Research Containing: Space Flight

Preliminary results of the Biobloc experiment on the Cosmos 782 flight: effects of cosmic rays on brine shrimp eggs and tobacco seeds

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

The aim of the Biobloc experiment is to determine the biological effects of cosmic rays. Biobloc is a stack made up of biological layers and physical detectors (nuclear emulsions and plastic). Artemia eggs and tobacco seeds are used by French workers. Irradiation by cosmic heavy ions induces a late developmental inhibition of Artemia eggs. A light increase of emergence rate is observed for the non-hit eggs. The results are compared with those of previous space experiments. Investigations on tobacco seeds are in progress.

Summary – Bone in microgravity environments: "Houston, we have a problem"

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

With the recent change in leadership at NASA, a sea change in research priorities at the agency has occurred. Monies once dedicated to life science research have been dramatically reduced in order to provide resources for development of a new Crew Exploration Vehicle, designed to replace the aging shuttle vehicles. Bone loss during space flight, once considered a "show-stopper" when long duration exploration missions were more central to NASA planning,no longer commands center stage. The prevailing sentiment appears to be that changes in bone with short-term missions to the International Space Station (ISS) or to the lunar surface will be too small to impact on mission outcomes and will be successfully mitigated with current exercise countermeasures, perhaps in combination with bisphosphonate therapy. Strategies to minimize bone loss with long-term spaceflight (e.g.,2-3 years’ duration) may not be necessary 10 years from now some speculate, given projections of improved pharmacological treatments or even the integration of artificial gravity on board exploration vehicles. It behooves bone biologists to carefully define the specific challenges to bone integrity incurred during (or following) the shorter 3- to 6-month Lunar or ISS missions planned for the next 10 years. Data presented during this session illustrate well that, with reference to microgravity effects on bone integrity, there is too much of "we don’t know what we don’t know"

Cognitive demand of human sensorimotor performance during an extended space mission: a dual-task study

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

INTRODUCTION: Two previous single-case studies found that the dual-task costs of manual tracking plus memory search increased during a space mission, and concluded that sensorimotor deficits during spaceflight may be related to cognitive overload. Since dual-task costs were insensitive to the difficulty of memory search, the authors argued that the overload may reflect stress-related problems of multitasking, rather than a scarcity of specific cognitive resources. Here we expand the available database and compare different types of concurrent task. METHODS: Three subjects were repeatedly tested before, during, and after an extended mission on the International Space Station (ISS). They performed an unstable tracking task and four reaction-time tasks, both separately and concurrently. Inflight data could only be obtained during later parts of the mission. RESULTS: The tracking error increased from pre- to in flight by a factor of about 2, both under single- and dual-task conditions. The dual-task costs with a reaction-time task requiring rhythm production was 2.4 times higher than with a reaction-time task requiring visuo-spatial transformations, and 8 times higher than with a regular choice reaction-time task. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term sensorimotor deficits during spaceflight may reflect not only stress, but also a scarcity of resources related to complex motor programming; possibly those resources are tied up by sensorimotor adaptation to the space environment.

International Space Station Medical Standards and Certification for Space Flight Participants

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

Introduction: The medical community of the International Space Station (ISS) has developed joint medical standards and evaluation requirements for Space Flight Participants (“space tourists”) which are used by the ISS medical certification board to determine medical eligibility of individuals other than professional astronauts (cosmonauts) for short-duration space flight to the ISS. These individuals are generally fare-paying passengers without operational responsibilities. Material and Context : By means of this publication, the medical standards and evaluation requirements for the ISS Space Flight Participants are offered to the aerospace medicine and commercial spaceflight communities for reference purposes. It is emphasized that the criteria applied to the ISS spaceflight participant candidates are substantially less stringent than those for professional astronauts and/or crewmembers of visiting and long-duration missions to the ISS. Conclusions: These medical standards are released by the government space agencies to facilitate the development of robust medical screening and medical risk assessment approaches in the context of the evolving commercial human spaceflight industry.

The Russian experience in medical care and health maintenance of the International Space Station crews

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

The main purpose of the medical support system aboard International Space Station (ISS) is crew health maintenance and high level of work capability assurance prior to during and after in space flights. In the present communication the Russian point of view dealing with the problems and achievements in this branch is presented. An overview on medical operations during flight and after finalization of the space missions based on Russian data of crew health and environment state monitoring, as well as data on the inflight countermeasures (prophylaxis) jointly with data on operational problems that are specific to ISS is presented. The report summarizes results of the medical examination of Russian members of the ISS and taxi crews during and after visits to the ISS.

Medical care for Russian cosmonauts' health on the ISS

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

Established with the personal participation of O.G. Gazenko, the Russian system of medical care for cosmonauts' health has been largely preserved till this day. The system was fully functional on board the orbital complex MIR and, with appropriate modifications, has been adopted as a core of the medical care for Russian members of the ISS crews. In the period of 2000-2008, 22 cosmonauts were members of 17 ISS increments from 140 to 216 days in duration. The main functions of the medical care system were to control health, physical and mental performance, and to support implementation of space researches. The flow of readaptation to the normal gravity was, in most cases similar to what has been typical on return from the Russian orbital stations; some deviations are accounted for by application of the in-flight countermeasures. The paper familiarizes reader with some aspects of the theoretical work of academician O.G. Gazenko in the field of medical care in space flight. It outlines the principles of ISS medical management. The integrated medical support system combines medical equipment and items available on the Russian and US segments; the integrated medical group consists of flight surgeons, medical experts and biomedical engineers of the international partners and coordinates planning and implementation of medical operations. Also, challenges of health care on the phase of ISS utilization are defined.

Functional Changes in the Snail Statocyst System Elicited by Microgravity

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

BACKGROUND: The mollusk statocyst is a mechanosensing organ detecting the animal's orientation with respect to gravity. This system has clear similarities to its vertebrate counterparts: a weight-lending mass, an epithelial layer containing small supporting cells and the large sensory hair cells, and an output eliciting compensatory body reflexes to perturbations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In terrestrial gastropod snail we studied the impact of 16- (Foton M-2) and 12-day (Foton M-3) exposure to microgravity in unmanned orbital missions on: (i) the whole animal behavior (Helix lucorum L.), (ii) the statoreceptor responses to tilt in an isolated neural preparation (Helix lucorum L.), and (iii) the differential expression of the Helix pedal peptide (HPep) and the tetrapeptide FMRFamide genes in neural structures (Helix aspersa L.). Experiments were performed 13–42 hours after return to Earth. Latency of body re-orientation to sudden 90° head-down pitch was significantly reduced in postflight snails indicating an enhanced negative gravitaxis response. Statoreceptor responses to tilt in postflight snails were independent of motion direction, in contrast to a directional preference observed in control animals. Positive relation between tilt velocity and firing rate was observed in both control and postflight snails, but the response magnitude was significantly larger in postflight snails indicating an enhanced sensitivity to acceleration. A significant increase in mRNA expression of the gene encoding HPep, a peptide linked to ciliary beating, in statoreceptors was observed in postflight snails; no differential expression of the gene encoding FMRFamide, a possible neurotransmission modulator, was observed. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Upregulation of statocyst function in snails following microgravity exposure parallels that observed in vertebrates suggesting fundamental principles underlie gravi-sensing and the organism's ability to adapt to gravity changes. This simple animal model offers the possibility to describe general subcellular mechanisms of nervous system's response to conditions on Earth and in space.

Effects of spaceflight on innate immune function and antioxidant gene expression

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

Spaceflight conditions have a significant impact on a number of physiological functions due to psychological stress, radiation, and reduced gravity. To explore the effect of the flight environment on immunity, C57BL/6NTac mice were flown on a 13-day space shuttle mission (STS-118). In response to flight, animals had a reduction in liver, spleen, and thymus masses compared with ground (GRD) controls (P < 0.005). Splenic lymphocyte, monocyte/macrophage, and granulocyte counts were significantly reduced in the flight (FLT) mice (P < 0.05). Although spontaneous blastogenesis of splenocytes in FLT mice was increased, response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a B-cell mitogen derived from Escherichia coli, was decreased compared with GRD mice (P < 0.05). Secretion of IL-6 and IL-10, but not TNF-α, by LPS-stimulated splenocytes was increased in FLT mice (P < 0.05). Finally, many of the genes responsible for scavenging reactive oxygen species were upregulated after flight. These data indicate that exposure to the spaceflight environment can increase anti-inflammatory mechanisms and change the ex vivo response to LPS, a bacterial product associated with septic shock and a prominent Th1 response.

The Biorisk experiment: 13-month exposure of resting forms of organism on the outer side of the Russian Segment of the International Space Station: preliminary results

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

Abstract and Paper are presented in Russian

Prevalence of sleep deficiency and use of hypnotic drugs in astronauts before, during, and after spaceflight: an observational study

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

BackgroundSleep deprivation and fatigue are common subjective complaints among astronauts. Previous studies of sleep and hypnotic drug use in space have been limited to post-flight subjective survey data or in-flight objective data collection from a small number of crew members. We aimed to characterise representative sleep patterns of astronauts on both short-duration and long-duration spaceflight missions.

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Research Containing: Space Flight

Preliminary results of the Biobloc experiment on the Cosmos 782 flight: effects of cosmic rays on brine shrimp eggs and tobacco seeds

Summary – Bone in microgravity environments: "Houston, we have a problem"

Cognitive demand of human sensorimotor performance during an extended space mission: a dual-task study

International Space Station Medical Standards and Certification for Space Flight Participants

The Russian experience in medical care and health maintenance of the International Space Station crews

Medical care for Russian cosmonauts' health on the ISS

Functional Changes in the Snail Statocyst System Elicited by Microgravity

Effects of spaceflight on innate immune function and antioxidant gene expression

The Biorisk experiment: 13-month exposure of resting forms of organism on the outer side of the Russian Segment of the International Space Station: preliminary results

Prevalence of sleep deficiency and use of hypnotic drugs in astronauts before, during, and after spaceflight: an observational study