Mitochondrion-mediated apoptosis induced by Rana grylio virus infection in fish cells

A fish cell line, fathead minnow (FHM) cell, was used to investigate the alteration of mitochondrial dynamics and the mechanism of apoptosis under Rana grylio virus (RGV) infection. Microscopy observations, flow-cytometry analysis and molecular marker detection revealed the apoptotic fate of the RGV-infected cells. Some typical apoptotic characteristics, such as chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation and mitochondrial fragmentation, were observed, and significantly morphological changes of mitochondria, including size, shape, internal structure and distribution, were revealed. The mitochondria in RGV-infected cells were aggregated around the viromatrix, and the aggregation could be blocked by colchicine. Moreover, the Delta psi m collapse was induced, and caspase-9 and caspase-3 were activated in the RGV-infected cells. In addition, NF-kappa B activation and intracellular Ca2+ increase were also detected at different times after infection. The data revealed the detailed dynamics of mitochondrion-mediated apoptosis induced by an iridovirus, and provided the first report on mitochondrial fragmentation during virus-induced apoptosis in fish cells.

Toxicity of microcystins in the isolated hepatocytes of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)

The toxicity of hepatotoxic microcystins produced mainly by Microcystis aeruginosa in mammals and fishes was well studied in recent years. However, there were scarcely reports in toxic effects of microcystins on isolated hepatocytes of fishes, especially investigation of microcystin-induced apoptosis and/or necrosis in carp hepatocytes. In the present study, the isolated hepatocytes of common carp were exposed to various concentrations of microcystins (0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 100, 1000 mu g L-1) for 2, 4, 8, 16 and 24 h, respectively, and cytotoxicity of microcystins in the toxin-treated cells was determined. Results of this study showed that cytotoxicity of microcystins on carp hepatocytes was time and dose-dependent, and the approximate LC50 of microcystins in carp hepatocytes was 169.2 mu g L-1. The morphological changes typical of apoptosis, such as blebbing of cell membrane, condensation and fragmentation of cell nucleus were observed in the hepatocytes exposed to microcystins (1, 10 and 100 mu g L-1) using fluorescence and differential interference contrast microscopy. Agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA demonstrated a typical apoptotic "ladder pattern" in microcystin-treated hepatocytes after 16 h of exposure. Results of the present study indicated that the form of cell death in microcystin-treated hepatocytes depend on the exposure dose of toxin. When lower concentration of microcystins (10 and 100 mu g L-1) was used for exposure, carp hepatocytes died in apoptosis while, when higher one used (1000 mu g L-1), they died in the form of necrosis. (C) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Microcystin-RR-induced apoptosis in tobacco BY-2 cells

Our previous studies showed that microcystin-RR could induce oxidative damage in plant cells as they do with animal cells. However, whether microcystin can induce plant cell apoptosis is still unknown. In this study, the morphological changes of tobacco BY-2 suspension cells exposed to microcystin-RR were observed under light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, and apoptosis was clearly distinguished by intense perinuclear chromatin margination, condensation of nuclear chromatin after 6d exposure of 50 mg/L (about 50 mu M) microcystin-RR. We also found that microcystin-RR can induce tobacco cell apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner with flow cytometry analysis. Our study provides the first evidence that microcystins can induce plant cell apoptosis. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental study of the effects of temperature variation on droplet size and wetness fraction in a low-pressure model steam turbine

The three-stage low-pressure model steam turbine at the Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery and Machinery Laboratory (ITSM) was used to study the impact of three different steam inlet temperatures on the homogeneous condensation process and the resulting wetness topology. The droplet spectrum as well as the particle number concentration were measured in front of the last stage using an optical-pneumatic probe. At design load, condensation starts inside the stator of the second stage. A change in the steam inlet temperature is able to shift the location of condensation onset within the blade row up- or downstream and even into adjoining blade passages, which leads to significantly different local droplet sizes and wetness fractions due to different local expansion rates. The measured results are compared to steady three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics calculations. The predicted nucleation zones could be largely confirmed by the measurements. Although the trend of measured and calculated droplet size across the span is satisfactory, there are considerable differences between the measured and computed droplet spectrum and wetness fractions. © IMechE 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/ journalsPermissions.nav.

Induction of apoptosis in a carp leucocyte cell line infected with turbot (Scophthalmus maximus L.) rhabdovirus

A rhabdovirus was observed from the diseased turbot (Scophthalmus maximus L.) with lethal syndrome. In this study, a carp leucocyte (CLC) cell line was used to investigate the infection process and cell death mechanism occurring during the virus infection. Strong cytopathogenic effect (CPE) and the morphological changes, such as extreme chromatin condensation, nucleus fragmentation, and apoptotic body formation, were observed under fluorescence microscopy after DAPI staining in the infected CLC cells. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed cell shrinkage, plasma membrane blebbing, cytoplasm vacuolization, chromatin condensation, nuclear breakdown and formation of discrete apoptotic bodies. The bullet-shaped nucleocapsids were measured and ranged in size from 110 to 150 nm in length and 40 to 60 nm in diameter. And therefore the virus is called Scophthalmus maximus rhabdovirus (SMRV). Agarose gel electrophoresis analysis of the DNA extracted from infected cells showed typical DNA ladder in the course of SMRV infection. Flow cytometry analysis of SMRV infected CLC cells detected apoptotic peak in the virus infected CLC cells. Virus titre analysis and electron microscopic observation revealed that the virus replication fastigium was earlier than that of the apoptosis occurrence. No apoptosis was observed in the CLC infected with UV-inactivated SMRV. All these supported that SMRV infected CLC cells undergo apoptosis and the virus replication is necessary for apoptosis induction of CLC cells. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.

The Stark effect on excitons in a bilayer system

The Stark effect on excitons in a bilayer system is investigated theoretically within the framework of the effective-mass approximation. The calculations indicate that the energy of the excitons decreases as the value of the in-plane electric field F increases at a fixed value of the distance d between the layers. However, the energy of the excitons increases with d at a fixed value of F. In particular, it increases linearly at small values of d but increases as 1/d at large values. Therefore, it can be concluded that excitons in a bilayer system have a small binding energy equal to the absolute value of the excitonic energy at large d or small F. In addition, the radiative lifetime of heavy-hole excitons in this system is calculated and is found to be short at small values of both F and d. The radiative lifetime of heavy-hole excitons in a bilayer system can be increased by two orders by an in-plane electric field of 2 kV/cm when d is twice the excitonic Rydberg. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

热学微流控系统中瞬态相变传热研究

微尺度相变传热广泛存在于微反应器、微型燃料电池、微蒸发器、微冷凝器、微热管、微汽泡执行器等微流控器件中，研究微流控系统中的相变问题对于微流控器件的设计和运行具有重要的科学意义。本文针对三类典型的微尺度相变问题，即微尺度流动沸腾、微尺度流动凝结以及微加热器上的汽泡动力学进行了深入细致的研究，实验研究中所采用的实验件均为标准MEMS微加工工艺制作，克服了常规机械加工所造成的表面粗糙度的影响。 考虑到微流控系统中大量应用交叉型、弯曲型等复杂结构的微通道，在微尺度流动沸腾研究中，设计了一种具有交错微通道结构的微流控芯片，并以丙酮为工质，对该芯片内的流动沸腾进行了研究。发现了周期为毫秒量级微时间尺度的流型结构，整个周期包括单相液体充液、两相分层流以及部分蒸干的液膜流三个阶段；在单个微通道区域，由于蒸发动量力的作用，液膜沿流动方向呈非均匀分布，蒸干首先发生在上游；由于液相弗劳德数较小，导致微通道中依然存在分层流流型。由于毕渥数较小，芯片背面温度几乎与芯片内壁面温度保持同步变化。虽然红外热像仪的响应频率较低，但仍然可以鉴别出由于流型周期性转换导致的壁面温度脉动。 在微尺度流动凝结换热研究中，为便于获取凝结过程的动态流动特性，设计了一种低高宽比的单微通道，并以水为工质，对该微通道中的流动凝结换热进行了研究。实验中采取了空气自然对流冷却和 水强制对流冷却两种冷却强度。研究发现，该微通道中的凝结换热呈周期性，其周期在毫秒量级。在通道上游入口处，存在一个呈准静止状态的长汽弹，汽弹前端周期性脱离汽泡。增加冷却强度会使汽泡的脱离频率增大，脱离直径减小；长汽弹前端周期性脱离汽泡是由于汽液界面具有较大的韦伯数。汽泡在该微通道内的运动过程中直径基本不变是由于汽泡在通道内的滞留时间远小于汽泡完全冷凝所需的总时间。 为澄清并联通道的多通道效应对微尺度凝结换热的影响，作者设计了由三个矩形通道组成的并联微通道冷凝器。研究发现，通道中的流型结构与单通道凝结过程类似，均为上游呈准静止状态的长汽弹和下游周期性的汽泡脱离。在中间通道和侧通道中，总共发现了三种不同的汽泡脱离模式，即单汽丝断裂模式、双汽丝同步断裂模式以及双汽丝非同步断裂模式。多通道效应主要表现在由于硅基固体导热的影响，三个通道中具有不同的温度分布，中间通道的温度关于其中心线成对称分布，而两侧通道中的高温区域均靠向中间通道。虽然硅具有良好的导热性，整个硅基上的温差很小，但在微尺度下，小温差依然可以导致较大的温度梯度，造成中间通道的双汽丝关于其中心线成对称分布，并且总是发生同步断裂；侧通道中的双汽丝偏向中间通道，并且在靠近中间通道的一侧汽丝总是首先发生断裂。由于温度梯度引起的Maragnoni对流效应，侧通道中的汽泡脱离后便靠向高温侧。 在微汽泡动力学研究中，设计了一种尺寸为 的Pt薄膜微加热器，研究了脉冲控制参数对微加热器上汽泡动力学特性的影响。研究发现在该微加热器上发生汽泡核化时，核化温度均达到液体的过热极限，因此为均质核化过程。在不同的脉冲控制参数下，存在三类不同的汽泡动力学特性，即（1）汽泡爆炸性生长和冷凝以及汽泡二次生长；（2）汽泡爆炸性生长继而分裂、吸引并聚合；（3）汽泡振荡生长而后持续生长并最终达到稳定状态。在第（1）类中，汽泡二次生长是由于脉冲加热过程中在玻璃基片上储存了热量；在第（2）类中，汽泡冷凝过程中的Marangoni效应导致分裂后的汽泡互相吸引并最终聚合。在第（3）类中，汽泡尺寸最终达到稳定是由于汽泡内蒸汽的发生量与汽液界面上蒸汽的凝结量相等。 本文的研究将为微反应器、微型燃料电池、微换热器、微汽泡执行器等相变微流控系统的设计和运行提供科学指导。

Effect of channel surface wettability and temperature gradients on the boiling flow pattern in a single microchannel

The objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of channel surface wettability and temperature gradients on the boiling flow pattern in a single microchannel. The test section consists of a bottom silicon substrate bonded with a top glass cover. Three consecutive parts of an inlet fluid plenum, a central microchannel and an outlet fluid plenum were etched in the silicon substrate. The central microchannel had a width of 800 mu m and a depth of 30 mu m. Acetone liquid was used as the working fluid. High outlet vapor qualities were dealt with here. The flow pattern consists of a fluid triangle (shrinkage of the liquid films) and a connected long liquid rivulet, which is generated in the central microchannel in the timescale of milliseconds. The peculiar flow pattern is formed due to the following reasons: (1) the liquid rivulet tends to have a large contact area with the top hydrophilic channel surface of the glass cover, but a smaller contact area with the bottom silicon hydrophobic surface. (2) The temperature gradient in the chip width direction at the top channel surface of the glass cover not only causes the shrinkage of the liquid films in the central microchannel upstream, but also attracts the liquid rivulet populated near the microchannel centerline. (3) The zigzag pattern is formed due to the competition between the evaporation momentum forces at the vapor-liquid interfaces and the force due to the Marangoni effect. The former causes the rivulet to deviate from the channel centerline and the latter draws the rivulet toward the channel centerline. (4) The temperature gradient along the flow direction in the central microchannel downstream causes the breakup of the rivulet to form isolated droplets there. (5) Liquid stripes inside the upstream fluid triangle were caused by the small capillary number of the liquid film, at which the large surface tension force relative to the viscous force tends to populate the liquid film locally on the top glass cover surface.

Chaotic behavior of pulsating heat pipes

Chaotic behavior of closed loop pulsating heat pipes (PHPs) was studied. The PHPs were fabricated by capillary tubes with outer and inner diameters of 2.0 and 1.20 mm. FC-72 and deionized water were used as the working fluids. Experiments cover the following data ranges: number of turns of 4, 6, and 9, inclination angles from 5 degrees (near horizontal) to 90, (vertical), charge ratios from 50% to 80%, heating powers from 7.5 to 60.0 W. The nonlinear analysis is based on the recorded time series of temperatures on the evaporation, adiabatic, and condensation sections. The present study confirms that PHPs are deterministic chaotic systems. Autocorrelation functions (ACF) are decreased versus time, indicating prediction ability of the system is finite. Three typical attractor patterns are identified. Hurst exponents are very high, i.e., from 0.85 to 0.95, indicating very strong persistent properties of PHPs. Curves of correlation integral versus radius of hypersphere indicate two linear sections for water PHPs, corresponding to both high frequency, low amplitude, and low frequency, large amplitude oscillations. At small inclination angles near horizontal, correlation dimensions are not uniform at different turns of PHPs. The non-uniformity of correlation dimensions is significantly improved with increases in inclination angles. Effect of inclination angles on the chaotic parameters is complex for FC-72 PHPs, but it is certain that correlation dimensions and Kolmogorov entropies are increased with increases in inclination angles. The optimal charge ratios are about 60-70%, at which correlation dimensions and Kolmogorov entropies are high. The higher the heating power, the larger the correlation dimensions and Kolmogorov entropies are. For most runs, large correlation dimensions and Kolmogorov entropies correspond to small thermal resistances, i.e., better thermal performance, except for FC-72 PHPs at small inclination angles of theta < 15 degrees.

Synthesis and application on parallel image storage of bisfurylfulgide

A bisfurylfulgide, E, E-3,4-bis[1-(2,5-dimethyl-3-furyl)ethylidene]-3,4-dihydrofuran-2,5-dione, is synthesized by Stobbe condensation reaction. The molecular structure of target compound is confirmed by single crystal X-ray crystallography analysis. It shows that the distances between two possible reaction sites of molecule are 0.3394 and 0.3406 nm respectively, which is favorable to photocyclization. The photochromic properties of this compound in different solvents are investigated, and the result shows that the compound exhibits excellent photochromic behavior. The primary result of applied research on parallel image storage is also presented.

电致发光金属配合物和有机小分子的合成与性能

本文以调控发光颜色、提高发光效率为目的，通过改变配体、中心金属离子、取代基等进行颜色调节；通过引入电子或空穴传输单元，实现发光分子的功能化进而改善载流子传输提高发光效率。文中主要以有机小分子和金属配合物为研究对象，它们本身都具有良好的发光性质。工作集中围绕以下几个问题展开：1、PPV齐聚物是一类高效发光的分子体系，如果在其中嵌入8一取代的哇琳单元对发光会有什么影响？2、使用含噁二唑（具有电子传输功能）的配体得到的金属配合物是否能同时拥有双重功能，即高效发光（金属配合物的特点）和优良的电子传输？3、由N2O-双齿配体转变成N，N-双齿配体，配合物的发光又会如何？4、稀土配合物具有高的光致发光效率，但电致发光效率非常低，能否通过咔哇或呛二吟功能化来改善载流子传输，提高电致发光效率？主要工作及取得的结果概述如下：1、经由Knoevenagel缩合反应合成了一系列共骊的2，21-（1，4-芳二乙烯基）双-8-取代喹啉。单晶X-射线衍射研究表明固态下存在分子间，π…π堆积相互作用，这对于载流子传输是比较有利的。喹啉8-位于的取代基的变化对发光影响不大，表明刚性共扼骨架对发光起主要贡献。改变中心的芳核，明显可以调控发光颜色。当存在分子内电荷转移时，与不存在的相比，发光显著红移。电致发光性质表明这些含双喳琳的PPV齐聚物是良好的发光和电子传输材料。2、存在分子内氢键的化合物2-（2-羟基苯基）-5-苯基-1，3，4-噁二唑（HOXD），具有激发态分子内质子转移（ESIPT）特性。在室温下，用365脚的紫外灯照射时表现强的兰色荧光。室温和低温（77K）下的磷光光谱表明它在固态下具有较强的磷光发射，与理论预测完全一致。多层电致发光器件ITO加PB／HOXD／BCP／Alq3／Mg：Ag最大亮度达到656cd／m2，电流效率为0．37cd／A。当把HoxD掺在cBP中时，亮度和效率都有一定程度的提高，达到870cd／m2和0.82cd／A。3、合成了含有德二哩配体（HOXD）的碱金属配合物MOxD（M=Li，Na，K）。我们发现配合物的发光颜色取决于中心金属离子，LiOXD是一个优良的蓝光材料，半峰宽是65nm，发射峰位在478nm，它也可以作为界面材料使用，起到和LIF相同的作用，即改善电子注入。同时作者首次报道了钠和钾的配合物可以用作发光材料。电致发光性质表明这些配合物是优良的蓝／绿色发光和电子注入／传输材料。4、使用从N双齿配体代替N，O-双齿配体（比如8-羟基喹啉），合成了含有2－（2-羟基喹啉）苯并咪唑的锌、铍和硼配合物。用硼配合物作为发光层的三层器件ITO/NPB/boron-complex／Alq3／LiF／A1所得到的光谱覆盖了从400到750nm的区域，表明获得了一个很好的白色发光。白光分别源于激子和激基复合物发光，由三种成分构成：来自于硼配合物的兰色发光（490nm）；来自于Alq3的发光（535nln）；NPB和BPh2（Pybm）界面形成的激基复合物发光（610nm）。器件最大亮度是110cd／m2最大效率是0.8cd／A。5、设计、合成了咔唑、噁二唑功能化的稀土馆配合物，期望通过改善空穴和电子传输来提高发光效率。含咔哇的配合物的双层器件发光光谱较宽，包括三价铺的特征发射和一个宽峰，可能是咔唑的发光。当使用TPD做空穴传输层时，噁二唑铺配合物的电致发光器件得到纯正明亮的红色发光，器件结构为ITO／TPD（40nm）／（OXD-PyBM）Eu（DBM）3（SOnm）／LiF（Inm）／Al（200m），启动电压为7.8V，在21v时达到最大亮度322cd／m2。亮度为57cd／m2和13．sv时电流效率最大，为1.9cd／A，对应外量子效率是1.7％。高的效率表明通过引入噁二唑基团，配合物的电子传输能力得到明显改善。6、初步研究了三线态发光的铱的金属有机配合物，得到了高亮度、高效率的绿色发光；对8-羟基喹啉锌配合物的高分子化也做了初步探讨。

关于固体表面上液体球冠的平衡条件问题——兼评“冷凝器壁面滴状冷凝的热力学机理及最佳接触角”等文章

对于第一类液滴(尺度远大于界面层的厚度),无论是远离固体壁面的液体球或附着在壁面上的球冠,其内外压力差(简称"附加压力")均适用经典Laplace公式,并且特别对球冠情况给出了一种新的整体性证明.还澄清有关争论:指出[曹治党、郭愚1999物理学报481823]一文对附壁面第一类液体球冠所推导出的附加压力与接触角有关的公式是错误的,而[闵敬春2002物理学报512730]是正确的。

Improvement of FEM's dynamic property

The discretization size is limited by the sampling theorem, and the limit is one half of the wavelength of the highest frequency of the problem. However, one half of the wavelength is an ideal value. In general, the discretization size that can ensure the accuracy of the simulation is much smaller than this value in the traditional finite element method. The possible reason of this phenomenon is analyzed in this paper, and an efficient method is given to improve the simulation accuracy.

氮杂环化合物的绿色合成研究

氮杂环化合物大多数都是具有生理活性的物质，例如喹喔啉化合物与苯二氮卓类化合物，因此研究氮杂环化合物骨架的构建方法具有一定意义。绿色化学的迅速发展迫切要求化学家发展清洁、经济和环境较友好条件下的有机合成方法。其中，水相反应与绿色固体酸催化剂的使用都是实现绿色有机合成的重要途径，它们非常具有潜力，近些年受到了广泛关注。本论文的主要工作是围绕水相及固体酸催化条件下两类具有生物活性的含氮杂环小分子的合成方法而开展的，具体包括以下内容： 1. 研究和探索出了两类绿色固体酸催化剂蒙脱土（Mont. K-10）和杂多酸(H4SiW12O40), 在水相条件下成功合成出喹喔啉化合物的有效方法。两个催化体系都以无毒无公害的水作反应溶剂，实验条件温和，操作安全简便，反应速度快，底物普适性强，产率高，且产物易分离收集。两类固体酸催化剂，对设备腐蚀性小，可回收循环使用，对环境无公害; 蒙脱土催化大部分底物能得到当量产率的产物，硅钨酸催化催化剂负载量小。 2. 实现了无溶剂条件下，以杂多酸（H3PW12O40）作催化剂，高效合成1,5-苯二氮卓衍生物的合成方法。该催化体系具有以下一些优势：实验条件温和，反应速度较快，底物普适性良好，产物易分离收集，反应过程中没有加入其它有机溶剂，绿色环保。 ‘Green Chemistry’ is currently a major issue of modern chemistry. It is widely acknowledged that there is a growing need for more environmentally acceptable processes in the chemical industry. New green catalysts and green reaction media are the important and efficient strategies in green chemistry. New green catalysts include solid acid catalysts, solid base catalysts, metal catalysts not only possess higher activity and selectivity, but also are easily separated from reaction system. Green reaction media include water, supercritical fluids and ionic liquids can not only substitute traditional toxic and harmed organic solvents, but also improve reaction activity and selectivity. Meanwhile water is a promising green reaction medium for use in modern chemistry because it has a number of advantages such as the cheapest solvent available on earth, being non-hazardous and non-toxic to the environment. Solid acids had also attracted much attention for realizing green chemistry due to their unique acidity, high activity and efficiency as organic catalysts. Nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds of different ring sizes such as quinoxaline and benzodiazepine are the important pharmacologically active compounds. Due to the wide biological significance of these compounds, the synthesis of these types of compounds have received a great deal of attention. Despite the large availability of methods to construct nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds, there is still a strong need to further explore green methods to efficiently and safely synthesize these compounds. Thus, we aim at developing efficient and green methodology for the synthesis of quinoxaline and benzodiazepine carried out under water condition with solid acid catalysts. The contents of this dissertation are listed as the following: 1. We have developed two catalytic systems for the synthesis quinoxaline via the condensation of an aryl 1,2-diamine with a 1,2-diketone compound in the presence of Mont. K-10 or H4SiW12O40 as a catalyst in water solvent. Both of these two methods can be applied to wide range of substrates, tolerating aryl 1,2-diamine/1,2-diketone with the electron donating/drawing substituent. Operational simplicity, the ambient conditions, use of an economically convenient catalyst, use of water as a desirable solvent, high yields and short reaction times are the key features of these two protocols. 2. We developed a convenient and efficient protocol for the synthesis of a variety of 1,5-benzodiazepines in high yields via condensation of aryl o-phenylenediamine derivatives with a variety of ketones using H3PW12O40 as a green recyclable and heterogeneous catalyst under solvent-free condition. The simple experiment procedure combined with ease of recovery and reuse of this catalyst make this procedure quite simple, more convenient and environmentally benign.

Radiosensitivity of hepatoma cell lines and human normal liver cell lines exposed in vitro to carbon ions and argon ions at the HIRFL

Human hepatoma (SMMC-7721) and normal liver (L02) cells were irradiated with c-rays, 12C6+ and 36Ar18+ ion beams at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL). By using the Calyculin-A induced premature chromosome condensation technique, chromatid-type breaks and isochromatid-type breaks were scored separately. Tumor cells irradiated with heavy ions produced a majority of isochromatid break, while chromatid breaks were dominant when cells were exposed to c-rays. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for irradiation-induced chromatid breaks were 3.6 for L02 and 3.5 for SMMC-7721 cell lines at the LET peak of 96 keVlm 1 12C6+ ions, and 2.9 for both of the two cell lines of 512 keVlm 1 36Ar18+ ions. It suggested that the RBE of isochromatid-type breaks was pretty high when high-LET radiations were induced. Thus we concluded that the high production of isochromatid-type breaks, induced by the densely ionizing track structure, could be regarded as a signature of high-LET radiation exposure.