NASA Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports

20040070931 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA
Intrauterine Pressure (IUP) Telemetry in Pregnant and Parturient Rats: Potential Applications for Spacecraft and
Centrifugation Studies
Ronca, A. E.; Baer, L. A.; Wade, C. E.; Journal of Gravitational Physiology; July 2003; ISSN 1077-9248; Volume 10, No. 1,
pp. P113-P114; In English; 24th Annual Gravitational Physiology Meeting, 4-9 May 2003, Santa Monica, CA, USA; Original
contains black and white illustrations
Contract(s)/Grant(s): NAG2-6072; NIMH-MH46485; 121-10-40; 121-10-50; 121-40-10; 121-10-30; Copyright; Avail: Other
Sources
Rats exposed to spaceflight or centrifugation from mid-to late pregnancy undergo either more or fewer labor contractions
at birth, respectively, as compared to those in normal Earth gravity (1-g). In this paper, we report the development and
validation of a new telemetric method for quantifying intrauterine pressure (IUP) in freely-moving, late pregnant and
parturient rats. We plan to utilize this technique for studies of labor in altered gravity, specifically, to ascertain forces of uterine
during birth, which we believe may be changed in micro- and hypergravity. The technique we describe yields precise, reliable
measures of the forces experienced by rat fetuses during parturition. A small, surgically-implantable telemetric pressure sensor
was fitted within a fluid-filled balloon. The total volume of the sensor-balloon assembly matched that of a full term rat fetus.
Real-time videorecordings of sensor-implanted rat dams and non- implanted control dams enabled us to characterize effects
of the intrauterine implant on behavioral aspects of parturition. Contraction frequency, duration, pup-to-pup birth intervals and
pup-oriented activities of the dams measured during the peri-birth period were unaffected by the sensor implant. These findings
establish intrauterine telemetry as a reliable, non-invasive technique for quantifying intrauterine pressures associated with
parturition on Earth and in altered gravity environments. This new technology, readily amenable to spaceflight and
centrifugation platforms, will enable us to answer key questions regarding the role of altered labor frequency labor in the
adaptation of newborn mammals to hypo- and hypergravity.
Author
Adaptation; Birth; Centrifuging; Gravitation; Implantation; Labor; Mammals; Pregnancy; Microgravity
20040070932 NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA
Pulsed Phase Lock Loop Device for Monitoring Intracranial Pressure During Space Flight
Ueno, Toshiaki; Macias, Brandon R.; Yost, William T.; Hargens, Alan R.; Journal of Gravitational Physiology; July 2003;
ISSN 1077-9248; Volume 10, No. 1, pp. P-117-P-118; In English; 24th Annual Gravitational Physiology Meeting, 4-9 May
2003, Santa Monica, CA, USA
Contract(s)/Grant(s): NAG2-6072; NAG1-02092; NCC2-1196; Copyright; Avail: Other Sources
We have developed an ultrasonic device to monitor ICP waveforms non-invasively from cranial diameter oscillations
using a NASA-developed pulsed phase lock loop (PPLL) technique. The purpose of this study was to attempt to validate the
PPLL device for reliable recordings of ICP waveforms and analysis of ICP dynamics in vivo. METHODS: PPLL outputs were
recorded in patients during invasive ICP monitoring at UCSD Medical Center (n=10). RESULTS: An averaged linear
regression coefficient between ICP and PPLL waveform data during one cardiac cycle in all patients is 0.88 +/- 0.02 (mean
+/- SE). Coherence function analysis indicated that ICP and PPLL waveforms have high correlation in the lst, 2nd, and 3rd
harmonic waves associated with a cardiac cycle. CONCLUSIONS: PPLL outputs represent ICP waveforms in both frequency
and time domains. PPLL technology enables in vivo evaluation of ICP dynamics non-invasively, and can acquire continuous
ICP waveforms during spaceflight because of compactness and non-invasive nature.
Author
Functional Analysis; Heart Diseases; In Vivo Methods and Tests; Intracranial Pressure; Regression Coeffıcients
20040071134 NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, USA
Spirochaeta Americana sp. Nov., A New Haloalkaliphilic, Obligately Anaerobic Spirochaete Isolated from Soda Mona
Lake in California
Hoover, Richard B.; Pikuta, Elena V.; Bej, Asim K.; Marsic, Damien; Whitman, William B.; Tang, Jane; Krader, Paul;
International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology; 2003; Vol. 53, pp. 815-821; In English; Copyright; Avail:
Other Sources
A novel, obligately anaerobic, mesophilic, haloalkaliphilic spirochaete, strain ASpG1(sup T), was isolated from sediments
of the alkaline, hypersaline Mono Lake in California, USA. Cells of the Gram-negative strain were motile and
spirochaete-shaped with sizes of 0.2-0.22 x 8-18 microns. Growth of the strain was observed between 10 and 44 C (optimum
37 C), in 2-12% (w/v) NaCl (optimum 3 % NaCl) and between pH 8 and 10.5 (optimum pH 9.5). The novel strain was strictly
alkaliphilic, required high concentrations of carbonates in the medium and was capable of utilizing D-glucose, fructose,
160