AIM (Artery in microgravity): Design and development of an ice cubes mission

The Artery In Microgravity (AIM) project is the first experiment to be selected for the “Orbit Your Thesis!” programme of ESA Academy. It is a 2U experiment cube designed for the ICE Cubes facility on board of the International Space Station. The experiment is expected to be launched on SpaceX-20 in early 2020. The project is being developed by an international group of students from ISAE-SUPAERO and Politecnico di Torino, under the supervision of the ISAE-SUPAERO and Politecnico di Torino staff. The experiment is a test-bench for investigating haemodynamics in microgravity focusing on coronary heart disease, the most common form of cardiovascular disease and the cause of approximately 9 million deaths every year. Coronary heart disease is caused by stenosis of the coronary artery due to the build-up of plaque. While the development of atherosclerosis is not fully understood, the primary event seems to be subtle and repeated injury to the artery walls through various mechanisms including physical stresses from flow disturbances as well as from systemic and biological risk factors. In the presence of severe stenosis, patients are treated with the implantation of one or more coronary stents, which are tubular scaffolds devoted to restore and maintain myocardial perfusion. The coronary stenting procedure is largely applied (e.g., 1.8 million stents per year implanted in USA) In view of the impact that coronary artery disease has on humans, as well as of the increasing number of people that will be involved in space flights in the future, the way astronauts in space coronary hemodynamics is affected by the absence of gravity in the presence of stenosis or of stenting needs to be investigated in depth. In addition, as most stents are metallic objects, the radiation exposure in space might interact with their surface, altering blood flow, inducing particles release and ultimately leading to stent failure. Therefore, the aim of AIM is to start studying the vascular haemodynamics in a stented and a stenosed coronary artery on Earth and in microgravity and the stent-radiation coupling. This will allow to learn about the effect gravity plays on coronary artery haemodynamics, the effects of microgravity and radiation on the performance of implantable devices and ultimately the risks of myocardial infarction to astronauts on long-distance spaceflight. The experimental setup consists of a closed hydraulic loop containing two models of a coronary artery in series. An electric pump and reservoir will control the flow of a blood-mimicking fluid through the system. One model of the coronary artery will contain a coronary stent. The pressure of the fluid will be studied along its path using a series of pressure sensors and a camera will visualise the flow. The same experiments will be repeated on the ground with the same conditions as the in-flight model for comparison. The paper will outline in detail the design and development of the AIM experiment cube and the results of testing. The full data and results will be available after the completion of the mission which is expected to be between March and June 2020

Surveillance of Legionella Waterline Colonization in a Hospital of Rome, Italy

BACKGROUND: In many hospital’s legionella outbreaks, hot water systems are the most frequent source of infection. OBJECTIVES: Considering the old age of the hospital waterline, an investigation on legionella water colonization was performed to evaluate the system weakness and to implement environmental preventive measures. METHODS: Three repeated campaigns of water sampling were performed in different seasons from February 2004 to June 2006. Overall, 66 water samples were collected: 52 in wards with at-risk patients from 3 buildings (two old (A-B) and one new (C)); other 14 samples from boilers. The samples were analysed, following national legionella standard methods; water temperature, pH and residual free chlorine were determined at the time of collection. RESULTS: A total of 8 samples (12.1%) resulted positive for Legionella spp. In hospital wards 6 (11.5%) samples were positive and the isolates were L. gormanii (1) and L. pneumophila (5). The highest colonization rate was observed in building C (26.7%), vs 5.5% in B and 5.3% in A. 14.3% samples from boilers were also colonized by L. pneumophila. The percentage of positive samples was: 6.7% in autumn-winter and 23.8% in spring-summar campaigns. The average temperature was lower in colonized samples (39.1° vs 46.5°). In 71.4% of samples the level of L. pneumophila contamination was beween 103 and 104 CFU/L. CONCLUSION: Hospital water system seams to be affected by Legionella colonization most frequently in spring-summar and in the new buildings (C). It is necessary now to investigate on the temperature level mantained in hot-water system and also to observe if the structural characteristics of water ducts of C-building can influence the colonization observed

Field evaluation of the reactogenicity of pneumococcal and influenza vaccines.

Sun City (South Africa

Effect of sildenafil citrate upon myocardial ischemia in patients with chronic stable angina in therapy with beta-blockers

It has been suggested that phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) inhibition is potentially hazardous and that it increases the risk of cardiac events in patients with coronary artery disease. This study sought to evaluate whether PDE5 inhibition with sildenafil exerts any effect on exercise-induced myocardial ischemia in patients on beta-blockers

Acute anti-ischemic effect of testosterone in men with coronary artery disease

The role of testosterone on the development of coronary artery disease in men is controversial. The evidence that men have a greater incidence of coronary artery disease than women of a similar age suggests a possible causal role of testosterone. Conversely, recent studies have shown that the hormone improves endothelium-dependent relaxation of coronary arteries in men. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of acute administration of testosterone on exercise-induced myocardial ischemia in men