Fast Neutron Radiation Efiects on Bacillus Subtili

To examine the sterilizing effect and mechanism of neutron radiation, Bacillus subtills var. niger, strain （ATCC 9372） spores were irradiated with the fast neutron from the Chinese fast burst reactor II（CFBR-II）. The plate-count results indicated that the D10 value was 384.6 Gy with a neutron radiation dose rate of 7.4 Gy/min. The rudimental catalase activity of the spores declined obviously with the increase in the radiation dose. Meanwhile, under the scanning electron microscope, no visible influence of the neutron radiation on the spore configuration was detected even if the dose was increased to 4 kGy. The content and distribution of DNA double-strand breaks induced by neutron radiation at different doses were measured and quantified by pulsed- field gel electrophoresis （PFGE）. Further analysis of the DNA release percentage （PR）, the DNA breakage level （L）, and the average molecular weight, indicated that DNA fragments were obvi- ously distributed around the 5 kb regions at different radiation doses, which suggests that some points in the DNA molecule were sensitive to neutron radiation. Both PR and L varied regularly to some extent with the increase in radiation dose. Thus neutron radiation has a high sterilization power, and can induce falling enzyme activity and DNA breakage in Bacillus subtilis spores

Highly luminescent zero-dimensional lead-free manganese halides forβ-ray scintillation

Because of their moderate penetration power,β-rays(high-energy electrons)are a useful signal for evaluating the surface contamination of nuclear radiation.However,the development ofβ-ray scintillators,which convert the absorbed high-energy electrons into visible photons,is hindered by the limitations of materials selection.Herein,we report two highly luminescent zerodimensional(0D)organic-inorganic lead-free metal halide hybrids,(C_(13)H_(30)N)_(2)MnBr_(4)and(C_(19)H_(34)N)_(2)MnBr_(4),as scintillators exhibiting efficientβ-ray scintillation.These hybrid scintillators combine the superior properties of organic and inorganic components.For example,organic components that contain light elements C,H,and N enhance the capturing efficiency ofβparticles;isolated inorganic[MnBr_(4)]2−tetrahedrons serve as highly localized emitting centers to emit intense radioluminescence(RL)underβ-ray excitation.Both hybrids show a narrow-band green emission peaked at 518 nm with photoluminescence quantum efficiencies(PLQEs)of 81.3%for(C_(13)H_(30)N)_(2)MnBr_(4)and 86.4%for(C_(19)H_(34)N)_(2)MnBr_(4),respectively.To enable the solution processing of this promising metal halide hybrid,we successfully synthesized(C_(13)H_(30)N)_(2)MnBr_(4)colloidal nanocrystals for the first time.Being excited byβ-rays,(C_(13)H_(30)N)_(2)MnBr_(4)scintillators show a linear response toβ-ray dose rate over a broad range from 400 to 2,800 Gy·s^(−1),and also display robust radiation resistance that 80%of the initial RL intensity can be maintained after an ultrahigh accumulated radiation dose of 240 kGy.This work will open up a new route for the development ofβ-ray scintillators.