The effects of ionizing radiation on biological cells have been reported in several literatures. Most of them were mainly concerned with doses greater than 0.01 Gy and were also concerned with gamma rays. On the other hand, the studies on very low dose fast neutrons (VLDFN) are rare. In this study, we have investigated the effects of VLDFN on cell membrane and protein secondary structure of rat erythrocytes. Twelve female Wistar rats were irradiated with neutrons of total dose 0.009 Gy (241Am-Be, 0.2 mGy/h) and twelve others were used as control. Blood samples were taken at the 0, 4th, 8th, and 12th days postirradiation. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of rat erythrocytes were recorded. Second derivative and curve fitting were used to analysis FTIR spectra. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was used to classify group spectra. The second derivative and curve fitting of FTIR spectra revealed that the most significant alterations in the cell membrane and protein secondary structure upon neutron irradiation were detected after 4 days postirradiation. The increase in membrane polarity, phospholipids chain length, packing, and unsaturation were noticed from the corresponding measured FTIR area ratios. This may be due to the membrane lipid peroxidation. The observed band shift in the CH2 stretching bands toward the lower frequencies may be associated with the decrease in membrane fluidity. The curve fitting of the amide I revealed an increase in the percentage area of α-helix opposing a decrease in the β-structure protein secondary structure, which may be attributed to protein denaturation. The results provide detailed insights into the VLDFN effects on erythrocytes. VLDFN can cause an oxidative stress to the irradiated erythrocytes, which appears clearly after 4 days postirradiation.

The interaction of 8 Li with 208 Pb has been studied over a range of energies near the nominal Coulomb barrier. An excitation function for the total reaction cross section is obtained from elastic-scattering angular distributions and compared with existing data for 6,7 Li scattering. The result of this comparison indicates that the interaction barrier for 8 Liϩ 208 Pb is reduced by approximately 4 MeV relative to that of 7 Li. The yields of 7 Li and 4 He from breakup and/or transfer processes are determined, and compared with similar data for other light, weakly bound projectiles.

The elastic scattering of protons on 7 Be has been measured in the energy region from 1-3.3 MeV via the thick-target technique. The data conclusively demonstrate the existence of a 2 − state at an excitation energy of approximately 3.5 MeV in 8 B, and rule out a predicted 1 + state near 1.4 MeV. The relevance of these results for the 7 Be (p,γ) reaction, of interest in solar neutrino physics, is discussed.

The ratio of L- to K-shell electron captures in light nuclei is particularly sensitive to electron overlap and exchange effects. Calculations of these effects in (7)Be disagree by more than 20%. We report a measurement of the L/K ratio in (7)Be, using a cryogenic microcalorimeter which clearly separates L- and K-shell captures. The obtained L/K ratio of 0.040(6) is less than half that of existing predictions for free (7)Be. The discrepancy is likely due to in-medium effects distorting the L-shell electron orbitals.