Biorheology - Volume 16, issue 1-2

Article Type: Correction

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1979-161-220

Citation: Biorheology, vol. 16, no. 1-2, pp. i-i, 1979

Authors: Copley, Alfred L.

Article Type: Editorial

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1979-161-201

Citation: Biorheology, vol. 16, no. 1-2, pp. 1-2, 1979

Authors: Fukada, Eiichi

Article Type: Editorial

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1979-161-202

Citation: Biorheology, vol. 16, no. 1-2, pp. 3-4, 1979

Article Type: Editorial

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1979-161-203

Citation: Biorheology, vol. 16, no. 1-2, pp. 5-5, 1979

Authors: Snyder, Robert S. | Seaman, Geoffrey V.F.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Microgravity, one of the unique features of space, offers the elimination of some major terrestrial difficulties which arise in the separation of cells and larger particles and also to some extent during measurements of their physicochemical properties. The gravitational effects which compromise separation processes and also some biorheological measurements are summarized. Past space results especially in the biological area are discussed and the experimental facilities and environment likely to be available on the Space Shuttle are documented.

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1979-161-204

Citation: Biorheology, vol. 16, no. 1-2, pp. 7-11, 1979

Authors: Kimzey, Stephen L.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The most significant effect of the space flight environment relative to the blood and blood-forming tissues in man has been a consistent reduction in the circulating red blood cell mass during the flight interval. This finding was first reported during the Gemini IV, V and VII missions, and has since been a consistent observation in the Apollo, Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz flights. Similar results have been reported by Russian scientists following their Salyut missions. It was initially proposed that the high concentration (near 100%) of oxygen in the spacecraft atmosphere was the cause of the red cell mass loss. This …hypothesis was strengthened by similar observations in a chamber study utilizing a 100 percent oxygen atmosphere at a total pressure of 5 psia (identical to that of Gemini and the later portion of the Apollo flights). Studies also revealed subtle alterations in red cell membrane integrity (decreased osmotic fragility, suppression of active potassium transport, increased plasma tocopheral, decreased membrane lipid content) consistent with the concept of a mild oxygen toxicity resulting in intravascular hemolysis. Data from the Skylab flights are not consistent with the concept of an oxygen-induced intravascular hemolysis. It would appear that some other factor characteristic of the space flight environment (weightlessness?) causes a suppression of red cell production that is not immediately relieved with a return to a normal 1-g environment, except, on longer flights, such as the 84-day Skylab 4 mission, when the red cell mass appears to begin to recover before re-entry. The variations in the magnitude of the loss in individual crewmen and the complicated postflight recovery kinetics suggest a complex relationship between the red cell mass loss and the duration of the exposure to weightlessness. This “anemia of space flight” was frequently accompanied by a reduction in plasma volume, apparently occurring early in the mission and sustained throughout the flight. Other, more subtle, effects have been observed with respect to the function and structure of red blood cells (significant changes in the distribution of red cell shapes during flight and a transient alteration in red cell specific gravity profiles postflight). The major emphasis of this review will be to address questions relative to the regulation of blood volume during space flight and the causes of its apparent failure. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1979-161-205

Citation: Biorheology, vol. 16, no. 1-2, pp. 13-21, 1979

Authors: Saville, D.A.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Selected examples of the behavior of single phase systems are used to illustrate the sorts of phenomena that persist in a micro-gravity environment. Although the strength of buoyancy driven flows is diminished, velocities of the order of several millimeters per second may persist. With buoyancy diminished, surface tension driven flows may be pre-eminent. In suspensions, particle swarms can also move at appreciable rates even though the sedimentation rate for an isolated particle is vanishingly small. Furthermore particle migration across streamlines due to inertia or particle deformation can have large cumulative effects.

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1979-161-206

Citation: Biorheology, vol. 16, no. 1-2, pp. 23-27, 1979

Authors: Dintenfass, L.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper outlines NASA experiment No. MPS77F113, proposed for Space Shuttle No. 3. The objectives of this investigation are: (a) to study aggregation of human red blood cells in order to define the maximum size and morphology of aggregates under near-zero gravity; (b) to define effects of various agents (such as fibrinogen, cholesterol, paraproteins, snake-venom derivatives, etc.) on the size of red cell aggregates and kinetics of their formation; (c) to study blood viscosity under high and low shear rates; and (d) to consider these tests with a view to possible use as, or elaboration of existing, diagnostic tests. The …space environment offers the advantage of weightlessness which allows formation of cell aggregates undisturbed by sedimentation. The background to these studies is given, and the development of the automatic parallel-plate slit-capillary viscometer is described. Aggregation of red cells is recorded by a photocamera equipped with bellows or with a microscope. Pressure drop and temperature are also recorded in the memory of a microprocessor. About six blood samples are used with a single set of plates. Blood samples from healthy donors and from patients suffering from hypertension, diabetes, myocardial infarction and some types of cancer are used. Effect of ABO blood group of the donor will be studied. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1979-161-207

Citation: Biorheology, vol. 16, no. 1-2, pp. 29-36, 1979

Authors: Copley, Alfred L.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Hemorheology, viz., rheology of blood and vessel wall, is considered to be affected in a near zero gravity environment. As body water, constituting a predominant component of the body mass of living subjects, is mainly distributed among intracellular, interstitial and plasma compartments, gravity appears to be important in the regulation of their volumes. Exposure of human and other vertebrate subjects to a near zero gravity environment may bring about a number of hemorheological changes, affecting the blood and the vessel structures with which blood or its components come into direct contact. Since no hemorheological studies have been made in such …an environment, experiments, employing a newly designed light-weight rheogoniometer (LWR), are proposed to be performed on ground and in the Spacelab Module. The modified Weissenberg Rheogoniometer is recommended for comparative testing the efficacy and precision of the LWR and accessories. The following studies, based on research in my laboratory, are proposed: 1. Viscosity and elasticity measurements of human blood (HB); 2. cinephotomicrographic recordings of HB in steady and oscillatory shears; 3. rheological studies of viscosity and elasticity of surface layers of purified fibrinogen and other proteins; 4. measurements of viscoelasticity and rigidity of fibrin gels. The findings to be secured promise to shed new light on recent findings in astronauts exposed to protracted stay in a near zero gravity environment. The information gained may also identify the role which gravity plays in situations on earth which thus far could not be fully appreciated. Our proposed studies may lead to corrective prophylactic measures to enable people to live and work during protracted stay in a near zero gravity environment. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1979-161-208

Citation: Biorheology, vol. 16, no. 1-2, pp. 37-49, 1979

Authors: Adams, A.L. | Vroman, L.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Effects of gravity in presence and absence of red blood cells, on adhesion of platelets to polyvinylchloride (pvc) slides, and of granulocytes to gamma globulin preabsorbed onto pvc, were studied by placing whole heparinized human blood or its red cell poor supernatant between 2 slides, and allowing this sandwich to reside in 1 position followed by the inverted one for various periods. Counts of adhering elements indicated that a) settling red cells drastically interfered with platelet and granulocyte adhesion to the surfaces facing up, but enhanced their adherence to surfaces facing down; b) in absence of red cells, granulocytes adhered …in great numbers to the globulin surfaces and platelets to the “blank” surfaces facing up during the first 5 min of the experiment, and few adhered to the surfaces that had faced down; c) upon inversion, granulocytes would still refuse to adhere to the surfaces that had initially faced down, while platelet adhesion increased during the subsequent 30 min; the nonadhering granulocytes would still be able to adhere if transferred to a new globulin-coated pvc surface facing up, and unused supernatant would still deposit granulocytes onto the used globulin-coated pvc surfaces if facing up. Experiments to be performed at near 0 gravity are suggested. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1979-161-209

Citation: Biorheology, vol. 16, no. 1-2, pp. 51-55, 1979