Age at Exposure to Radiation Determines Severity of Renal and Cardiac Disease in Rats.

Radiotherapy with sparsely ionizing photons is a cornerstone of successful cancer treatment. Age at time of exposure to radiation is known to influence biological outcomes for many end points. The effect of dose and age at exposure upon the occurrence of radiogenic cardiovascular disease is poorly understood. The goal of this work was to determine the response of maleWAG/RijCmcr rats at 6 months of age to gamma rays, and at 6 months or 6 weeks of age to X rays, using clinically relevant biomarkers of cardiovascular disease and kidney injury. Overall, there were significant radiation-induced effects on the levels of bicarbonate (P=0.0016), creatinine (P=0.0002), calcium (P = 0.0009), triglycerides (P = 0.0269) and blood urea nitrogen, albumin, protein, AST, alkaline phosphatase, total cholesterol and HDL (all P < 0.0001). Of those variables with a significant radiation-dose effect, there were significant modifications by age at time of exposure for bicarbonate (P = 0.0033), creatinine (P = 0.0015), AST (P = 0.0040), total cholesterol (P = 0.0006) and blood urea nitrogen, calcium, albumin, protein, alkaline phosphatase and HDL (all P < 0.0001). Cardiac perivascular collagen content was significantly increased in rats that were 8.0 Gy X-ray irradiated at 6 weeks of age (P < 0.047) but not at 6 months of age. While systemic blood pressure was elevated in both cohorts after 8.0 Gy X-ray irradiation (compared to agematched sham-irradiated controls), the magnitude of the increase above baseline was greater in the younger rats (P < 0.05). These findings indicate that dose and age at time of irradiation determine the timeline and severity of cardiac and renal injury.

Overview of the NASA space radiation laboratory.

The NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) is a multidisciplinary center for space radiation research funded by NASA and located at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton NY. Operational since 2003, the scope of NSRL is to provide ion beams in support of the NASA Humans in Space program in radiobiology, physics and engineering to measure the risk and ameliorate the effect of radiation in space. Recently, it has also been recognized as the only facility in the U.S. currently capable of contributing to heavy ion radiotherapy research. This work contains a general overview of NSRL structure, capabilities and operation.

Broad ranges and fast responses of single-component blue-phase liquid crystals containing banana-shaped 1,3,4-oxadiazole cores.

In this study, we synthesized two novel 1,3,4-oxadiazole-based bent-core liquid crystals (OXD7*, OXD5B7F*) containing a chiral tail that display broad ranges of the blue phase III (34 and 7 K, respectively); we characterized them using polarized optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and circular dichroism. The electro-optical responses of both of these liquid crystals are much faster than those of previously reported single-component blue-phase liquid crystals. To optimize its electro-optical performance, we mixed OXD7* (the blue-phase range of which is broader than that of OXD5B7F*) with its analogue OXD6 (at weight ratios of 6:4 and 4:6). We also performed molecular modeling of single-component BPLCs (OXD7* and OXD5B7F*) to analyze the possible parameters affecting their blue phase ranges.

Configuration effects of H-bonded sites and rigid core lengths on h-bonded banana-shaped liquid crystalline supramolecules consisting of symmetric trimers and asymmetric heterodimers.

Several series of novel banana-shaped H-bonded symmetric trimers (with two H-bonds) and asymmetric heterodimers (with one H-bond) were self-assembled by appropriate molar ratios of proton donors (H-donors) and acceptors (H-acceptors). The influences of H-bonded linking positions and aromatic ring numbers (4-8 aromatic rings in the rigid cores) as well as the chain lengths (n, m = 12 or 16, respectively, in the flexible parts) on the mesomorphism and the switching behavior of the bent-core supramolecules were evaluated and theoretically analyzed. Except for the supramolecular structures with longer rigid cores or shorter flexible chains possessing the rectangular columnar (Col(r) or B1) phase, the SmC(A)P(A) phase was revealed in most supramolecular asymmetric heterodimers and switched to the SmC(S)P(F) phase by applying electric fields. The polar smectic C phase was dominated for those with H-bonded sites apart from the core center. Interestingly, the SmA and nematic phases were observed in H-bonded asymmetric dimers with H-bonded sites close to the core center, which theoretically proved that the polar smectic C phase was disfavored due to an unfavorable bend angle (smaller than the lower limit of 110 degrees ) in the lowest-energy H-bonded conformer. Compared with the fully covalently bonded analogue, lower transition temperatures and lower threshold voltages were developed in the H-bonded asymmetric dimers with the polar smectic C phase. On the basis of the theoretical calculations of molecular modeling, the existence of polar switching behavior in the polar smectic C phase of asymmetric heterodimers was proven to be associated with their configurations with higher dipole moments and suitable bend angles. Furthermore, the lack of polar switching behavior in supramolecular symmetric trimers, which exhibited the regular SmC phase with weak electrical stabilities, was related to their configurations with smaller dipole moments and confirmed by theoretical calculations.