompanying activities accomplish the integrity of records and mutual transparency, it brings more credibility, and further, the competitiveness of the state’s nuclear industry. In conclusion, the tasks that the Republic of Korea implements as an exemplary country complying with the nuclear nonproliferation regime have many similarities with the pilot projects that have been or are being carried out under national strategies for fostering blockchain technology elsewhere. This implies that the leveraging of the subsets can derive a new competitive model in blockchain adoption that contributes to the competitiveness of the national nuclear industry due to the advanced nuclear regulations.

The bacterial soft-rot disease is one of the most critical diseases in vegetables such as Chinese cabbage. The researchers isolated two bacteria (Pseudomonas kribbensis and Pantoea vagans) from diseased tissue samples of Chinese cabbages and confirmed them as being the strains that cause soft-rot disease. Lactic-acid bacteria (LAB), were screened and used to control soft-rot disease bacteria. The researchers tested the treatments with hypochlorous acid water (HAW) and LAB supernatant to control soft-rot disease bacteria. The tests confirmed that treatments with the HAW (over 120 ppm) or LAB (Lactobacillus plantarum PL203) culture supernatants (0.5 mL) completely controlled both P. kribbensis and P. vagans.

Colorectal cancer causes the most cancer-associated death worldwide, having a high cancer incidence. Pectin is a complex polysaccharide present in various fruits, emerging as an anti-carcinogenic candidate. Although pectin has a suppressive capacity for colon carcinogenesis, the effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and colonic aberrant foci formation in the colon carcinogenesis mouse model remains unclear. Therefore, this study investigates the regulatory effect of pectin supplementation on colon carcinogenesis induced by azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) in mice. In an animal experiment, thirty male institute for cancer research (ICR) mice were divided into two experimental groups; AOM/DSS (control group) and AOM/DSS + pectin (5% in drinking water). Furthermore, the number of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and aberrant crypt (AC) on colonic mucosa were counted, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) assay was performed to estimate lipid peroxidation in feces. Pectin treatment significantly decreased the number of ACF and AC per colon compared with the control. Additionally, fecal TBARS level in the pectin group was significantly lower than those in the control group. Conclusively, these findings indicate that pectin-inhibited hyperplastic alteration and oxidative stress suppress colitis-associated colon carcinogenesis.

A solid-phase competition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), recombinant VP2 (rVP2) protein, and monoclonal antibody (mAb) were developed for the specific and sensitive detection of porcine parvovirus (PPV) antibodies in pig sera. A total of 1,544 sera samples were collected from breeding pig farms located in the Gyeongsangbuk-do Province in the Republic of Korea. The optimal operating conditions of SC-ELISA were as follows. The concentration of rVP2 proteins coated on the wells was 4 μg/mL, the swine sera were diluted 1:2, and the HRP-conjugated PPV VP2 mAb (9A8 clone) was used at 500 ng/mL. These results suggest that the SC-rVP-ELISA assay may be a valuable alternative to the current diagnostic tools used to detect PPV-specific monoclonal antibodies and broadly monitor PPV infections in domestic pigs at different breeding stages.

뇌 3차원 T1 관상면 검사 시 ENCASE를 적용했을 때 CS 계수의 증가 시 영상획득 시간 변화와 영상의 질의 변화에 따른 유용성에 관하여 알아보고자 한다. 연구 대상은 본원을 내원한 30명의 환자를 대상으로 하였고, 1.5T MRI 장치로 진행하였으며, 24채널 두경부 코일을 사용하였다. 획득한 영상의 상대적신호강도비(rSI)와 상대적대조도비(rC)를 구하였으 며, MIPAV로 뇌실질과 뇌실의 체적을 측정하여 One-way Anova를 사용하여 정량적 분석을 하였고, p<0.05일 때 통계 적으로 유의한 것으로 해석하였다. 또한, 5점 리커트 척도를 이용하여 영상의 질에 대하여 정성적 분석을 하였고, 측정자 내 신뢰도를 확인하기 위해 ICC가 0.75 이상 나오면 측정자간 신뢰성이 높은 것으로 간주하였다. rSI와 rC 모두 p<0.05로 통계적으로 유의미한 차이를 보였고, 급내 상관계수가 0.75이상(p<0.05)으로 통계적으로 매우 높은 신뢰도를 나타냈다. MIPAV를 이용한 체적측정에서는 뇌실질과 뇌실의 체적의 차이는 p=1.000으로 통계학적으로 유의미한 차이는 없었고, 사후분석결과 또한 유의미한 차이를 보이지 않았으며. 급내 상관계수가 0.75이상(p<0.05)으로 통계적으로 매우 높은 신뢰도를 나타냈다. 또한, 정성적 평가에서는 CS 계수가 증가함에 따라 유의미한 차이가 있는 것으로 나타났다(p<0.001). 따라 서 ENCASE 기법을 이용한 3차원 T1 TFE 관상면 검사 시 CS 계수를 증가시킨다면 뇌의 체적 변화 없이 3차원 T1 시상면 영상보다 짧은 150초로 기존의 뇌 3차원 시상면 T1 기본 검사시간 260초 보다 짧은 영상획득 시간으로 진단적 가치가 높은 영상을 제공할 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.

Colon cancer has been considered a leading cause of cancer-associated death. Folic acid is a vitamin necessary for cellular physiological functions and cell viability. However, the association between folic acid intake and colon cancer has been examined in several prospective cohort studies are controversial. This study investigated the effects of folate intake on colon carcinogenesis and oxidative stress in an azoxymethane (AOM)/dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) institute for cancer research (ICR) mouse model. Thirty male ICR mice (5 weeks old) were divided into the control group and the experimental group supplied 0.03% folic acid via drinking water (50 mL/week/mouse) for 6 weeks. To induce colonic pre-neoplastic lesions, the animals were subcutaneously injected three times weekly with AOM (10 mg/kg body weight), followed by 2% DSS in drinking water for a week. Folic acid supplementation significantly suppressed the total number of aberrant crypt foci and aberrant crypts. Histological image data showed that folic acid supplementation attenuated neoplastic change. In addition, we measured the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances concentration of dry feces samples to identify the effect of folic acid on reactive oxygen accumulation. The folic acid supplementation group had reduced reactive oxygen species levels in dry feces compared to the control group. In conclusion, these findings indicate that folic acid suppresses colon carcinogenesis and oxidative stress in an AOM/DSS mouse model.

The detection of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) in environmental samples with precision is imperative to control bovine tuberculosis (bTB) infections at the herd level, as residual M. bovis remains one of the major causes of recurring infections. In this study, a nested PCR method for the detection of M. bovis in environmental samples was applied to identify potential environmental reservoirs of the bacterium. A set of 200 environmental samples (167 fecal samples and 33 water samples) from 39 herds with a history of bTB outbreak was analyzed using a nested PCR method to detect residual M. bovis. Amplicon libraries of the IS6110 target gene fragment were amplified from M. bovis DNA using two established primer sets. A positive nested PCR result was observed in 69.5% of fecal samples and 66.7% of water samples, thus showing that residual M. bovis was present in the environmental samples of bTB-positive herds in a high proportion. This study is the first to demonstrate high levels of M. bovis DNA in environmental samples and to show that environmental reservoirs of this pathogen contribute to recurring outbreaks of bTB. Environmental monitoring of herds in which bTB outbreaks have occurred with high sensitivity and specificity is expected to help prevent the recurrence of potential bTB disease and improve the herd environment.