• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 1998

Dose response relationships for one of biological end-points (gene mutation) in somatic cells of Tradescantia 4430 clones were studied using neutrons coming out of a californium-252 isotopic source. And the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of neutrons in relation to X-rays in the induction of TSH pink mutations was assessed. Inflorescences were irradiated with X-ray from X-ray generator and neutrons from $^{252}Cf$ source. Irradiated cuttings were incubated with aeration in neutrient solution under the controlled condition. For more than 4 weeks after irradiation cell mutations were scored. Pink mutation frequencies were calculated from the pooled data for the peak interval (days 6 to 13 post-irradiation). Somatic cell mutations in TSH showed linear dose response relationships in the range of neutron doses available for the experiment. The RBE values estimated for neutrons in relation to X-rays were in the range 3.1 to 6.8, which were much lower than normally recognized value.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.67-73
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• 2000

The effects of combined irradiation of neutrons and ${\gamma}$-rays were analysed by means of Tradescantia stamen hair (TSH) assay. Potted plants were irradiated with $0{\sim}2$ Gy of ${\gamma}$-rays. For the combined treatments, the plants were irradiated with neutrons from $^{252}Cf$ 24 hours before or after ${\gamma}$-irradiation. The slopes of dose-response curves were 5.98, 6.17 and 7.48, in ${\gamma}$-rays, ${\gamma}$-rays+neutrons, and neutrons+${\gamma}$ -rays irradiated groups, respectively. The biological efficacy of radiations in the induction of pink mutations increased by 25% in neutrons+${\gamma}$-rays irradiated group, while it increased by 12% in ${\gamma}$-rays+neutrons irradiated group. The combined irradiation with two kinds of radiations results in the different efficacy of radiation depending on the order of irradiations, which is of great importance in the related fields such as sterilization and radiotherapy.