Hypergravity diagnostics and material synthesis in noble gas gliding arc plasma

The behaviour of gliding arc discharge in argon and helium has been studied under normal gravity and hypergravity conditions. The similar influence of increased gas flow and increased gravity is reported. The measured electrical quantities show the differences between glide arc in argon and helium. Material synthesis of carbon nanomaterial has been carried out in mixture of helium with methane in both normal gravity and hypergravity

How are cell and tissue structure and function influenced by gravity and what are the gravity perception mechanisms?

Progress in mechanobiology allowed us to better understand the important role of mechanical forces in the regulation of biological processes. Space research in the field of life sciences clearly showed that gravity plays a crucial role in biological processes. The space environment offers the unique opportunity to carry out experiments without gravity, helping us not only to understand the effects of gravitational alterations on biological systems but also the mechanisms underlying mechanoperception and cell/tissue response to mechanical and gravitational stresses. Despite the progress made so far, for future space exploration programs it is necessary to increase our knowledge on the mechanotransduction processes as well as on the molecular mechanisms underlying microgravity-induced cell and tissue alterations. This white paper reports the suggestions and recommendations of the SciSpacE Science Community for the elaboration of the section of the European Space Agency roadmap “Biology in Space and Analogue Environments” focusing on “How are cells and tissues influenced by gravity and what are the gravity perception mechanisms?” The knowledge gaps that prevent the Science Community from fully answering this question and the activities proposed to fill them are discussed

Centrifuges for microgravity simulation. The Reduced Gravity Paradigm.

Due to the cumbersome nature of performing real microgravity - spaceflight research scientists have been searching for alternatives to perform simulated microgravity or partial gravity experiments on Earth. For more than a century one uses the slow rotating clinostat as developed by von Sachs at the end of the nineteenth century. Since then, the fast rotating clinostat, the 3D clinostat or the random positioning machine, the rotating wall vessels, tail suspension and bed rest head down tilt and lately the levitating magnets have been introduced. Several of these simulation systems provide some similarities of the responses and phenotypes as seen in real microgravity experiments. However, one should always realize that we cannot reduce gravity on Earth, other than the relative short duration free fall studies in e.g. drop towers or parabolic aircraft. In this paper we want to explore the possibility to apply centrifuges to simulate microgravity or maybe better to simulate hypo-gravity.This Reduced Gravity Paradigm, RGP is based on the premise that adaptations seen going from a hypergravity level to a lower gravity are similar as changes seen going from unit gravity to microgravity

A LARGE HUMAN CENTRIFUGE FOR EXPLORATION AND EXPLOITATION RESEARCH

This paper addresses concepts regarding the development of an Altered Gravity Platform (AGP) that will serve as a research platform for human space exploration. Space flight causes a multitude of physiological problems, many of which are due to gravity level transitions. Going from Earth's gravity to microgravity generates fluid shifts, space motion sickness, cardiovascular deconditioning among other changes, and returning to a gravity environment again puts the astronauts under similar stressors. A prolonged stay in microgravity provokes additional deleterious changes such as bone loss, muscle atrophy and loss of coordination or specific psychological stresses. To prepare for future manned space exploration missions, a ground-based research test bed for validating countermeasures against the deleterious effects of g-level transitions is needed. The proposed AGP is a large rotating facility (diameter > 150 m), where gravity levels ranging from 1.1 to 1.5g are generated, covering short episodes or during prolonged stays of weeks or even months. On this platform, facilities are built where a crew of 6 to 8 humans can live autonomously. Adaptation from 1 g to higher g levels can be studied extensively and monitored continuously. Similarly, re-adaptation back to 1 g, after a prolonged period of altered g can also be investigated. Study of the physiological and psychological adaptation to changing g-levels will provide instrumental and predictive knowledge to better define the ultimate countermeasures that are needed for future successful manned space exploration missions to the Moon, Mars and elsewhere. The AGP initiative will allow scientific top experts in Europe and worldwide to investigate the necessary scientific, operational, and engineering inputs required for such space missions. Because so many different physiological systems are involved in adaptation to gravity levels, a multidisciplinary approach is crucial. One of the final and crucial steps is to verify the AGP concept by a large scientific community through feedback from various scientific societies. This facility will also serve clinical research on Earth, because a multitude of health problems such as osteoporosis, frailty of the elderly, inactivity, sarcopenia, obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes, cardiovascular problems, connective tissue ageing and immune deficiency, among others stand to benefit from the fundamental insights into the effects of our ever-present terrestrial gravity gained with such a novel research platform

The specialist trained nurse`s importance and role in the psychiatric outpatient care from management`s perspectives

Bakgrund: Psykiatrisjuksköterskan har historiskt sett pendlat mellan att vara omvårdnadsansvarig till att vara förlängd arm till andra yrkeskategorier som till exempel läkare. Studier visar att specialistsjuksköterskan har en komplex kompetens som hen upplever inte alltid lyfts av organisationen och att hen ofta upplever sig klämd emellan patienters, medarbetares och organisationens krav. Specialistsjuksköterskor i psykiatrisk vård börjar nu bli en bristvara och då deras roll, status och betydelse framstår som diffus   kan det bli svårt att rekrytera nya sjuksköterskor att utbilda sig och stanna kvar inom psykiatrisk vård. Då mycket få studier är genomförda i psykiatrisk öppenvård och med ledningsperspektiv var det av intresse att tillfråga just enhetschefer med ansvar att anställa personal. Syfte: Att beskriva enhetschefers uppfattningar om och förväntningar på specialistsjuksköterskans betydelse och roll i psykiatrisk öppenvården. Metod: Studien genomfördes som en empirisk intervjustudie med semistrukturerade frågor som ställdes individuellt till sju enhetschefer verksamma inom psykiatrisk öppenvård. Materialet bearbetades med en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med induktiv ansats. Resultat: I resultatet framkom huvudkategorin ”Arbetsuppgifter och förväntningar” med underkategorierna Bedömningar, Samordnande och samverkande roll, Läkemedelsadministrering, Utvecklingsarbete, Flexibla ansvarsområden, Bemötande och kommunikation samt Kompetens. Diskussion: Specialistsjuksköterskan har många olika roller att träda in i inom psykiatrisk öppenvård och förväntas använda sin kompetens där den behövs.Background: Psychiatric nurses has historically oscillated between being responsible of nursing care to be an extended arm to other professionals such as physicians. Studies show that the specialist nurse has a complex competence that according to the nurses is not always highlighted by the organization and often find themselves trapped between patients, other employees and the organization's demands. Specialist nurses in psychiatric care are now becoming scarce and when their role, status and importance appears diffuse, it may be difficult to recruit new nurses to train and remain in psychiatric services. Since very few studies have been carried out in outpatient psychiatric services and management perspective, it was of interest to the matter to ask the views of unit managers with responsibility to hire staff. Aim: To describe unit managers' perceptions and expectations of the specialist nurse's importance and role in psychiatric outpatient services. Method: The study was conducted as an empirical interview study with semi-structured questions that were asked individually to seven unit managers occupied in psychiatric outpatient care. The material was processed with a qualitative content analysis with inductive approach. Results: The result showed the main category "Duties and expectations" with the subcategories Assessments, Coordinating and cooperative role, Drug administration, Development, Flexible responsibilities, Treatment and communication as well as Competence. Discussions: The specialistnurse has many variable roles to enter in psychiatric outpatient care and are expected to use their expertise where it is needed

Embedding Arabidopsis Plant Cell Suspensions in Low-Melting Agarose Facilitates Altered Gravity Studies

Gravity plays a role in modulating plant growth and development and its alteration induces changes in these processes. Microgravity research has recently been extended to the use of in vitro plant cell cultures which are considered as an ideal model system to study cell proliferation and growth. In general, among the ground-based facilities available for microgravity simulation, the 2D pipette clinostat had been previously considered a suitable facility to be used for unicellular biological models although studies using single plant cell cultures raised some concerns. The incompatibility comes from the standard requirement of shaking a suspension culture for assuring its viability and active proliferation status in the control samples. Moreover, a related issue applies to the use of the random positioning machine (RPM) for cell suspension experiments. Here, we demonstrate an alternative culture method based on the immobilization of the culture before the altered gravity treatment occurs, such that it behaves as a solid object. Our immobilization procedure preserved plant cell culture viability without compromising basic cell properties as viability, morphology, cell cycle phases distribution, or chromatin organization, when compared with a standard cell suspension under shaking as a control. This approach should allow the space biology community to improve the quantity and quality of plant cell results in future simulated microgravity experiments or spaceflight opportunities

Suboptimal evolutionary novel environments promote singular altered gravity responses of transcriptome during Drosophila metamorphosis

Background Previous experiments have shown that the reduced gravity aboard the International Space Station (ISS) causes important alterations in Drosophila gene expression. These changes were shown to be intimately linked to environmental space-flight related constraints. Results Here, we use an array of different techniques for ground-based simulation of microgravity effects to assess the effect of suboptimal environmental conditions on the gene expression of Drosophila in reduced gravity. A global and integrative analysis, using “gene expression dynamics inspector” (GEDI) self-organizing maps, reveals different degrees in the responses of the transcriptome when using different environmental conditions or microgravity/hypergravity simulation devices. Although the genes that are affected are different in each simulation technique, we find that the same gene ontology groups, including at least one large multigene family related with behavior, stress response or organogenesis, are over represented in each case. Conclusions These results suggest that the transcriptome as a whole can be finely tuned to gravity force. In optimum environmental conditions, the alteration of gravity has only mild effects on gene expression but when environmental conditions are far from optimal, the gene expression must be tuned greatly and effects become more robust, probably linked to the lack of experience of organisms exposed to evolutionary novel environments such as a gravitational free one

Survival of the halophilic archaeon Halovarius luteus after desiccation, simulated Martian UV radiation and vacuum in comparison to Bacillus atrophaeus

The detection and identification of life on planetary objects other than Earth is one of the most important questions in current science. Extraterrestrial environments impact the biochemistry of organisms with high levels of radiation, vacuum, temperature extremes and a lack of water and nutrients. A wide variety of terrestrial microorganisms, counted amongst the most ancient inhabitants of Earth, can cope with high levels of salinity, extreme temperatures, desiccation and radiation. Key among these are the Haloarchaea, considered particularly relevant for astrobiological studies due to their ability to thrive in hypersaline environments. In this study, a novel haloarchaea isolated from Urmia Salt Lake, Iran, Halovarius luteus strain DA50T, was exposed to varying levels of simulated extraterrestrial conditions. The haloarchaea’s response to these conditions was compared with the response of the bacteria Bacillus atrophaeus. Bacillus atrophaeus was selected as a point of comparison for its well-described resistance to extreme conditions and its capability to produce strong spore structures consisting of coat, cortex, outer membrane, germ cell wall, inner membrane and core (Zandomeni et al., 2005b). Thin films of different thickness were produced to investigate viability without the protective influence of cell multi-layers. Hvr. luteus and B. atrophaeus were placed in brine and phosphate buffered saline (PBS) media, respectively. The solutions were allowed to evaporate and cells were encapsulated, consequently. Samples were exposed to desiccation and vacuum conditions, and their post-exposure viability was studied by the Most Probable Number (MPN) method. The proteome was analyzed by electrophoresis. Results showed that the changes in viability of the spore-forming bacteria B. atrophaeus were only minor whereas the Hvr. luteus demonstrated a range of viability under different conditions. At the peak radiation flux of 105 J/m2 under nitrogen flow and after two weeks of desiccation, Hvr. luteus demonstrated the greatest decrease in viability. This study further expands our understanding of the boundary conditions of astrobiologically relevant organisms in the harsh space environment

Fluid dynamics during Random Positioning Machine micro-gravity experiments

A Random Positioning Machine (RPM) is a device used to study the role of gravity on biological systems. This is accomplished through continuous reorientation of the sample such that the net influence of gravity is randomized over time. The aim of this study is to predict fluid flow behavior during such RPM simulated microgravity studies, which may explain differences found between RPM and space flight experiments. An analytical solution is given for a cylinder as a model for an experimental container. Then, a dual-axis rotating frame is used to mimic the motion characteristics of an RPM with sinusoidal rotation frequencies of 0.2 Hz and 0.1 Hz while Particle Image Velocimetry is used to measure the velocity field inside a flask. To reproduce the same experiment numerically, a Direct Numerical Simulation model is used. The analytical model predicts that an increase in the Womersley number leads to higher shear stresses at the cylinder wall and decrease in fluid angular velocity inside the cylinder. The experimental results show that periodic single-axis rotation induces a fluid motion parallel to the wall and that a complex flow is observed for two-axis rotation with a maximum wall shear stress of 8.0 mPa (80 mdyne/cm2). The experimental and numerical results show that oscillatory motion inside an RPM induces flow motion that can, depending on the experimental samples, reduce the quality of the simulated microgravity. Thus, it is crucial to determine the appropriate oscillatory frequency of the axes to design biological experiments