United States Radiation Experiments

Traditionally carcinoma of the bladder has been treated by radical cystectomy in the United States. There is, however, an emerging interest in organ preservation as seen in other disease sites (93). Certainly the experience from trials including a phase III trial that was not powered to detect a survival difference, is that combined chemoradiation usually using a cisplatin-based chemotherapy regimen and concurrent radiation leads to increased levels of local control (94). 

The initial experience with the taxanes and especially with paclitaxel in the realm of combined modality therapy has had a substantial impact on the treatment of cancers both in the United States and worldwide. Paclitaxel delivered in concert with radiation provides a classical model of the development of clinically applicable treatment strategies from laboratory-based studies. The initial in vitro works of Tishler (39) and Choy (40) have translated in a very tangible way into approaches that are clinically applicable and in the next generation of randomized clinical trials their efficacy will be compared to more traditional chemotherapies in the combined modality setting. While the experience to date with both paclitaxel and docetaxel has been largely positive, the mortality rates in many of the solid tumor types remind us that much more needs to be done. 

A comprehensive historical review of the analytical applications of infrared spectroscopy from the first experiments to the introduction of FTIR spectrometers has appeared.221 The first study of the absorption of infrared radiation by a range of chemical substances was made in 1881 by Abney and Festing, after the former had developed a photographic method of detecting radiation in the near-infrared region. Over the next 25 years a number of other studies were made. This early phase culminated in the work of W. W. Coblentz in the United States, which was published in 1905.222 It became evident from Coblentz s data that infrared spectra were related to molecular structure, but IR spectroscopy remained principally the province of researchers in university physics departments until World War n. 

Daryl R. Myers is a Senior Scientist at NREl. In 1970 He received a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, School of Engineering. Prior to joining NREL in 1978, he worked for four years at the Smithsonian Institution Radiation Biology Laboratory in Rockville Maryland, and is a Cold War veteran, serving as a Russian linguist in the United States Army from 1970 to 1974. He has over 32 years of experience in terrestrial broadband and spectral solar radiation physics, measurement instrumentation, metrology... 

In the United States, a group under Milton Burton was formed to make these studies while other research occurred in Canada and elsewhere. These research efforts made use of all radiation sources that were available. It was quickly realized that the experiments had to both be able to predict the effects of radiation on materials, and obtain a basic understanding of the chemistry and physics involved so that intelligent predictions could be made on new systems. 

The earlier experiences of this laboratory were good in so far as the accuracy obtained with the system was in accordance with what had been stated by Draganic (better than 10% ). The difficulty in obtaining good results as reported above, however, made us re-examine the procedure. (This work was started by one of the authors (N. W. H.) during a one-year stay as visiting scientist at the Radiation Sources Branch of the U.S. Army Natick Laboratories, Natick, Mass., United States.)... 

US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION, DIVISION OF OPERATIONAL SAFETY, Operational Accidents and Radiation Exposure Experience within the United States Atomic Energy Commission, WASH-1192, US Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, DC (1975). 

Lower dose treatments, often referred to as pasteurization doses, have shown much more promise. In particular, doses sufficiently low to cause no significant odor and flavor change in the food are adequate to eliminate the hazards to health associated with salmonella and nematode contamination. For example, the irradiation of frozen meat, whole egg and egg products used in baking, and high protein animal foodstuffs is under active investigation as a means of elimination of salmonellae. At the moment, however, this cannot be classed as an industrial application, since only a few tons have been irradiated in pilot experiments.The shelf-life of white fish kept on ice has been considerably extended by small doses of radiation, and in the United States a full-scale plant for the irradiation of fish has recently been completed. Fish remain an underused protein resource available for the underdeveloped countries, and a big expansion in fish consumption is likely if the world s protein requirements are to be met. Inevitably, the development of fish resources must go hand in hand with satisfactory transportation in view of the relatively limited shelf-life... 

Today, there does not yet exist an accepted and sufficiently diversified library of integral neutron experiments which could serve as the proving ground lor routine testing and improvement of codes and cross sepUons. However, incipient efforts have been made in the United States mid abroad. This paper examines the different approaches being taken, and outlines principal procedures of one such method which has been developed by the Physical Data Group, Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Livermore. ... 

By the time the United States Advisory Committee for Human Radiation Experiments was created to uncover the history of human radiation experiments and intentional environmental releases of radiation to identify the ethical and scientific standards for evaluating these events and to make recommendations to ensure that whatever wrongdoing may have occurred in... 

Bryden 1989 Pechura, Rail 1993 United States Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments 1995. 

United States Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, Final Report of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (NewYork, NY, Oxford University Press, 1995). 

A unique application of ionizing radiation to plant systematics was developed by McCormick and Rushing (1964) in which they studied three cytogenetic races of Sedum pulchellum, a succulent spring plant that appears on rock outcrops in the southeastern United States. Seeds were exposed to relatively high levels of radiation, and it was observed that in at least two of three experiments. 

Freezing point depression is the principle behind the use of antifreeze in motor vehicle cooling systems. Water normally freezes at 0°C (32°F). In many places in the United States and Canada, winter temperatures fall well below 0°C. Since water expands as it freezes, a car or truck s engine block and radiator would crack. A 50/50 mixture (by volume) of water and antifreeze, though, provides protection to -34°C (-29°F), which is sufficient for most places that experience below freezing temperatures. If temperatures might get even lower, a mixture of up to two-thirds antifreeze and one-third water provides protection to temperatures of -90°F (-68°C). 

Question by H. Messinger. United States Naval Engineering Experiment Station Do your calculated boil-off losses include radiation as well as conduction losses The ratio of losses with glass fibers as compared with vacuum are claimed to be about 16 to 1, This seems unusually high. 

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