[Embryogenesis of the Japanese quail in hypomagnetic conditions applied to deep space flights].

During future interplanetary flights and on the lunar base, astronauts and bioregenerative systems on the space ship will occur in an interplanetary magnetic field, which is much lower than the habitual geomagnetic field (GMF). It is known that hypomagnetic conditions have an adverse biological effect on human beings and other living systems. In our research the Japanese quail has been chosen as one of the possible elements of the bioregenerative live support system. The magnetic system--Helmholtz's coils--is used for compensation of GMF. The GMF in the center of Helmholtz's coils was decreased to 80-100 times. The eggs were kept under hypomagnetic conditions for 4 and 10 days in a special nonmagnetic incubator. The experiments have demonstrated a negative influence of hypomagnetic fields on the embryo development of the Japanese quail. One of the possible ways to solve the problem consists in installing special magnetic systems onboard the interplanetary ship and a lunar base. Evidently, it is necessary to create an analogue of GMF for bioregenerative live support systems.

[On one term (translation of SAR) in the dosimetry of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields].

Uncertainties in the use of some terms in the dosimetry of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields are discussed. We have come to the conclusion that the term conventionally applied in the Russian literature to describe the absorbed energy is an incorrect translation of the international term "Specific Absorption Rate" (SAR). The main error in the Russian term is that the energy rather than the rate is absorbed. More precise Russian definition for this term is suggested by analogy with the dosimetry of ionizing radiation. In this case, the dimension of this parameter remains without any change.

[Influence of simulated hypomagnetic environment in a far space flight on the rhythmic structure of rat's behavior].

Behavior of a group of rats was observed visually and tape recorded continuously from day 19 till the end of 25-d hypomagnetic experiments. Results were statistically processed with the help of Statistica 6.0, time series spectral analysis, and cosinor analysis. The 25-d HM exposure was shown to suppress food-motivated behavior in the mornings on the background of step-up in serotoninergic processes in the brain, and exaggerate the intraspecific violent conduct at night. The hypogeomagnetic environment impacted diurnal system adaptability to the seasonal light period drifting and produced exo- and endogenous desynchronosis.

[Effects of high energy charged particles on conduction of nerve rhythmic excitation]. / Vliianie oblucheniia chastitsami vysokoi énergii na provedenie ritmicheskogo vozbuzhdeniia v nerve.

The effects of heavy charged particles--alpha-particles and deuterons accelerated by cyclotron to the energies of 30.3 and 15.4 MeV accordingly--on nerve's excitability (amplitude of an action potential (AP) and speed of AP propogation has been studied. The local irradiation of a little segments of nerve by particles having high LET has been used. The differences in dose curves of AP parameters were detected both during the influence of particles, and during the influence of particles on a nerve treated with isopropyl alcohol. The results showed the AP amplitude reducing that was more expressed in case of alpha-particles, and the AP speed decreasing that was more expressed in case of deuterons. During irradiation, the AP blocked by isopropyl alcohol was rehabilitated, and then was disappeared irreversible. The injury of nerve during irradiation had local character and did not influence on neighbor non-irradiated regions.

The ALTEA/ALTEINO projects: studying functional effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation.

The ALTEA project investigates the risks of functional brain damage induced by particle radiation in space. A modular facility (the ALTEA facility) is being implemented and will be operated in the International Space Station (ISS) to record electrophysiological and behavioral descriptors of brain function and to monitor their time dynamics and correlation with particles and space environment. The focus of the program will be on abnormal visual perceptions (often reported as "light flashes" by astronauts) and the impact on retinal and brain visual structures of particle in microgravity conditions. The facility will be made available to the international scientific community for human neurophysiological, electrophysiological and psychophysics experiments, studies on particle fluxes, and dosimetry. A precursor of ALTEA (the 'Alteino' project) helps set the experimental baseline for the ALTEA experiments, while providing novel information on the radiation environment onboard the ISS and on the brain electrophysiology of the astronauts during orbital flights. Alteino was flown to the ISS on the Soyuz TM34 as part of mission Marco Polo. Controlled ground experiments using mice and accelerator beams complete the experimental strategy of ALTEA. We present here the status of progress of the ALTEA project and preliminary results of the Alteino study on brain dynamics, particle fluxes and abnormal visual perceptions.

[Some magnetic-biological problems of distant and long-term space flights]. / Nekotorye magnitobiologicheskie aspekty dlitel'nykh i dal'nikh kosmicheskikh poletov.

Some magnetobiological problems of orbital (in the geomagnetic field--GMF) and interplanetary (in hypomagnetic conditions) flights are considered. The influence of electromagnetic fields (EMF) created by systems and equipment of the space vehicle (SV) are touched also. A level of the geomagnetic field (GMF) onboard during the orbital flights is discussed. Its periodic variations onboard owing to movement of SV on an orbit are analyzed. The reader's attention in attracted to the papers by R.M. Baevsky et al. in which the influence of magnetic storms and periodic variations of GMS on the cardiovascular system of astronauts onboard are shown. Possible ways and mechanisms of the influence are discussed. The wrong assertions in a number of works namely that at orbital flights an appreciable electrical field is induced in an organism of an astronaut in a space-craft and the electrical field may by responsible for some biological impacts are analyzed. The situation at the future in the terplanetary flights (for example Martian missions) when a crew and biological objects for a long time will be in the interplanetary magnetic field (by several orders less then GMF) is considered. As applied to the flights the opportunities of generation onboard the "artificial" GMF are outlined. The ensuing biological and technical questions are discussed.

[Assessment of the contribution of broadband quasi-continuous electromagnetic background to dose loading]. / Otsenka vklada shirokopolosnogo kvazinepreryvnogo élektromagnitnogo fona v dozovuiu nagruzku.

Assessment of probable dose loading due to a broadband quasi-continuous electromagnetic background is presented. A level of the quasi-continuous background in the appropriate frequency intervals could exceed maximum permissible exposure by a factor of several tens. For safety monitoring, it is suggested to use the equipment that allows registering of EMF amplitude and frequency in a wide frequency range, with sensitivity by order of magnitude greater than MPE.

ALTEA: anomalous long term effects in astronauts. A probe on the influence of cosmic radiation and microgravity on the central nervous system during long flights.

The ALTEA project participates to the quest for increasing the safety of manned space flights. It addresses the problems related to possible functional damage to neural cells and circuits due to particle radiation in space environment. Specifically it aims at studying the functionality of the astronauts' Central Nervous Systems (CNS) during long space flights and relating it to the peculiar environments in space, with a particular focus on the particle flux impinging in the head. The project is a large international and multidisciplinary collaboration. Competences in particle physics, neurophysiology, psychophysiology, electronics, space environment, data analyses will work together to construct the fully integrated vision electrophysiology and particle analyser system which is the core device of the project: an helmet-shaped multi-sensor device that will measure concurrently the dynamics of the functional status of the visual system and passage of each particle through the brain within a pre-determined energy window. ALTEA is scheduled to fly in the International Space Station in late 2002. One part of the multi-sensor device, one of the advanced silicon telescopes, will be launched in the ISS in early 2002 and serve as test for the final device and as discriminating dosimeter for the particle fluences within the ISS.

The ALTEA facility on the International Space Station.

The ALTEA project studies the problems related to possible functional damage to the Central Nervous System (CNS) due to particle radiation in space environment. The project is a large international and multi-disciplinary collaboration. The ALTEA instrumentation is an helmet-shaped multi-sensor device that will measure concurrently the dynamics of the functional status of the visual system and the passage of each particle through the brain within a pre-determined energy window. ALTEA is scheduled to fly in the International Space Station in February 2003. One part of the multi-sensor device, one of the advanced silicon telescopes, will be launched in the ISS in early 2002 and serve as test for the final device and as discriminating dosimeter for the particle fluences within the ISS.

[Synchronization of the frequency of cardiovascular fatalities with physical time cues]. / Sinkhronizatsiia chastoty serdechno-sosudistykh katastrof fizicheskimi datchikami vremeni.

Investigations were carried out to correlate the frequency of cardiovascular catastrophes (daily mortality rate of patients with ischemic heart disease), heliogeomagnetic activity (solar radiation in the wave band 10.7 cm, H, D and Z components of the geomagnetic field), synchronization and desynchronization of circaseptidian rhythms, and total number of cardiovascular catastrophes in different seasons. The raw data sets were treated with due account of the discrete pattern of random sequences and noise in the medical data set, finite analysis interval and informativity of the derivatives of the parameters used. The occurrence of cardiovascular catastrophes showed circaseptidian rhythms whose level depended on the above three factors. The results obtained are discussed with respect to possible synchronization and desynchronization of endogenous biorhythms by time cues, relating them to the mechanism of human adaptation to the environment.