In search of the contours of the post-COVID Sustainable Development Goals: The case of BRICS

The global COVID-19 pandemic and an unexpected recession of a dangerous magnitude have provided strong reasons to look at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from three points of view: the SDGs as a victim of the recession 2020; the SDGs as an opportunity for better coordination on the way out of recession; and the SDGs as an object of modernization for better adaptation to the realities on “the global ground”. The BRICS countries are, naturally, the primary group of interest for developing and implementing the SDGs on the global scale as a way of catching up. “Pandemic protocol” and additional indicators are proposed as an urgent update to several SDGs

NMDB database and global survey method

The method of a global survey developed in the 1970s allows using a world-wide network of neutron monitor stations as a single multidirectional device. Wherein, receiving characteristics of each device, which reflects their geometries and geographical positions, are taken into account. Such an approach makes it possible to define the first two angular moments of the distribution function of cosmic rays in the interplanetary space at each hour of observation. With the creation in 2008/2009 and subsequent development of an international database of neutron monitors NMDB, for the first time it appeared an opportunity to use the global survey method in real-time mode. Such a situation creates a unique possibility to use the results not only for scienti- fic researches but also for space weather forecasting. To use the data of the world-wide network of neutron monitors it is necessary to carry preliminary preparations. Thereby, in the current work, the main attention is attracted to a solution to some practical questions that arise when using the NMDB in real-time

NMDB and space weather forecasting

From the creation of NMDB in 2007 and through the growth in the number of stations and the data accumulation, the ShICRA SB RAS group continuously have used its facilities. For the last years we have created a method for short-term forecasting of intense geomagnetic storms with an advance time 1-2 days. The probability of forecasting is around 80%. We have reported about the method in the previous NMDB: virtual symposium on cosmic ray studies with neutron detectors in 2020. The method is based on the global survey method that was developed in Yakutsk in 1960s and uses the world network of neutron monitors as a single multidirectional device. The method is intended to estimate hourly dynamics of cosmic ray anisotropy in free-space. Note that only with the NMDB creation we managed to implement it in real time mode. Now we started work on creating another method for space weather forecasting by measurements of cosmic ray fluctuations. For this purpose, we use 1-min data of NMDB. In the current report we present the first results of our investigation on forecasting of intense geomagnetic storms with Dst < -50 nT. The results obtained indicate the possibility of developing and implementing in real time a method for predicting strong geophysical manifestations of space weather on the basis of ground-based cosmic ray measurements

Cosmic ray angular distribution dynamics during Forbush decrease in 3-4 November 2021

On November 3-4, 2021, there was a coronal ejection of the solar mass into the interplanetary medium. According to direct observations of the interplanetary magnetic field and the solar wind, the ejection was accompanied by a magnetic cloud. During the event, neutron monitors of the NMDB network registered a two-stage Forbush decrease with a total amplitude of up to 15%. A preliminary analysis of the NMDB data shows that the first step was due to the cosmic ray decrease behind the shock wave front, while the second step was due to the cosmic ray anisotropy formed in the magnetic cloud. This work was undertaken to study the dynamics of the angular distribution of cosmic rays in this event. The cosmic ray distribution was determined using the global survey method developed at the ShICRA in the 1960s. The method makes it possible to use the worldwide network of neutron monitors as a single multidirectional instrument and to determine the hourly dynamics of CR distribution. It is shown that unidirectional and bidirectional anisotropies of significant amplitude are observed inside the magnetic cloud. The results obtained are discussed in the framework of modern theories of the formation of magnetic clouds. The temporal dynamics of the spatial-angular distribution of cosmic rays during the Forbush decrease on November 3–4, 2021 was determined. The presence of cosmic ray anisotropy with an amplitude comparable to the magnitude of the density decrease itself was found

Excitation and Injury of Adult Ventricular Cardiomyocytes by Nano- to Millisecond Electric Shocks

Intense electric shocks of nanosecond (ns) duration can become a new modality for more efficient but safer defibrillation. We extended strength-duration curves for excitation of cardiomyocytes down to 200 ns, and compared electroporative damage by proportionally more intense shocks of different duration. Enzymatically isolated murine, rabbit, and swine adult ventricular cardiomyocytes (VCM) were loaded with a Ca2+ indicator Fluo-4 or Fluo-5N and subjected to shocks of increasing amplitude until a Ca2+ transient was optically detected. Then, the voltage was increased 5-fold, and the electric cell injury was quantified by the uptake of a membrane permeability marker dye, propidium iodide. We established that: (1) Stimuli down to 200-ns duration can elicit Ca2+ transients, although repeated ns shocks often evoke abnormal responses, (2) Stimulation thresholds expectedly increase as the shock duration decreases, similarly for VCMs from different species, (3) Stimulation threshold energy is minimal for the shortest shocks, (4) VCM orientation with respect to the electric field does not affect the threshold for ns shocks, and (5) The shortest shocks cause the least electroporation injury. These findings support further exploration of ns defibrillation, although abnormal response patterns to repetitive ns stimuli are of a concern and require mechanistic analysis

Influence of plasma volume discharge in atmospheric-pressure air on the admittance of MIS structures based on MBE p-HgCdTe

This article investigates the effect of a nanosecond plasma volume discharge, which is formed in an inhomogeneous electrical field at atmospheric pressure, on the electrical properties of MIS structures based on HgCdTe (MCT) epitaxial films. The MIS structure based on films exposed to the discharge significantly changed its main parameters. The most notable feature of the structure exposed to discharge is the significant increase in the positive fixed charge in the insulator. A possible reason for changes in the characteristics of MIS structure after exposure to discharge is the significant change in the impurity-defect system of the semiconductor near the interface. This is accompanied with a formation of an insulator film of nanometer thickness on the surface, which gives rise to positive fixed charge

Electrosensitization Increases Antitumor Effectiveness of Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields In Vivo

Nanosecond pulsed electric fields are emerging as a new modality for tissue and tumor ablation. We previously reported that cells exposed to pulsed electric fields develop hypersensitivity to subsequent pulsed electric field applications. This phenomenon, named electrosensitization, is evoked by splitting the pulsed electric field treatment in fractions (split-dose treatments) and causes in vitro a 2- to 3-fold increase in cytotoxicity. The aim of this study was to show the benefit of split-dose treatments for in vivo tumor ablation by nanosecond pulsed electric field. KLN 205 squamous carcinoma cells were embedded in an agarose gel or grown subcutaneously as tumors in mice. Nanosecond pulsed electric field ablations were produced using a 2-needle probe with a 6.5-mm interelectrode distance. In agarose gel, splitting a pulsed electric field dose of 300, 300-ns pulses (20 Hz, 4.4-6.4 kV) in 2 equal fractions increased cell death up to 3-fold compared to single-train treatments. We then compared the antitumor effectiveness of these treatments in vivo. At 24 hours after treatment, sensitizing tumors by a split-dose pulsed electric field exposure (150 + 150, 300-ns pulses, 20 Hz, 6.4 kV) caused a 4- and 2-fold tumor volume reduction as compared to sham and single-train treatments, respectively. Tumor volume reduction that exceeds 75% was 43% for split-dose-treated animals compared to only 12% for single-dose treatments. The difference between the 2 experimental groups remained statistically significant for at least 1 week after the treatment. The results show that electrosensitization occurs in vivo and can be exploited to assist in vivo cancer ablation

Influence of pulsed nanosecond volume discharge in atmospheric-pressure air on the electrical characteristics of MCT epitaxial films

The purpose of this paper was investigating the effect of volume nanosecond discharge in air at atmospheric pressure on the electro-physical properties of the HgCdTe (MCT) epitaxial films grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Hall measurements of electro-physical parameters of MCT samples after irradiation have shown that there is a layer of epitaxial films exhibiting n-type conductivity that is formed in the near-surface area. After more than 600 pulses of influence parameters and thickness of the resulting n-layer is such that the measured field dependence of Hall coefficient corresponds to the material of n-type conductivity. Also it is shown that the impact of the discharge leads to significant changes in electro-physical characteristics of MIS structures. This fact is demonstrated by increase in density of positive fixed charge, change in the hysteresis type of the capacitance-voltage characteristic, an increase in density of surface states. The preliminary results show that it is possible to use such actions in the development of technologies of the controlled change in the properties of MCT. © (2015) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only

Preliminary Results of Marine Electromagnetic Sounding with a Powerful, Remote Source in Kola Bay off the Barents Sea

We present an experiment conducted in Kola Bay off the Barents Sea in which new, six-component electromagnetic seafloor receivers were tested. Signals from a powerful, remote super-long wave (SLW) transmitter at several frequencies on the order of tens Hz were recorded at the six sites along a profile across Kola Bay. In spite of the fact that, for technical reasons, not all the components were successfully recorded at every site, the quality of the experimental data was quite satisfactory. The experiment resulted in the successful simulation of an electromagnetic field by the integral equation method. An initial geoelectric model reflecting the main features of the regional geology produced field values that differed greatly from the experimental ones. However, step-by-step modification of the original model considerably improved the fit of the fields. Thereby specific features of the regional geology, in particular the fault tectonics, were able to be corrected. These preliminary results open the possibility of inverse problem solving with more reliable geological conclusions