The amount of the risk-reducing factor is denoted by
Q(
x). Considering the risk-reducing factor, equation 2 can be obtained from equation 1. Note that
D(
x) ≥ 0 is always satisfied, since risk is non-negative. The positive value
k is a proportionality constant and combines
D(
x) and
Q(
x) into a single equation.
First, let us consider what kind of continuous function
Q(
x) should be. From equation 1, the risk is 30% at 0 mSv. This is also true for equation 2, so
Q(0) is zero when a risk-reducing factor depends solely on radiation. As the radiation dose increases, the risk-reducing factor increases, but as the radiation dose increases further, the factor is inactivated by radiation and decreases. To have a hormesis region in equation 2,
Q(
x) need not have an inflection point in the increasing region, but only one inflection point in the decreasing region. The shape of this graph is not new; a hunchback graph has been proposed in the past as a factor involved in radiation adaptation response [
46,
47,
48].
3.1. A sequential model reaction when the two rate constants are the same
Considering function
Q(
x), as in the previous paper [
40], given that the dose rate is constant and the dose
x is proportional to time, each component quantity can be expressed as a function of the dose
x in reaction kinetics using differential equations. The raw material
P decomposes to produce
Q, and
Q decomposes to another substance (
Scheme 1). When two rate constants are the same and the rate constant
a is positive, the function
Q(
x) is obtained as equation 3, where
P(0) is the initial component amount of component
P. This equation gives a hunchback graph.
From equations 2 and 3 and the new definition
K =
kP(0), equation 4 is obtained.
From this, the new function
q(
x) is defined as in equation 5.
Ignoring the 0.5% increase from 0 mSv to 100 mSv, equation 4 implies equation 6.
When
x is alpha, suppose
D is at its minimum, 0, and
q is at its maximum, 30 (equations 7 and 8).
Then,
K is 30
e and
q(
x) takes the following form:
When
x is 100 mSv, the following equation is obtained:
When we allow an error of 10%, 30.5 is multiplied by 0.9 to get 27.45 as
D(100). Therefore, subtract 27.45 from 30 to get 2.55 as
q(100). Now, since alpha is greater than 0 and less than 100,
a is greater than 0.01. When 100
a is defined as
A (
A > 1), equation 10 gives the following equation:
Therefore, equation 12 is obtained.
Solving equation 12 using Grapher 2.5, we obtain that
A is 5.093, so
a is 5.093
. From equation 7, alpha is 19.63 mSv. Therefore, equation 4 implies equation 13, which is graphed in
Figure 1. From the above, it can be determined that the dose at which the hormesis effect is maximized is approximately 20 mSv.
Figure 1.
Graph of equation 13, with x (mSv) on the horizontal axis and D(x) (%) on the vertical axis.
Figure 1.
Graph of equation 13, with x (mSv) on the horizontal axis and D(x) (%) on the vertical axis.
3.2. Not ignoring the 0.5% increase from 0 mSv to 100 mSv
In the approximation in
Section 3.1 using equations 4 to 6, the increment of 0.5 for 0 mSv to 100 mSv was ignored. In the current section, equation 4 is used without neglecting this increment. We allow an error of 0.1, so 30.5 is multiplied by 0.9 to get 27.45 as
D(100). Substituting this value into equation 4 yields equation 14, which when reorganized becomes equation 15.
Substituting equation 15 into equation 4 gives equation 16.
As the definition of alpha, when
x is alpha, the value of
D is its minimum, 0 (equation 17). Differentiating equation 16 gives equation 18. Since equations 17 and 19 both hold, equations 20 and 21 follow.
From equations 20 and 21, eliminating the exponential term gives equation 22.
This equation can be rearranged into equation 23, which is quadratic in alpha. Furthermore, solving equation 23 yields equation 24.
Substituting equation 24 into equation 21 establishes equation 25, using the new definition given in equation 26 and recalling that 100
a =
A (
A > 1).
Using equations 25 and 26, we can find A using Grapher 2.5. Note that since alpha is greater than 0 and less than 100, beta is less than 1/30, and from equation 26, A is greater than 0.9836.
The result shows that
A is 4.873, implying that
a is 0.04873. Using equation 24, we obtain that alpha is 20.45 mSv. Equation 16 can thus be expressed as equation 27, which was graphed using Grapher 2.5 to obtain the value of
D(20.45) as 0.0055, which is almost zero (
Figure 2).
The dose at which the hormesis effect is maximized is approximately 20 mSv, which is the same dose as in
Section 3.1 when considering two significant digits. This indicates that the increase from 0 mSv to 100 mSv can be disregarded.
Figure 2.
Graph of equation 27, with x (mSv) on the horizontal axis and D(x) (%) on the vertical axis.
Figure 2.
Graph of equation 27, with x (mSv) on the horizontal axis and D(x) (%) on the vertical axis.
3.3. A sequential general model reaction when the two rate constants are different
In
Section 3.1, we showed that the component Q in scheme 1 obeys equation 3. However, it is not common for two reaction rate constants to be the same. Therefore, we considered a general model in which the two reaction constants are different (
Scheme 2). Following a general differential equations textbook, we obtain equation 28, where
P(0) is the initial component amount of component
P and the rate constants
a and
b are positive. This equation gives a hunchback graph.
From equations 2 and 28 and the definition
K =
kP(0), equation 29 is obtained.
As shown in
Section 3.2, the increase in risk from 0 mSv to 100 mSv can be ignored. Therefore, equation 29 may be approximated by equation 30, similar to as in
Section 3.1.
Here, the new function
q(
x) is defined by equation 31.
Like in
Section 3.1, when
x is alpha, the value of
q is its maximum, 30. Following a calculus textbook, alpha is solved for as follows.
Here, the value obtained by dividing
b by
a is defined as
t (
t > 0). Equation 32 can be rewritten as equation 33, and the value of
q when
x is alpha can be found as shown by the sequence of steps in equation 34.
When
x is alpha, the value of
q is 30 and the following equation is obtained.
As in
Section 3.1,
q(100) is 2.55, so equation 36 can be derived as shown from equation 31 and the definition of
t.
By eliminating
K using equation 35, equation 37 can be derived.
Recalling that 100
a =
A (
A > 0), equation 37 becomes equation 38.
To make it easier to interpret the graph that will be described later, we newly define
X as the value obtained by dividing alpha by 100 (0 <
X < 1). From equation 33 and the definition of
A,
X becomes as shown in equation 39. From equation 39,
A is expressed in terms of
X and
t as shown in equation 40.
From equations 38 and 40,
B is newly defined as in equation 41, and equation 42 is derived.
Figure 3 shows equation 41 given equation 42 plotted using Grapher 2.5.
Figure 3.
Graph of equation 42, with t on the horizontal axis and X on the vertical axis.
Figure 3.
Graph of equation 42, with t on the horizontal axis and X on the vertical axis.
By definition,
t represents the relationship between
a and
b, and
X is 1/100 of the dose alpha at which the hormesis effect is maximized. From the results in
Figure 3, we can see that as the relationship between
a and
b changes, the dose at which the hormesis effect is maximized changes. What we are most interested in next is how large the dose can be. From the results in
Figure 3, when
t is 1,
X reaches its maximum of 0.1963. Therefore, alpha is 19.63 mSv. Although not surprising, this value is the same as the conclusion in
Section 3.1. From the graph, in the range where
t is greater than 0.9471 and less than 1.0559,
X is 0.1963. When
t is 0.9471,
a is 0.05233 and
b is 0.04956. When
t is 1.0559,
a is 0.04956 and
b is 0.05233. Thus, when the first rate constant
a is almost the same as the second rate constant
b, the factor generating the first step can effectively cause radiation hormesis at about 20 mSv.