Response of Phaseolus vulgaris L. plants to low-let ionizing radiation: Growth and oxidative stress

The scenarios for the long-term habitation of space platforms and planetary stations involve plants as fundamental part of Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSS) to support the crew needs. Several constraints may limit plant growth in space: among them ionizing radiation is recognized to severely affect plant cell at morphological, physiological and biochemical level. In this work, plants of Phaseolus vulgaris L. were subjected to four different doses of X-rays (0.3, 10, 50 and 100 Gy) in order to assess the effects of ionizing radiation on this species and to analyze possible mechanisms carried out to overcome the radiation injuries. The effects of X-rays on plant growth were assessed by measuring stem elongation, number of internodes and leaf dry weight. The integrity of photosynthetic apparatus was evaluated by photosynthetic pigment composition and ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (Rubisco) activity, whereas changes in total antioxidant pool and glutathione S transferase activity (GST) were utilized as markers of oxidative stress. The distribution of phenolic compounds in leaf tissues as natural shielding against radiation was also determined.Irradiation of plants at 0.3 and 10 Gy did not determine differences in all considered parameters as compared to control. On the contrary, at 50 and 100 Gy a reduction of plant growth and a decrease in photosynthetic pigment content, as well as an increase in phenolic compounds and a decrease in total antioxidant content and GST activity were found. Only a slight reduction of Rubisco activity in leaves irradiated at 50 and 100 Gy was found. The overall results indicate P. vulgaris as a species with a good potential to face ionizing radiation and suggest its suitability for utilization in BLSSs.     

MRAM的辐射效应分析及加固方法简述

回顾从首款商用磁随机存取存储器(MRAM)芯片面世以来国际上对MRAM芯片辐射效应的研究;总结MRAM总剂量电离效应和单粒子效应辐照试验研究结果,以及辐射效应导致MRAM读写错误的物理机制;分析辐射效应对磁性隧道结结构和性能的影响,并指出MRAM应当针对外围电路、存储单元晶体管和磁性隧道结等处不同类型辐射效应进行对应的...     

Tardigrades as a potential model organism in space research

Exposure of living organisms to open space requires a high level of tolerance to desiccation, cold, and radiation. Among animals, only anhydrobiotic species can fulfill these requirements. The invertebrate phylum Tardigrada includes many anhydrobiotic species, which are adapted to survive in very dry or cold environmental conditions. As a likely by-product of the adaptations for desiccation and freezing, tardigrades also show a very high tolerance to a number of other, unnatural conditions, including exposure to ionizing radiation. This makes tardigrades an interesting candidate for experimental exposure to open space. This paper reviews the tolerances that make tardigrades suitable for astrobiological studies and the reported radiation tolerance in other anhydrobiotic animals. Several studies have shown that tardigrades can survive gamma-irradiation well above 1 kilogray, and desiccated and hydrated (active) tardigrades respond similarly to irradiation. Thus, tolerance is not restricted to the dry anhydrobiotic state, and I discuss the possible involvement of an efficient, but yet undocumented, mechanism for DNA repair. Other anhydrobiotic animals (Artemia, Polypedium), when dessicated, show a higher tolerance to gamma-irradiation than hydrated animals, possibly due to the presence of high levels of the protective disaccharide trehalose in the dry state. Tardigrades and other anhydrobiotic animals provide a unique opportunity to study the effects of space exposure on metabolically inactive but vital metazoans.     

Ionizing radiation and life

Ionizing radiation is a ubiquitous feature of the Cosmos, from exogenous cosmic rays (CR) to the intrinsic mineral radioactivity of a habitable world, and its influences on the emergence and persistence of life are wide-ranging and profound. Much attention has already been focused on the deleterious effects of ionizing radiation on organisms and the complex molecules of life, but ionizing radiation also performs many crucial functions in the generation of habitable planetary environments and the origins of life. This review surveys the role of CR and mineral radioactivity in star formation, generation of biogenic elements, and the synthesis of organic molecules and driving of prebiotic chemistry. Another major theme is the multiple layers of shielding of planetary surfaces from the flux of cosmic radiation and the various effects on a biosphere of violent but rare astrophysical events such as supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. The influences of CR can also be duplicitous, such as limiting the survival of surface life on Mars while potentially supporting a subsurface biosphere in the ocean of Europa. This review highlights the common thread that ionizing radiation forms between the disparate component disciplines of astrobiology.     

HZE particle effects in space

Among the various particulate components of ionizing radiation in space, heavy ions (the so-called HZE particles) have been of special concern to radiobiologists. To understand the ways by which HZE particles of cosmic radiation interact with biological systems, methods have been developed to precisely localize the trajectory of an HZE particle relative to the biological object and to correlate the physical data of the particle with the biological effects observed along its path. In a variety of test systems, injuries were traced back to the traversal of a single HZE particle, such as somatic mutations, and chromosomal aberrations in plant seeds, development disturbances and malformations in insect and salt shrimp embryos, or cell death in bacterial spores. In the latter case, a long-ranging killing effect around the particle's track was observed. Whereas, from spaceflight experiments, substantial infomation has been accumulated on single HZE particle effects in resting systems and in a few embryonic systems, there is a paucity of data on cosmic radiation effects in whole tissues or animals, especially mammalians.     

Survival of rock-colonizing organisms after 1.5 years in outer space

Cryptoendolithic microbial communities and epilithic lichens have been considered as appropriate candidates for the scenario of lithopanspermia, which proposes a natural interplanetary exchange of organisms by means of rocks that have been impact ejected from their planet of origin. So far, the hardiness of these terrestrial organisms in the severe and hostile conditions of space has not been tested over extended periods of time. A first long-term (1.5 years) exposure experiment in space was performed with a variety of rock-colonizing eukaryotic organisms at the International Space Station on board the European EXPOSE-E facility. Organisms were selected that are especially adapted to cope with the environmental extremes of their natural habitats. It was found that some-but not all-of those most robust microbial communities from extremely hostile regions on Earth are also partially resistant to the even more hostile environment of outer space, including high vacuum, temperature fluctuation, the full spectrum of extraterrestrial solar electromagnetic radiation, and cosmic ionizing radiation. Although the reported experimental period of 1.5 years in space is not comparable with the time spans of thousands or millions of years believed to be required for lithopanspermia, our data provide first evidence of the differential hardiness of cryptoendolithic communities in space.     

空间辐射环境工程的现状及发展趋势

空间辐射环境是航天器在轨运行所面临的重要环境要素之一,因其诱发的单粒子效应、总剂量效应、位移损伤效应、表面充放电效应、内带电效应等既可引起航天器材料、器件、结构等在轨损伤、性能退化甚至失效,然而又可以利用其开展空间育种等活动。文章从空间辐射环境与模型、空间辐射效应及机理、空间辐射环境与效应试验的评价标准、空间辐射环境效应试验方法、空间辐射环境与效应地面模拟试验设备、空间辐射环境与效应数值模拟、空间辐射环境与效应飞行试验及抗辐射加固技术等角度对空间辐射环境工程的现状进行了评述,进而提出了空间辐射环境工程各个领域的发展趋势。     

载人航天器密封舱内生物剂量三维仿真技术

对载人航天器密封舱内航天员遭受的生物剂量进行研究分析,可为乘员辐射防护设计和工程实施提供依据。文章将基于一维深度-剂量计算、结合扇区射线法的三维辐射仿真技术运用于载人航天器总体设计中,以某中期驻留载人航天器为例,构建生物剂量仿真分析模型。计算实例分析表明,三维剂量仿真结果可有效指导乘员辐射防护优化设计,对后续长期载人飞行中的航天员辐射安全设计具有较强的实用性。     

空间环境对飞行器的影响

文章围绕空间环境对飞行器的影响因素,重点阐述由于辐照剂量以及带电粒子产生空间环境效应对飞行器的影响,最后对飞行器的空间环境效应提出防护建议。     

空间CCD图像传感器辐射损伤评估方法

CCD图像传感器作为高灵敏度光电集成部件,易受空间辐射的影响而发生性能退化和工作异常。开展其辐射效应评价研究并制定相应的防护对策,是保证其在空间可靠应用的前提。文章通过地面模拟试验和辐射屏蔽计算,对空间用CCD图像传感器电离辐射损伤与位移损伤效应开展评估方法研究,为CCD抗辐射加固设计与地面评估试验提供参考。该方法也可用于其他光电器件和材料辐射效应评价。     

Recent results of the joint ESA-DARA/IBMP experiments Biokosmos "Seeds"

Comparison of experimental data obtained from short (SDEF) and long duration exposure flights (LDEF) have recently led to results which will be significant for longer and/or repeated sojourn of man in space. Under orbital conditions biological stress and damage are induced in test subjects by cosmic radiation, especially the high energetic, densely ionizing component of heavy ions. Plant seeds were successful model systems for a biotest in studying the physiological damages and mutagenic effect caused by ionizing cosmic radiation in particular stem cells. Dosimetrically, the subdivision into charge- and Let-groups reveals the contribution of the intermediate group (LET = 350-1000 MeV/cm) due to the medium heavy ions (Z = 6-10). Their relative contribution increases with the lower inclination of the orbit of LDEF-1; on the other hand, the total fluence becomes higher with longer duration of the flight. The observed endpoints of the biological radiation damage hint at a correlation with particle dose rate rather than with the dose; additionally, data on shielding effects inside and outside the space craft and its exposure were gained from the different SDEF- and LDEF-missions.     

空间重离子辐照效应评述

文章对生物、半导体、光学材料、金属、聚合物的空间重离子辐照效应的研究工作进行了评述,也阐明了深入开展重离子空间环境模型以及重离子辐照效应与演化规律的研究具有重要意义。研究表明空间环境中重离子的含量虽少,但由于其高的电离能力和穿透力,对生物、半导体、光学材料、金属、聚合物等会产生各种辐射损伤效应,导致卫星信号故障、光学器件失效、金属与聚合物性能及形貌改变,甚至影响航天员的生命安全。     

Space radiation analysis: Radiation effects and particle interaction outside the Earth's magnetosphere using GRAS and GEANT4

In order to explore the Moon and Mars it is necessary to investigate the hazards due to the space environment and especially ionizing radiation. According to previous papers, much information has been presented in radiation analysis inside the Earth's magnetosphere, but much of this work was not directly relevant to the interplanetary medium. This work intends to explore the effect of radiation on humans inside structures such as the ISS and provide a detailed analysis of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) and solar proton events (SPEs) using SPENVIS (Space Environment Effects and Information System) and CREME96 data files for particle flux outside the Earth's magnetosphere. The simulation was conducted using GRAS, a European Space Agency (ESA) software based on GEANT4. Dose and equivalent dose have been calculated as well as secondary particle effects and GCR energy spectrum. The calculated total dose effects and equivalent dose indicate the risk and effects that space radiation could have on the crew, these values are calculated using two different types of structures, the ISS and the TransHab modules. Final results indicate the amounts of radiation expected to be absorbed by the astronauts during long duration interplanetary flights; this denotes importance of radiation shielding and the use of proper materials to reduce the effects.     

The O/OREOS mission: first science data from the Space Environment Survivability of Living Organisms (SESLO) payload

We report the first telemetered spaceflight science results from the orbiting Space Environment Survivability of Living Organisms (SESLO) experiment, executed by one of the two 10?cm cube-format payloads aboard the 5.5?kg Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses (O/OREOS) free-flying nanosatellite. The O/OREOS spacecraft was launched successfully to a 72° inclination, 650?km Earth orbit on 19 November 2010. This satellite provides access to the radiation environment of space in relatively weak regions of Earth's protective magnetosphere as it passes close to the north and south magnetic poles; the total dose rate is about 15 times that in the orbit of the International Space Station. The SESLO experiment measures the long-term survival, germination, and growth responses, including metabolic activity, of Bacillus subtilis spores exposed to the microgravity, ionizing radiation, and heavy-ion bombardment of its high-inclination orbit. Six microwells containing wild-type (168) and six more containing radiation-sensitive mutant (WN1087) strains of dried B. subtilis spores were rehydrated with nutrient medium after 14 days in space to allow the spores to germinate and grow. Similarly, the same distribution of organisms in a different set of microwells was rehydrated with nutrient medium after 97 days in space. The nutrient medium included the redox dye Alamar blue, which changes color in response to cellular metabolic activity. Three-color transmitted intensity measurements of all microwells were telemetered to Earth within days of each of the 48?h growth experiments. We report here on the evaluation and interpretation of these spaceflight data in comparison to delayed-synchronous laboratory ground control experiments.     

航天器空间辐射效应分析技术现状与思考

文章梳理了面向航天器总体设计的空间辐射效应分析技术现状,重点归纳了航天器空间辐射效应分析中需关注的总剂量效应、位移损伤效应、单粒子效应分析的要素、分析方法及软件工具,并结合近年来国际上空间辐射环境模型的最新进展,就辐射环境动态变化认知、在轨辐射风险表征、陌生轨道区域辐射环境影响分析等方面提出国内空间辐射效应分析技术的不足及后续发展建议。     

Radiation problems in manned spaceflight with a view towards the Space Station.

With the advent of a permanently manned Space Station, the longstanding problems of radiation protection in manned spaceflight have acquired an immediacy. This paper endeavors to emphasize the gaps of our knowledge which must be closed for effective radiation protection. The information that is required includes the accurate determination of the exposure inside the space station to the various components of the ionizing radiation, the evaluation of the biological importance of the different radiation qualities and the depth-dose distribution of the less penetrating component. There is also the possibility of an interaction with weightlessness. It is necessary to establish adequate radiation protection standards and a system of dosimetric surveillance. There is a need for studies of methods on the possibilities of hardening selective shielding of the space station. Spaceflight experiments, which might contribute to the solution of some of these problems are discussed.     

大容量Flash存储器空间辐射效应试验研究

分析了商用Flash存储器应用于航天器时应考虑的空间辐射效应和机理,并利用钴-60γ射线和重离子加速器对韩国三星公司生产的大容量Flash存储器K9XXG08UXA系列进行了抗电离总剂量试验和抗单粒子试验,以评估其空间应用可行性。试验结果显示：这一系列存储器的累积电离总剂量为50krad（Si）时,器件部分数据丢失,重...     

Future investigations onboard Soviet biosatellites of the Cosmos series.

Many rat experiments onboard Cosmos biosatellites have furnished information concerning the effects of weightlessness, artificial gravity, and ionizing radiation combined with weightlessness on structural and biochemical parameters of the animal body. The necessity to expand the scope of physiological investigations has led to the project of flight primate studies. It is planned to carry out the first primate experiments onboard the Cosmos biosatellite in 1982. At present investigations of weightlessness effects on the cardiovascular and vestibular systems, higher nervous activity, skeletal muscles and biorhythms of two rhesus monkeys are being developed and tested. It is also planned to conduct a study of weightlessness effects on embryogenesis of rats and bioenergetics of living systems onboard the same biosatellite. Further experiments onboard Cosmos biosatellites are planned.     

Intensity/frequency indicator for detection in space: the high values of the incident solar or laser optical radiation in comparison with the appropriate maximum permissible exposure.

The solar or laser optical radiation impact to humans in space depends on the intensity, on the exposure type (direct or indirect) & duration and on the matching of radiation wavelength to tissue characteristics. The main protection factor in space is the application of exposure limits. This paper describes the main biological optical interaction parameters, the optical exposure hazards and the development of a small active lightweight indicator, with output beeper rate depended to the ratio of optical irradiance/exposure limit. The indicator may be used as warning element on the side of helmets, goggles, spectacles, etc, with low power consumption. Electronically the indicator is an intensity/frequency converter, based on the value of the ratio of exposure/exposure limits, with audio & light beepers like the indication output of the ionizing (radioactive) radiation monitors.     

AlGaN/GaN HEMT质子辐射效应研究进展

氮化镓（GaN）基异质结材料以其宽禁带、耐高温、高击穿电压以及优异的抗辐射性能成为航天领域半导体材料的研究和应用热点。而基于GaN材料的AlGaN/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管（HEMT）因其制备过程带来的缺陷和损伤,性能将受到空间辐射的严峻挑战。文章对空间辐射环境下AlGaN/GaN HEMT的辐射机理和效应进行梳理;针对低中地球轨道以质子为主的辐射环境,对不同能量和注量的质子辐照对AlGaN/GaN HEMT的效应进行系统分析。鉴于从压电极化角度分析AlGaN/GaN HEMT的质子辐射效应存在欠缺,且不同能量和注量的质子辐照对器件的影响不同,提出后续应开展AlGaN/GaN HEMT辐射损伤机制、不同轨道辐射环境模拟以及质子辐照对AlGaN/GaN HEMT宏观特性影响研究。