—Adilya Ravgatovna Kotovskaya is a head of laboratory of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Member of the International ...Academy of Astronautics, a specialist in the field of gravitational physiology and medicine. Prof. Kotovskaya is one of the founders of space biology and medicine in Russia. She took an active part in the preparation of the first animal flight (Laika) on the second artificial earth satellite and biological experiments on board satellite vehicles. Prof. Kotovskaya participated in the selection and preparation of the first cosmonaut Yu.A. Gagarin and other cosmonauts for missions on the Vostok, Voskhod, and Soyuz spaceships. She is a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, awarded with two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor and other national and foreign orders and medals. Prof. Kotovskaya is an honorary citizen of Toulouse. The editorial board of the journal sincerely congratulates Prof. Kotovskaya on her ninetieth birthday and wishes her good health and many years of active life.
The results of occlusion plethysmography examination of leg veins are presented for 11 cosmonauts launched to the Russian segment (RS) of the International Space Station (ISS) for six-month space ...flights (SFs) at about four-year intervals. Baseline measurements made before the second launch to the ISS showed an increase in the leg volume and a decrease in venous capacity in comparison with the measurements before the first launch. Comparison of the data obtained in months 2 and 5 in two missions showed consistency of individual trends in changes in vein parameters; however, in the second mission the increases in vein capacity and compliance were less pronounced. There were no dramatic differences between the trends and dynamics of vein filling rates in microgravity during the second and the first SFs. It should be assumed that active fitness training in the interval between missions had a positive effect on the leg muscle condition and favored the diminution of the free compliance zone of the leg veins. It was found that repeated participation in six-month SFs had no negative influence on the condition of leg veins of cosmonauts, providing the maintenance of good physical fitness.
Author's and literary data are analyzed to evince symptoms of cumulation in humans and animals of the negative effects caused by g-forces of different directions experienced in aviation and space ...flights. The author cites evidence for the decisive importance of g-duration for the development of negative effects. Functional indices of g-tolerance do not rule out possible latent changes in visceral organs and body tissues.
The review deals with the problem of using artificial gravity in piloted space missions, its history and relevance to the proclaimed goals of remote space exploration. It contains a brief discussion ...of deconditioning and loss of acceleration tolerance developing in cosmonauts despite a variety of preventive procedures. Key issues pertaining short-arm centrifuge (SAC) design and in-flight utilization are acceleration tolerance, effectiveness and g-prescriptions. The Russian and international literature on SAC experience in ground-based investigations with simulated microgravity effects (immersion, HDT) gives credence to this approach to counteracting the negative physiological effects of microgravity. Open issues and goals to be gained are described.
Tolerance of the chest-to-back (+Gx) loads aboard the
Soyuz
transport vehicle was evaluated for the first time in the Russian cosmonaut (55 years old, second mission) and NASA astronaut (51 years ...old, fourth mission) during de-orbit after a 340-day mission on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015–2016. According to the analysis of subjective sensations and objective physiological data, the G-tolerance of the Russian cosmonaut was satisfactory. However, it is pertinent to note that at the landing site he exhibited momentary symptoms of orthostatic instability including “the gray-out” when rising to his feet that usually precede syncope, as well as salient vestibular symptoms such as vertigo, nausea, difficulty maintaining balance, locomotor ataxia during walking and the feeling of general discomfort that all suggest decline of G-tolerance in comparison with the results of preflight G-testing. Since 2009 astronauts have not been interviewed or examined immediately after landing, and for this reason G-tolerance of the NASA astronaut was evaluated as satisfactory based on analysis of objective physiological information only.
Purpose of the work is to analyze and to summarize the data of investigations into human hemodynamics performed over 20 years aboard orbital stations Salyut-7 and Mir with participation of 26 ...cosmonauts on space flights (SF) from 8 to 438 days in duration. The ultrasonic techniques and occlusive plethysmography demonstrated dynamics of changes in the cardiovascular system during SF of various durations. The parameters of
general hemodynamics, the pumping function of the heart and arterial circulation in the brain remained stable in all the space flights; however, there were alterations in peripheral circulation associated with blood redistribution and hypovolemie in microgravity. The anti-gravity distribution of the vascular tone decayed gradually as unneeded. The most considerable changes were observed in leg vessels, equally in arteries (decrease in resistance) and veins (increase in maximum capacity). The lower body negative pressure test (LBNP) revealed deterioration of the gravity-dependent reactions that changed for the worse as SF duration extended. The cardiovascular deconditioning showed itself as loss of descent acceleration tolerance and orthostatic instability in the postflight period.
This paper reports changes in the main parameters of lower limb veins in 35 cosmonauts in the course of six-month space missions. Major reduction in the leg volume was shown in all cosmonauts, as ...well as a significant increase in venous capacitance and compliance. The rate of lower leg vein filling exhibited different trends; it was decreased in the majority of cosmonauts (
n
= 26, 74%) and increased in the rest (
n
= 9, 26%). Increases in venous capacitance, compliance, and filling rates may impact orthostatic stability (OS). These changes are among the pathophysiological mechanisms of the OS loss in spaceflight.
Fluoroquinolones are an important class of modern and efficient antibacterial drugs with a broad spectrum of activity. Levofloxacin (the optically active form of ofloxacin) is one of the most ...promising fluoroquinolone drugs, and its antibacterial activity is substantially higher than the activity of other drugs of the fluoroquinolone family. Earlier, in the Postovsky Institute of Organic Synthesis, UB RAS, an original method of levofloxacin synthesis was developed, and now the pilot batch of the drug is being prepared. Bacterial DNA gyrase is a specific target of fluoroquinolones; hence, the study of the enzyme-drug interaction is of theoretical and practical importance. Moreover, the parameters of DNA gyrase inhibition may serve as a criterion for drug quality. Here, we present the results of studying the interaction of DNA gyrase with a number of fluoroquinolones and their analogs: intermediates and semi-products of the levofloxacin synthesis, and also samples from the pilot batches of this drug. The importance of two structural elements of the levofloxacin molecule for the efficiency of the inhibition is revealed. The data obtained may be useful for the design of new drugs derived from levofloxacin.
Space exploration is an advanced task affecting the interests of humankind in general; consequently, this activity calls for wide international cooperation. However, such examples are rather few thus ...far. All the more interesting is the experience of Russian–French interaction in biomedical space research. The article published below discusses the history of the joint studies and their results with their unquestionable scientific and applied significance.
PDF
