Progress in biological and medical research in the deep underground: an update.

As the growing population of individuals residing or working in deep underground spaces for prolonged periods, it has become imperative to understand the influence of factors in the deep underground environment (DUGE) on living systems. Heping Xie has conceptualized the concept of deep underground medicine to identify factors in the DUGE that can have either detrimental or beneficial effects on human health. Over the past few years, an increasing number of studies have explored the molecular mechanisms that underlie the biological impacts of factors in the DUGE on model organisms and humans.

Experimental Study on the Damage Characteristics and Acoustic Properties of Red Sandstone with Different Water Contents under Microwave Radiation.

Rock breaking is one of the most basic issues in deep underground engineering. Water plays an important role in the rock response under microwave radiation. Consequently, microwave radiation experiments using red sandstone with different water contents were conducted.

Transcriptome analysis of well-differentiated laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cells in below-background environment.

Background: Preliminary research has shown an inhibited growth rate of well-differentiated laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cells (FD-LSC-1) in below-background radiation (BBR), but how the cells respond to this environmental stress and the potential mechanisms are yet unknown. The current study aimed to reveal the molecular differences in cells grown under BBR conditions and normal radiation at the transcriptional level.

Methods: The expression profiles between FD-LSC-1 cells grown in a deep underground laboratory and above ground laboratory collected on day 4 were investigated by whole-transcriptome analysis, including messenger RNAs (mRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), and microRNAs (miRNAs).

Experimental and molecular dynamics study into the surfactant effect upon coal wettability.

In order to improve the wettability and permeability of coal seams, the water injection efficiency of coal seams has to be boosted, the amount of dust generation has to be reduced, and coal and gas outburst must be prevented, and a surfactant is used to modulate the coal surface wettability. In this work, taking coal samples from Pingdingshan mine in Henan as the research object, their surface chemistry was initially scrutinized and then coal surface engineering surfactants was inspected by a contact angle test. The coal wettability was ameliorated with surfactants, particularly using the 1 wt% non-ionic surfactant Triton X-100, which elicited a 47% lower contact angle than the raw coal.

Whole Transcriptome Analysis Revealed a Stress Response to Deep Underground Environment Conditions in Chinese Hamster V79 Lung Fibroblast Cells.

Prior studies have shown that the proliferation of V79 lung fibroblast cells could be inhibited by low background radiation (LBR) in deep underground laboratory (DUGL). In the current study, we revealed further molecular changes by performing whole transcriptome analysis on the expression profiles of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), messenger RNA (mRNA), circular RNA (circRNA) and microRNA (miRNA) in V79 cells cultured for two days in a DUGL. Whole transcriptome analysis including lncRNA, mRNAs, circ RNA and miRNA was performed in V79 cells cultured for two days in DUGL and above ground laboratory (AGL), respectively.

Proteomic Characterization of Proliferation Inhibition of Well-Differentiated Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells Under Below-Background Radiation in a Deep Underground Environment.

There has been a considerable concern about cancer induction in response to radiation exposure. However, only a limited number of studies have focused on the biological effects of below-background radiation (BBR) in deep underground environments. To improve our understanding of the effects of BBR on cancer, we studied its biological impact on well-differentiated laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cells (FD-LSC-1) in a deep underground laboratory (DUGL).

Proteomics provides insights into the inhibition of Chinese hamster V79 cell proliferation in the deep underground environment.

As resources in the shallow depths of the earth exhausted, people will spend extended periods of time in the deep underground space. However, little is known about the deep underground environment affecting the health of organisms. Hence, we established both deep underground laboratory (DUGL) and above ground laboratory (AGL) to investigate the effect of environmental factors on organisms.

Physical symptoms and mental health status in deep underground miners: A cross-sectional study.

The aim of the present study was to reveal the physical symptom changes and their correlations with mental health status in deep underground miners.A total of 286 deep underground miners completed a cross-sectional questionnaire study at China Pingmei Shenma mine complex. The questionnaire included sociodemographics, self-reported physical symptoms, underground adverse environmental factors, and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R).

Subjective perceptions and psychological distress associated with the deep underground: A cross-sectional study in a deep gold mine in China.

This study reports the subjective perceptions and mental state of employees working in the Erdaogou Mine, affiliated with Jiapigou Minerals Limited Corporation of China National Gold Group Corporation (CJEM); these employees are pioneers working at the deepest point below ground in China. The data represent a valuable baseline from which to assess the effects of the environmental factors in the deep-underground on human physiology, psychology, and pathology.The air pressure, relative humidity, temperature, total γ radiation dose-rate, and oxygen concentration in the CJEM in the aisles in goafs at 4 depths below ground were measured.

History, advancements, and perspective of biological research in deep-underground laboratories: A brief review.

The world is entering a new era of exploring and exploiting the deep-underground space. With humans poised to reach historical depths in the use of the deep Earth, it is essential to understand the effect of the deep-underground environment on the health of humans and other living organisms. This article outlines the history and development of biological research conducted in deep-underground laboratories and provides insight into future areas of investigation.

[The Research Advancement and Conception of the Deep-underground Medicine].

The 21th century is the century of exploring and utilizing the underground space. In the future, more and more people will spend more and more time living or/and working in the underground space. However,we know little about the effect on the health of human caused by the underground environment.

Derivation and application of an analytical rock displacement solution on rectangular cavern wall using the inverse mapping method.

Rectangular caverns are increasingly used in underground engineering projects, the failure mechanism of rectangular cavern wall rock is significantly different as a result of the cross-sectional shape and variations in wall stress distributions. However, the conventional computational method always results in a long-winded computational process and multiple displacement solutions of internal rectangular wall rock. This paper uses a Laurent series complex method to obtain a mapping function expression based on complex variable function theory and conformal transformation.