Otorhinolaryngological problems in medical support of space flights

At present the main trends among the most important problems of otorhinolaryngology in space medicine have become defined as vestibulology, audiology and clinical aspects (prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment of ENT diseases in flight). The principal result of recent vestibular studies has probably been the establishment of an apparent relationship between the resistance of the vestibular system to adequate ground-based stimulation and tolerance to space flight. The findings of the studies formed the basis for the development of a new system of vestibular selection, as well as demonstrated the usefulness of special vestibular training of astronauts by active and passive methods. In audiology certain urgency is acquired by the problem of noise limitation in space cabins and auditory system reliability prediction for preserving a high work capability in crew members. The hemodynamic changes in weightlessness, as well as the possibility for allergic lesions, create conditions for distorted course of the ENT diseases and vaso-motor disorders. The prophylaxis of aspirations also deserves close attention since the possibilities of their onset increase in weightlessness. The rendering of immediate, timely aid will depend not only on the presence of the necessary medical equipment but also on the ability of the crew members to render the appropriate otorhinolaryngological aid.     

Ultimate IR Horizon Sensor

The accuracy of presently available IR horizon sensors is not sufficient to meet the stringent attitude sensing and control requirements for future remote sensing and meteorological satellites. The different sources of error in a horizon sensor are analyzed. The accuracy of the sensor is presently limited by the detector noise. Use of HgCdTe in place of an immersed bolometer detector, which is used in conventional horizon sensors eliminates many of the errors. Hence, it is possible to design an ultimate IR horizon sensor whose accuracy is limited only by the uncertainty of the Earth horizon. Comparison of performances of the two types of detectors for horizon sensing is given and possible configurations of sensor using this detector are discussed.     

Renal excretion of water in men under hypokinesia and physical exercise with fluid and salt supplementation

It has been suggested that under hypokinesia (reduced number of steps/day) and intensive physical exercise, the intensification of fluid excretion in men is apparently caused as a result of the inability of the body to retain optimum amounts of water. Thus, to evaluate this hypothesis, studies were performed with the use of fluid and sodium chloride (NaCl) supplements on 12 highly trained physically healthy male volunteers aged 19-24 years under 364 days of hypokinesis (HK) and a set of intensive physical exercises (PE). They were divided into two groups with 6 volunteers per group. The first group of subjects were submitted to HK and took daily fluid and salt supplements in very small doses and the second group of volunteers were subjected to intensive PE and fluid-salt supplements. For the simulation of the hypokinetic effect, both groups of subjects were kept under an average of 4000 steps/day. During the prehypokinetic period of 60 days and under the hypokinetic period of 364 days water consumed and eliminated in urine by the men, water content in blood, plasma volume, rate of glomerular filtration, renal blood flow, osmotic concentration of urine and blood were measured. Under HK, the rate of renal excretion of water increased considerably in both groups. The additional fluid and salt intake failed to normalize water balance adequately under HK and PE. It was concluded that negative water balance evidently resulted not from shortage of water in the diet but from the inability of the body to retain optimum amounts of fluid under HK and a set of intensive PEs.     

Analysis of Limit Cycles in a Two-Transistor Saturable-Core Parallel Inverter

A familiar two-transistor saturable-core parallel inverter is modeled as a nonlinear negative resistance in parallel with energy-storage elements. The techniques of singular-point analysis are combined with piecewise linear techniques to permit determination of solution trajectories on the phase plane. Clear insight is provided, not only into steady-state oscillation, but also into transient behavior of the circuit. Experimental results confirming the analytical model are included.     

Communicating bioastronautics research to students, families and the nation

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) is supporting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) education mission through a comprehensive Education and Public Outreach Program (EPOP) that communicates the excitement and significance of space biology to schools, families, and lay audiences. The EPOP is comprised of eight academic institutions: Baylor College of Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Texas A&M University, University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, Rice University, and the University of Washington. This paper describes the programs and products created by the EPOP to promote space life science education in schools and among the general public. To date, these activities have reached thousands of teachers and students around the US and have been rated very highly.     

Spectral signatures of photosynthesis. I. Review of Earth organisms

Why do plants reflect in the green and have a "red edge" in the red, and should extrasolar photosynthesis be the same? We provide (1) a brief review of how photosynthesis works, (2) an overview of the diversity of photosynthetic organisms, their light harvesting systems, and environmental ranges, (3) a synthesis of photosynthetic surface spectral signatures, and (4) evolutionary rationales for photosynthetic surface reflectance spectra with regard to utilization of photon energy and the planetary light environment. We found the "near-infrared (NIR) end" of the red edge to trend from blue-shifted to reddest for (in order) snow algae, temperate algae, lichens, mosses, aquatic plants, and finally terrestrial vascular plants. The red edge is weak or sloping in lichens. Purple bacteria exhibit possibly a sloping edge in the NIR. More studies are needed on pigment-protein complexes, membrane composition, and measurements of bacteria before firm conclusions can be drawn about the role of the NIR reflectance. Pigment absorbance features are strongly correlated with features of atmospheric spectral transmittance: P680 in Photosystem II with the peak surface incident photon flux density at approximately 685 nm, just before an oxygen band at 687.5 nm; the NIR end of the red edge with water absorbance bands and the oxygen A-band at 761 nm; and bacteriochlorophyll reaction center wavelengths with local maxima in atmospheric and water transmittance spectra. Given the surface incident photon flux density spectrum and resonance transfer in light harvesting, we propose some rules with regard to where photosynthetic pigments will peak in absorbance: (1) the wavelength of peak incident photon flux; (2) the longest available wavelength for core antenna or reaction center pigments; and (3) the shortest wavelengths within an atmospheric window for accessory pigments. That plants absorb less green light may not be an inefficient legacy of evolutionary history, but may actually satisfy the above criteria.     

固冲发动机三维内流场数值计算与应用

利用三维隐式有限体积ＴＶＤ格式求解Ｎ－Ｓ／Ｅｕｌｅｒ方程组,数值模拟固体燃料冲压发动机（ＳＦＲＪ）突扩燃烧室、补燃室和喷管的统一内流场,研究了从亚声速到跨声速到超声速的整个工作过程,揭示了ＳＦＲＪ内复杂的流场结构,并与试验进行对比研究,数值结果与试验吻合很好。     

双时间步长加权ENO-强紧致高分辨率格式及在叶轮机械非定常流动中的应用

在非结构网格下,针对非定常三维N-S方程组发展了一种双时间步长高精度快速迭代格式。该格式在时间上具有二阶精度,在空间上将r=3的加权ENO格式与强紧致格式相结合去处理N-S方程中的对流项以及离散方程的右端项,并用四阶精度的紧致格式去计算N-S方程中的粘性项。典型的3个算例从不同侧面对格式进行了考核。计算表明:该算法具有高效率与高分辨率的特征,所得的计算结果与相关实验数据比较吻合,初步表明了该算法可以在非结构网格下模拟非定常流动的物理过程。      

The Diverse Planetary Ingassing/Outgassing Paths Produced over Billions of Years of Magmatic Activity

Space Science Reviews - Accretion onto black holes is an efficient mechanism in converting the gas mass-energy into energetic outputs as radiation, wind and jet. Tidal disruption events, in which...