An endogenous growth pattern of roots is revealed in seedlings grown in microgravity

In plants, sensitive and selective mechanisms have evolved to perceive and respond to light and gravity. We investigated the effects of microgravity on the growth and development of Arabidopsis thaliana (ecotype Landsberg) in a spaceflight experiment. These studies were performed with the Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC) hardware system in the middeck region of the space shuttle during mission STS-131 in April 2010. Seedlings were grown on nutrient agar in Petri dishes in BRIC hardware under dark conditions and then fixed in flight with paraformaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, or RNAlater. Although the long-term objective was to study the role of the actin cytoskeleton in gravity perception, in this article we focus on the analysis of morphology of seedlings that developed in microgravity. While previous spaceflight studies noted deleterious morphological effects due to the accumulation of ethylene gas, no such effects were observed in seedlings grown with the BRIC system. Seed germination was 89% in the spaceflight experiment and 91% in the ground control, and seedlings grew equally well in both conditions. However, roots of space-grown seedlings exhibited a significant difference (compared to the ground controls) in overall growth patterns in that they skewed to one direction. In addition, a greater number of adventitious roots formed from the axis of the hypocotyls in the flight-grown plants. Our hypothesis is that an endogenous response in plants causes the roots to skew and that this default growth response is largely masked by the normal 1?g conditions on Earth.     

Common freshwater cyanobacteria grow in 100% CO2

Cyanobacteria and similar organisms produced most of the oxygen found in Earth's atmosphere, which implies that early photosynthetic organisms would have lived in an atmosphere that was rich in CO2 and poor in O2. We investigated the tolerance of several cyanobacteria to very high (>20 kPa) concentrations of atmospheric CO2. Cultures of Synechococcus PCC7942, Synechocystis PCC7942, Plectonema boryanum, and Anabaena sp. were grown in liquid culture sparged with CO2-enriched air. All four strains grew when transferred from ambient CO2 to 20 kPa partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2), but none of them tolerated direct transfer to 40 kPa pCO2. Synechococcus and Anabaena survived 101 kPa (100%) pCO2 when pressure was gradually increased by 15 kPa per day, and Plectonema actively grew under these conditions. All four strains grew in an anoxic atmosphere of 5 kPa pCO2 in N2. Strains that were sensitive to high CO2 were also sensitive to low initial pH (pH 5-6). However, low pH in itself was not sufficient to prevent growth. Although mechanisms of damage and survival are still under investigation, we have shown that modern cyanobacteria can survive under Earth's primordial conditions and that cyanobacteria-like organisms could have flourished under conditions on early Mars, which probably had an atmosphere similar to early Earth's.     

Interplanetary transfer of photosynthesis: an experimental demonstration of a selective dispersal filter in planetary island biogeography

We launched a cryptoendolithic habitat, made of a gneissic impactite inoculated with Chroococcidiopsis sp., into Earth orbit. After orbiting the Earth for 16 days, the rock entered the Earth's atmosphere and was recovered in Kazakhstan. The heat of entry ablated and heated the rock to a temperature well above the upper temperature limit for life to below the depth at which light levels are insufficient for photosynthetic organisms ( approximately 5 mm), thus killing all of its photosynthetic inhabitants. This experiment shows that atmospheric transit acts as a strong biogeographical dispersal filter to the interplanetary transfer of photosynthesis. Following atmospheric entry we found that a transparent, glassy fusion crust had formed on the outside of the rock. Re-inoculated Chroococcidiopsis grew preferentially under the fusion crust in the relatively unaltered gneiss beneath. Organisms under the fusion grew approximately twice as fast as the organisms on the control rock. Thus, the biologically destructive effects of atmospheric transit can generate entirely novel and improved endolithic habitats for organisms on the destination planetary body that survive the dispersal filter. The experiment advances our understanding of how island biogeography works on the interplanetary scale.     

Future Italian space policy

Italy initiated space activities in the late 1950s; however, it was only in the 1980s that these activities grew to the point where Italy became a major spacefaring nation. In 1988, the Italian Space Agency was created with the goal of coordinating all Italian space activities, but severe administrative and organizational difficulties hampered its operation. This viewpoint proposes a new space policy-making process, in view of the increased effectiveness that space activities can bring to various departments of the Italian government and to allow it to better exploit investments in space activities.     

Thyroid cell growth: sphingomyelin metabolism as non-invasive marker for cell damage acquired during spaceflight

Prolonged spaceflights are known to elicit changes in human cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and nervous systems, whose functions are regulated by the thyroid gland. It is known that sphingomyelin metabolism is involved in apoptosis (programmed cell death) of thyroid cells induced by UVC radiation, but at present no data exists with regard to this phenomenon, which occurs during space missions. The aim of this study was to analyze, for the first time, the effect of spaceflight on the enzymes of sphingomyelin metabolism, sphingomyelinase, and sphingomyelin synthase, and to determine whether the ratio between the two enzymes might be used as a possible marker for thyroid activity during space missions. Both quiescent thyroid cells and thyroid cells stimulated to proliferate with thyrotropin (TSH) were cultured during the Eneide and Esperia missions on the International Space Station. The results show that during space missions the cells treated with TSH grew only 1.5?±?0.65-fold and, thus, behave similarly to quiescent cells, while on the ground the same cells, maintained in experimental conditions that reproduced those of the flight, grew 7.71?±?0.67-fold. Comparison of the sphingomyelinase/sphingomyelin-synthase ratio and the levels of Bax, STAT3, and RNA polymerase II in proliferating, quiescent, pro-apoptotic, or apoptotic cells demonstrated that thyroid cells during space missions were induced into a pro-apoptotic state. Given its specificity and the small amount of cells needed for analysis, we propose the use of the sphingomyelinase/sphingomyelin-synthase ratio as a marker of functional status of thyroid cells during space missions. Further studies could lead to its use in real time during prolonged spaceflights.     

Ni/Ti中间层部分瞬间液相法连接C/C复合材料和GH3044

采用Ni/Ti中间层,部分瞬间液相法(Partial Transient Liquid-Phase,简称PTLP)连接C/C复合材料和GH3044,通过SEM+EDS对接头的微观结构和元素分布进行了表征,并分析了接头形成机理。研究表明,这种方法可实现C/C复合材料与中间层、中间层与GH3044界面处的良好结合;所得接头截面为GH3044/扩散层/残余Ni层/Ni-Ti金属间化合物层/炭化物反应层/C/C复合材料;随保温时间的延长,接头中金属间化合物Ni3Ti不断生长,同时两侧的Ni、NiTi被逐渐消耗。另外,因为C/C复合材料和GH3044的热膨胀系数(Coefficient of Thermal Expansion,CTE)差别很大,所以冷却过程中产生了较大的热应力,导致C/C复合材料/中间层界面附近出现了大尺寸裂纹,使接头性能下降,其剪切强度仅有9.78 MPa。     

K42O2高温合金激光选区熔化成形微观组织研究

为了实现激光选区熔化成形(SLM)这项新工艺在液体火箭发动机高温合金结构上的推广应用,明晰其强化机理以及研究相应的热处理制度,对激光选区熔化快速凝固条件下组织形成及演化规律、第二相析出特点进行了分析和讨论.采用SLM成形K4202镍基高温合金试样,通过光学显微镜(OM)、扫描电镜(SEM)及X射线衍射(XRD)等理化分析手段,将基于ANSYS生死单元技术的温度场数值模拟结果和经典凝固理论相结合,揭示了其组织特征及演化规律:沉积态表现为外延生长柱状晶,层间可见层带组织,顶部出现转向枝晶和二次枝晶臂,γ'强化相和碳化物的析出受到抑制.     

Caenorhabditis elegans survives atmospheric breakup of STS-107, space shuttle Columbia

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a popular organism for biological studies, is being developed as a model system for space biology. The chemically defined liquid medium, C. elegans Maintenance Medium (CeMM), allows axenic cultivation and automation of experiments that are critical for spaceflight research. To validate CeMM for use during spaceflight, we grew animals using CeMM and standard laboratory conditions onboard STS-107, space shuttle Columbia. Tragically, the Columbia was destroyed while reentering the Earth's atmosphere. During the massive recovery effort, hardware that contained our experiment was found. Live animals were observed in four of the five recovered canisters, which had survived on both types of media. These data demonstrate that CeMM is capable of supporting C. elegans during spaceflight. They also demonstrate that animals can survive a relatively unprotected reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, which has implications with regard to the packaging of living material during space flight, planetary protection, and the interplanetary transfer of life.     

Is the vision of the Earth Observation Summit realizable?

At the Earth Observation Summit in 2003 at the US Department of State, environmental ministers from more than 30 countries joined three US cabinet secretaries to plan the creation of a system for international sharing of data about the atmosphere, the oceans and the land. The meeting grew in part out of commitments by leaders at a G-8 summit meeting in France to build an integrated global earth environmental monitoring system. Opportunities and problems both figure prominently in implementation of the Summit's vision. The challenges include who pays for infrastructure, training, and administration; whether to control data access; how to include the private sector; and whether problems of collective action will plague the effort.     

Haploid deletion strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that determine survival during space flight

This study identifies genes that determine survival during a space flight, using the model eukaryotic organism, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Select strains of a haploid yeast deletion series grew during storage in distilled water in space, but not in ground based static or clinorotation controls. The survival advantages in space in distilled water include a 133-fold advantage for the deletion of PEX19, a chaperone and import receptor for newly- synthesized class I peroxisomal membrane proteins, to 77–40 fold for deletion strains lacking elements of aerobic respiration, isocitrate metabolism, and mitochondrial electron transport. Following automated addition of rich growth media, the space flight was associated with a marked survival advantage of strains with deletions in catalytically active genes including hydrolases, oxidoreductases and transferases. When compared to static controls, space flight was associated with a marked survival disadvantage of deletion strains lacking transporter, antioxidant and catalytic activity. This study identifies yeast deletion strains with a survival advantage during storage in distilled water and space flight, and amplifies our understanding of the genes critical for survival in space.     

Market-based systems for instrument development and science planning

Market-based systems are those systems in which currency is used to express demand for a limited resource. In these systems, users `own' currency and exchange it for a desired commodity. Though used for thousands of years, market-based applications to space missions are still in their infancy. The first successful application was in 1992 with the Cassini Mission to Saturn. In this case, the sum total of mass and dollars for the science instruments had to fit within the allocated resource envelope. Results from the use of a market-based system show that the entire science payload grew from original estimates by only +1% for cost, and by –7% for mass. The next application was for Space Shuttle Secondary Payloads. In this application, available shuttle lift mass, number of lockers for secondary payloads, and available astronaut time had to be allocated between 5 NASA Users. Experiments showed that a market-based system can reduce the size of the required workforce needed to produce a manifest of the same quality as one produced `by committee.' Finally, a market-based system was experimentally applied to LightSAR science planning, a proposed joint NASA/Commercial RADAR mission. In this application, users were able to produce a conflict-free timeline of events remotely, of high science value, in about half the time required by more traditional methods.     

Effect of volatile metabolites of dill, radish and garlic on growth of bacteria

In a model experiment plants were grown in sealed chambers on expanded clay aggregate under the luminance of 150 W/m2 PAR and the temperature of 24 degrees C. Seven bacterial strains under investigation, replicated on nutrient medium surface in Petri dishes, were grown in the atmosphere of cultivated plants. Microbial response was evaluated by the difference between colony size in experiment and in control. In control, bacteria grew in the atmosphere of clean air. To study the effects of volatile metabolites of various plant on microbial growth, the experimental data were compared with the background values defined for each individual experiment. Expanded clay aggregate, luminance, temperature, and sealed chamber (without plants) for the background were the same. Volatile metabolites from 28-days old radish plants have been reliably established to have no effect on the growth of microbes under investigation. Metabolites of 30-days old dill and 50-days old garlic have been established to have reliable bacteriostatic effect on the growth of three bacterial strains. Dill and garlic have been found to have different range of effects of volatile substances on bacterial growth. Volatile metabolites of dill and garlic differed in their effect on the sensitivity spectrum of bacteria. An attempt has been made to describe the obtained data mathematically.     

Bacterial community in ancient Siberian permafrost as characterized by culture and culture-independent methods

The microbial composition of ancient permafrost sediments from the Kolyma lowland of Northeast Eurasia was examined through culture and culture-independent approaches. These sediments have been continuously frozen for 5,000 to 2-3 million years. A total of 265 Bacteria 16S rRNA gene sequences were amplified from the permafrost total-community genomic DNA and screened by amplified ribosomal 16S rRNA restriction analysis. Members of three major lineages were found: gamma-Proteobacteria (mostly Xanthomonadaceae), Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes. We also determined partial 16S rRNA gene sequences of 49 isolates from a collection of 462 aerobes isolated from these sediments. The bacteria included Actinomycetales (Arthrobacter and Microbacteriaceae); followed by the Firmicutes (Exiguobacterium and Planomicrobium); the Bacteroidetes (Flavobacterium); the gamma-Proteobacteria (Psychrobacter); and the alpha-Proteobacteria (Sphingomonas). Both culture and culture-independent approaches showed the presence of high and low G+C Gram-positive bacteria and gamma-Proteobacteria. Some of the 16S rRNA gene sequences of environmental clones matched those of Arthrobacter isolates. Two-thirds of the isolates grew at -2.5 degrees C, indicating that they are psychroactive, and all are closely related to phylogenetic groups with strains from other cold environments, mostly commonly from Antarctica. The culturable and non-culturable microorganisms found in the terrestrial permafrost provide a prototype for possible life on the cryogenic planets of the Solar System.     

气相色谱法检测无水肼中水含量的不确定度评定

对气相色谱法检测无水肼中水含量过程的不确定度进行评定,系统分析检测过程中不确定度来源和各不确定度分量对分析结果的影响,通过对不确定度的分量进行分析和合成,可知标准溶液配制的过程、标准曲线的拟合和测量样品时的重复操作带来的不确定度分量是影响无水肼中水含量测定不确定度的主要来源.     

Physical–chemical properties of plasma membrane and function of erythrocytes of cosmonauts after long-term space flight

We studied microfluidity and selective ion permeability of plasma membranes and O₂-binding properties of erythrocytes of cosmonauts during early rehabilitation after a long-term space flight (LTSF). Microfluidity of plasma membranes in surface regions was found to undergo a reversible decrease during 13–15 days following LTSF, which was accompanied by a reversible increase in relative cholesterol content. Cosmonauts’ erythrocytes revealed an increased activity of Na/H-exchanger and K_Ca-channel as well as a decrease in number of discocytes and increase in number of echinocytes, stomatocytes and knizocytes. Total hemoglobin content as well as oxyhemoglobin content were lowered after the LTSF, while the affinity of hemoglobin to O₂ was advanced. It is suggested that the changes in Hb properties, microfluidity and selective permeability of plasma membranes following the elevated cholesterol content in the membranes can decrease tissue supply with O₂.     

Electrolytes in femur and plasma of rats during prolonged restriction of motor activity.

Hypokinesia (decreased motor activity) induces insignificant bone mineral changes. The aim of this study was to measure mineralization, density, and also electrolyte content in the femur of rats during prolonged hypokinesia (HK). Studies were done on 144 male Wistar rats (370-390 g) during 15 days period of pre-HK and 90 days period of HK. Rats were equally divided into two groups: hypokinetic rats (HKR) and vivarium control (VCR). The HKR group of rats was kept in small individual cages. Femur mineralization density, ash mineral content, calcium (Ca) and phosphate (P) content, and plasma Ca and P concentration were measured. In the HKR group body weight, femur mineralization, density, ash mineral content, Ca and P concentration decreased significantly (p < or = 0.01) while plasma Ca and P concentration increased significantly (p < or = 0.01) when compared with the VCR group. The measured parameters did not change significantly in the VCR group when compared with the baseline control values. It was concluded that prolonged HK induces a significant reduction in electrolyte concentration accompanied by decreased mineralization, density, and ash mineral content of the femur of rats.     

Fluid electrolyte and hormonal changes in conditioned and unconditioned men under hypokinesia

It has been suggested that hypokinesia (diminished muscular activity) may induce more changes in fluid electrolyte metabolism and hormonal concentration of blood plasma in conditioned than unconditioned men. Thus, the objective of this investigation was to determine the effect of 7 days of hypokinesis (HK) on fluid-electrolyte excretion and hormonal content of blood in 12 physically healthy men aged 19-23 years. They were divided into two equal groups according to their physical conditioning. For the simulation of the hypokinetic effect the men were kept under a rigorous bed rest regime. During the background period (BGP), that is prior to the exposure to HK, and under HK, the rate of elimination of fluid, sodium and potassium, and the content of blood plasma aldosterone and cortisol was measured. The amount of excretion of fluid and electrolytes increased while blood plasma aldosterone content decreased. In the conditioned men, a greater excretion of fluid and electrolytes and a greater reduction of plasma aldosterone concentration was observed. It was concluded that hypokinesia induced substantial changes in fluid-electrolyte excretion and hormonal content of blood plasma in both conditioned and unconditioned men.     

T3清洗剂中煤油含量分析方法

为检测液氧／煤油发动机清洗后清洗剂中煤油含量,采用带温度程序的毛细管柱气相色谱法对液氧／煤油发动机组件用T3清洗剂清洗后清洗剂中残留的煤油组分进行分离,所得色谱峰峰形好且稳定,所选分析峰的峰面积与煤油含量在一定的浓度范围内呈线性关系。考察了分析条件、分析方法的重现性、精密度及检测限,建立了T3清洗剂中煤油含量的分析方法。该方法简便、快速、灵敏度高、检测限低。可用于判断液氧／煤油发动机组件清洗干净与否的标准。     

近红外漫反射光谱技术在预浸布质量指标在线测定中的应用

采用近红外漫反射光谱技术对高硅氧/酚醛预浸布的树脂含量、挥发分含量和预固化度等质量指标进行了在线测定。利用偏最小二乘法所建立的树脂含量、挥发分含量和预固化度模型的决定系数R2分别为99.20、99.14和99.11,交叉验证均方差RMSECV分别为0.298、0.144和0.124。利用外部验证集,对模型进行t-检验,在给定显著性水平0.05的情况下,近红外的测定结果和标准方法的测定结果对比,两者不存在显著性差异。该方法在预浸布生产线的应用,为其生产过程中的质量控制提供了一种有效的分析手段。