Physiological Adaptations to Life in Space: An Update

The historic flight of cosmonaut Yuri Alekeseyevich Gagarin, in 1961, established the need for research regarding the physiological adaptations of the human body when exposed to the space environment. Since then, several morpho-functional transformations – varying between normal and pathological – have been identified within the organisms of astronauts subjected to the extremely disparate environments of the cosmos, consequently, comprehension and preparation of these transformations becomes essential,considering the possibilities (1) of returning to the Moon and (2) of initiating the trip to Mars. Accordingly, the purpose of this article – conceived as a narrative literature review – is to present the main aspects of the physiological modifications within the human body due to the extraterrestrial environment, with emphasis on cardiovascular, renal, hydroelectrolytic, hematological, immunological, respiratory, neurological, psychological, sensory, gastrointestinal, endocrine, musculoskeletal, integumentary, and genetic adaptations

On the electron–polaron–electron–polaron scattering and Landau levels in pristine graphene-like quantum electrodynamics

The parity-preserving U(1) × U(1) massless QED3 is proposed as a pristine graphene-like planar quantum electrodynamics model. The spectrum content, the degrees of freedom, spin, masses, and charges of the quasiparticles (electron–polaron, hole–polaron, photon, and Néel quasiparticles), which emerge from the model are discussed. The four-fold broken degeneracy of the Landau levels, similar as the one experimentally observed in pristine graphene submitted to high applied external magnetic fields, is obtained. Furthermore, the model exhibits zero-energy Landau level indicating a kind of anomalous quantum Hall effect. The electron–polaron–electron–polaron scattering potentials in s- and p-wave states mediated by photon and Néel quasiparticles are computed and analyzed. Finally, the model foresees that two electron–polarons (s-wave state) belonging to inequivalent K and K′ points in the Brillouin zone might exhibit attractive interaction, while two electron–polarons (p-wave state) lying both either in K or in K′ points experience repulsive interaction