Gravitational unloading effects on muscle fiber size, phenotype and myonuclear number.

The effects of gravitational unloading with or without intact neural activity and/or tension development on myosin heavy chain (MHC) composition, cross-sectional area (CSA), number of myonuclei, and myonuclear domain (cytoplasmic volume per myonucleus ratio) in single fibers of both slow and fast muscles of rat hindlimbs are reviewed briefly. The atrophic response to unloading is generally graded as follows: slow extensors > fast extensors > fast flexors. Reduction of CSA is usually greater in the most predominant fiber type of that muscle. The percentage of fibers expressing fast MHC isoforms increases in unloaded slow but not fast muscles. Myonuclear number per mm of fiber length and myonuclear domain is decreased in the fibers of the unloaded predominantly slow soleus muscle, but not in the predominantly fast plantaris. Decreases in myonuclear number and domain, however, are observed in plantaris fibers when tenotomy, denervation, or both are combined with hindlimb unloading. All of these results are consistent with the view that a major factor for fiber atrophy is an inhibition or reduction of loading of the hindlimbs. These data also indicate that predominantly slow muscles are more responsive to unloading than predominantly fast muscles.     

The declined phosphorylation of Heat shock protein 27 in rat cardiac muscle after hindlimb unloading

Hindlimb unloading can induce the cardiac atrophy and diminished cardiac function, however, the mechanisms responsible for which remain elusive. The chronic volume unloading of heart, which decreases the local mechanical stress, may lead to cardiac atrophy after hindlimb unloading. Many studies showed that integrin signaling, p38 MAPK, Heat shock protein 27 and cytoskeleton involved in the hypertrophic growth induced by mechanical stress. However, the mechanisms responsible for cardiac atrophy after hindlimb unloading are still unclear. In this study, we used the tail-suspended, hindlimb unloading rat model to simulate the effects of microgravity. Western blot analysis was used to detect the protein expression of Heat shock protein 27, focal adhesion kinase, p38 MAPK and their phosphorylation levels in rat cardiac muscle after 14d hindlimb unloading. The results showed that the phosphorylation levels of both Heat shock protein 27 and p38 MAPK were decreased significantly in rat cardiac muscle after hindlimb unloading. However, the phosphorylation level of focal adhesion kinase was not decreased significantly. The results suggested that Heat shock protein 27, the downstream of p38 MAPK, might play a critical role in the cardiac atrophy in response to simulated microgravity induced by hindlimb unloading.     

Alterations in glucose and protein metabolism in animals subjected to simulated microgravity.

Reduction of physical activity due to disease or environmental restraints, such as total bed rest or exposure to spaceflight, leads to atrophy of skeletal muscle and is frequently accompanied by alterations in food intake and the concentration of metabolic regulatory hormones such as insulin. Hindlimb suspension of laboratory rats, as a model for microgravity, also shows marked atrophy of gravity dependent muscles along with a reduced gain in body weight. Suspended rats exhibit enhanced sensitivity to insulin-induced glucose uptake when compared with normal control rats and resistance to insulin action when compared with control rats matched similarly for reduced body weight gain. These changes are accompanied by decreased insulin binding and tyrosine kinase activity in soleus but not plantaris muscle, unchanged glucose uptake by perfused hindlimb and decreased sensitivity but not responsiveness to insulin-induced suppression of net proteolysis in hindlimb skeletal muscle. These findings suggest that loss of insulin sensitivity during muscle atrophy is associated with decreased insulin binding and tyrosine kinase activity in atrophied soleus muscle along with decreased sensitivity to the effects of insulin on suppressing net protein breakdown but not on enhancing glucose uptake by perfused hindlimb.     

Development of countermeasures for medical problems encountered in space flight.

By the turn of this century, long-duration space missions, either in low Earth orbit or for got early planetary missions, will become commonplace. From the physiological standpoint, exposure to the weightless environment results in changes in body function, some of which are adaptive in nature and some of which can be life threatening. Important issues such as environmental health, radiation protection, physical deconditioning, and bone and muscle loss are of concern to life scientists and mission designers. Physical conditioning techniques such as exercise are not sufficient to protect future space travellers. A review of past experience with piloted missions has shown that gradual breakdown in bone and muscle tissue, together with fluid losses, despite a vigorous exercise regimen can ultimately lead to increased evidence of renal stones, musculoskeletal injuries, and bone fractures. Biological effects of radiation can, over long periods of time increase the risk of cancer development. Today, a vigorous program of study on the means to provide a complex exercise regimen to the antigravity muscles and skeleton is under study. Additional evaluation of artificial gravity as a mechanism to counteract bone and muscle deconditioning and cardiovascular asthenia is under study. New radiation methods are being developed. This paper will deal with the results of these studies.     

双组元统一推进系统减压器稳定性仿真

针对某双组元统一推进气路系统采用的高压卸荷膜片式减压器,建立起有限体积瞬变仿真模型,并搭建起减压器特性研究系统的模块化仿真模型.针对试验过程中出现的振荡现象,借助数值手段阐明了各结构和控制参数对减压器工作稳定性的影响,得出了减弱振荡的各种措施:减小阀芯质量,增大高、低压腔体积,增大弹性元件材料的阻尼系数,减小反馈孔直径,增大膜片刚度.与试验和相关文献研究情况的对比证实了某些措施的有效性.     

深空探测器在轨推力器参数辨识方法

针对中国首次自主火星探测任务需要,结合环绕器质量特性和推进系统布局构型,分析了喷气卸载对整器角动量的影响。在分析的基础上,通过飞轮卸载前后三轴转速变化规律,计算整器角动量变化情况,并解算出每次喷气时产生的冲量及推力方向偏差;通过同组推力器作用时对各轴的扰动,解算整器质心坐标。利用在轨数据分析了天问一号探测器巡航段6次使用不同推力器的喷气卸载情况,解算的推力器方向偏差、质心坐标和地面设计值进行比对,实测推力方向偏差不超过0.6°,质心绝对偏差小于18mm,验证了计算方法的有效性和正确性,可作为后续轨控任务的点火方向制定、燃料预算的输入依据。     

Animal models for the study of the effects of spaceflight on the immune system.

Animal models have been used to determine the effects of spaceflight on the immune system. Rats and rhesus monkeys have been the primary animals used for actual space flight studies, but mice have also been utilized for studies in ground-based models. The primary ground based model used has been hindlimb unloading of rodents, which is similar to the chronic bed-rest model for humans. A variety of immune responses have been shown to be modified when animals are hindlimb unloaded. These results parallel those observed when animals are flown in space. In general, immune responses are depressed in animals maintained in the hindlimb unloading model or flown in space. These results raise the possibility that spaceflight could result in decreased resistance to infection in animals.     

Changes of contractile responses due to simulated weightlessness in rat soleus muscle.

Some contractile and electrophysiological properties of muscle fibers isolated from the slow-twitch soleus (SOL) and fast-twitch extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles of rats were compared with those measured in SOL muscles from suspended rats. In suspended SOL (21 days of tail-suspension) membrane potential (Em), intracellular sodium activity (aiNa) and the slope of the relationship between Em and log [K]o were typical of fast-twitch muscles. The relation between the maximal amplitude of K-contractures vs Em was steeper for control SOL than for EDL and suspended SOL muscles. After suspension, in SOL muscles the contractile threshold and the inactivation curves for K-contractures were shifted to more positive Em. Repriming of K-contractures was unaffected by suspension. The exposure of isolated fibers to perchlorate (ClO4-)-containing (6-40 mM) solutions resulted in a similar concentration-dependent shift to more negative Em of activation curves for EDL and suspended SOL muscles. On exposure to a Na-free TEA solution, SOL from control and suspended rats, in contrast to EDL muscles, generated slow contractile responses. Suspended SOL showed a reduced sensitivity to the contracture-producing effect of caffeine compared to control muscles. These results suggested that the modifications observed due to suspension could be encounted by changes in the characteristics of muscle fibers from slow to fast-twitch type.     

Research on the adaptation of skeletal muscle to hypogravity: past and future directions.

Our current understanding of hypogravity-induced atrophy of skeletal muscles is based primarily on studies comparing pre- and post-flight properties of muscles. Interpretations are necessarily qualified by the assumption that the stress of reentry and readjustment to terrestrial gravity do not alter the parameters being analyzed. The neuromuscular system is highly responsive to changes in functional demands and capable of rapid adaptation, making this assumption questionable. A reexamination of the changes in the connective tissue and synaptic terminals of soleus muscles from rats orbited in biosatellites and sampled postflight indicates that these structural alterations represent adaptative responses of the atrophic muscles to the increased workload of returning to 1 G, rather than hypogravity per se. The atrophy of weightlessness is postulated to result because muscles are both underloaded and used less often. Proper testing of this hypothesis requires quantitation of muscle function by monitoring electromyography, force output and length changes during the flight. Experiments conducted in space laboratories, like those being developed for the Space Shuttle, will avoid the complications of reentry before tissue sampling and allow time course atudies of the rate of development of adaptive changes to zero gravity. Another area of great importance for future studies of muscle atrophy is inflight measurement of plasma levels of hormones and tissue receptor levels. Glucocorticoids, thyroid hormone and insulin exert dramatic regulatory influences on muscle structure. Prevention of neuromuscular atrophy becomes increasingly more important as spaceflights increase in duration. Definition of the atrophic mechanism is essential to developing means of preventing neuromuscular atrophy.     

火星环绕器环火轨道的角动量管理方法

针对中国首次火星探测的任务需求和规划,结合环绕器质量特性和布局构型以及大椭圆轨道特性,分析了环绕器在环火飞行阶段所受的重力梯度力矩和光压力矩规律.空间干扰力矩累积导致飞轮转速上升,影响姿态机动能力,需要喷气卸载.为减少喷气卸载次数,在满足系统任务的基础上,设计了姿态偏置方案,利用光压力矩和重力梯度力矩相互抵消减少角动量...     

基于神经网络的重力卸载系统控制器设计

吊挂系统是地面模拟空间机械臂重力卸载试验的重要方法之一.针对传统PID控制方式动作响应慢、鲁棒性差等缺点,提出了一种基于径向基函数(RBF)神经网络的智能控制方式.该方式有很强的非线性拟合能力,且学习规则简单,可映射任意复杂的非线性关系,便于计算机实现.利用该特性,设计了一种重力卸载精度较PID控制方式更高的控制器.该...     

Effects of microgravity on muscle and cerebral cortex: a suggested interaction.

The "slow" antigravity muscle adductor longus was studied in rats after 14 days of spaceflight (SF). The techniques employed included standard methods for light microscopy, neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) immunocytochemistry and electron microscopy. Light and electron microscopy revealed myofiber atrophy, segmental necrosis and regenerative myofibers. Regenerative myofibers were N-CAM immunoreactive (N-CAM-IR). The neuromuscular junctions showed axon terminals with a decrease or absence of synaptic vesicles, degenerative changes, vacant axonal spaces and changes suggestive of axonal sprouting. No alterations of muscle spindles was seen either by light or electron microscopy. These observations suggest that muscle regeneration and denervation and synaptic remodeling at the level of the neuromuscular junction may take place during spaceflight. In a separate study, GABA immunoreactivity (GABA-IR) was evaluated at the level of the hindlimb representation of the rat somatosensory cortex after 14 days of hindlimb unloading by tail suspension ("simulated" microgravity). A reduction in number of GABA-immunoreactive cells with respect to the control animals was observed in layer Va and Vb. GABA-IR terminals were also reduced in the same layers, particularly those terminals surrounding the soma and apical dendrites of pyramidal cells in layer Vb. On the basis of previous morphological and behavioral studies of the neuromuscular system after spaceflight and hindlimb suspension it is suggested that after limb unloading there are alterations of afferent signaling and feedback information from intramuscular receptors to the cerebral cortex due to modifications in the reflex organization of hindlimb muscle groups. We propose that the changes observed in GABA immunoreactivity of cells and terminals is an expression of changes in their modulatory activity to compensate for the alterations in the afferent information.     

Review of primary spaceflight-induced and secondary reloading-induced changes in slow antigravity muscles of rats.

We have examined the light and electron microscopic properties of hindlimb muscles of rats flown in space for 1-2 weeks on Cosmos biosatellite flights 1887 and 2044 and Space Shuttle missions Spacelab-3, Spacelab Life Sciences-1 and Spacelab Life Sciences-2. Tissues were obtained both inflight and postflight permitting definition of primary microgravity-induced changes and secondary reentry and gravity reloading-induced alterations. Spaceflight causes atrophy and expression of fast fiber characteristics in slow antigravity muscles. The stresses of reentry and reloading reveal that atrophic muscles show increased susceptibility to interstitial edema and ischemic-anoxic necrosis as well as muscle fiber tearing with disruption of contractile proteins. These results demonstrate that the effects of spaceflight on skeletal muscle are multifaceted, and major changes occur both inflight and following return to Earth's gravity.     

飞行过程中头盔对飞行员颈部损伤的影响

为研究飞行过程中不同头盔对飞行员颈部损伤的影响,基于头颈部多刚体动力学模型,对急转弯及稳定盘旋飞行工况下4种头盔情况开展了动力学分析。得到了不同头盔作用下颈部肌肉力、椎间力、力矩及颈部损伤指数N_ij的变化规律,对不同头盔作用下的颈部损伤风险进行了评估。结果表明:所建立的头颈部模型与实验结果较为吻合,可以用来进行仿真模拟分析;相同飞行工况下,B头盔的佩戴使得头部质心前移,增加了颈部前屈时斜方肌的肌肉力;对于同一颈椎节段,B头盔的轴向压缩力最大,而C头盔导致的后伸力矩最大;在所有的计算工况中,上下颈椎的颈部损伤指数N_ij均小于0.5,满足航空领域的安全要求;B头盔和C头盔的质量相近,而B头盔质心位置靠前,C头盔靠后,说明头盔质心的前后位置会对颈部的损伤产生重要影响。研究结果可为飞行员头盔的设计优化及其对颈部损伤的影响提供研究支撑。      

Microgravity and musculoskeletal system of mammals.

This review surveys data in the literature and our own findings concerning the effects of weightlessness on bones and muscles of white rats flown on Cosmos biosatellites and Spacelab-3. It has been shown that the magnitude and sign of functional changes in muscles depend on their biomechanical profile. Structural and metabolic foundations of functional adaptation and its dynamics have been identified: in 5-7 day flights muscle contractility changes are mainly associated with a diminished activity of excitation-contraction coupling, in longer-term flights they are produced by changes in myosin populations specific for myofibers of different functional profile. At early flight stages (up to 1 week) osteoporosis and bone demineralization are very mild; therefore decrease in bone mechanical strength may be caused by changes in physico-chemical parameters of the collagen-crystal system. In flights of up to 3 weeks noticeable osteoporosis develops which is primarily produced by osteogenesis inhibition and which is responsible for a marked decrease of bone strength. These changes may result from uncoupling of bone resorption and remodelling processes. This uncoupling is characterized as incomplete osteogenesis and may be caused by changes in the collagen composition of the organic bone matrix. The above-mentioned adaptive changes in muscle functions of specific skeletal compartments may play a role in different responses of various bones to weightlessness.     

人体手端点到点运动的优化轨迹生成与控制

考虑肢体肌肉的生理特征和肌肉收缩的动力学行为,利用肌肉等长收缩的最小功准则研究了人体手端点到点运动的优化轨迹生成与控制问题.讨论了肌肉收缩的动力学特性,建立水平面内上肢运动的动力学模型,提出将肌肉等长收缩的最小功准则作为优化的目标函数,运用最优化理论将手端点到点的运动问题转化为最优控制问题,设计了求解手端运动优化轨迹的迭代算法,得到了手端运动的控制规律和优化轨迹.算例仿真表明该方法对手端运动优化轨迹的预测是有效的.     

三角翼前缘涡破裂点脉动的实验分析

在水槽中和风洞中分别进行了流动显示和动态测压实验,目的是研究三角翼前缘涡破裂点的脉动现象.对流动显示图片中涡的破裂点位置进行统计和频谱分析,表明破裂点振荡存在双主频特征,位于0.07位置的主频对应着螺旋—泡—螺旋的转化过程,位于0.2~0.4之间的主频对应着螺旋形态破裂本身的小幅振动.对统计的破裂点位置数据做低通滤波后进行相关性分析,还表明了三角翼左右2个前缘涡的破裂点位置信号具有负相关性.进行三角翼表面动态压力测量,对压力数据低通滤波后做相关性分析,发现相同的一条前缘涡的动态压力信号在整个翼面上都具有高度的相关性.      

Udimet 720 Li 高温变形特性的粘塑性本构建模研究

采用Chaboche统一粘塑性本构方程,对Udimet 720 Li在700℃时的单调拉伸、循环加载及蠕变特性等复杂的高温变形现象进行了建模研究.探讨了Chaboche本构理论对这些变形现象进行建模的形式,并特别针对快速各向同性软化和非对称循环加载时的平均应力松弛现象,对Chaboche本构理论进行了修正和变化.将经过修正的Chaboche本构理论,与Levenberg-Marquadt非线性优化算法相结合,编制了材料参数优化程序,得到了材料参数值.研究表明,经过修正的Chaboche本构模型可较好地建模镍基高温合金Udimet 720 Li在高温下的各种变形行为.      

板料冲压成形回弹的数值模拟

回弹是板料成形过程中不可避免的现象.回弹的数值模拟作为解决回弹问题的有效方法,越来越受到工业界和学术界的重视.完整的回弹数值模拟分为2步,即冲头加载成形过程模拟和冲头卸载回弹过程模拟.本文比较了静力隐式和动力显式2种算法在计算回弹问题时的优劣,采用静力隐式算法建立了计算冲头加载成形过程模拟和冲头卸载回弹过程模拟的有限元模型,并利用自行开发的软件给出了计算实例.      

重力波非线性传播过程中的饱和与破碎

采用水平方向的显式算法与垂直方向的隐式算法相结合的时间分裂法,建立了二维可压缩大气中重力波非线性传播的数值模式.用本模式对小振幅重力波传播过程的模拟结果与线性重力波理论预测的结果吻合很好,从而验证了本模式的正确性.我们用此模式模拟了有限振幅重力波在非线性传播过程中的饱和与破碎,结果表明,(1)翻转出现在饱和之前,但向破碎演化仍需要一段时间,由于非线性波-波和波-流相互作用使得非线性数值模拟的饱和高度(出现时间)高(早)于线性饱和理论预测的结果;(2)重力波在不稳定之前已经有能量向背景场中转移,破碎直接导致非线性波-波相互作用,造成能量向小尺度短波上转移;(3)背景风场的加速方向,形成射流的方向与重力波的水平传播方向一致,表明重力波与背景流的非线性相互作用加剧了背景风剪切和不稳定性的发展.