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Katsunori Yogo,1 Masaki Misawa,2 Morihito Shimizu,2 Hidetoshi Shimizu,3 Tomoki Kitagawa,3 Ryoichi Hirayama,4 Hiromichi Ishiyama,5 Takako Furukawa,1 Hiroshi Yasuda6 1Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan; 2Health and Medical Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; 3Department of Radiation Oncology, Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan; 4National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS), National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (QST), Chiba-shi, Chiba, Japan; 5Graduate School of Medical Science, Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan; 6Department of Radiation Biophysics, Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, JapanCorrespondence: Katsunori YogoNagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1-20 Daiko-Minami, Higashi-Ku, Nagoya, Aichi 461-8673, JapanTel +81 52 719 1103Fax +81 52 719 3172Email yogo@met.nagoya-u.ac.jpPurpose: Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are candidate radiosensitizers for medium-energy photon treatment, such as γ-ray radiation in high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy. However, high AuNP concentrations are required for sufficient dose enhancement for clinical applications. Here, we investigated the effect of positively (+) charged AuNP radiosensitization of plasmid DNA damage induced by 192Ir γ-rays, and compared it with that of negatively (−) charged AuNPs.Methods: We observed DNA breaks and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in the presence of AuNPs at low concentrations. pBR322 plasmid DNA exposed to 64 ng/mL AuNPs was irradiated with 192Ir γ-rays via HDR brachytherapy. DNA breaks were detected by observing the changes in the form of the plasmid and quantified by agarose gel electrophoresis. The ROS generated by the AuNPs were measured with the fluorescent probe sensitive to ROS. The effects of positively (+) and negatively (−) charged AuNPs were compared to study the effect of surface charge on dose enhancement.Results: +AuNPs at lower concentrations promoted a comparable level of radiosensitization by producing both single-stranded breaks (SSBs) and double-stranded breaks (DSBs) than those used in cell assays and Monte Carlo simulation experiments. The dose enhancement factor (DEF) for +AuNPs was 1.3 ± 0.2 for SSBs and 1.5 ± 0.4 for DSBs. The ability of +AuNPs to augment plasmid DNA damage is due to enhanced ROS generation. While −AuNPs generated similar ROS levels, they did not cause significant DNA damage. Thus, dose enhancement using low concentrations of +AuNPs presumably occurred via DNA binding or increasing local +AuNP concentration around the DNA.Conclusion: +AuNPs at low concentrations displayed stronger radiosensitization compared to −AuNPs. Combining +AuNPs with 192Ir γ-rays in HDR brachytherapy is a candidate method for improving clinical outcomes. Future development of cancer cell-specific +AuNPs would allow their wider application for HDR brachytherapy.Keywords: gold nanoparticles, high-dose-rate brachytherapy, DNA damage, radiosensitization, 192Ir γ-rays, positively charged nanoparticles

A new gas-liquid two-phase flow simulation method has been developed based on the extended two-fluid model, which has capabilities of both the two-fluid and the interface-tracking models. The VOF (Volume of Fluid) technique has been introduced for suitable interface calculations. Interfaces of free surface and large bubbles are calculated directly by solving transport of a steep void fraction gradient corresponding to interface, while averaged behavior of microscopic dispersed bubbles and droplets are calculated in the two-fluid model scheme. It is expected that the present method can treat effects of significant kinetic interaction between the phases directly without empirical correlations. The calculated propagation of wet front in a dam break problem is close to experimental data. The predicted flow patterns of complex gas-liquid two-phase flow in a flat tube are quite similar to observations with a video camera. The present simulation will be a useful tool for predictions of integral behavior of thermal-hydraulic phenomena in large-scale nuclear power plants.

We describe the numerical simulation results of bubble motion under gravity by the lattice Boltzmann method(LBM), which assumes that a fluid consists of mesoscopic fluid particles repeating collision and translation and a multiphase interface is reproduced in a self-organizing way by repulsive interaction between different kinds of particles. The purposes in this study are to examine the applicability of LBM to the numerical analysis of bubble motions, and to develop a three-dimensional version of the binary fluid model that introduces a free energy function. We included the buoyancy terms due to the density difference in the lattice Boltzmann equations, and simulated single- and two-bubble motions, setting flow conditions according to the Eotvos and Morton numbers. The two-dimensional results by LBM agree with those by the Volume of Fluid method based on the Navier-Stokes equations. The three-dimensional model possesses the surface tension satisfying the Laplace's law, and reproduces the motion of single...

A fast-scanning X-ray CT system, designed for measuring dynamic events in multiphase fluids, was used to obtain the transient 2-dimensional cross sectional gas-phase distribution in a fluidized bed. The captured data was sent to a PC for image reconstruction, and the density distributions across the column cross section were visualized. Using image processing techniques, a pseudo 3-dimensional image of bubbles was obtained. The spatial and time resolutions of the system were sufficient for the measurement of ascending bubble behavior in a fluidized bed with fine particles. Bubble shape, interfacial area, and bubble holdup over the cross section can be measured by this system.