Investigation of the Dynamics of the Seismic Regime in the Kamchatka Region Based on the Combination of Methods of Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics and the Axiomatic Method of Kolmogorov A.N.

In the presented chapter, the preparation of an earthquake on the example of the Kronotsky event that occurred on 1997-12-05 with a magnitude Mc = 7.7 is considered from the standpoint of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, in which the evolution of systems is due to self-organization processes. With this approach, the lithosphere is an open nonlinear system in which, due to internal dissipation and the coordinated interaction of its elements, a self-organization process can occur, leading the system to a critical state. In this case, the scales of the connection between different parts of the nonlinear structure change, that is, the scales of temporal and spatial correlation change. However, the methods of seismological monitoring of the stress-strain geoenvironment can be expanded if, for its study, the method of calculating the probability distribution of earthquakes for various random events is used, based on the axiomatic approach of Kolmogorov A.N., applied to the catalog of Kamchatka earthquakes. This makes it possible to follow the dynamics of correlated spatial and temporal changes in the probability distribution of random variables for weak earthquakes preceding a strong event using probabilistic methods

Prothymosin α fragmentation in apoptosis

AbstractWe observed fragmentation of an essential proliferation-related human nuclear protein prothymosin α in the course of apoptosis induced by various stimuli. Prothymosin α cleavage occurred at the DDVD99 motif. In vitro, prothymosin α could be cleaved at D99 by caspase-3 and -7. Caspase hydrolysis disrupted the nuclear localization signal of prothymosin α and abrogated the ability of the truncated protein to accumulate inside the nucleus. Prothymosin α fragmentation may therefore be proposed to disable intranuclear proliferation-related function of prothymosin α in two ways: by cleaving off a short peptide containing important determinants, and by preventing active nuclear uptake of the truncated protein

Generation and escape of local waves from the boundary of uncoupled cardiac tissue

We aim to understand the formation of abnormal waves of activity from myocardial regions with diminished cell-to-cell coupling. In route to this goal, we studied the behavior of a heterogeneous myocyte network in which a sharp coupling gradient was placed under conditions of increasing network automaticity. Experiments were conducted in monolayers of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes using heptanol and isoproterenol as means of altering cell-to-cell coupling and automaticity respectively. Experimental findings were explained and expanded using a modified Beeler-Reuter numerical model. The data suggests that the combination of a heterogeneous substrate, a gradient of coupling and an increase in oscillatory activity of individual cells creates a rich set of behaviors associated with self-generated spiral waves and ectopic sources. Spiral waves feature a flattened shape and a pin-unpin drift type of tip motion. These intercellular waves are action-potential based and can be visualized with either voltage or calcium transient measurements. A source/load mismatch on the interface between the boundary and well-coupled layers can lock wavefronts emanating from both ectopic sources and rotating waves within the inner layers of the coupling gradient. A numerical approach allowed us to explore how: i) the spatial distribution of cells, ii) the amplitude and dispersion of cell automaticity, iii) and the speed at which the coupling gradient moves in space, affects wave behavior, including its escape into well-coupled tissue.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Biophysical Journa

Erot spatiaalisissa ja ajallisissa reaktionormeissa kevään ja syksyn fenologisille tapahtumille

For species to stay temporally tuned to their environment, they use cues such as the accumulation of degree-days. The relationships between the timing of a phenological event in a population and its environmental cue can be described by a population-level reaction norm. Variation in reaction norms along environmental gradients may either intensify the envi- ronmental effects on timing (cogradient variation) or attenu- ate the effects (countergradient variation). To resolve spatial and seasonal variation in species’ response, we use a unique dataset of 91 taxa and 178 phenological events observed across a network of 472 monitoring sites, spread across the nations of the former Soviet Union. We show that compared to local rates of advancement of phenological events with the advancement of temperature-related cues (i.e., variation within site over years), spatial variation in reaction normsPeer reviewe

Phenological shifts of abiotic events, producers and consumers across a continent

Ongoing climate change can shift organism phenology in ways that vary depending on species, habitats and climate factors studied. To probe for large-scale patterns in associated phenological change, we use 70,709 observations from six decades of systematic monitoring across the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Among 110 phenological events related to plants, birds, insects, amphibians and fungi, we find a mosaic of change, defying simple predictions of earlier springs, later autumns and stronger changes at higher latitudes and elevations. Site mean temperature emerged as a strong predictor of local phenology, but the magnitude and direction of change varied with trophic level and the relative timing of an event. Beyond temperature-associated variation, we uncover high variation among both sites and years, with some sites being characterized by disproportionately long seasons and others by short ones. Our findings emphasize concerns regarding ecosystem integrity and highlight the difficulty of predicting climate change outcomes. The authors use systematic monitoring across the former USSR to investigate phenological changes across taxa. The long-term mean temperature of a site emerged as a strong predictor of phenological change, with further imprints of trophic level, event timing, site, year and biotic interactions.Peer reviewe

Chronicles of nature calendar, a long-term and large-scale multitaxon database on phenology

We present an extensive, large-scale, long-term and multitaxon database on phenological and climatic variation, involving 506,186 observation dates acquired in 471 localities in Russian Federation, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan. The data cover the period 1890-2018, with 96% of the data being from 1960 onwards. The database is rich in plants, birds and climatic events, but also includes insects, amphibians, reptiles and fungi. The database includes multiple events per species, such as the onset days of leaf unfolding and leaf fall for plants, and the days for first spring and last autumn occurrences for birds. The data were acquired using standardized methods by permanent staff of national parks and nature reserves (87% of the data) and members of a phenological observation network (13% of the data). The database is valuable for exploring how species respond in their phenology to climate change. Large-scale analyses of spatial variation in phenological response can help to better predict the consequences of species and community responses to climate change.Peer reviewe

Application of Onsager and Prigozhin Variational Principles of Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics to Obtain MHD-Equation Dissipative System in Drift Approximation

Electromagnetic phenomena in plasma are easier to describe in terms of fields, expressing the electric current through the rotor of the magnetic field. But the approach that ignores the corpuscular aspect of the electric current, as noted by H. Alfven, does not allow describing many processes in space plasma. Indeed, relying on the concept of continuity, it is impossible in the mechanics of continuous media to take into account the fluctuations of hydrodynamic functions formed due to the molecular structure of the medium. At the hydrodynamic level of description, taking into account the structure leads to the Langevin equation. Therefore, to describe processes in a magnetized plasma, it is of certain interest to obtain MHD equations in the drift approximation not from the Vlasov equations, but based on the principles of Onsager and Prigogine, combined by Gyarmati into one variational principle and obtaining a one-liquid plasma model in the drift approximation. Fluctuations are taken into account by introducing an additional term in the expression for pressure, written in the drift approximation, which is similar to the postulation of the Langevin source for describing Brownian motion. The obtained fluctuating-dissipative system differs from the reversible one-liquid approximation of the two adiabatic invariants of Chu, Goldberger, Low

Study of cyclone effect in Kamchatka on electron distribution in the ionosphere by satellite tomography in the conditions of low seismicity

The paper presents the results of investigation of cyclone possible effect on ionosphere parameters. Monitoring of ionosphere state has been carried out by automatic sounding applying low orbital navigational spacecrafts in the conditions of low seismicity. Receiving stations were locating in meridian direction of Kamchatka peninsula in Paratunka, Mil’kovo and Esso villages. It has been shown that during nighttime cyclone passage (according to local time) on 18.01., 03.02. and 17.02.2013 over Kamchatka, synchronous increase of electron concentration occurred in the region over its epicenter in comparison to the next days without cyclones. With the increase of the latitude, i.e. further from the center of the cyclone, electron concentration decreased in comparison to calm days

Estimation of the efficiency of the earthquake prediction on the basis of the analysis of ionospheric parameters

A method of the operational forecast of strong earthquakes is considered. Exceedance of the current values of ionospheric critical frequency f0F2 over the median values during the disturbed state of the magnetosphere is considered to be a precursor. The reliability, validity and the efficiency of the precursor were evaluated by A.A. Gusev's and G.M. Molchan's methods for the period of 2009-2016. Earthquakes with the magnitude of M ≥ 5.0 occurring within the zone of precursor appearance determined by Dobrovol'skiy's radius were considered as forecasting earthquakes. It was shown that the precursor has the best predictive efficiency for the seismic events with the magnitude of M ≥ 6.5

Calculation of seismic regime parameters on the basis of a probabilistic model of Kamchatka earthquake catalogue

In the present paper on the basis of a probabilistic interpretation of the earthquake repetition law, simple formulas were obtained which allow us from the known number of earthquake events in a representative interval of energy class (magnitude) to estimate the number of seismic events falling within an unrepresentative interval and the expected time of an earthquake with a magnitude exceeding the maximum registered values for the period of instrumental observations