Physical–chemical properties of plasma membrane and function of erythrocytes of cosmonauts after long-term space flight

We studied microfluidity and selective ion permeability of plasma membranes and O₂-binding properties of erythrocytes of cosmonauts during early rehabilitation after a long-term space flight (LTSF). Microfluidity of plasma membranes in surface regions was found to undergo a reversible decrease during 13–15 days following LTSF, which was accompanied by a reversible increase in relative cholesterol content. Cosmonauts’ erythrocytes revealed an increased activity of Na/H-exchanger and K_Ca-channel as well as a decrease in number of discocytes and increase in number of echinocytes, stomatocytes and knizocytes. Total hemoglobin content as well as oxyhemoglobin content were lowered after the LTSF, while the affinity of hemoglobin to O₂ was advanced. It is suggested that the changes in Hb properties, microfluidity and selective permeability of plasma membranes following the elevated cholesterol content in the membranes can decrease tissue supply with O₂.     

Non-linear methods in remotely sensed multispectral data classification

The aim of this research is to develop an effective approach being able to deal with the stochastic nature of remote sensing data. In order to achieve this objective it is necessary to structure the methodological knowledge in the area of data mining and reveal the most suitable methods for the prediction and decision support based on large amounts of multispectral data. The idea is to establish a framework by decomposing the task into functionality objectives and to allow the end-user to experiment with a set of classification methods and select the best methods for specific applications. As a first step, we compare our results from Bayesian classification based on non-parametric probability density estimates of the data to the results obtained from other classification methods. Tree scenarios are considered, making use of a small benchmark dataset, a larger dataset from Corine land cover project for Bulgaria and analyzing different features and feature selection methods. We show that the theoretically optimal Bayesian classification can also achieve optimal classification in practice and provides a realistic interpretation of the world where land cover classes intergrade gradually.     

PEGASO: An ultra light long duration stratospheric payload for polar regions flights

Stratospheric balloons are powerful and affordable tools for a wide spectrum of scientific investigations that are carried out at the stratosphere level. They are less expensive compared to satellite projects and have the capability to lift payloads from a few kilograms to a couple of tons or more, well above the troposphere, for more than a month. Another interesting feature of these balloons, which is not viable in satellites, is the short turnaround time, which enables frequent flights.     

On the motions of RHESSI flare footpoints

The footpoint motions of flare hard X-ray (HXR) sources are directly related to the reconnection scenario of a solar flare. In this work, we tried to extract the information of footpoint motions for a number of flares observed with RHESSI. We found that the RHESSI flare results of the footpoint motions strongly support the classification proposed from the observations of YOHKOH/HXT. Furthermore, it is found that a flare can consist of two types of footpoint motions. We discussed the connections of the footpoint motions with the two-dimensional reconnection models.     

Electron temperature anisotropy effects on tearing mode in ion-scale current sheets

Recent two-dimensional (2-D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations have shown that there is a critical thickness of a current sheet, above which no significant saturation amplitude of the 2-D tearing (TI) mode can be expected. Here, we have introduced the initial electron temperature anisotropy (α_e0 = T_e⊥/T_e|| > 1), which is known to raise significantly the linear growth rates, and inspected if α_e0 > 1 can change the saturation level of the TI in a super-critical current sheet. Varying α_e0 and D (D: the current sheet half-thickness) systematically, we have found that while α_e0 boosts up the linear growth rate in both sub- and super-critical current sheets, macroscopic effects are obtained only in sub-critical current sheets, that is, energy transfer from the fastest growing short wavelength modes to longer wavelength modes are available only in the sub-critical regime. Since the critical thickness is a fraction of the ion inertial length, the tearing mode assisted by the electron temperature anisotropy alone, despite its significant boost in the linear growth rate, cannot be the agent for reconnection triggering in a current sheet of ion-scale thickness.     

Multi-frequency doppler radio sounding of the ionosphere in the “Equatorial trigger” experiment

Results of processing the data of multi-frequency Doppler sounding of the low-latitude ionosphere are presented. Interesting features in the behavior of time variations of the Doppler frequency shift are found. These features are interpreted as manifestations of wave disturbances in the ionospheric plasma density.     

Time and energy characteristics of UV flashes in the atmosphere: Data of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Universitetsky-Tatiana</Emphasis> satellite

Using a detector of near ultra-violet (UV) emission (wavelength range 300–400 nm) [1] onboard the Universitetsky-Tatiana satellite with an orbit height of 950 km and inclination of 81° we have detected and studied short UV flashes [2–5]. In this paper the observed UV flashes are classified according to the type of their time profiles, and the times of emission intensity rise and decay are investigated in every flash. Using the data on time profiles it turned out to be possible to estimate the flash energy in the atmosphere even in case of saturation of a signal measuring channel at the maximum of emission. The energy spectrum of observed flashes is estimated. Time and energy characteristics of the flashes are important for choosing a model of development of electric discharges in the upper atmosphere that are responsible for observed emission.     

A technique for predicting strength properties of an aircraft wing

A technique for evaluating and predicting flexural stiffness of an aircraft wing in the process of operation based on measuring the first tone of flexural wing vibrations in flight is proposed.