NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List #1,073 – 3 November 2023 (Space Life Science Research Results)

SPACELINE Current Awareness Lists are distributed via listserv and are available on the NASA Task Book website at https://taskbook.nasaprs.com/Publication/spaceline.cfm. Please send any correspondence to Shawna Byrd, SPACELINE Current Awareness Senior Editor, [email protected].

Call for articles to cite in the weekly lists: Authors at NASA Centers and NASA PIs—do you have an article that has recently published or will publish in the upcoming weeks within a peer-reviewed journal and is in the scope of space life sciences? If so, send it our way! Send your article to the email address mentioned above. Articles received by Wednesday will appear within that week’s list—articles received after Wednesday will appear the following week.

Papers deriving from NASA support:

1. Boles HO, Poulet L, Johnson CM, Torres JJ, Koss LL, Spencer LE, Massa GD.Design, build, and testing of hardware to safely harvest microgreens in microgravity.Gravit Space Res. 2023 Oct 30;11(1):1-14.Note: From the abstract: “In long-duration space missions, crops will supplement the astronaut diet. One proposed crop type is microgreens, the young seedlings of edible plants that are known for their high nutritional levels, intense flavors, colorful appearance, and variety of textures. While these characteristics make microgreens promising for space crop production, their small size presents a unique challenge within the microgravity environment. To address this challenge, a microgreen planting box was developed to improve microgreen harvest techniques both in 1 g and in microgravity without concern for contamination by roots. Using this microgreen planting box, three parabolic flights were conducted where two different bagging methods (attached and manual) and three different microgreen cutting methods (Guillotine, Pepper Grinder, Scissors) were tested.” This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: Not available for this journal
   
   Funding: “The authors would like to acknowledge the NASA Kennedy Space Center for Engineering Safety and Operations funds through their Independent Research and Technology Development grant, as well as funding from the NASA Flight Opportunities program. In particular, Earl Adams and Alexander Van Dijk from NASA Flight Opportunities were instrumental in moving this project forward by putting the authors in contact with Dr. George Pantalos. We are thankful to ZeroG Corporation for the use of their airplane and assistance during the flights. The authors would like to acknowledge NASA’s Space Biology Program, which funded NASA Postdoctoral Fellows CMJ and LP, and scientist GDM.”
2. Muanjai P, Haas C, Sies W, Mittag U, Zange J, Schönau E, Duran I, Kamandulis S, Rittweger J.Effect of whole-body vibration frequency on muscle tensile state during graded plantar flexor isometric contractions.J Exerc Sci Fit. 2023 Oct 4;21(4):405-15.Note: From the abstract: “Acute physiological and biomechanical alterations have been reported following whole-body vibration (WBV). Stiffening of muscles has only been anecdotally reported in response to WBV. Accordingly, this study investigated active plantar flexor muscle stiffness in response to a single WBV bout at four mechanical vibration frequencies.”
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 2.8
   
   Funding: “This research was funded by grants from German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Burapha University Research and Development Fund and Erasmus program from Lithuanian Sports University. CH’s involvement in this research was supported by the Translational Research Institute for Space Health through Cooperative Agreement NNX16AO69A and by the University of Texas Medical Branch and the NASA Graduate Medical Education Training in Aerospace Medicine Cooperative Agreement NNX07A134A.”
3. Niclou A, Sarma MS.The now and future of human biology at the extremes: An introduction to the special issue.Am J Hum Biol. 2023 Oct 26;e24006.PI: M.S. SarmaNote: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 2.9
   
   Funding: “AN is supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number T32DK064584. MSS is supported by the Translational Institute for Space Health through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Cooperative Agreement NNX16AO69A and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institute of Health under Award Number 5T32DC000023-33.”
4. Vimal VP, Panic AS, Lackner JR, DiZio P.Vibrotactile feedback as a countermeasure for spatial disorientation.Front Physiol. 2023 Nov 3;14:1249962.PI: V.P. VimalNote: From the abstract: “Spaceflight can make astronauts susceptible to spatial disorientation which is one of the leading causes of fatal aircraft accidents. In our experiment, blindfolded participants used a joystick to balance themselves while inside a multi-axis rotation device (MARS) in either the vertical or horizontal roll plane.” This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 4.0
   
   Funding: “VV was supported by NASA’s Human Research Program under grant 80NSSC22K0758. JL and PD were supported by NAMRU N0018923P0725.”

Other papers of interest:

1. Cucinotta FA, Pak S.Cancer and circulatory disease risks for the largest solar particle events in the space age.Life Sci Space Res. 2023 Oct 31. Online ahead of print.Note: From the abstract: “In this paper we use the NASA Space Cancer Risk (NSCR version 2022) model to predict cancer and circulatory disease risks using energy spectra representing the largest SPE’s [solar particle events] observed in the space age.”
2. Dobney W, Mols L, Mistry D, Tabury K, Baselet B, Baatout S.Evaluation of deep space exploration risks and mitigations against radiation and microgravity.Front Nucl Med. 2023 Sep 21;3:1225034. Review.Note: This article is part of Research Topic “Insights in Dosimetry and Radiation Safety” (https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/55476/insights-in-dosimetry-and-radiation-safety#overview) and may be obtained online without charge.
3. Li Y, Guo J, Khaksarighiri S, Dobynde MI, Zhang J, Liu B, Wimmer-Schweingruber RF.The impact of space radiation on brains of future Martian and Lunar explorers.Space Weather. 2023 Oct 3;21(10):e2023SW003470.Note: From the abstract: “Astronauts will be facing many risks when they are away from Earth’s environment, among which radiation is one of the most vital and troublesome issues. Space radiation exposure from energetic particles of Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs) and Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) can adversely impact the Central Nervous System (CNS) by inducing acute (i.e., mission critical) and chronic (i.e., post-mission) effects, respectively.”
4. Wang S, Wang T, Zeng X, Chu XY, Zhuoma D, Zhao Y, Chen YZ.Exploring outer space biophysical phenomena via SpaceLID.Sci Rep. 2023 Oct 13;13(1):17400.Note: Extensive investigations in outer space have revealed not only how life adapts to the space environment, but also that interesting biophysical phenomena occur. These phenomena affect human health and other life forms (animals, plants, bacteria, and fungi), and to ensure the safety of future human space exploration need to be further investigated. This calls for joint research efforts between biologists and physicists, as these phenomena present cross-disciplinary barriers. This article may be obtained online without charge.
5. Alani F, Iranbakhsh A, Ebadi M, Hassanpour H, Hekmat A.Simulated microgravity improved secondary metabolism in Physalis alkekengi via influencing gene expression and DNA methylation in a light quality-dependent manner.Acta Physiol Plant. 2023 Oct 3;45(11):129.
6. Cui J, Yi Z, Chen D, Fu Y, Liu H.Microgravity stress alters bacterial community assembly and co-occurrence networks during wheat seed germination.Sci Total Environ. 2023 Sep 10;890:164147.
7. Doré J, Ortega Ugalde S.Human-microbes symbiosis in health and disease, on Earth and beyond planetary boundaries.Front Astron Space Sci. 2023 Sep 22;10:1180522.Note: This article is part of Research Topic “Presentations at the 2022 MELiSSA Conference – Current and Future Ways to Closed Life Support Systems” (https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/42915/presentations-at-the-2022-melissa-conference—current-and-future-ways-to-closed-life-support-systems#overview) and may be obtained online without charge.
8. Zhang H, Liu X, Wu R, Li Y.[Gut microbial dysbiosis under space environment: A review.]Sheng Wu Gong Cheng Xue Bao. 2023 Oct 25;39(10):4075-84. Review. Chinese.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
9. Feng J, Wu B, Cao Z, Chen H, Lan T, Qin H, Shi Y, Huang W, Li Y.Effects of thirty days isolation on attention networks: A behavioral and event-related potential study.Neurosci Bull. 2023 Oct 27. Online ahead of print.
10. James AB, Sharples C, Laird J, Armstrong EM, Guo W, Tzioutziou N, Zhang R, Brown JWS, Nimmo HG, Jones MA.REVEILLE2 thermosensitive splicing: A molecular basis for the integration of nocturnal temperature information by the Arabidopsis circadian clock.New Phytol. 2023 Oct 28. Online ahead of print.
11. Bailey S, Fraser K.Advancing our understanding of the influence of drug induced changes in the gut microbiome on bone health.Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Oct 9;14:1229796. Review.Note: This article is part of Research Topic “The Role of the Gut Microbiota on Bone Mass in Health and Disease” (https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/46549/the-role-of-the-gut-microbiota-on-bone-mass-in-health-and-disease#overview) and may be obtained online without charge.
12. Yeo H-S, Lim J-Y.Effects of exercise prehabilitation on muscle atrophy and contractile properties in hindlimb-unloaded rats.Muscle & Nerve. 2023 Sep 29. Online ahead of printNote: Hindlimb unloading study.
13. Li Y, Sun W, Li J, Du R, Xing W, Yuan X, Zhong G, Zhao D, Liu Z, Jin X, Pan J, Li Y, Li Q, Kan G, Han X, Ling S, Sun X, Li Y.HuR-mediated nucleocytoplasmic translocation of HOTAIR relieves its inhibition of osteogenic differentiation and promotes bone formation.Bone Res. 2023 Oct 23;11:53.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
14. Noguchi M, Ihara T, Suzuki K, Yokoya A.Temporal dynamic regulation of autophagy and senescence induction in response to radiation exposure.Radiat Res. 2023 Oct 30. Online ahead of print.
15. Tomasino AM, Olson JD, Schaaf GW, Cox AO, Furdui CM, Cline JM, Cohen EP.A new method for estimating glomerular filtration rate in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).Radiat Res. 2023 Oct 30. Online ahead of print.
16. Zhao Z-A, Zhang N-N, Cui Y, Chen H-S.The effect of head-down tilt in experimental acute ischemic stroke.Eur Neurol. 2023 Oct 18;30(1):155-61.Note: Head-down tilt study.
17. Tang J, Weiss H, Stirling L.A comparison of sensorimotor assessment accuracy between augmented reality and touchscreen environments.Proc Hum Factors Ergon Soc Annu Meet. 2023 Oct 20;21695067231192547.

Astrobiology