Kun Zhang^*, Liang Bi Wang

Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol.7, pp. 1-7, 2016, DOI:10.5098/hmt.7.18

Abstract Detailed numerical analysis is presented for the effect of spaceship orbital transfer on solution convection during protein crystal growth under microgravity. The results show that the flow and mass transfer during protein crystal growth are unsteady in the process of orbital transfer. For the case of quasi-steady acceleration, the flow is so weak that the effect of flow on concentration field can be negligible. For the case of position adjustment, the convection is enhanced with protein crystal diameter d_c > 0.2 mm and slightly alters the purely diffusive concentration distribution under zero gravity condition. For the case of motor working,… More >

Brenton S. Taft^a,*, Kevin W. Irick^b

Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol.12, pp. 1-7, 2019, DOI:10.5098/hmt.12.24

Abstract On September 7th, 2017 the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory launched the second Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader (ASETSII) flight experiment to space on Orbital Test Vehicle 5. The ASETS-II experiment is made of three low-mass, low-cost oscillating heat pipes (OHPs) and an electronics/experiment control box. The three primary science objectives of the experiment are to measure the initial on-orbit thermal performance, to measure long duration thermal performance, and to assess any lifetime degradation. The three OHPs on ASETS-II are of varying configuration (center heating with single- and double-sided cooling) and working fluids (butane and R-134a) in order to isolate… More >

HONGYANG LI^1,2, CHAN WANG⁴, SHIWEI LIU¹, YONGLONG GUO^1,3,4,*, JIANSU CHEN^1,3,4,*

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.7, pp. 1705-1716, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.018442

Abstract Human adipose stem cells (hADSCs) are reliable sources for cell therapy. However, the clinical applications are limited by the decrease in activity during in vitro culture. We used a knockout serum replacement (KSR) medium, Eppendorf (EP) tube culture, and a simulated microgravity (SMG) culture system to establish hADSC spheroids. We found that hADSCs aggregated and formed spheroids in the KSR culture medium. The EP tube culture method revealed many biological cell characteristics, such as good cell viabilities, rough surfaces, polar growth, fusion phenomenon, and injectability. The findings show its advantages for hADSCs spherical cultures. When cultured in SMG, hADSC spheroids… More >

Sufang Wang^1,2, Wenjuan Zhao^1,2, Guolin Shi^1,2, Nu Zhang^1,2, Chen Zhang^1,2, Hui Yang^1,2,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.2, pp. 100-100, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07112

Abstract Long-term space flight will be a major mission for International Space Administration. However, it has been shown that exposure to space flight result in immune system dysfunction. Therefore, understand the mechanism of immune response under microgravity condition is a key topic. Macrophage is one of the most important immune cells in human body, playing key roles in both innate and adaptive immune systems. In this research, we used mouse macrophages (RAW264.7) and collected samples at short-term (8 hour), mediate-term (24 hour) and long-term (48 hour) microgravity treatment. We measured cell proliferation, phagocytosis function and used next-generation sequencing (NGS) to obtain… More >

XiangXie^1,a, Deng Liu^1,a, Daoxi Lei¹, Yongfei Liu¹, Qi Wang¹, Zaien Wen¹, Juhui Qiu¹, Dongyu Jia^1,2, Hans Gregersen¹, Guixue Wang^1,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.14, No.3, pp. 171-186, 2017, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2017.014.171

Abstract Research in microgravity is of utmost importance for disclosing the impact of gravity on biological processes and organisms. With the development of space technology, scientists pay more attention to cardiovascular diseases associated with microgravity. However, up to date only sparse data exist on microgravity and cardiovascular development mechanisms. In this study, zebrafish was chosen as the model organism. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to microgravity using a ground-based simulation microgravity (SM) bioreactor. The effects of SM on the development of early embryonic vascular system were studied in vivo in real-time. Zebrafish embryos were selected and divided into two groups at 12… More >

Mingzhi Luo^1,2, Peili Yu¹, Yang Jin³, Zhili Qian¹, Yue Wang¹, Jingjing Li¹, Peng Shang^2*, Linhong Deng^1*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.13, No.2, pp. 137-157, 2016, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2016.013.155

Abstract Random positioning machine (RPM) and diamagnetic levitation are two essential ground-based methods used to stimulate the effect of microgravity in space life science research. However, the force fields generated by these two methods are fundamentally different, as RPM generates a dynamic force field acting on the surface in contact with supporting substrate, whereas diamagnetic levitation generates a static force field acting on the whole body volume of the object (e.g. cell). Surprisingly, it is hardly studied whether these two fundamentally different force fields would cause different responses in mammalian cells. Thus we exposed cultured MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts to either dynamically stimulated… More >

Saber Hamimid¹, Messaoud Guellal²

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.12, No.4, pp. 137-153, 2016, DOI:10.32604/fdmp.2016.012.137

Abstract The numerical study of combined thermo-magnetic convection and surface radiation is presented in this paper and computations are performed for a paramagnetic fluid filled square cavity whose four walls have the same emissivity, placed in a micro-gravity environment (g ≈0), and subjected to various strong non-uniform magnetic field gradients. The vertical walls were isothermal, and the horizontal walls were adiabatic. Finite volume method based on the concepts of staggered grid and SIMPLER algorithm has been applied, and the view factors were determined by analytical formula. Representative results, illustrating the effect of magnetic field strength on streamlines, temperature contours and Nusselt… More >

Lassig, J.¹, Montes, G., Quiroga, J.

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.5, No.1, pp. 61-80, 2009, DOI:10.3970/fdmp.2009.005.061

Abstract This paper presents a description of the design and ensuing development of an automated liquid droplet generator and related utilization aboard the space shuttle, a) as a fluid positioning system for materials processing (attached droplet method), and b) as a means to measure surface oscillation of droplets under microgravity for determining their surface tension. More >

Sayavur I. Bakhtiyarov¹, Dennis A. Siginer²

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.5, No.1, pp. 1-22, 2009, DOI:10.3970/fdmp.2009.005.001

Abstract Strong inhomogeneous magnetic fields are necessary to generate a finite levitation force in ground based electromagnetic levitation techniques. External forces such as magnetic and gravitational forces influence the oscillation spectrum and counteract the surface movement resulting in a frequency shift, and making the use of electromagnetic levitation techniques in microgravity an attractive alternative to measure thermophysical properties of liquid metals. Under microgravity conditions the magnetic field strength around a liquid droplet is significantly lower than that required to position the same specimen against earth gravity. Hence, a low magnetic field strength results in a low amount of heat energy absorbed… More >

Huawei Han¹, Kamiel S. Gabriel²

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.2, No.4, pp. 287-298, 2006, DOI:10.3970/fdmp.2006.002.287

Abstract Data on air-water co-current two-phase annular flow in a tube with an inner diameter of 9.525 mm (3/8 in) were previously collected at both microgravity u-g and normal gravity (1-g) conditions. The data contained measurements of pressure drop, in addition to previously published data of liquid film thickness. This paper presents the results and analysis of the influence of flow pressure gradient on interfacial wave properties of annular flow at both microgravity and normal gravity. The examined wave properties include wave base thickness, wave height (or roughness height), wave spacing, wave speed and wave frequency. It was found that, the… More >