On the structure of the geomagnetic field at great distances from earth

Solar wind and current sheet considered in determining shape of magnetosphere boundary and calculation of magnetic field line

Development of Cloud-Based Microservices to Decision Support System

Intelligent systems of simulation become a key stage of the scheduling of companies and industries work. Most of the existing decision support systems are desktop software. Today there is a need to use durability, flexibility, availability and crossplatforming information technologies. The paper proposes the idea of working cloud based decision support system BPsim.Web and this one consists of some set of services and tools. The model of the multiagent resources conversion process is considered. The process of the simulation model developing via BPsim.Web is described. An example of the real process model is given. © 2020, IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.Russian Foundation for Basic Research, RFBR: 18-37-00183The reported study was funded by RFBR according to the research project № 18-37-00183

More meditation, less habituation? The effect of mindfulness practice on the acoustic startle reflex

Background Mindfulness as a mode of sustained and receptive attention promotes openness to each incoming stimulus, even if repetitive and/or aversive. Mindful attention has been shown to attenuate sensory habituation in expert meditators; however, others were not able to replicate this effect. The present study used acoustic startle reflex to investigate the effect of mindfulness practice intensity on sensory habituation. Methods Auditory Startle Response (ASR) to 36 startling probes (12 trials x 3 block with 40ms inter-block intervals), was measured using electromyography (EMG) in three groups of participants (N = 12/group): meditation-naïve, moderate practice, and intensive practice. Results Intensive practice group showed attenuated startle habituation as evidenced by significantly less habituation over the entire experiment relative to the meditation-naïve and moderate practice groups. Furthermore, there was a significant linear effect showing between-block habituation in meditation-naïve and moderate practice groups, but not in the intensive practice group. However, the Block x Group interaction between the intensive practice and the meditation-naive groups was not significant. Moderate practice group was not significantly different from the meditation-naïve in the overall measure of habituation, but showed significantly stronger habituation than both meditation-naïve and intensive practice groups in Block 1. Greater practice intensity was significantly correlated with slower overall habituation and habituation rate in Blocks 2 and 3 in the intensive, but not in the moderate, practice group. Conclusions The study provides tentative evidence that intensive mindfulness practice attenuates acoustic startle habituation as measured by EMG, but the effect is modest. Moderate practice, on the other hand, appears to enhance habituation, suggesting the effect of mindfulness practice on startle habituation might be non-liner. Better understanding of the effect of mindful attention on startle habituation may shed new light on sensory information processing capacity of the human brain and its potential for de-automatisation of hard-wired processes.Templeton Positive Neuroscience Award (Grant number: PAHWPZA) (http://www. posneuroscience.org/research-awards.html)

Yakut Emigration: Features of Adaptation and Communication

The issues of adaptation of Yakut emigrants forced to escape the revolution, the Civil War and the Gulag to different countries are considered. The role of Yakut emigrants in the preservation of national-cultural identity is described. Their participation in the civilizational dialogue between East and West is emphasized. A classification of the stages of the formation of local groups and microgroups of Yakut emigrants in the countries of the world is suggested. The approximate number, composition and territorial distribution of Yakut emigrants in China (the central group), Japan (southern Sakhalin), Finland, and the presence of microgroups in the USA and Australia are established. Attention is paid to the specifics of interaction of Yakut emigrants in the absence of a registered organization through communication, in which organizational, ideological, material activities were carried out. It is proved that correspondence was carried out in Russian, English, and various transcriptions of the Yakut script were used: Bötlingkowski, Novgorodovski, Cyrillic. Particular attention is paid to the high mobility of the Yakut emigrants, their desire to master new languages, qualifications and education for successful adaptation abroad. It is concluded that the Yakut emigrants failed to form a mechanism for the reproduction of ethnic identity (language, culture) in a foreign land. It was established that there was no organized opposition to repatriation by Yakut emigrants, but all returnees were unreasonably repressed by the NKVD

Effect of exogenous melatonin on the antioxidant defense system in the liver and small intestine of the Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus)

Background. Due to the growing light pollution and the development of new territories, including northern ones, the search for drugs that increase the adaptive capacity of the organism is promising.The aim. We studied the effects of the exogenous melatonin (100 µg/day/animal) on antioxidant status of liver and small intestine in Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) in the light conditions of North-West of Russia (Petrozavodsk, northern lighting – NL).Materials and methods. Female hamsters were exposed to a 12/12 light/dark cycle (LD; n = 12) or NL for 3 months. In NL light conditions hamsters were divided into two groups: NL-control (received placebo; n = 12) and NL-mel (received melatonin; n = 12). The study was conducted from the period of the summer solstice – June 25 (NL: 19.36/4.24) to September 25 (NL: 12/12) (autumn equinox).Results. Animals were kept in the NL conditions had decreased the levels of GSH and activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase) at initial stage of experiment as well as increased TBA reactive substances (TBARS) level at the beginning and after a month of the experiment in the liver in comparison to control (LD). It was observed that in the small intestine the activities of SOD and the levels of GSH (initial and intermediate stages) and TBARS (end of the experiment) were significantly higher in NL in comparison to LD. Liver and small intestine TBARS concentrations after one and three months of the experiment were decreased in NL-mel in comparison to NL-control.Conclusion. The results of the study indicate the sensitivity of the antioxidant defense system in the tissues of the liver and small intestine of Syrian hamster to the photoperiod and exogenous melatonin. The present study revealed that exogenous melatonin was able to reduce the level of TBARS and increase the activity of SOD and CAT in the light conditions of North-West of Russia

STELLAR : a EU twinning project on LOFAR data analysis and knowledge transfer

The Scientific and Technological Excellence by Leveraging LOFAR Advancements in Radio Astronomy (STELLAR) is a project of mutual collaboration and know-how transfer in the field of radio astronomy, solar physics and space weather using the LOFAR instrument and data. Two institutions from Bulgaria, benefit from technical and scientific know-how exchange from world- leading RA institutions - ASTRON (the Netherlands) and DIAS (Ireland) via series of training hands-on sessions, workshops, seminars and project-focused schools for both students and senior staff. The poster presents the activities so far and future plans. All results, links to videos and outreach activities are hosted at a dedicated web-site. The STELLAR project is funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 952439. It is coordinated by the Institute of Astronomy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Quantitative Determination of Ascorbic Acid in Herbal Medicinal Products by HPLC

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is involved in many vital biochemical processes in the human body. Rose hips are a natural source of ascorbic acid. Rose hips are used in decoctions and many vitamin herbal teas. Russian compendial methods for the quantitative determination of ascorbic acid have certain limitations precluding its objective measurement in herbal drugs, herbal drug preparations, and herbal medicinal products.The aim of the study was to develop an analytical procedure for the quantitative determination of ascorbic acid in herbal drugs, herbal medicinal preparations, and herbal medicinal products using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).Materials and methods. The study involved two herbal medicinal products, Rose Hips (rose hips) and Vitamin Herbal Tea 2 (rose hips and rowan fruits), and reference standards for ascorbic acid, rutoside, quercetin, gallic acid, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, luteolin-7-glucoside, citric acid, DL-malic acid, thiamine, and pyridoxine hydrochloride. The authors used a 1260 Infinity II chromatograph with a diode array detector by Agilent and an Inertsil ODS-3 chromatographic column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) by GL Sciences. The HPLC system was operated in gradient elution mode, and the detector was set at 244 nm.Results. Ascorbic acid content in herbal drugs, herbal medicinal preparations, and herbal medicinal products can be determined by HPLC. Adequate sample preparation and chromatography conditions allow for inhibiting ascorbic acid oxidation in aqueous solutions for a period sufficient to complete testing (not less than 8 h).Conclusions. The authors developed a highly sensitive and selective HPLC procedure for the quantitative determination of ascorbic acid intended for the standardisation of herbal drugs, herbal medicinal preparations, and herbal medicinal products. The procedure is worthy of inclusion in the Rose Hips and Vitamin Herbal Tea 2 monographs of the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation. Switching to HPLC should not require lowering the limit for ascorbic acid (not less than 0.2%) established in the Rose Hips and Vitamin Herbal Tea 2 monographs for the titration method. The ascorbic acid content was below this limit in the vast majority of study samples. However, this discrepancy may be explained by the presence of dog rose (Rosa canina) species low in vitamin C, which should normally be used only as choleretics