scholarly journals I-mode pedestal relaxation events in the Alcator C-Mod and ASDEX Upgrade tokamaks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Silvagni ◽  
Jim L Terry ◽  
William McCarthy ◽  
Amanda E Hubbard ◽  
Thomas Eich ◽  
...  

Abstract In some conditions, I-mode plasmas can feature pedestal relaxation events (PREs) that transiently enhance the energy reaching the divertor target plates. To shed light on their appearance, characteristics and energy reaching the divertor targets, a comparative study between two tokamaks – Alcator C-Mod and ASDEX Upgrade – is carried out. It is found that PREs appear only in a subset of I-mode discharges, mainly when the plasma is close to the H-mode transition. Also, a growing oscillating precursor before the PRE onset is observed in the region close to the separatrix in both devices, and a discussion on a possible triggering mechanism is outlined. The PRE relative energy loss from the confined region is found to increase with decreasing pedestal top collisionality ν* ped. Similarly, also the relative electron temperature drop at the pedestal top, which is related to the conductive energy loss, rises with decreasing ν* ped. Based on these relations, the PRE relative energy loss in future devices such as DEMO and ARC is estimated. Finally, the divertor peak energy fluence due to the PRE is measured on each device. Those values are then compared to the model introduced in [1] for type-I ELMs. The model is shown to provide an upper boundary for PRE energy fluence data, while a lower boundary is found by dividing the model by three. These two boundaries are used to make projections of the PRE divertor energy fluence to DEMO and ARC.

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruoxi Zhang ◽  
Rui Kang ◽  
Daolin Tang

AbstractCell death and immune response are at the core of life. In past decades, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein STING1 (also known as STING or TMEM173) was found to play a fundamental role in the production of type I interferons (IFNs) and pro-inflammatory cytokines in response to DNA derived from invading microbial pathogens or damaged hosts by activating multiple transcription factors. In addition to this well-known function in infection, inflammation, and immunity, emerging evidence suggests that the STING1-dependent signaling network is implicated in health and disease by regulating autophagic degradation or various cell death modalities (e.g., apoptosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis, mitotic cell death, and immunogenic cell death [ICD]). Here, we outline the latest advances in our understanding of the regulating mechanisms and signaling pathways of STING1 in autophagy and cell death, which may shed light on new targets for therapeutic interventions.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 533
Author(s):  
Rania F. Zaarour ◽  
Bilal Azakir ◽  
Edries Y. Hajam ◽  
Husam Nawafleh ◽  
Nagwa A. Zeinelabdin ◽  
...  

Programmed cell death or type I apoptosis has been extensively studied and its contribution to the pathogenesis of disease is well established. However, autophagy functions together with apoptosis to determine the overall fate of the cell. The cross talk between this active self-destruction process and apoptosis is quite complex and contradictory as well, but it is unquestionably decisive for cell survival or cell death. Autophagy can promote tumor suppression but also tumor growth by inducing cancer-cell development and proliferation. In this review, we will discuss how autophagy reprograms tumor cells in the context of tumor hypoxic stress. We will illustrate how autophagy acts as both a suppressor and a driver of tumorigenesis through tuning survival in a context dependent manner. We also shed light on the relationship between autophagy and immune response in this complex regulation. A better understanding of the autophagy mechanisms and pathways will undoubtedly ameliorate the design of therapeutics aimed at targeting autophagy for future cancer immunotherapies.


2009 ◽  
Vol 173 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Kunz ◽  
B.C.C. Cowie ◽  
W. Drube ◽  
T.-L. Lee ◽  
S. Thiess ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 1250085 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREW ADAMATZKY

Excitable cellular automata with dynamical excitation interval exhibit a wide range of space-time dynamics based on an interplay between propagating excitation patterns which modify excitability of the automaton cells. Such interactions leads to formation of standing domains of excitation, stationary waves and localized excitations. We analyzed morphological and generative diversities of the functions studied and characterized the functions with highest values of the diversities. Amongst other intriguing discoveries we found that upper boundary of excitation interval more significantly affects morphological diversity of configurations generated than lower boundary of the interval does and there is no match between functions which produce configurations of excitation with highest morphological diversity and configurations of interval boundaries with highest morphological diversity. Potential directions of future studies of excitable media with dynamically changing excitability may focus on relations of the automaton model with living excitable media, e.g. neural tissue and muscles, novel materials with memristive properties and networks of conductive polymers.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xueyun Wang ◽  
Xueqiao Xu ◽  
Philip B Snyder ◽  
Zeyu Li

Abstract The BOUT++ six-field turbulence code is used to simulate the ITER 11.5MA hybrid scenario and a brief comparison is made among ITER baseline, hybrid and steady-state operation (SSO) scenarios. Peeling-ballooning instabilities with different toroidal mode numbers dominate in different scenarios and consequently yield different types of ELMs. The energy loss fractions (ΔWped/Wped) caused by unmitigated ELMs in the baseline and hybrid scenarios are large (~2%) while the one in the SSO scenario is dramatically smaller (~1%), which are consistent with the features of type-I ELMs and grassy ELMs respectively. The intra ELM divertor heat flux width in the three scenarios given by the simulations is larger than the estimations for inter ELM phase based on Goldston’s heuristic drift model. The toroidal gap edge melting limit of tungsten monoblocks of divertor targets imposes constraints on ELM energy loss, giving that the ELM energy loss fraction should be smaller than 0.4%, 1.0%, and 1.2% for ITER baseline, hybrid and SSO scenarios, correspondingly. The simulation shows that only the SSO scenario with grassy ELMs may satisfy the constraint.


Author(s):  
Mahmud R. Amin ◽  
Nallamuthu Rajaratnam ◽  
David Z. Zhu

Abstract This work presents an analytical study of the flow and energy loss immediately downstream of rectangular sharp-crested weirs for free and submerged flows, using the theory of plane turbulent jets and the analysis of some relevant studies. The flow regimes downstream of the sharp-crested weir is characterized as the impinging jet and surface flow regimes. Based on the flow characteristics and the downstream tailwater depths, each flow regime is further classified, and the relative energy loss equation is developed. It is found that significant energy loss occurs for the regime of supercritical flow and the upper stage of impinging jet flow. The energy loss for the submerged flow regime is minimal.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 3007-3020 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Bayona ◽  
N. Flyer ◽  
G. M. Lucas ◽  
A. J. G. Baumgaertner

Abstract. A numerical model based on radial basis function-generated finite differences (RBF-FD) is developed for simulating the global electric circuit (GEC) within the Earth's atmosphere, represented by a 3-D variable coefficient linear elliptic partial differential equation (PDE) in a spherically shaped volume with the lower boundary being the Earth's topography and the upper boundary a sphere at 60 km. To our knowledge, this is (1) the first numerical model of the GEC to combine the Earth's topography with directly approximating the differential operators in 3-D space and, related to this, (2) the first RBF-FD method to use irregular 3-D stencils for discretization to handle the topography. It benefits from the mesh-free nature of RBF-FD, which is especially suitable for modeling high-dimensional problems with irregular boundaries. The RBF-FD elliptic solver proposed here makes no limiting assumptions on the spatial variability of the coefficients in the PDE (i.e., the conductivity profile), the right hand side forcing term of the PDE (i.e., distribution of current sources) or the geometry of the lower boundary.


2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (49) ◽  
pp. e2112279118
Author(s):  
James R. Rybarski ◽  
Kuang Hu ◽  
Alexis M. Hill ◽  
Claus O. Wilke ◽  
Ilya J. Finkelstein

CRISPR-associated Tn7 transposons (CASTs) co-opt cas genes for RNA-guided transposition. CASTs are exceedingly rare in genomic databases; recent surveys have reported Tn7-like transposons that co-opt Type I-F, I-B, and V-K CRISPR effectors. Here, we expand the diversity of reported CAST systems via a bioinformatic search of metagenomic databases. We discover architectures for all known CASTs, including arrangements of the Cascade effectors, target homing modalities, and minimal V-K systems. We also describe families of CASTs that have co-opted the Type I-C and Type IV CRISPR-Cas systems. Our search for non-Tn7 CASTs identifies putative candidates that include a nuclease dead Cas12. These systems shed light on how CRISPR systems have coevolved with transposases and expand the programmable gene-editing toolkit.


2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 581-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
J S Chen ◽  
P Y Chu ◽  
Y Y Lin ◽  
K Y Lin

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to recommend a testing procedure to detect the content of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) used in hot-mix asphalt mixtures. Asphalt was extracted from RAP for use in blending with new binder and aggregate. The recovered binders were blended with virgin asphalt (AC-10) at 10 different concentrations. A concept called relative energy loss was proposed to determine the engineering properties of recycled asphalt concrete (RAC). The relative energy loss was found to be directly related to the resistance of RAC to moisture-induced damage. A noticeable increase in relative energy loss with as much as 50% RAP was observed. At 20% RAP, there was not enough RAP to change binder or mixture properties. The predicted performance of mixtures containing up to 40% RAP by weight was shown to be similar to that of virgin material mixtures. A model was developed to estimate the RAP content in terms of penetration, viscosity, and relative energy loss. Key words: reclaimed asphalt pavement, relative energy loss, moisture sensitivity.


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