Identifying the microtearing modes in the pedestal of DIII-D H-modes using gyrokinetic simulations

Recent evidence points toward the microtearing mode (MTM) as an important fluctuation in the H-mode pedestal for anomalous electron heat transport. A study of the instabilities in the pedestal region carried out using gyrokinetic simulations to model an ELMy H-mode DIII-D discharge (USN configuration, 1.4 MA plasma current, and 3 MW heating power) is presented. The simulations produce MTMs, identified by predominantly electromagnetic heat flux, small particle flux, and a substantial degree of tearing parity. The magnetic spectrogram from Mirnov coils exhibits three distinct frequency bands---two narrow bands at lower frequency ($\sim$35-55 kHz and $\sim$70-105 kHz) and a broader band at higher frequency ($\sim$300-500 kHz). Global linear GENE simulations produce MTMs that are centered at the peak of the $\omega_*$ profile and correspond closely with the bands in the spectrogram. The three distinctive frequency bands can be understood from the basic physical mechanisms underlying the instabilities. For example (i) instability of certain toroidal mode numbers (n) is controlled by the alignment of their rational surfaces with the peak in the $\omega^*$ profile, and (ii) MTM instabilities in the lower n bands are the conventional collisional slab MTM, whereas the higher n band depends on curvature drive. While many features of the modes can be captured with the local approximation, a global treatment is necessary to quantitatively reproduce the detailed band gaps of the low-n fluctuations. Notably, the transport signatures of the MTM are consistent with careful edge modeling by SOLPS.

Common Fundamentals of Psoriasis and Depression

Psoriasis is an inflammatory, immune-mediated disease that is frequently associated with psychological comorbidities such as depression. The stigma patients feel because of the appearance of their skin may contribute to the high psycho-social burden of the disease. However, there is emerging evidence that overlapping biological mechanisms are, to a substantial degree, responsible for the close interaction between psoriasis and depression. Increased proinflammatory mediators such as C-reactive protein (CRP) or interleukin (IL)-6 are present in both psoriasis and depression indicating that inflammation may represent a pathophysiologic link between the diseases. Anti-inflammatory biologic therapies treat the clinical manifestations of psoriasis, but might also play a significant role in reducing associated depressive symptoms in psoriasis patients. Comparison between single studies focusing on the change of depressive symptoms in psoriasis is limited by inconsistency of the applied depression screening tools.

Randomness, Causation, and Divine Responsibility

Many theists seem committed to the idea that God is responsible to some substantial degree for the occurrence of every contingent event. In this chapter, I explore questions about divine responsibility in cases of free human action and indeterministic processes in nature, with special attention to Michael J. Zimmerman’s work on the nature of shared responsibility.

Corruption and the criminal law: assurance and deterrence

In this article, I consider the degree to which criminal justice interventions may be expected to ameliorate systemic corruption. I distinguish between two ideal types of corrupt actors – conditional cooperators and autonomous defectors – and argue that the prospects of reform through criminal justice is greatly affected by the relative preponderance of each type. When conditional cooperators predominate, the criminal law serves primarily to provide assurance that a perceived social norm is effective, in that the norm is both widely adhered to, and adhered to because people endorse the propriety of that norm. When autonomous defectors predominate, the criminal law serves primarily to deter would-be cheaters by attaching costs, at least in expectation, to cheating. Because patterns of compliance based upon a social norm tend to be self-reinforcing, unlike patterns of compliance motivated by fear of sanction, I argue that the prospects of sustainable reform through criminal justice interventions is likely to depend to a substantial degree upon convincing people to trust social norms rather than rely upon their private judgments of what is in their interest – that is, to become conditional cooperators.

Social emotions are governed by a common grammar of social valuation: Theoretical foundations and applications to human personality and the criminal justice system

Social emotions appear to be behavior-regulating programs built by natural selection to solve adaptive problems in the domain of social valuation—the disposition to attend to, associate with, defer to, and aid target individuals based on their probable contributions to the fitness of the valuer. For example, shame functions to prevent and mitigate the costs of being socially devalued by others, whereas anger functions to correct those people who attach insufficient weight to the welfare of the self. Here we review theory and evidence suggesting that social emotions such as guilt, gratitude, anger, pride, shame, sadness, and envy are all governed by a common grammar of social valuation even when each emotion has its own distinct adaptive function and structure. We also provide evidence that social emotions and social valuation operate with a substantial degree of universality across cultures. This emotion-valuation constellation appears to shape human sociality through interpersonal interactions. Expanding upon this, we explore how signatures of this constellation may be evident in two spheres of human sociality: personality and the criminal justice system.

The Impact of Main Street Revitalization on the Economic Vitality of Small-Town Business Districts

The Main Street Program is a popular smaller-scale economic development strategy used to revitalize historic town centers across the rural United States. In this article, a difference-in-differences design using longitudinal business establishment data is implemented to estimate the program’s causal impact on job and establishment growth in downtown retail districts. Using a pooled sample of four Midwest states, the author found no significant effect of Main Street Program adoption on downtown jobs or establishments. However, for each individual state, a substantial degree of structural heterogeneity across states exists. Iowa emerges as a state where the Main Street Program appears to yield its hypothesized economic benefits to the downtown business districts of participating communities. These findings suggest that Main Street Program participation effects are not generalizable across states and that implementation and local context matter.

Flattening of the Phillips Curve with State-Dependent Prices and Wages

We study monetary transmission in a model of state-dependent prices and wages based on ‘control costs’. Stickiness arises because precise choice is costly: decision-makers tolerate errors both in the timing of adjustments, and in the new level at which the price or wage is set. The model is calibrated to microdata on the size and frequency of price and wage changes. In our simulations, money shocks have less persistent real effects than in the Calvo framework; nonetheless, the model exhibits a substantial degree of non-neutrality, driven mainly by wage rigidity. State-dependent nominal stickiness implies a flatter Phillips curve as trend inflation declines, because price and wage adjustments become less frequent, making short-run inflation less reactive to shocks. Our model can explain almost half of the observed decline in the slope of the Phillips curve since 2000.

A Comprehensive Review on the Applications of Exosomes and Liposomes in Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering

Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are generally concerned with reconstructing cells, tissues, or organs to restore typical biological characteristics. Liposomes are round vesicles with a hydrophilic center and bilayers of amphiphiles which are the most influential family of nanomedicine. Liposomes have extensive research, engineering, and medicine uses, particularly in a drug delivery system, genes, and vaccines for treatments. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles (EVs) that carry various biomolecular cargos such as miRNA, mRNA, DNA, and proteins. As exosomal cargo changes with adjustments in parent cells and position, research of exosomal cargo constituents provides a rare chance for sicknesses prognosis and care. Exosomes have a more substantial degree of bioactivity and immunogenicity than liposomes as they are distinctly chiefly formed by cells, which improves their steadiness in the bloodstream, and enhances their absorption potential and medicinal effectiveness in vitro and in vivo. In this review, the crucial challenges of exosome and liposome science and their functions in disease improvement and therapeutic applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strategies are prominently highlighted.

Uterine torsion of term pregnant uterus due to anterior fibroid

We present a case of uterine torsion caused by a large 7.0x8.0 cm subserosal myoma in a gravid uterus. This is an uncommon disorder where the prospective diagnosis is difficult thus raises challenges in management.Uterine torsion in gravid uterus is found to carry a substantial degree of risk of perinatal mortality. Leiomyoma is found to be a potential risk factor in these cases. Therefore the diagnosis must not be delayed to prevent complications. Though there are no imaging criteria, CT or MRI can produce a preoperative diagnosis. Uterine torsion can be asymptomatic and in most cases is an accidental finding during cesarian section. Thereby many times cesarian section yields the most certain diagnosis. Posterior low transverse incision is an accessible and effective approach in uterine torsion cases. High degree of suspicion along with swift management is essential factors contributing to favorable outcome.

Discrete element modelling of rockfill railway embankments

There is a need of reducing the uncertainty in traffic loading-induced settlements within railway embankments. A previously developed model for unbound stone-based materials has been implemented for modelling rockfill embankments. Particles were represented by simple breakable tetrahedral clumps of spheres with four asperities each. Both corner breakage and particle splitting were allowed. Embankments with heights between 2 and 10 m were generated by successive dumping and compaction of layers of clumps on top of each other, mimicking the construction of real embankments. Cyclic loading of the embankments representing railway traffic, for both breakable and unbreakable assemblies, was carried out. Results show that the mechanical response is marked by a substantial degree of uncertainty exacerbated by particle degradation, especially for intermediate to high embankments. An analysis of particle rotation showed that particle rearrangement mostly accumulates in the top layers, resulting in a lack of influence of embankment height on settlements. Breakage, even being of (very) limited magnitude, had a statistically significant effect. Good agreement with common geostatic theories predicting horizontal pressures was also observed. Regarding resilient response, linear stiffening with embankment height is observed with a minor influence of breakage. All in all, it is shown that the specific scale, boundary and stress conditions of embankments results in a behaviour deviating from that observed under triaxial conditions. Therefore, the key contribution is showing that it is possible to realistically model high rockfill embankments under a large number of loading cycles and furthermore including degradation, something not attempted to date. Graphic abstract