Is there a role for the adverse outcome pathway framework to support radiation protection?

Purpose: In 2012, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) formally launched the Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) Programme. The AOP framework has the potential for predictive utility in identifying early biological endpoints linked to adverse effects. It uses the weight of correlative evidence to identify a minimal set of measurable key events that link molecular initiating events to an adverse outcome.

Assessment of acute and chronic toxicity of unweathered and weathered diluted bitumen to freshwater fish and invertebrates.

This paper presents the results of two different studies investigating the acute and chronic toxicity of two blends of diluted bitumens ("dilbit") and weathered dilbit on freshwater fish and invertebrates after exposure to different concentrations of physically-dispersed (water accommodated fraction; WAF) and chemically-dispersed (chemically-enhanced WAF; CEWAF). The first study evaluated the acute and chronic toxicity of weathered, unweathered and dispersed Access Western Blend (AWB) dilbit on Fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas). In the second study, acute and chronic toxicity of weathered and unweathered Cold Lake Blend (CLB) dilbit was assessed on Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and two invertebrate species, Daphnia (Daphnia magna) and Ceriodaphnia (Ceriodaphnia dubia).

Post-Irradiation Study of the Alanine Dosimeter.

Post-irradiation stability of high-dose dosimeters has traditionally been an important measurement influence quantity. Though the exceptional stability of the alanine dosimeter response with time has rendered this factor a non-issue for routine work, the archival quality of the alanine dosimeter has not been characterized. Here the alanine pellet dosimeter response is measured up to seven years post-irradiation for a range of absorbed doses.

The Importance of Dosimetry Standardization in Radiobiology.

Radiation dose is central to much of radiobiological research. Precision and accuracy of dose measurements and reporting of the measurement details should be sufficient to allow the work to be interpreted and repeated and to allow valid comparisons to be made, both in the same laboratory and by other laboratories. Despite this, a careful reading of published manuscripts suggests that measurement and reporting of radiation dosimetry and setup for radiobiology research is frequently inadequate, thus undermining the reliability and reproducibility of the findings.

EPR TOOTH DOSIMETRY OF SNTS AREA INHABITANTS.

The determination of external dose to teeth of inhabitants of settlements near the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site (SNTS) was conducted using the EPR dosimetry technique to assess radiation doses associated with exposure to radioactive fallout from the test site. In this study, tooth doses have been reconstructed for 103 persons with all studied teeth having been formed before the first nuclear test in 1949. Doses above those received from natural background radiation, termed "accident doses", were found to lie in the range from zero to approximately 2 Gy, with one exception, a dose for one person from Semipalatinsk city was approximately 9 Gy.

A study of the irradiation temperature coefficient for L-alanine and DL-alanine dosemeters.

Alanine dosimetry is now well established both as a reference and routine dosemeter for industrial irradiation processing. Accurate dosimetry under the relatively harsh conditions of industrial processing requires a characterisation of the parameters that influence the dosemeter response. The temperature of the dosemeter during irradiation is a difficult quantity to measure so that the accuracy of the temperature coefficient that governs the dosemeter response becomes a critical factor.

Time dependence of the radiation-induced EPR signal in sucrose.

Sucrose and common household sugars (e.g. cane) have been studied as dosemeters for a wide variety of applications.

Uncertainties in alanine dosimetry in the therapeutic dose range.

A method for evaluating the overall uncertainty of alanine EPR transfer dosimetry in the therapeutic dose range is described. The method uses experimental data on EPR signal reproducibility from replicate dosimeters irradiated to low doses (1-5 Gy), estimates of Type B uncertainties, and Monte Carlo simulations of heteroscedastic orthogonal linear regression. A Bruker ECS106 spectrometer and Bruker alanine dosimeters have been used for this evaluation.