Amount Of Radium Research Articles

The delayed lethal effect of radium on tissue cultures in vitro —Comparison of continuous and spaced radiation

In a previous paper (Spear, 1930) I have described the delayed lethal effects or radium on tissue cultures in vitro . Two quantities of radium were used in the experiments—100 mg. and 300 mg.—and exposures varied from 3 hours up to 24 hours. It was found that when a delayed lethal effect followed exposure to radium, it occurred sooner in those cultures which had been exposed to the greater intensity of radiation for a shorter time than in those subjected to the lesser intensity for a longer time, the product of milligrams of radium and hours of exposure being constant in a given comparison. The following experiments were made to compare the length of the survival period of cultures exposed to a continuous irradiation known to be lethal, with the survival period following exposure to a spaced radiation of the same intensity.

The Technic of Radiography by Gamma Rays

GAMMA rays can be used in place of X-rays as a means of non-destructive testing of castings and welds for internal defects. It was shown by Mehl, Doan, and Barrett1 that radiographs can be taken through ordinary sections of steel in a few hours. using as sources of γ-rays amounts of radium readily available at hospitals in the larger cities. The greater penetrating power of γ-rays compared with X-rays was pointed out, and examples reproduced of radiographs taken through thicknesses well beyond the range of usefulness of X-rays at present available. The apparatus necessary for γ-ray radiography is very simple. A small container of radio-active material is supported rigidly in front of the specimen to be inspected, and X-ray films in suitable holders fastened to the back of the specimens. Figure 1 shows the experimental arrangement used for taking four simultaneous radiographs of specimens built up of plates. A small glass funnel was used to hold the bulb of radium emanation in the center of the group. In F...

Societies and Academies

PARIS Academy of Sciences, Sept. 8.—W. Vernadsky: The radium in aquatic organisms. The amounts of radium in different species of Lemna growing in lakes containing known amounts of radium have been determined. The concentration of radium in the living plant is 100-650 times that present in the water. The amounts of radium vary considerably with the species of Lemna, and this variation does not depend on the weight of the individual plant. The question as to what is the function of radium in the vital processes of Lemna still remains unanswered.—Auguste Lumiere and Mme. R. H. Grange: The protective action of cholesterol against shock caused by flocculates. The facts cited prove that injections of cholesterol protect the animal (rabbit) against shocks of the anaphylactic type.—Joergen Rybner: Nomograms for transformations between rectangular and polar co-ordinates and for complex hyperbolic functions.—Cl. Chevalley: The theory of normic residues.—Radu Badesco: Logarithmic solutions of an integral equation.—Luca Teodoriu: A partial differential equation which occurs in the problem of average.—F. Charles and J. Flandrin: Contribution to the study of Cretaceous soils in the north of Anatolia (Asia Minor).—P. Fallot, A. Marin, and M. Blumenthal: The limestone chain of the Spanish Rif between Xauen and oued M'ter.—Th. Bieler-Chatelan: The polysynthetic quaternary glacier of Monti Simbruini (Central Apennines). The causes of its extension. The author concludes that in the Apennines, in spite of the altitudes being lower than the Alps, the quaternary glaciers could have reached dimensions comparable with those of Alpine glaciers, this being due to the heavy rainfall which has always characterised these ranges.—Jules Amar: The diaphragm origin of respiration.—Angelo Migliavacca: The lipochrome interstitial cells of the uterus.—Re my Collin and Pierre Florentin: The growth of the nuclei in geometrical progression in LcewenthaPs gland.—Mme. Y. Khouvine, E. Aubel,and L. Chevillard: The mechanism of the transformation of pyruvic acid into lactic acid in the liver.

The Use and Abuse of Radium Needles

Although post-graduate courses of instruction, books, papers in scientific and medical journals, etc., inform the medical profession concerning the essentials of radium therapy, there is, as yet, comparatively little public information available on the economic and administrative aspects of a hospital radium service. The need for this kind of information is very apparent at the present time, when the acquisition of radium for the treatment of malignant disease is under consideration by many groups of hospital authorities. Under these circumstances we have thought it would be of interest to publish the results of an analysis of some of the records which we, as radium custodians, have kept for several years at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. As an account of the organisation and equipment of the Radium Department of the Hospital has already been given, *† we shall here confine ourselves to the task of furnishing data for the guidance of those who have to answer the following questions:— Q.I. How many patients can be treated in a year with a given quantity of radium? Q.2. What efficiency of use can be expected? Q.3. What is the best distribution of radium that can be made among the several types of container? Q.4. What is the average “life” of a radium container and its risk of loss or damage? It is obvious that the answers to most of these questions will vary both with the type of case to be treated and with the technique adopted.

The Use of Small Amounts of Radium at a Distance in the Treatment of Carcinoma of the Mouth and Face

THAT radiation—the use of X-rays and Gamma rays of radium—is useful in destroying cancer cells has been an established fact for a number of years. X-rays of even long wave length—in what to-day would be considered very small doses—were shown to be effective in decreasing the size of the spleen in splenomyelogenous leukemia by W. A. Pusey, in 1896, and at almost as early a date epitheliomata of the skin were successfully treated by both the Gamma and Beta rays of radium. The results were by no means uniformly successful but even at that early date it was clearly shown that, potentially at least, radiation was an effective agent in the treatment of malignancy. With the gradual accumulation of knowledge both as the result of careful clinical observations, with statistical studies, and painstaking laboratory investigations both of biopsy material and spontaneous and implanted carcinomatous growths in animals, the hit-or-miss methods and inconsistent results of that early day have been replaced, until to-day i...

Radium and Radon Tubes

During the last year or two it has become the usual custom, when embedding radium tubes into malignant growths, to use very much smaller concentrations of radium. Often tubes or needles are used containing about one milligram of radium element per centimeter length of tube; these are sometimes left in a week or longer. It seems an important point to know how much more the concentration can be reduced, and the tubes still be capable of causing the disappearance of malignant growths, when the reduction in the quantity of radium is made up by a proportional increase in the length of the exposure. Jensen's Rat Sarcoma has been used for most of the experiments recorded here. In most cases the rats have had a tumour on both flanks so that one could be used as a control; measurements of the tumours have been taken twice a week so that the effect of the irradiation can be easily detected. Platinum tubes of various sizes containing either radium or radon have been inserted into quickly growing tumours. After a def...

Editorial Notes

Editorial NotesPublished Online:29 May 2014https://doi.org/10.1259/0007-1285-2-16-153SectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail AboutAbstractTo a distinguished gathering, which included the Lord Chancellor, at a reception at the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, on March 1, Sir John Rose Bradford, P.R.C.P., explained the methods which the committee of the King Edward's Hospital Fund are proposing to adopt with the radium purchased with Sir Otto Beit's gift of £50,000. The quantities of radium at present available, owned or on loan, at the various hospitals was first ascertained. No one hospital possessed quantities approaching those available at some treatment centres on the Continent, nor would possess such quantities even as a result of this gift and of the gifts of £25,000 to the London Hospital for the same purpose. It was decided by the Fund committee to provide, in the first place, a certain very limited number of hospitals with a quantity of radium sufficient to enable them, with their own supplies, to function as radium centres, not only treating their own patients, but supplying radium emanation to other hospitals; and in the second place, to distribute among the hospitals in a more general way, such supplies as would enable them to treat a certain number, if not all, of their patients who required radium treatment. Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 2, Issue 16April 1929Pages: 153-208 © The British Institute of Radiology History Published onlineMay 29,2014 Metrics Download PDF

THE RADIOACTIVE CONSTITUENTS OF HOKUTOLITES AND OTHER MINERALS IN JAPAN

Abstract As to the uranium in hokutolite, there is no analytical evidence, hitherto, of its presence in this mineral, and it is thought quite useless to calculate it from the amount of radium, as the mineral is obviously of the secondary nature. The radium- and thorium-contents of the two kinds of hakutoutes mentioned above are respectively of the same order and quite similar. The comparatively large content of radium, however, in comparison with the poorer content of thorium shows that the radioactivity of this mineral is mainly ascribed to radium and its disintegrating products and very little to the members of thorium-series. It is seen that the allanite from Shirakawa, Kyoto Prefecture contains 1.05% Th O2 and 0.017% U3O8. The uranium-content of the xenotime-portion of the xenotime-zircon from Ishikawa was determined to be 2.42% U3O8. According to K. Kimura(1), the average amount of uranium in the “ Kikukwa-seki” is said as being 1.92% U O2. These results indicate that the amount of uranium in the zircon-portion of the latter mineral is probably less than that in the xeno-time portion. In conclusion, the author wishes to express his hearty thanks to Dr. S. Iimori for his kind direction during the course of this experiment.

The Luminescence of Pure Barium Bromide Under the Action of Alpha-, Beta-, and Gamma-Rays

The luminescent material studied (c. p. barium bromide heat-treated) is not luminous by itself, nor is the exciting agent (radium sulphate covered with varnish) self-luminous under the existing conditions. By the use of an especially designed brass capsule the barium bromide was held within the range of action of the $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-, $\ensuremath{\beta}$-, and $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-rays from the radium, but the luminescent material and the exciting agent were kept separate. Under these conditions there was for a time, a definite increase in brightness, then from maximum brightness the luminescence decayed with time until a limiting value was reached. Samples of barium bromide from three manufacturers were studied, each under the action of four different amounts of radium. The results were consistent. It was found that the the initial luminosity varies with the temperature at which the barium bromide has been treated previous to the action of the rays. The sample was heated to the desired temperature, then cooled quickly to room temperature, pulverized, placed in the capsule in contact with the radioactive preparation and the brightness measured as soon as possible. The luminosity gradually increased with the temperature of heat-treatment to a maximum value, then the luminescence decreased and rose again to a second maximum, which was followed by a gradual decrease with further increase in the temperature of the heat-treatment through the melting point of the barium bromide.

LIV. The heating effect of the γ-rays of radium B and radium C

1. (1) The heating effect of the total γ-rays emitted by the quantity of radium B and radium C in equilibrium with 1 gram of radium has been found to be 8·6 calories an hour. 2. (2) Of this 0·86 ca...

A Projection Electroscope for Quantitative and Qualitative X-Ray Measurements

THERE is a demand among roentgenologists for a system of units of roentgen-ray quantity and quality which are independent of transformer and tube characteristics. The electrostatic unit for quantity and the effective wave length for quality have been introduced by Friedrich (1) and Duane (2), respectively, to satisfy this demand. How well these units serve their purpose is attested to by the enthusiasm of those roentgenologists who have employed the system. The use of these units is not as widespread as it deserves to be. Perhaps the principal reason why these units are not more widely employed is the lack of a suitable portable instrument for their determination. A truly portable, light weight, compact, easily operated, and withal accurate instrument, the calibration of which can be checked by the roentgenologist against a small amount of radium as a standard, would encourage the use of the electrostatic and effective wave length units. An electroscope designed by H. M. Elsey of the University of Kansas ...

A review of a number of cases treated by radium in the year 1924

1. Rodent ulcers respond favourably to treatment by radium. One application is usually sufficient, and the cosmetic results are very good. 2. The combined applications of radium and X-Rays are more beneficial than one or other of them alone in the treatment of uterine and oral carcinoma, when a rapid intensive local effect is required as well as a diffuse effect to destroy metastases. 3. For prophylactic post operative irradiation “Deep Therapy” is preferable to radium, because X-Rays are more diffuse in their action, and a more homogeneous depth dose can be obtained with them than with the amount of radium which is ordinarily available.

The Application of Radium in Operable or Borderline Cases of Carcinoma of the Cervix Uteri before Operation

I have tried to estimate the quantity of radium, the number of applications, the milligram hours of each application, the necessary total dose, the interval between applications, and the most effective interval from the first application to the day of operation that would most favorably influence the lesion, and avoid any possible chance of damaging it for a recognized surgical procedure in operable or borderline cases of carcinoma of the cervix. In order to improve results, surgeons, as a rule, supplement the total abdominal hysterectomy by first applying heat in some form. The simple cautery and the Percy cautery are probably the chief recognized methods of local destruction of the diseased area. Ross studied 475 cases of cancer of the uterine cervix seen at the Mayo Clinic between January 1, 1912, and January 1, 1919. He says: “Delayed hysterectomy gave better results than immediate hysterectomy in conjunction with the simple cautery and the Percy cautery. Furthermore, total abdominal hysterectomy and ...

An analysis of the failures in radium treatment of cervical cancer

1.1. Radium treatment of uterine cancer should be kept in the hands of the gynecologist rather than the roentgenologist, but such a gynecologist should seek preliminary training in the use of radium and must have continued opportunity for observation and treatment of cancer cases in order to reduce mistakes to a minimum.2.2. Good permanent results can be obtained in a certain proportion of cervical cancers with amounts of radium not exceeding 100–150 mgrs. of the element, though the use of large amounts in the form of emanation will doubtless decrease complications and increase the number of cures to some degree.3.3. If possible, all necessary treatment should be given within the first six to eight week period before sclerosis has set in and rendered the cancer less accessible and the normal tissues more susceptible to injury.4.4. Tumor filtration or light metal filtration together with intracervical application does most good and least damage; 2,500–3,500 mgrhs. are usually enough to give results in the favorable cases.5.5. In the absence of the Bailey bomb and large amounts of emanation, well directed and prolonged x-ray from 6–8 portals will usually affect the parametrial and glandular involvements.6.6. Prolonged necrosis and fistulas are due to repeated treatments, to vaginal applications and to heavy gamma radiation or to a combination of the three.7.7. Rectovaginal fistulas are more frequent and vesicovaginal fistulas less frequent after radium treatment.8.8. Operation is to be preferred in all operable cases under 35 years and in the early operable cases beyond this age. Radium is to be recommended wherever obesity, lung, heart, or kidney lesion, makes operation difficult or dangerous, and in advanced operable, borderline and inoperable, but not in the advanced inoperable group with cachexia.These are, of course, not conclusions, but merely estimates based upon an analysis of the results thus far obtained. Under improved methods of treatment and wider experience they will doubtless be materially changed.

Some Biological Effects of Small Quantities of Radium

Some Biological Effects of Small Quantities of Radium

Radium and the Evolution of the Earth's Crust

IT is now well known that if the proportion of radium in the interior of the earth is the same as that in the surface rocks, the earth ought to be growing hotter, and the temperature gradient of the crust ought to be much higher than we find it. A simple calculation shows that a distribution of radium averaging 2 × 10–14 grams in each gram of rock throughout the earth would suffice to preserve thermal equilibrium. The amounts of radium actually found in the surface rocks are approximately as follows:—

Amount of radium in some uranium ores

Amount of radium in some uranium ores

IX. On a method of investigating the quantity of radium in rocks and minerals &c

IX. <i>On a method of investigating the quantity of radium in rocks and minerals &amp;c</i>

A determination of the ratio of mass to weight for a radioactive substance

Experiments have been made from time to time by different observers, with a view of testing the constancy of the ratio of mass to weight for various substances. Their results have been uniformly negative so far as indicating any deviation from constancy is concerned. Several years ago an experiment of this nature was undertaken by Prof. Sir J. J. Thomson, who used a pendulum the bob of which was made of radium. The quantity of radium, however, was small, and it was found to be impossible to obtain a very high degree of accuracy. The considerations which led to the supposition that radium might differ from non-radioactive substances in the above respect were as follows:—* “The simplest electrical system we know, an electrified sphere, has attached to it a mass of ether proportional to its potential energy, and such that if the mass were to move with the velocity of light its kinetic energy would equal the electrostatic potential energy of the particle. This result can be extended to any electrified system, and it can be shown that such a system binds a mass of the ether proportional to its potential energy. Thus a part of the mass of any system is proportional to the potential energy of the system.

The Ratio between Uranium and Radium in Minerals

IN his interesting letter (NATURE, August 25) Mr. A. S. Russell describes the result of a determination of the amount of radium in a specimen of autunite from Autun, France, made by him in Prof. Marckwald's laboratory, which he found to be only 27 per cent. of the equilibrium amount. The ratio found by Mlle. Gleditsch in Mme. Curie's laboratory for the same mineral was 80 per cent., while Miss Pirret and I recently, for an autunite from Guarda, Portugal, found 44 per cent. Some results I have obtained since the paper with Miss Pirret was published appear to put a new complexion on the matter. Dual measurements of the radium ratio and of the helium content of several specimens of Portuguese autunite have shown that both vary considerably for different specimens of the same mineral. Prof. Piutti (“Helium in Recent Minerals,” Le Radium, 1910, vii., 178) found that autunite was the only radio-active mineral in which helium could not be detected.