[The DARI. A unit of measurement adapted to the assessment of the effect of low-dose radiation]. / Le DARI. Unité de mesure adaptée à l'évaluation de l'effet des faibles doses d'irradiation.

A clearer understanding by a wider public of the health effects of radioactive materials arising in the nuclear industry is essential if the public interest is to served. Clear and continuous information provided to the public about radiation dose from industry is inadequate to an intuitive and correct understanding of relative risk in part because radiation exposure is expressed in units that non-specialists find difficult to comprehend. We propose the establishment of a unit of irradiation dose to the individual that is equal to that provided to a human being by the naturally occurring radioactivity of human tissue: the "Dari" from the French for "Dose Annuelle due aux Radiations Internes" annual dose from internal radioactivity. To the extent of 90%, this radiation is due to potassium 40, of mean life 1.3 billion years, that was present in the cosmic dust from which the Earth was formed about 4.5 billion years ago. The DARI amounts to less than 10% of the natural radiation to which the body is subject, arising from external irradiation from rocks and from cosmic rays. The use of this unit for expressing the individual's radiation dose from an incident or an accident involving radioactive materials would facilitate a proper judgment of its impact, and would avoid unwarranted concerns.

Optimization of a new scintillation gas detector used to localize electrons emitted by 99mTc.

UNLABELLED: We have developed a scintillation gas detector to localize electrons emitted by 99mTc. This type of detector allows direct quantification of images and so provides a clear advantage over autoradiographic film. We have optimized the device to give an image spatial resolution that closely approximates that of typical autoradiographic film. To improve this resolution, it was necessary to select only low-energy electrons (2 and 15 keV) and to devise novel detection and localization techniques for the ionizing particles. METHODS: A parallel-plate proportional avalanche chamber is subject to a uniform electrical field and amplifies the number of released electrons through collisions of ionizing particles in the gas mixture. Light emitted by the gas scintillator during the avalanche process is collected by a highly intensified charge coupled device camera. The centroid of each resulting light distribution is calculated, resulting in a quantitative mapping of the sample's activity. Insertion of the sample within the gas volume improves the efficiency and so provides a method that is both very sensitive and linear. RESULTS: We have shown that in a parallel-plate structure, the application of a high electrical field to the surface of the sample and the selection of appropriate light spots, according to their morphology, can overcome localization errors due to the particles' trajectories. We have obtained a resolution of the order of 30 microm, using electrons from 99mTc. CONCLUSION: This detection technique allows considerable improvement in image resolution. This "electron camera" is a serious rival to existing autoradiographic techniques, because it provides certain other advantages, including direct quantification, linearity, high dynamic range and low noise levels. Thus, new perspectives are made available in quantitative double tracer autoradiography, because electrons can be selected for imaging as a function of their energy.

Isolation of 10 differentially expressed cDNAs in p53-induced apoptosis: activation of the vertebrate homologue of the drosophila seven in absentia gene.

We report the isolation of 10 differentially expressed cDNAs in the process of apoptosis induced by the p53 tamor suppressor. As a global analytical method, we performed a differential display of mRNA between mouse M1 myeloid leukemia cells and derived clone LTR6 cells, which contain a stably transfected temperature-sensitive mutant of p53. At 32 degrees C wild-type p53 function is activated in LTR6 cells, resulting in programmed cell death. Eight genes are activated (TSAP; tumor suppressor activated pathway), and two are inhibited (TSIP, tumor suppressor inhibited pathway) in their expression. None of the 10 sequences has hitherto been recognized as part of the p53 signaling pathway. Three TSAPs are homologous to known genes. TSAP1 corresponds to phospholipase C beta 4. TSAP2 has a conserved domain homologous to a multiple endocrine neoplasia I (ZFM1) candidate gene. TSAP3 is the mouse homologue of the Drosophila seven in absentia gene. These data provide novel molecules involved in the pathway of wild-type p53 activation. They establish a functional link between a homologue of a conserved developmental Drosophila gene and signal transduction in tumor suppression leading to programmed cell death.

[Prospects for the use in medicine of new detectors of ionizing radiation]. / Les perspectives ouvertes, pour la médecine, par les nouveaux détecteurs de rayonnements ionisants.

The evolution in particle physics requires new detectors at the emergence of new accelerators, requiring higher rates and better position accuracy. The wire chambers have found applications in the imaging of beta rays and low dose radiography. The new detectors foreseen for the end of this century will have position accuracy of the order of 10 microns and high rate capabilities passing by one or two orders of magnitude the wire chambers. They are promised to wide applications in all fields of radiation imaging.

Mapping of [3H]vasopressin binding sites in the brain of jerboa (Jaculus orientalis) by an high resolution beta-radio imager.

The distribution of vasopressin receptors in the brain of the jerboa (Jaculus orientalis) was studied using tritiated arginin vasopressin ([3H]vasopressin). beta-Particles emitted from tritiated ligand bound to brain sections were detected by a newly developed beta-radio imager to generate a light spot which was read by a charge coupled device camera. The number and coordinate of the center of gravity of the light spot were recorded. After summation in pixels of the counts collected during 2-20 h, an image was produced representing the distribution of [3H]vasopressin bound to brain sections. Specific vasopressin binding was detected in various brain regions such as the cerebral cortex, islands of Calleja, pallidum, amygdala and the hippocampus as well as in the pituitary gland. The intensity of the binding was quantified directly from the images obtained and expressed in decays/min/surface unit. The linearity of this method of detection allowed a relevant measurement of non-specific binding, therefore its subtraction from images representing the total binding. Three-dimensional reconstructions of labeled structures were also performed. The presence of numerous vasopressin receptors in the jerboa hippocampus suggests a major role for this neuropeptide in this part of the brain.

Expression of vasopressin receptors in hamster hypothalamus is sexually dimorphic and dependent upon photoperiod.

The distribution of vasopressin receptors was studied in the brain of a photoperiodic animal, the Siberian hamster. Attention was focused on [3H]vasopressin binding sites located in the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus, medial tuberal nucleus, and ventral premammillary nucleus in males or females kept in long or short photoperiod conditions. Displacement experiments with structural analogs suggested that vasopressin receptors in the hamster hypothalamus are of the vasopressor (V1) type. Quantitative data obtained with a gaseous detector of beta-particles indicated that in the ventromedial nucleus and in the ventral premammillary nucleus of animals in long photoperiod, the number of beta-particles emitted per unit area was significantly greater in males than in females. In the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus, in both males and females, the number of beta-particles emitted was significantly lower in short than in long photoperiod conditions. In the ventral premammillary nucleus, shortening of the photoperiod had a significant effect in reducing the amount of [3H]vasopressin bound in females, but not in males. These data suggest that, in the hamster, the control of the expression of vasopressin receptors differs among various hypothalamic nuclei and may depend on the sex and/or on the level of circulating gonadal steroids.

Localization and quantitation of tritiated compounds in tissue sections with a gaseous detector of beta particles: comparison with film autoradiography.

Quantitative analysis of tritium polymer standards and of brain sections labeled with tritiated vasopressin was carried out by using a gaseous detector of beta particles designed for this purpose. The gaseous detector showed major advantages compared with film autoradiography: the linearity and the large dynamic range of intensity measurements as well as the short time needed for data acquisition.

Optical imaging of the spatial distribution of beta-particles emerging from surfaces.

The multiplication in gases of ionization electrons, by the effect of the electric fields between parallel electrodes, leads to the emission of light from the molecules excited in the avalanche process. The optical imaging of this light, with intensifiers, on charge-coupled devices permits the localization, in the gaseous volume, of the entrance points of the beta-particles emitted by radioactive compounds placed close to or at the cathode electrode. Thin slices of anatomical samples labeled with 3H show detailed structures 30 microns in size. Gels carrying 32P or 35S are imaged with accuracies of the order of 0.5 mm (full width at half maximum). In comparison with photographic emulsion, the gain in time for data taking is close to a factor of 100, with the advantage of linearity and wider dynamic range in the intensity measurement and a greatly improved signal-to-noise ratio.

A new approach to positron emission tomography.

A recently developed detection principle for gamma rays offers the prospect of improving the performance of positron emission tomographic scanners. This detection principle is based on the use of BaF2 scintillator and photosensitive wire chambers. We present technical results obtained with a prototype detector. It is shown that the impact point of the gamma ray can be determined with a precision of a few mm and that the detection efficiency is 60% with a time resolution of 10 ns (FWHM). A scanner based on the new principle is described and its anticipated performance discussed.

Nuclear scattering radiography.

The quasi-elastic scattering of 1 GeV protons permits the three-dimensional reconstruction of the density distribution in extended bodies. Fast multiwire proportional chambers are used to localize the position of every incoming and outgoing charged particle and to determine the coordinates at the interaction vertex. This article describes tests on a human head fixed on formalin. The comparison with computed tomography scans and anatomical sections is encouraging. Slices with a volume element of 5.5 mm3 illustrate the sensitivity of the method. The results also demonstrate the ability of the method to select the density distribution of hydrogen by making use of the kinematic relations specific to elastic scattering. Trials of this method in living humans are being planned.

An efficient, gaseous detector with good low-energy resolution for (less than or equal to 50 keV) imaging.

An imaging detector with good energy resolution and reasonable spatial accuracy has been designed for biomedical applications. It is based on a scintillating proportional gas chamber. The energy resolution is typically 5.4% (FWHM) at 27 keV and the spatial resolution is 2.7 mm (FWHM) for 22-keV x-rays. The physical processes involved in this detector are discussed along with its main limitations and merits.