The Role of Natural Background Radiation in Maintaining Genomic Stability in the CGL1 Human Hybrid Model System.

Natural background ionizing radiation is present on the earth's surface; however, the biological role of this chronic low-dose-rate exposure remains unknown. The Researching the Effects of the Presence and Absence of Ionizing Radiation (REPAIR) project is examining the impacts of sub-natural background radiation exposure through experiments conducted 2 km underground in SNOLAB. The rock overburden combined with experiment-specific shielding provides a background radiation dose rate 30 times lower than on the surface. We hypothesize that natural background radiation is essential for life and maintains genomic stability and that prolonged exposure to sub-background environments will be detrimental to biological systems. To evaluate this, human hybrid CGL1 cells were continuously cultured in SNOLAB and our surface control laboratory for 16 weeks. Cells were assayed every 4 weeks for growth rate, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity (a marker of cellular transformation in the CGL1 system), and the expression of genes related to DNA damage and cell cycle regulation. A subset of cells was also exposed to a challenge radiation dose (0.1 to 8 Gy of X rays) and assayed for clonogenic survival and DNA double-strand break induction to examine if prolonged sub-background exposure alters the cellular response to high-dose irradiation. At each 4-week time point, sub-background radiation exposure did not significantly alter cell growth rates, survival, DNA damage, or gene expression. However, cells cultured in SNOLAB showed significantly higher ALP activity, a marker of carcinogenesis in these cells, which increased with longer exposure to the sub-background environment, indicative of neoplastic progression. Overall, these data suggest that sub-background radiation exposure does not impact growth, survival, or DNA damage in CGL1 cells but may lead to increased rates of neoplastic transformation, highlighting a potentially important role for natural background radiation in maintaining normal cellular function and genomic stability.

Protracted Exposure to a Sub-background Radiation Environment Negatively Impacts the Anhydrobiotic Recovery of Desiccated Yeast Sentinels.

ABSTRACT: Experiments that examine the impacts of subnatural background radiation exposure provide a unique approach to studying the biological effects of low-dose radiation. These experiments often need to be conducted in deep underground laboratories in order to filter surface-level cosmic radiation. This presents some logistical challenges in experimental design and necessitates a model organism with minimal maintenance. As such, desiccated yeast ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae ) is an ideal model system for these investigations. This study aimed to determine the impact of prolonged sub-background radiation exposure in anhydrobiotic (desiccated) yeast at SNOLAB in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Two yeast strains were used: a normal wild type and an isogenic recombinational repair-deficient rad51 knockout strain ( rad51 Δ). Desiccated yeast samples were stored in the normal background surface control laboratory (68.0 nGy h -1 ) and in the sub-background environment within SNOLAB (10.1 nGy h -1 ) for up to 48 wk. Post-rehydration survival, growth rate, and metabolic activity were assessed at multiple time points. Survival in the sub-background environment was significantly reduced by a factor of 1.39 and 2.67 in the wild type and rad51 ∆ strains, respectively. Post-rehydration metabolic activity measured via alamarBlue reduction remained unchanged in the wild type strain but was 26% lower in the sub-background rad51 ∆ strain. These results demonstrate that removing natural background radiation negatively impacts the survival and metabolism of desiccated yeast, highlighting the potential importance of natural radiation exposure in maintaining homeostasis of living organisms.

The REPAIR Project, a Deep-Underground Radiobiology Experiment Investigating the Biological Effects of Natural Background Radiation: The First 6 Years.

In 2017, a special edition of Radiation Research was published [Oct; Vol. 188 4.2 (https://bioone.org/journals/radiation-research/volume-188/issue-4.2)] which focused on a recently established radiobiology project within SNOLAB, a unique deep-underground research facility. This special edition included original articles, reviews and commentaries relevant to the research goals of this new project which was titled Researching the Effects of the Presence and Absence of Ionizing Radiation (REPAIR). These research goals were founded in understanding the biological effects of terrestrial and cosmic natural background radiation (NBR). Since 2017, REPAIR has evolved into a sub-NBR radiobiology research program which investigates these effects using multiple model systems and various biological endpoints. This paper summarizes the evolution of the REPAIR project over the first 6-years including its experimental scope and capabilities as well as research accomplishments.

Human modification of a large meandering Amazonian river: genesis, ecological and economic consequences of the Masisea cutoff on the central Ucayali, Peru.

Evidence is mounting regarding the significant extent and scope of long-term human modification of "pristine nature" in the neotropics. In Amazonia, recent studies point to the landscape imprint of human activity that has transformed the forests, savannas, soils, and waterways of the basin. In this report, we describe a massive meander cutoff in the Peruvian Amazon along the Ucayali River--the fifth-longest river in the Amazon basin--that was triggered by small-scale human actions and resulted in significant ecological and economic consequences for the region. The modern case of the Masisea cutoff-near the Amazonian port city of Pucallpa, Peru (285,000 inhabitants)-indicates that humans using simple tools can play a major role in transforming large meandering rivers and their floodplains.

[Double reading in breast-cancer screening: what women know about it]. / Connaissance de la double lecture dans le dépistage du cancer du sein.

OBJECTIVE: An officially-sponsored and free breast cancer screening in France was extended to all regions in 2004. These mammography procedures include double reading, which reduces the number of false negatives. Together with this official program, administered by associations in each district, voluntary individual screening is still available. The aim of this study is to ascertain what women think about breast cancer screening, why they choose one method of screening or the other, and what they know about "double reading". METHODS: A postal survey inquiring about the kind of screening chosen and the reasons for this choice was sent to women aged 50 to 74 years covered by the national military health insurance fund. After descriptive analysis of the results, we compared the respondents' knowledge of double reading according to residence (two departments, one rural one and one urban), age, and educational level. RESULTS: 541 of the 994 eligible women responded (54%). More than 94% of them had had a mammography within the past two years, 62.1% through the official program. Women who had participated in the official screening knew more about "double reading" than the others (71.6% versus 50%, p<0.05 in the rural district and 67.4% versus 63.9% in the urban district). In the latter, familiarity with double reading increased as age decreased. Individual mammography depended on prior habits and gynecologists' prescriptions. DISCUSSION: Women must shift from individual mammography to the official program to receive a standardized, double-read, and quality-controlled mammography. Prescribing physicians should serve as an additional entryway into the organized program.

Deflector designs for fish habitat restoration.

Paired current deflectors are structures that are installed on each bank of a river to locally reduce the width of the channel, thereby creating flow acceleration and promoting scouring. These instream habitat structures have been used extensively in restoration projects to create pool habitat for fish, but there are many discrepancies in deflector design recommendations in terms of orientation, height, and length. Our objectives were to (1) examine how the angle, height, and length of paired deflectors affect scour hole dimensions and potential for bank erosion; and (2) test the applicability to paired deflectors of existing equations for scour hole depth and volume. Three deflector angles (45 degrees, 90 degrees, and 135 degrees), two deflector heights (with flow under and over the deflector height), and two lengths (reducing the width by 25% and 50%) were investigated using uniform sand in a laboratory flume. Results showed a 26-30% smaller scour depth resulting from 45 degrees deflectors than from 90 degrees deflectors and a 5-10% smaller scour depth for 135 degrees deflectors compared to 90 degrees deflectors. The volume of scour and the potential for bank erosion were greater when flow was under the height of the deflectors rather than overtopping and when the length of deflector was increased. When flow was under the deflector height, 135 degrees deflectors had the highest amount of bank erosion; whereas during overtopping flow conditions, 90 degrees deflectors had the greatest bank erosion potential. Values predicted by the model of Kuhnle and others were closest to observed scour depth and volume measurements. The assumption that upstream-oriented deflectors always generate the largest scour should be revised.