Definite identification has been made of an isotope of the element with atomic number 98 through the irradiation of Cm{sup 242} with about 35-Mev helium ions in the Berkeley Crocker Laboratory 60-inch cyclotron. The isotope which has been identified has an observed half-life of about 45 minutes and is thought to have the mass number 244. The observed mode of decay of 98{sup 244} is through the emission of alpha-particles, with energy of about 7.1 Mev, which agrees with predictions. Other considerations involving the systematics of radioactivity in this region indicate that it should also be unstable toward decay by electron capture. The chemical separation and identification of the new element was accomplished through the use of ion exchange adsorption methods employing the resin Dowex-50. The element 98 isotope appears in the eka-dysprosium position on elution curves containing berkelium and curium as reference points--that is, it precedes berkelium and curium off the column in like manner that dysprosium precedes terbium and gadolinium. The experiments so far have revealed only the tripositive oxidation state of eka-dysprosium character and suggest either that higher oxidation states are not stable in aqueous solutions or that the rates of oxidation are slow. The successful identification …

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The uses of radioactive isotopes in medical research can be conveniently divided into three principal categories; namely, the applications as tracers for the study of metabolic phenomena, as diagnostic aids in clinical medicine, and finally their role in therapy. Frequently radioisotopes available from the chain-reacting pile do not have a sufficient degree of specific activity for satisfactory use. A number of radioisotopes which can be produced with high specific activity in the pile possess half-lives too short to be of any practical value. Then, there are a few cases in which the desired radioisotope may be made in the pile with high specific activity, but concomitantly there is formed another radioisotope of the same element whose half-life is of such duration as to render its use hazardous in man. Finally, there are several elements of biological and medical interest whose radioactive isotopes can be produced only by the cyclotron.