Mice and the A-Bomb: Irradiation Systems for Realistic Exposure Scenarios.

Validation of biodosimetry assays is normally performed with acute exposures to uniform external photon fields. Realistically, exposure to a radiological dispersal device or reactor leak will include exposure to low dose rates and likely exposure to ingested radionuclides. An improvised nuclear device will likely include a significant neutron component in addition to a mixture of high- and low-dose-rate photons and ingested radionuclides.

50 Years of the Radiological Research Accelerator Facility (RARAF).

The Radiological Research Accelerator Facility (RARAF) is in its 50th year of operation. It was commissioned on April 1, 1967 as a collaboration between the Radiological Research Laboratory (RRL) of Columbia University, and members of the Medical Research Center of Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). It was initially funded as a user facility for radiobiology and radiological physics, concentrating on monoenergetic neutrons.

Accelerator-Based Biological Irradiation Facility Simulating Neutron Exposure from an Improvised Nuclear Device.

We describe here an accelerator-based neutron irradiation facility, intended to expose blood or small animals to neutron fields mimicking those from an improvised nuclear device at relevant distances from the epicenter. Neutrons are generated by a mixed proton/deuteron beam on a thick beryllium target, generating a broad spectrum of neutron energies that match those estimated for the Hiroshima bomb at 1.5 km from ground zero.

Broad Energy Range Neutron Spectroscopy using a Liquid Scintillator and a Proportional Counter: Application to a Neutron Spectrum Similar to that from an Improvised Nuclear Device.

A novel neutron irradiation facility at the Radiological Research Accelerator Facility (RARAF) has been developed to mimic the neutron radiation from an Improvised Nuclear Device (IND) at relevant distances (e.g. 1.

Effects of radiation type and delivery mode on a radioresistant eukaryote Cryptococcus neoformans.

Introduction: Most research on radioresistant fungi, particularly on human pathogens such as Cryptococcus neoformans, involves sparsely-ionizing radiation. Consequently, fungal responses to densely-ionizing radiation, which can be harnessed to treat life-threatening fungal infections, remain incompletely understood.

Methods: We addressed this issue by quantifying and comparing the effects of densely-ionizing α-particles (delivered either by external beam or by (213)Bi-labeled monoclonal antibodies), and sparsely-ionizing (137)Cs γ-rays, on Cryptococcus neoformans.

Novel neutron sources at the Radiological Research Accelerator Facility.

Since the 1960s, the Radiological Research Accelerator Facility (RARAF) has been providing researchers in biology, chemistry and physics with advanced irradiation techniques, using charged particles, photons and neutrons.We are currently developing a unique facility at RARAF, to simulate neutron spectra from an improvised nuclear device (IND), based on calculations of the neutron spectrum at 1.5 km from the epicenter of the Hiroshima atom bomb.

Modification of shirt buttons for retrospective radiation dosimetry after a radiological event.

Preliminary results are presented for a personal radiation dosimeter in the form of a clothing button to provide gamma-ray dose estimation for clinically-significant external radiation exposures to the general public due to a radiological incident, such as use of a radiological dispersal device. Rods of thermoluminescent material (LiF:Mg,Ti and LiF:Mg,Cu,P) were encapsulated in plastic "buttons," attached to shirts, and subjected to three cycles of home or commercial laundering or dry cleaning, including ironing or pressing. The buttons were subsequently exposed to doses of 137Cs gamma rays ranging from 0.

An accelerator-based neutron microbeam system for studies of radiation effects.

A novel neutron microbeam is being developed at the Radiological Research Accelerator Facility (RARAF) of Columbia University. The RARAF microbeam facility has been used for studies of radiation bystander effects in mammalian cells for many years. Now a prototype neutron microbeam is being developed that can be used for bystander effect studies.

microRNAome changes in bystander three-dimensional human tissue models suggest priming of apoptotic pathways.

The radiation-induced bystander effect (RIBE) is a phenomenon whereby unexposed cells exhibit molecular symptoms of stress exposure when adjacent or nearby cells are traversed by ionizing radiation (IR). Recent data suggest that RIBE may be epigenetically mediated by microRNAs (miRNAs), which are small regulatory molecules that target messenger RNA transcripts for translational inhibition. Here, we analyzed microRNAome changes in bystander tissues after α-particle microbeam irradiation of three-dimensional artificial human tissues using miRNA microarrays.

The Columbia University Sub-micron Charged Particle Beam.

A lens system consisting of two electrostatic quadrupole triplets has been designed and constructed at the Radiological Research Accelerator Facility (RARAF) of Columbia University. The lens system has been used to focus 6-MeV (4)He ions to a beam spot in air with a diameter of 0.8 µm.

Novel Al2O3:C,Mg fluorescent nuclear track detectors for passive neutron dosimetry.

The latest advances in the development of a fluorescent nuclear track detector (FNTD) for neutron and heavy charged particle dosimetry are described and compared with CR-39 plastic nuclear etched track detectors (PNTDs). The technique combines a new luminescent aluminium oxide single crystal detector (Al(2)O(3):C,Mg) with an imaging technique based on laser scanning and confocal fluorescence detection. Detection efficiency was obtained after irradiations with monoenergetic neutron and proton beams.

DNA double-strand breaks form in bystander cells after microbeam irradiation of three-dimensional human tissue models.

The "radiation-induced bystander effect," in which irradiated cells can induce genomic instability in unirradiated neighboring cells, has important implications for cancer radiotherapy and diagnostic radiology as well as for human health in general. Although the mechanisms of this effect remain to be elucidated, we reported previously that DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), directly measured by gamma-H2AX focus formation assay, are induced in bystander cultured cells. To overcome the deficiencies of cultured cell studies, we examined alpha-particle microbeam irradiation-induced bystander effects in human tissue models, which preserve the three-dimensional geometric arrangement and communication of cells present in tissues in vivo.

Differential impact of mouse Rad9 deletion on ionizing radiation-induced bystander effects.

The cellular response to ionizing radiation is not limited to cells irradiated directly but can be demonstrated in neighboring "bystander" populations. The ability of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells to express a bystander effect and the role of the radioresistance gene Rad9 were tested. Mouse ES cells differing in Rad9 status were exposed to broad-beam 125 keV/ microm 3He alpha particles.

Biological effects in unirradiated human tissue induced by radiation damage up to 1 mm away.

A central tenet in understanding the biological effects of ionizing radiation has been that the initially affected cells were directly damaged by the radiation. By contrast, evidence has emerged concerning "bystander" responses involving damage to nearby cells that were not themselves directly traversed by the radiation. These long-range effects are of interest both mechanistically and for assessing risks from low-dose exposures, where only a small proportion of cells are directly hit.