Characteristics of metabolism during prolonged water immersion

The effect on the organism of a 12-day stay in a water immersion medium (head on the water surface) was studied on 10 subjects. The condition of the metabolic processes in the subjects was judged from the investigation of the parameters of protein and carbohydrate metabolism, acid-base equilibrium, the activity of a number of enzymes and steroid hormones. The venous blood and diurnal urine served as the material for conducting the corresponding biochemical determinations. The stay in an immersion medium is accompanied by a significant increase in the content of residual nitrogen in the blood, by a reduction of the creatinine content in the blood and by an increase of the creatine content of the blood with the simultaneous increase of the excretion of creatinine and creatine with the urine, by a significant increase of the glucose and lactate content in the blood, by the development of acidosis of a respiratory and metabolic character, as well as by a significant increase of the activity of creatine phosphokinase and the isoenzyme fraction of lactate dehydrogenase3. In all the subjects, an expressed intensification of the glucocorticoid and androgenic functions of the adrenal cortex is noted during the experimental period.     

Catecholamines and their enzymes in discrete brain areas of rats after space flight on biosatellites Cosmos

The activity of the catecholaminergic system was measured in the hypothalamus of rats which had experienced an 18.5-19.5-day-long stay in the state of weightlessness during space flights on board Soviet biosatellites of the type Cosmos. In the first two experiments, Cosmos 782 and 936, the concentration of norepinephrine and the activities of synthesizing enzymes tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase and of the degrading enzyme monoamine oxidase were measured in the total hypothalamus. None of the given parameters was changed after space flight. In the light of the changes of these parameters recorded after exposure to acute stress on Earth, this finding indicates that long-term state of weightlessness does not represent an intensive stressogenic stimulus for the system studied. In the space experiment Cosmos 1129, the concentration of norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine was studied in isolated nuclei of the hypothalamus of rats within 6-10 hr following return from space. Norepinephrine was found to be significantly reduced in the arcuate nucleus, median eminence and periventricular nucleus, epinephrine in the median eminence, periventricular and suprachiasmatic nuclei, whereas dopamine was not significantly changed after space flight. The decreased catecholamine levels found in some hypothalamic nuclei of rats which had undergone space flight indicate that no chronic intensive stressor could have acted during the flight, otherwise the catecholamine concentration would have been increased in the nuclei. The decreased levels must have been induced by the effect of a stressogenic factor acting for a short time only, and that either during the landing maneuver or immediately after landing. Thus long-term exposure of the organism to the state of weightlessness does not represent a stressogenic stimulus for the catecholaminergic system in the hypothalamus, which is one of the regulators of the activation of neuroendocrine reactions under stress.     

Metabolic changes in the animals subjected to space flight

The activity of the enzymes involved in aminoacid metabolism (tyrosine aminotransferase, TAT, tryptophan pyrrolase TP, serine dehydratase, SD) with rapid response to glucocorticoids and enzymes requiring for activity increase repeated administration of corticosterone (alanine aminotransferase, ALT, aspartate aminotransferase, AST) in liver, the changes of lipolysis in adipose tissue and the plasma corticosterone levels were studied in rats subjected to space flight (F), in animals from synchron model experiments (SM, simulated conditions of space flight in laboratory) and in intact controls (C). The increase of plasma corticosterone concentration and of the activity of rapidly (TAT, TP, SD) and slowly activating enzymes (ALT, AST) was found in F group 6-10 hr after space flight (18.5 days on biosatellite COSMOS 1129). This suggested the presence of acute-stress (associated primarily with the landing) and chronic stress induced hypercorticosteronemia during the flight. After the short 6-day period of recovery the plasma corticosterone concentrations and the activities of liver enzymes returned to control levels. The exposition of animals to repeated immobilization stress showed higher response of corticosterone levels in flight rats as compared to intact controls. No changes in basal lipolysis were observed in flight rats in comparison to intact controls, however the stimulation of lipolysis by norepinephrine was lower in animals from F and SM groups. This lower response of lipolytic processes to norepinephrine was found in flight animals also after six days period of recovery. These results showed that there are important changes in the regulation of lipolytic processes in adipose tissue of rats after space flight and in the conditions of model experiments.     

SiCp/Al复合材料与2024铝合金搅拌摩擦焊搭接接头的组织与性能

采用搅拌摩擦焊对SiCp/A1复合材料和铝合金异种材料的搭接进行了研究,并用光学显微镜和电子万能试验机对焊缝组织及力学性能进行了分析测试.结果表明:在合适的工艺参数下,可以获得较好的焊缝成形和无缺陷的焊缝组织.焊核区形成了明显的洋葱环形貌,洋葱环下方是搭接区,其中SiC颗粒细小,分布均匀,由搭接区下部到上部SiC颗粒呈梯度过渡.随焊接速度增加,搭接区SiC颗粒尺寸有所增加,在焊接速度为80mm/min时有裂纹形成,而焊缝力学性能也有所下降.在焊接速度为10mm/min时,焊缝抗剪强度较高,达到81.8MPa.     

Application of the Mars Organic Analyzer to nucleobase and amine biomarker detection

The Mars Organic Analyzer (MOA), a portable microfabricated capillary electrophoresis instrument being developed for planetary exploration, is used to analyze a wide variety of fluorescamine-labeled amine-containing biomarker compounds, including amino acids, mono and diaminoalkanes, amino sugars, nucleobases, and nucleobase degradation products. The nucleobases cytosine and adenine, which contain an exocyclic primary amine, were effectively labeled, separated, and detected at concentrations <500 nM. To test the general applicability of the MOA for biomarker detection, amino acids and mono- and diamines were extracted from bacterial cells using both hydrolysis and sublimation followed by analysis. The extrapolated limit of detection provided by the valine biomarker was approximately 4 x 10(3) cells per sample. Products of an NH(4)CN polymerization that simulate a prebiotic synthesis were also successfully isolated via sublimation and analyzed. Adenine and alanine/serine were detected with no additional sample cleanup at 120 +/- 13 microM and 4.1 +/- 1 microM, respectively, corresponding to a reaction yield of 0.04% and 0.0003%, respectively. This study demonstrates that the MOA provides sensitive detection and analysis of low levels of a wide variety of amine-containing organic compounds from both biological and abiotic sources.     

一种可自主折展电活性驱动元件的原理探究

微纳卫星因其灵活多变和低成本的优势,逐渐应用于太空侦察和气象遥感等领域。然而,尺度的缩减对卫星能量供给和结构提出新挑战,需配载功耗低、结构紧凑的驱动元件。基于此需求,提出一种基于离子型电活性聚吡咯材料(IEAP)的电活性驱动元件。首先阐述该IEAP材料的电化学原理及制备工艺,IEAP通过化学能将电能转换机械能,驱动电压低(-0.5～0.5 V),电致动良好。然后依据热力学等效模型对参数进行标定后,设计试制单、双自由度机构,进行测试并与仿真进行比对分析。IEAP作为新型电致大变形材料,具有独特优势和广阔前景,例如可作为微纳卫星太阳帆自展开驱动元件,星载相机调焦驱动元件或用抓取微小太空矿物。     

Modeled microgravity increases filamentation, biofilm formation, phenotypic switching, and antimicrobial resistance in Candida albicans

Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen responsible for a variety of cutaneous and systemic human infections. Virulence of C. albicans increases upon exposure to some environmental stresses; therefore, we explored phenotypic responses of C. albicans following exposure to the environmental stress of low-shear modeled microgravity. Upon long-term (12-day) exposure to low-shear modeled microgravity, C. albicans transitioned from yeast to filamentous forms at a higher rate than observed under control conditions. Consistently, genes associated with cellular morphology were differentially expressed in a time-dependent manner. Biofilm communities, credited with enhanced resistance to environmental stress, formed in the modeled microgravity bioreactor and had a more complex structure than those formed in control conditions. In addition, cells exposed to low-shear modeled microgravity displayed phenotypic switching, observed as a near complete transition from smooth to "hyper" irregular wrinkle colony morphology. Consistent with the presence of biofilm communities and increased rates of phenotypic switching, cells exposed to modeled microgravity were significantly more resistant to the antifungal agent Amphotericin B. Together, these data indicate that C. albicans adapts to the environmental stress of low-shear modeled microgravity by demonstrating virulence-associated phenotypes.     

低角速度下改善非线性的光纤陀螺

随着不断完善性能以适应日益增长的用户需求，高性能的数字闭环光纤陀螺（FOG）在减小死区方面得了显著的进展，在惯寻级应用方面，消除低角速率下的一非线性是非常必须的。闭环光纤陀螺中存在的死区现象已被许多光纤陀螺研发机构在设计中观察到了，报道出的现象为在一段小的非零角速度输入时，陀螺输出为零，根据不同的陀螺级别，死区的大小从0.03度／小时到10度／小时，或者更大。产生死区的原因一般来说是由于光纤陀螺的相位调制的激励与信号检测电路间的交叉耦合。屏蔽关键的信号和对电源线解耦有助于减小死区，但总是不能消除，为了消除光纤陀螺在低速率情况下被“卡”住，一种电子抖动的方法得以应用，它连续施加锯齿波在反馈上。这一专利方法可以容易的加入陀螺控制回路，而不必改变现有使用的电路。死区已数百倍的减小，达60微度／小时，这一数值比陀螺的偏置稳定要低许多，有效地消除了系统中现有的死区存在。