Since September 11, 2001, there has been the recognition of a plausible threat from acts of terrorism, including radiological or nuclear attacks. A network of Centers for Medical Countermeasures against Radiation (CMCRs) has been established across the U.S.; one of the missions of this network is to identify and develop mitigating agents that can be used to treat the civilian population after a radiological event. The development of such agents requires comparison of data from many sources and accumulation of information consistent with the "Animal Rule" from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Given the necessity for a consensus on appropriate animal model use across the network to allow for comparative studies to be performed across institutions, and to identify pivotal studies and facilitate FDA approval, in early 2008, investigators from each of the CMCRs organized and met for an Animal Models Workshop. Working groups deliberated and discussed the wide range of animal models available for assessing agent efficacy in a number of relevant tissues and organs, including the immune and hematopoietic systems, gastrointestinal tract, lung, kidney and skin. Discussions covered the most appropriate species and strains available as well as other factors that may affect differential findings between groups and institutions. This report provides the workshop findings.

The Los Alamos code MCNP4A (Monte Carlo N-Particle version 4A) is currently used to simulate a variety of problems ranging from nuclear reactor analysis to boron neutron capture therapy. A graphical user interface has been developed that automatically sets up the MCNP4A geometry and radiation source requirements for a three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation using computed tomography data. The major drawback for this dosimetry system is the amount of time to obtain a statistically significant answer. A specialized patch file has been developed that optimizes photon particle transport and dose scoring within the standard MCNP4A lattice geometry. The transport modifications produce a performance increase (number of histories per minute) of approximately 4.7 based upon a 6 MV point source centered within a 30 x 30 x 30 cm3 lattice water phantom and 1 x 1 x 1 mm3 voxels. The dose scoring modifications produce a performance increase of approximately 470 based upon a tally section of greater than 1 x 10(4) lattice elements and a voxel size of 5 mm3. Homogeneous and heterogeneous benchmark calculations produce good agreement with measurements using a standard water phantom and a high- and low-density heterogeneity phantom. The dose distribution from a typical mediastinum treatment planning setup is presented for qualitative analysis and comparison versus a conventional treatment planning system.

A sincere thank you: To Tomas Kron for seeding the concept of this book. To Jerry Battista for providing unending support, for being an excellent "sounding board," and for reviewing a number of my chapters. To the authors and co-authors of the chapters of this book. Their contributions have given this book the quality that it is. To Ervin Podgorsak and Glenn Glasgow who graciously took on the additional challenge of providing more than one chapter. To Christina Woodward for sleuthing and resolving incomplete references. To members of the Medical Physics group at the London Regional Cancer Centre who have been consistent in their help and support. To Betsey Phelps and the staff at Medical Physics Publishing for making this book a reality. To Barb Barons for clerical support.

In pathogen-free mice, but not standard conventionally housed laboratory rodents, two distinctly different modes of early radiation lethality can be identified by modifying the irradiation technique (total-body versus abdominal irradiation) or by therapeutic intervention such as rescue of total-body-irradiated mice with syngeneic bone marrow or spleen. While damage to the gastrointestinal tract is usually designated as the predominant cause of death occurring within 10 days of radiation exposure, it was demonstrated that damage to the hematopoietic/lymphopoietic system can result in animal lethality over the same period as the gastrointestinal syndrome and that this target cell population is more radiation-sensitive than the gastrointestinal epithelium.

In x-ray phototherapy of brain tumours, the tumour is loaded with iodine and exposed to kilovoltage x-rays. Due to the high photoelectric cross sections of iodine, substantial photoelectric interactions occur. The flux of photoelectrons, characteristic x-rays and Auger electrons produce a localized dose enhancement. A modified computed tomography scanner, CTRx, can be used both for tumour localization and delivery of the dose enhancement therapy. Monte Carlo methods were employed to simulate the treatment of iodinated brain tumours with a CTRx. The calculated results reveal the effect of tumour iodine concentration on dose distribution, the degree of skull bone sparing with the application of multiple arcs, and the homogeneity of tumour dose distribution versus iodine concentration. A comparison with 10 MV stereotactic radiosurgery treatment shows the potential of CTRx treatment relative to conventional treatment modalities.