During the past several years there has been a shortage of flight opportunities for biological and medical projects. And those that were available usually had severe restrictions on instrumentation, number of subjects, duration, time allotted for performing the experiments, a possibility for repetition of experiments. It is our hope and expectation that this will change once the international Space Station is in full operation. The advantages of a permanent space station, already demonstrated by the Russian Mir station, are continuous availability of expert crew and a wide range of equipment, possibility of long-term experiments where this is waranted, increased numbers of subjects through larger laboratory space, proper controls in the large 1-G centrifuge, easier repeatability of experiments when needed. The limited number of flight opportunities during recent years probably explains why it has taken so long to acquire a sufficient number of high quality contributions for this seventh volume of Advances in Space Biology and Medicine. While initially the series wassailed at annually appearing volumes, we are now down to a biannual appearance. Hopefully, it will be possible to return to annual volumes in the future when results from space station experimentation at beginning to pour in. The first three chapters of this volume deal with muscle. Fejtek and Wassersug provide a survey of all studies on muscle of rodents flown in space, and include an interesting demography of this aspect of space research. Riley reviews our current knowledge of the effects of long-term spaceflight and re-entry on skeletal muscle, and considers the questions still to be answered before we can be satisfied that long-term space missions, such as on the space station, can be safely undertaken. Stein reviews our understanding of the nutritional and hormonal aspects of muscle loss in spaceflight, and concludes that the protein loss in space could be deleterious to health during flight and after return. Strollo summarizes our understanding of the major endocrine systems on the ground, then considers what we know about their functioning in space, concluding that there is much to be learned about the changes taking place during spaceflight. The many problems of providing life support (oxygen regeneration and food supply) during extended stay on the Moon, on Mars, or in space by means of plant cultivation are discussed by Salisbury. The challenges of utilizing electrophoresis in microgravity for the separation of cells and proteins are illustrated and explained by Bauer and colleagues. Finally, the chapter on teaching of space life sciences by Schmitt shows that this field of science has come of age, but also that its multidisciplinary character poses interesting challenges to teaching it.

A selection of annotated references to unclassified reports and journal articles that were introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system and announced in Scientific and technical aerospace reports (STAR) and International aerospace abstracts (IAA).

Volume II in the Space Biology and Medicine series, Life Support and Habitability addresses major issues and requirements for safe habitability and work beyond the Earths atmosphere. It is composed of two parts: The Spacecraft Environment and Life Support Systems. As in the first volume, the authors are specialists in their fields in the United States and Russian Federation. The book is intended for a widespread audience. In particular, it will appeal to students majoring in biomedical and technical subjects who intend to specialize in space science, engineers developing life support systems, and physicians and scientists formulating medical specifications for habitability conditions onboard spacecraft and monitoring compliance with them. There are more than 285 figures and tables and 1100 references.

R is quickly becoming the number one choice for users in the fields of biology, medicine, and bioinformatics as their main means of storing, processing, sharing, and analyzing biomedical data. R for Medicine and Biology is a step-by-step guide through the use of the statistical environment R, as used in a biomedical domain. Ideal for healthcare professionals, scientists, informaticists, and statistical experts, this resource will provide even the novice programmer with the tools necessary to process and analyze their data using the R environment. Introductory chapters guide readers in how to obtain, install, and become familiar with R and provide a clear introduction to the programming language using numerous worked examples. Later chapters outline how R can be used, not just for biomedical data analysis, but also as an environment for the processing, storing, reporting, and sharing of data and results. The remainder of the book explores areas of R application to common domains of biomedical informatics, including imaging, statistical analysis, data mining/modeling, pathology informatics, epidemiology, clinical trials, and metadata usage. R for Medicine and Biology will provide you with a single desk reference for the R environment and its many capabilities.

This book examines the effects of spaceflight at cellular and organism levels. Research on the effects of gravity - or its absence - and ionizing radiation on the evolution, development, and function of living organisms is presented in layman's terms. The book describes the benefits of space biology for basic and applied research to support human space exploration and the advantages of space as a laboratory for scientific, technological, and commercial research.

A selection of annotated references to unclassified reports and journal articles that were introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system and announced in Scientific and technical aerospace reports (STAR) and International aerospace abstracts (IAA).

In this volume of ASPA, devoted to developmental biology research, 9 authors from different fields of developmental biology present their investigations on various developing plant and animal models. An a priori concern in mind that weightlessness might have negative effects on developmental processes, it is encouraging to know that the overall development of various organisms tested so far is essentially correct under spaceflight conditions, leading to viable individuals with viable offspring. On the other hand, particular studies on specifically neurophysiological aspects in developing organisms reveal important flight or postflight disturbances; however it is encouraging to know that they appear to be transient only.The book contains ten chapters, giving details on how, in technical terms, experiments for spaceflights are prepared, performed and analysed and on how, in scientific terms, the available results have to be interpreted. One contribution is devoted to plant systems, five consider the overall aspects of embryonic development in invertebrates and vertebrates, two focus on neurophysiological aspects and one reports on the "mother-offspring system" in weightlessness in a mammalian model, the last chapter presents new ESA facilities and instruments to be integrated into the European research Laboratory "Columbus" of the ISS.

This readable text presents findings from the life science experiments conducted during and after space missions. It provides an insight into the space medical community and the real challenges that face the flight surgeon and life science investigator.