Hypogravity research and educational parabolic flight activities conducted in Barcelona: a new Hub of innovation in Europe

We report on different research and educational activities related to parabolic flights conducted in Barcelona since 2008. We use a CAP10B single-engine aerobatic aircraft flying out of Sabadell Airport and operating in visual flight conditions providing up to 8 seconds of hypogravity for each parabola. Aside from biomedical experiments being conducted, different student teams have flown in parabolic flights in the framework of the international contest ‘Barcelona Zero-G Challenge’, and have published their results in relevant symposiums and scientific journals. The platform can certainly be a good testbed for a proof-of-concept before accessing other microgravity platforms, and has proved to be excellent for motivational student campaigns.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Anatomical and functional brain approach along short abrupt changes in G-levels

To conduct experiments under abrupt changes in g-levels, a single-engine aerobatic aircraft has been used, providing 6-8 seconds of reduced gravity, preceded and followed by 5-7 seconds of hypergravity periods. Due to the specific conditions of the flight and previous findings [1], the hypothesis of the present work lies on the idea that some sensory inputs could have a notorious effect on brain final responses when gravity is altered. Therefore, this study focuses on the evaluation of such hypothesis, based on the analysis of the evolution in time of intracranial activity of limbic, visual and auditory cortices. Five subjects (N=5, age 41¿14 years) have flown in parabolic flight with their eyes both open and closed. Electroencephalogram signals were recorded with an Emotive Epoc headset, synchronized with a triaxial accelerometer. The intracranial brain bioelectric activity (standardized current density) throughout the parabola, was calculated by applying Standard Low Resolution Brain Electromagnetic Tomography, and it was analyzed for the limbic, visual and auditory cortices. Intracranial activity of the Temporal, Parietal and Occipital lobes were carried out as well in order to compare the different periods/phases of the flight. Results detected a lower brain activity during the hypogravity phase in all lobes and cortices, only in the case of open eyes. The bioelectrical brain activity along the parabola showed similar patterns in all lobes and cortices, when visual inputs are highlighted. Suppressing the sight, two major behaviors were detected in brain activity: one for temporal lobe and auditory cortex, and second one for the rest of the lobes and visual cortex. It Seemed that, flying with closed eyes, other sensory stimuli were enhanced, in this case the auditory cortex. To confirm the validity of the results two-way ANOVA (factors lobe/phases) and Fisher post hoc test have been applied on mean intracranial activity values in all cases. Spectral entropy evolution in time has been considered as a fast indicator of the sudden extracranial brain activity variation during short g-changes. For open eyes, spectral entropy values indicated a slight decrease at the onset of the hypogravity phase, whereas in case of closed eyes, this change was detected in the last seconds of the parabola, even though these fluctuations were statistically non-significant. Results suggest that some of the sensory inputs can indeed have an impact on brain final response, when gravity conditions are altered.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Challenge-based learning and the Barcelona ZeroG Challenge: A space education case study

Challenge-Based Learining is a STEM Education methodology that has been used as a collaborative and hands-on approach to encourage students to put their knowledge in practice by addressing real-life problems. Space Education is a field particularly suited to apply it, with hands-on research projects which require students to take actions and communicate their efforts in a multicultural, international scenario in order to produce an optimal response a specific goal. We herein present a successful Challenge-Based Learning Case Study which involves designing, implementing, and actually flying a microgravity experiment in parabolic flight. The Barcelona ZeroG Challenge is an international competition addressed to University students worldwide. It challenges students to build a team with a mentor, propose, design, build and fly their experiment in microgravity and finally communicate their findings. The experiment has to meet the requirements of a unique microgravity research platform available in Barcelona for educational and research purposes. More than fifty students have flown their experiments on board an aerobatic CAP10B aircraft in Barcelona in previous educational campaigns; having published their results in relevant symposiums and scientific journals. These campaigns have always attracted media attention. The current edition is underway with the winner team expected to fly their experiment before the end of 2022. This edition is jointly organized by Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, the Barcelona-Sabadell Aviation Club and the Space Generation Advisory Council. Up to fifteen projects have been submitted to this edition, an unprecedent number so far. A panel of experts from the European Space Agency Academy conducted the selection of the winner team, who receives a 2500 euros grant to develop its experiment, aside from the opportunity to fly it in parabolic flight. Furthermore, students from our own University have also the opportunity of designing and testing their microgravity experiments during their studies. Principles of Challenge-Based Learning are herein described as well as how this methodology is applied to this Case Study. Results from our experience are very satisfactory as most of the students who have been involved in it perceive this experience as a boost for their careers. Three key factors to success have been identified: a strong involvement from students' associations, a need for international cooperation and the quality of the students’ mentoring. The experience can be of interest for other organizations to conduct a successful CBL educational projec

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Measurement of nuclear modification factors of gamma(1S)), gamma(2S), and gamma(3S) mesons in PbPb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

The cross sections for ϒ(1S), ϒ(2S), and ϒ(3S) production in lead-lead (PbPb) and proton-proton (pp) collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV have been measured using the CMS detector at the LHC. The nuclear modification factors, RAA, derived from the PbPb-to-pp ratio of yields for each state, are studied as functions of meson rapidity and transverse momentum, as well as PbPb collision centrality. The yields of all three states are found to be significantly suppressed, and compatible with a sequential ordering of the suppression, RAA(ϒ(1S)) > RAA(ϒ(2S)) > RAA(ϒ(3S)). The suppression of ϒ(1S) is larger than that seen at √sNN = 2.76 TeV, although the two are compatible within uncertainties. The upper limit on the RAA of ϒ(3S) integrated over pT, rapidity and centrality is 0.096 at 95% confidence level, which is the strongest suppression observed for a quarkonium state in heavy ion collisions to date. © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funded by SCOAP3.Peer reviewe

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Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study

Background Huntington's disease is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, HTT. Age at onset has been used as a quantitative phenotype in genetic analysis looking for Huntington's disease modifiers, but is hard to define and not always available. Therefore, we aimed to generate a novel measure of disease progression and to identify genetic markers associated with this progression measure. Methods We generated a progression score on the basis of principal component analysis of prospectively acquired longitudinal changes in motor, cognitive, and imaging measures in the 218 indivduals in the TRACK-HD cohort of Huntington's disease gene mutation carriers (data collected 2008–11). We generated a parallel progression score using data from 1773 previously genotyped participants from the European Huntington's Disease Network REGISTRY study of Huntington's disease mutation carriers (data collected 2003–13). We did a genome-wide association analyses in terms of progression for 216 TRACK-HD participants and 1773 REGISTRY participants, then a meta-analysis of these results was undertaken. Findings Longitudinal motor, cognitive, and imaging scores were correlated with each other in TRACK-HD participants, justifying use of a single, cross-domain measure of disease progression in both studies. The TRACK-HD and REGISTRY progression measures were correlated with each other (r=0·674), and with age at onset (TRACK-HD, r=0·315; REGISTRY, r=0·234). The meta-analysis of progression in TRACK-HD and REGISTRY gave a genome-wide significant signal (p=1·12 × 10−10) on chromosome 5 spanning three genes: MSH3, DHFR, and MTRNR2L2. The genes in this locus were associated with progression in TRACK-HD (MSH3 p=2·94 × 10−8 DHFR p=8·37 × 10−7 MTRNR2L2 p=2·15 × 10−9) and to a lesser extent in REGISTRY (MSH3 p=9·36 × 10−4 DHFR p=8·45 × 10−4 MTRNR2L2 p=1·20 × 10−3). The lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TRACK-HD (rs557874766) was genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis (p=1·58 × 10−8), and encodes an aminoacid change (Pro67Ala) in MSH3. In TRACK-HD, each copy of the minor allele at this SNP was associated with a 0·4 units per year (95% CI 0·16–0·66) reduction in the rate of change of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, and a reduction of 0·12 units per year (95% CI 0·06–0·18) in the rate of change of UHDRS Total Functional Capacity score. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age of onset. Interpretation The multidomain progression measure in TRACK-HD was associated with a functional variant that was genome-wide significant in our meta-analysis. The association in only 216 participants implies that the progression measure is a sensitive reflection of disease burden, that the effect size at this locus is large, or both. Knockout of Msh3 reduces somatic expansion in Huntington's disease mouse models, suggesting this mechanism as an area for future therapeutic investigation