[Testing of the gas vortex culture stirrer under conditions of short-term microgravity].

Functional testing of the bioreactor for stirring culture in microgravity was performed during the microgravity episodes aboard research airplane Il-76 following the Kepler parabolic flight path. The attempt to produce the gas vortex stirring effect in a given liquid volume was a failure. Nonetheless, the stirrer ventilator is capable to agitate liquid acting as a mechanical stirrer.

[Identification of individual genotype parameters, informative for medical care in piloted space missions: modern and future capabilities].

The factors of space flight provoke some negative shifts in crew health. Improvement of the methods of diagnostics, evaluation of predisposition to diseases and correction of functional deviations is within the scope of the crew medical operations personnel. It is also a new focus of biomedical research referred to as "personalized medicine" the corner stone of which is genetic analysis. Investigations in this area are prediscovery by character; population genetics seems to be the most adequate approach. The authors give examples of candidate genes the genotypes of which could be of significance to medical operations and discuss the genetic safety of space flight. Aside from the applied aspects, the genetic investigations of space crews are of their own concernment in understanding the genetic basis of differences in biological resistance to unhealthy environment.

[Dynamics of ECG voltage in changing gravity].

Comparative analysis of the QRS voltage response to gravity variations was made using the data about 26 normal human subjects collected in parabolic flights (CNERS-AIRBUS A300 Zero-G, n=23; IL-76MD, n=3) and during the tilt test (head-up tilt at 70 degrees for a min and head-down tilt at-15 degrees for 5 min, n=14). Both the parabolic flights and provocative tilt tests affected R-amplitude in the Z lead. During the hypergravity episodes it was observed in 95% of cases with the mean gain of 16% and maximal--56%. On transition to the horizontal position, the Rz-amplitude showed a rise in each subject (16% on the average). In microgravity, the Rz-amplitude reduced in 95% of the observations. The voltage decline averaged 18% and reached 49% at the maximum. The head-down tilt was conducive to Rz reduction in 78% of observations averaging 2%. Analysis of the ECG records under changing gravity when blood redistribution developed within few seconds not enough for serious metabolic shifts still revealed QRS deviations associated exclusively with the physical factors, i.e., alteration in tissue conduction and distance to electrodes. Our findings can stand in good stead in evaluation of the dynamics of predictive ECG parameters during long-term experiments leading to changes as in tissue conduction, so metabolism.