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Ionizing radiation (IR) is known to cause fetal programming, but the physiological effects of low-dose IR are not fully understood. This study examined the effect of low (50 mGy) to non-lethal (300 and 1000 mGy) radiation exposure during late gestation on cardiac metabolism and oxidative stress in adult offspring. Pregnant C57BL/6J mice were exposed to 50, 300, or 1000 mGy of gamma radiation or Sham irradiation on gestational day 15. Sixteen weeks after birth, 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake was examined in the offspring using Positron Emission Tomography imaging. Western blot was used to determine changes in oxidative stress, antioxidants, and insulin signaling related proteins. Male and female offspring from irradiated dams had lower body weights when compared to the Sham. 1000 mGy female offspring demonstrated a significant increase in 18F-FDG uptake, glycogen content, and oxidative stress. 300 and 1000 mGy female mice exhibited increased superoxide dismutase activity, decreased glutathione peroxidase activity, and decreased reduced/oxidized glutathione ratio. We conclude that non-lethal radiation during late gestation can alter glucose uptake and increase oxidative stress in female offspring. These data provide evidence that low doses of IR during the third trimester are not harmful but higher, non-lethal doses can alter cardiac metabolism later in life and sex may have a role in fetal programming.

The 1960s were marked by the setting up of Medicare by federal and provincial governments in Canada. The official aim of this undertaking was to eliminate inequality of access to medical care, and in the first instance inequality on the basis of incomes. Governments were also concerned with inequality in the regional distribution of medical services. The objective of this paper is to document these two dimensions of accessibility to medical services as present in Quebec in 1991 in terms of household consumption of such services. Data for this study come from administrative files, principally those of the Quebec ministry of health. The paper reviews measures taken by the Quebec government to attract doctors to locate in outlying regions of the province. In spite of these measures, results obtained indicate that significant differences existed in 1991 between outlying and central regions and that results for intermediate regions occur between these two poles. After controlling for age of head and household composition, differences by income are no longer significant.