Tokamak with mechanical compression of toroidal magnetic field

DOEpatents

Ohkawa, Tihiro

1981-01-01

A tokamak apparatus includes a pressure vessel for defining a reservoir and confining liquid therein. A collapsible toroidal liner disposed within the pressure vessel defines a toroidal space within the liner. Liquid metal fills the reservoir outside said liner. A toroidal magnetic field is developed within the toroidal space about the major axis thereof. A toroidal plasma is developed within the toroidal space about the major axis thereof. Pressure is applied to the liquid metal to collapse the liner and reduce the volume of the toroidal space, thereby increasing the toroidal magnetic flux density therein.

Resistive magnetohydrodynamics with toroidal rotation in toroidal plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Jintao; Cai, Huishan

2018-01-01

Toroidal rotation has always existed in tokamak plasmas, and its Mach number can reach unity during neutral beam injection. Toroidal rotation can affect plasma equilibrium and magnetohydrodynamic instabilities significantly. Based on linearized equations including the toroidal rotation effect, the toroidal model derived by Glasser et al. [Phys. Fluids 18, 875 (1975)] is extended to include this effect, and a set of resistive equations including the toroidal rotation effect in the axi-symmetry toroidal geometry is derived. Based on these derived equations, the effect of toroidal rotation on tearing modes is considered, and the growth rate of tearing modes is obtained analytically. It is shown that the effect of toroidal rotation on tearing modes depends on both the direction of toroidal rotation flow and the sign of toroidal rotation flow shear. When they have the same sign, they play a role in stabilizing tearing modes, while when they have opposite signs, they have a destabilizing effect on tearing modes.

Tokamak with liquid metal toroidal field coil

DOEpatents

Ohkawa, Tihiro; Schaffer, Michael J.

1981-01-01

Tokamak apparatus includes a pressure vessel for defining a reservoir and confining liquid therein. A toroidal liner disposed within the pressure vessel defines a toroidal space within the liner. Liquid metal fills the reservoir outside said liner. Electric current is passed through the liquid metal over a conductive path linking the toroidal space to produce a toroidal magnetic field within the toroidal space about the major axis thereof. Toroidal plasma is developed within the toroidal space about the major axis thereof.

Tokamak with in situ magnetohydrodynamic generation of toroidal magnetic field

DOEpatents

Schaffer, Michael J.

1986-01-01

A tokamak apparatus includes an electrically conductive metal pressure vessel for defining a chamber and confining liquid therein. A liner disposed within said chamber defines a toroidal space within the liner and confines gas therein. The metal vessel provides an electrically conductive path linking the toroidal space. Liquid metal is forced outwardly through the chamber outside of the toroidal space to generate electric current in the conductive path and thereby generate a toroidal magnetic field within the toroidal space. Toroidal plasma is developed within the toroidal space about the major axis thereof.

Nucleation promoting factors regulate the expression and localization of Arp2/3 complex during meiosis of mouse oocytes.

PubMed

Liu, Jun; Wang, Qiao-Chu; Wang, Fei; Duan, Xing; Dai, Xiao-Xin; Wang, Teng; Liu, Hong-Lin; Cui, Xiang-Shun; Kim, Nam-Hyung; Sun, Shao-Chen

2012-01-01

The actin nucleation factor Arp2/3 complex is a main regulator of actin assembly and is involved in multiple processes like cell migration and adhesion, endocytosis, and the establishment of cell polarity in mitosis. Our previous work showed that the Arp2/3 complex was involved in the actin-mediated mammalian oocyte asymmetric division. However, the regulatory mechanisms and signaling pathway of Arp2/3 complex in meiosis is still unclear. In the present work, we identified that the nucleation promoting factors (NPFs) JMY and WAVE2 were necessary for the expression and localization of Arp2/3 complex in mouse oocytes. RNAi of both caused the degradation of actin cap intensity, indicating the roles of NPFs in the formation of actin cap. Moreover, JMY and WAVE2 RNAi decreased the expression of ARP2, a key component of Arp2/3 complex. However, knock down of Arp2/3 complex by Arpc2 and Arpc3 siRNA microinjection did not affect the expression and localization of JMY and WAVE2. Our results indicate that the NPFs, JMY and WAVE2, are upstream regulators of Arp2/3 complex in mammalian oocyte asymmetric division.

Shuttleless toroid winder

DOEpatents

Lindenmeyer, Carl W.

1981-01-01

A lower support receives a toroid at a winding station with the axis of the toroid aligned with a slot in the support. An upper guide member applies an axial force to hold the toroid against the lower support. A pair of movable jaws carried by an indexing mechanism engage the outer surface of the toroid to apply a radial holding force. While the toroid is thus held, a wire is placed axially through the toroid, assisted by a funnel-shaped surface in the upper guide member, and is drawn tight about the toroid by a pair of cooperating draw rollers. When operated in the "full cycle" mode, the operator then actuates a switch which energizes a power drive to release the axial clamp and to drive the indexing mechanism and the jaws to rotate the toroid about its axis. At the same time, the wire is ejected from the draw rollers beneath the toroid so that the operator may grasp it to form another loop. When the toroid is fully indexed, the jaws release it, and the upper guide member is returned to clamp the toroid axially while the indexing mechanism is returned to its starting position. The apparatus may also be operated in a "momentary contact" mode in which the mechanism is driven only for the time a switch is actuated.

Tokamak with liquid metal for inducing toroidal electrical field

DOEpatents

Ohkawa, Tihiro

1981-01-01

A tokamak apparatus includes a vessel for defining a reservoir and confining liquid therein. A toroidal liner disposed within said vessel defines a toroidal space within the liner confines gas therein. Liquid metal fills the reservoir outside the liner. A magnetic field is established in the liquid metal to develop magnetic flux linking the toroidal space. The gas is ionized. The liquid metal and the toroidal space are moved relative to one another transversely of the space to generate electric current in the ionized gas in the toroidal space about its major axis and thereby heat plasma developed in the toroidal space.

Electromagnetic toroidal excitations in matter and free space.

PubMed

Papasimakis, N; Fedotov, V A; Savinov, V; Raybould, T A; Zheludev, N I

2016-03-01

The toroidal dipole is a localized electromagnetic excitation, distinct from the magnetic and electric dipoles. While the electric dipole can be understood as a pair of opposite charges and the magnetic dipole as a current loop, the toroidal dipole corresponds to currents flowing on the surface of a torus. Toroidal dipoles provide physically significant contributions to the basic characteristics of matter including absorption, dispersion and optical activity. Toroidal excitations also exist in free space as spatially and temporally localized electromagnetic pulses propagating at the speed of light and interacting with matter. We review recent experimental observations of resonant toroidal dipole excitations in metamaterials and the discovery of anapoles, non-radiating charge-current configurations involving toroidal dipoles. While certain fundamental and practical aspects of toroidal electrodynamics remain open for the moment, we envision that exploitation of toroidal excitations can have important implications for the fields of photonics, sensing, energy and information.

Observation of plasma toroidal-momentum dissipation by neoclassical toroidal viscosity.

PubMed

Zhu, W; Sabbagh, S A; Bell, R E; Bialek, J M; Bell, M G; LeBlanc, B P; Kaye, S M; Levinton, F M; Menard, J E; Shaing, K C; Sontag, A C; Yuh, H

2006-06-09

Dissipation of plasma toroidal angular momentum is observed in the National Spherical Torus Experiment due to applied nonaxisymmetric magnetic fields and their plasma-induced increase by resonant field amplification and resistive wall mode destabilization. The measured decrease of the plasma toroidal angular momentum profile is compared to calculations of nonresonant drag torque based on the theory of neoclassical toroidal viscosity. Quantitative agreement between experiment and theory is found when the effect of toroidally trapped particles is included.

Toroidal current asymmetry in tokamak disruptions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strauss, H. R.

2014-10-01

It was discovered on JET that disruptions were accompanied by toroidal asymmetry of the toroidal plasma current I ϕ. It was found that the toroidal current asymmetry was proportional to the vertical current moment asymmetry with positive sign for an upward vertical displacement event (VDE) and negative sign for a downward VDE. It was observed that greater displacement leads to greater measured I ϕ asymmetry. Here, it is shown that this is essentially a kinematic effect produced by a VDE interacting with three dimensional MHD perturbations. The relation of toroidal current asymmetry and vertical current moment is calculated analytically and is verified by numerical simulations. It is shown analytically that the toroidal variation of the toroidal plasma current is accompanied by an equal and opposite variation of the toroidal current flowing in a thin wall surrounding the plasma. These currents are connected by 3D halo current, which is π/2 radians out of phase with the n = 1 toroidal current variations.

Nucleation Promoting Factors Regulate the Expression and Localization of Arp2/3 Complex during Meiosis of Mouse Oocytes

PubMed Central

Liu, Jun; Wang, Qiao-Chu; Wang, Fei; Duan, Xing; Dai, Xiao-Xin; Wang, Teng; Liu, Hong-Lin; Cui, Xiang-Shun; Kim, Nam-Hyung; Sun, Shao-Chen

2012-01-01

The actin nucleation factor Arp2/3 complex is a main regulator of actin assembly and is involved in multiple processes like cell migration and adhesion, endocytosis, and the establishment of cell polarity in mitosis. Our previous work showed that the Arp2/3 complex was involved in the actin-mediated mammalian oocyte asymmetric division. However, the regulatory mechanisms and signaling pathway of Arp2/3 complex in meiosis is still unclear. In the present work, we identified that the nucleation promoting factors (NPFs) JMY and WAVE2 were necessary for the expression and localization of Arp2/3 complex in mouse oocytes. RNAi of both caused the degradation of actin cap intensity, indicating the roles of NPFs in the formation of actin cap. Moreover, JMY and WAVE2 RNAi decreased the expression of ARP2, a key component of Arp2/3 complex. However, knock down of Arp2/3 complex by Arpc2 and Arpc3 siRNA microinjection did not affect the expression and localization of JMY and WAVE2. Our results indicate that the NPFs, JMY and WAVE2, are upstream regulators of Arp2/3 complex in mammalian oocyte asymmetric division. PMID:23272233

Surface modified α-glycine - EuF3: Gd nanoparticles for upconversion luminescence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahajan, Manoj P.; Khandpekar, M. M.

2018-04-01

Gadolinium doped EuF3 nanoparticles have been synthesized in the presence of α-glycine via chloride route with subsequent microwave drying. The XRD profile shows hexagonal phase structure with lattice parameters a = b = 6.920 A° and c = 7.085 A° (JCPDS No. 32-0373) with Debye-Scherer particle size of 51 nm. The SEM shows chipped morphology and TEM images exhibit shallow toroid like hexagonal - rounded nanostructures (30 - 50 nm) and their subsequent spontaneous transformation in to hyperboloid shaped nanostructures (200 - 600 nm) possibly with extension of the reaction time. SAED pattern confirms crystalline nature of nanoparticles and the planes are in agreement with XRD Peaks. Comparative FTTR and Raman spectrum shows presence of various functional groups confirming the capping of the glycine on EuF3:Gd core. A TGA/DTA spectrum shows decomposition in two stages. The photoluminescence spectrum shows up conversion luminescence at wavelength 653 nm (red).

Toroid cavity/coil NMR multi-detector

DOEpatents

Gerald, II, Rex E.; Meadows, Alexander D.; Gregar, Joseph S.; Rathke, Jerome W.

2007-09-18

An analytical device for rapid, non-invasive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of multiple samples using a single spectrometer is provided. A modified toroid cavity/coil detector (TCD), and methods for conducting the simultaneous acquisition of NMR data for multiple samples including a protocol for testing NMR multi-detectors are provided. One embodiment includes a plurality of LC resonant circuits including spatially separated toroid coil inductors, each toroid coil inductor enveloping its corresponding sample volume, and tuned to resonate at a predefined frequency using a variable capacitor. The toroid coil is formed into a loop, where both ends of the toroid coil are brought into coincidence. Another embodiment includes multiple micro Helmholtz coils arranged on a circular perimeter concentric with a central conductor of the toroid cavity.

Gaseous toroid around Saturn. [Saturnian ring system for atomic hydrogen trapping in Titan atmospheric model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcdonough, T. R.

1974-01-01

The trapping of Titan's escaping atmosphere in the Saturnian system by a toroidal ring is discussed. The radius of the toroid is comparable to Titan's orbit, or about ten times larger than the visible rings. Theoretical atmospheric models are formulated that consider Saturn's gravitational attraction and magnetospheric properties in forming this toroid and in protecting toroid particles from direct ionization by solar wind particles.

Capillary toroid cavity detector for high pressure NMR

DOEpatents

Gerald, II, Rex E.; Chen, Michael J.; Klingler, Robert J.; Rathke, Jerome W.; ter Horst, Marc

2007-09-11

A Toroid Cavity Detector (TCD) is provided for implementing nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies of chemical reactions under conditions of high pressures and temperatures. A toroid cavity contains an elongated central conductor extending within the toroid cavity. The toroid cavity and central conductor generate an RF magnetic field for NMR analysis. A flow-through capillary sample container is located within the toroid cavity adjacent to the central conductor to subject a sample material flowing through the capillary to a static magnetic field and to enable NMR spectra to be recorded of the material in the capillary under a temperature and high pressure environment.

A constant radius of curvature model for the organization of DNA in toroidal condensates.

PubMed Central

Hud, N V; Downing, K H; Balhorn, R

1995-01-01

Toroidal DNA condensates have received considerable attention for their possible relationship to the packaging of DNA in viruses and in general as a model of ordered DNA condensation. A spool-like model has primarily been supported for DNA organization within toroids. However, our observations suggest that the actual organization may be considerably different. We present an alternate model in which DNA for a given toroid is organized within a series of equally sized contiguous loops that precess about the toroid axis. A related model for the toroid formation process is also presented. This kinetic model predicts a distribution of toroid sizes for DNA condensed from solution that is in good agreement with experimental data. Images Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 5 PMID:7724602

Toroidal Tank Development for Upper-stages

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DeLay, Tom; Roberts, Keith

2003-01-01

The advantages, development, and fabrication of toroidal propellant tanks are profiled in this viewgraph presentation. Several images are included of independent research and development (IR&D) of toroidal propellant tanks at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Other images in the presentation give a brief overview of Thiokol conformal tank technology development. The presentation describes Thiokol's approach to continuous composite toroidal tank fabrication in detail. Images are shown of continuous and segmented toroidal tanks fabricated by Thiokol.

Nuclear resonance tomography with a toroid cavity detector

DOEpatents

Woelk, K.; Rathke, J.W.; Klingler, R.J.

1996-11-12

A toroid cavity detection system is described for determining the spectral properties and distance from a fixed point for a sample using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. The detection system consists of a toroid with a central conductor oriented along the main axis of the toroidal cylinder and perpendicular to a static uniform magnetic field oriented along the main axis of the toroid. An rf signal is input to the central conductor to produce a magnetic field perpendicular to the central axis of the toroid and whose field strength varies as the inverse of the radius of the toroid. The toroid cavity detection system can be used to encapsulate a sample, or the detection system can be perforated to allow a sample to flow into the detection device or to place the samples in specified sample tubes. The central conductor can also be coated to determine the spectral property of the coating and the coating thickness. The sample is then subjected to the respective magnetic fields and the responses measured to determine the desired properties. 4 figs.

Nuclear resonance tomography with a toroid cavity detector

DOEpatents

Woelk, Klaus; Rathke, Jerome W.; Klingler, Robert J.

1996-01-01

A toroid cavity detection system for determining the spectral properties and distance from a fixed point for a sample using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. The detection system consists of a toroid with a central conductor oriented along the main axis of the toroidal cylinder and perpendicular to a static uniform magnetic field oriented along the main axis of the toroid. An rf signal is inputted to the central conductor to produce a magnetic field perpendicular to the central axis of the toroid and whose field strength varies as the inverse of the radius of the toroid. The toroid cavity detection system can be used to encapsulate a sample, or the detection system can be perforated to allow a sample to flow into the detection device or to place the samples in specified sample tubes. The central conductor can also be coated to determine the spectral property of the coating and the coating thickness. The sample is then subjected to the respective magnetic fields and the responses measured to determine the desired properties.

EMC3-EIRENE modelling of toroidally-localized divertor gas injection experiments on Alcator C-Mod

DOE PAGES

Lore, Jeremy D.; Reinke, M. L.; LaBombard, Brian; ...

2014-09-30

Experiments on Alcator C-Mod with toroidally and poloidally localized divertor nitrogen injection have been modeled using the three-dimensional edge transport code EMC3-EIRENE to elucidate the mechanisms driving measured toroidal asymmetries. In these experiments five toroidally distributed gas injectors in the private flux region were sequentially activated in separate discharges resulting in clear evidence of toroidal asymmetries in radiated power and nitrogen line emission as well as a ~50% toroidal modulation in electron pressure at the divertor target. The pressure modulation is qualitatively reproduced by the modelling, with the simulation yielding a toroidal asymmetry in the heat flow to the outermore » strike point. Finally, toroidal variation in impurity line emission is qualitatively matched in the scrape-off layer above the strike point, however kinetic corrections and cross-field drifts are likely required to quantitatively reproduce impurity behavior in the private flux region and electron temperatures and densities directly in front of the target.« less

Effects of Resonant Helical Field on Toroidal Field Ripple in IR-T1 Tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahdavipour, B.; Salar Elahi, A.; Ghoranneviss, M.

2018-02-01

The toroidal magnetic field which is created by toroidal coils has the ripple in torus space. This magnetic field ripple has an importance in plasma equilibrium and stability studies in tokamak. In this paper, we present the investigation of the interaction between the toroidal magnetic field ripple and resonant helical field (RHF). We have estimated the amplitude of toroidal field ripples without and with RHF (with different q = m/n) ( m = 2, m = 3, m = 4, m = 5, m = 2 & 3, n = 1) using “Comsol Multiphysics” software. The simulations show that RHF has effects on the toroidal ripples.

Study of toroidal flow generation by ion cyclotron range of frequency minority heating in the Alcator C-Mod plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murakami, S.; Itoh, K.; Zheng, L. J.; Van Dam, J. W.; Bonoli, P.; Rice, J. E.; Fiore, C. L.; Gao, C.; Fukuyama, A.

2016-01-01

The averaged toroidal flow of energetic minority ions during ICRF (ion cyclotron range of frequencies) heating is investigated in the Alcator C-Mod plasma by applying the GNET code, which can solve the drift kinetic equation with complicated orbits of accelerated energetic particles. It is found that a co-directional toroidal flow of the minority ions is generated in the region outside of the resonance location, and that the toroidal velocity reaches more than 40% of the central ion thermal velocity (Vtor ˜ 300 km/s with PICRF ˜ 2 MW). When we shift the resonance location to the outside of |r /a |˜0.5 , the toroidal flow immediately inside of the resonance location is reduced to 0 or changes to the opposite direction, and the toroidal velocity shear is enhanced at r/a ˜ 0.5. A radial diffusion equation for toroidal flow is solved by assuming a torque profile for the minority ion mean flow, and good agreements with experimental radial toroidal flow profiles are obtained. This suggests that the ICRF driven minority ion flow is related to the experimentally observed toroidal rotation during ICRF heating in the Alcator C-Mod plasma.

Single-beam, dark toroidal optical traps for cold atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fatemi, Fredrik K.; Olson, Spencer E.; Bashkansky, Mark; Dutton, Zachary; Terraciano, Matthew

2007-02-01

We demonstrate the generation of single-beam dark toroidal optical intensity distributions, which are of interest for neutral atom storage and atom interferometry. We demonstrate experimentally and numerically optical potentials that contain a ring-shaped intensity minimum, bounded in all directions by higher intensity. We use a spatial light modulator to alter the phase of an incident laser beam, and analyze the resulting optical propagation characteristics. For small toroidal traps (< 50 μm diameter), we find an optimal superposition of Laguerre-Gaussian modes that allows the formation of single-beam toroidal traps. We generate larger toroidal bottle traps by focusing hollow beams with toroidal lenses imprinted onto the spatial light modulator.

Rotation and neoclassical ripple transport in ITER

DOE PAGES

Paul, Elizabeth Joy; Landreman, Matt; Poli, Francesca M.; ...

2017-07-13

Neoclassical transport in the presence of non-axisymmetric magnetic fields causes a toroidal torque known as neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV). The toroidal symmetry of ITER will be broken by the finite number of toroidal field coils and by test blanket modules (TBMs). The addition of ferritic inserts (FIs) will decrease the magnitude of the toroidal field ripple. 3D magnetic equilibria in the presence of toroidal field ripple and ferromagnetic structures are calculated for an ITER steady-state scenario using the Variational Moments Equilibrium Code (VMEC). Furthermore, neoclassical transport quantities in the presence of these error fields are calculated using the Stellarator Fokker-Planckmore » Iterative Neoclassical Conservative Solver (SFINCS).« less

Rotation and neoclassical ripple transport in ITER

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Paul, Elizabeth Joy; Landreman, Matt; Poli, Francesca M.

Neoclassical transport in the presence of non-axisymmetric magnetic fields causes a toroidal torque known as neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV). The toroidal symmetry of ITER will be broken by the finite number of toroidal field coils and by test blanket modules (TBMs). The addition of ferritic inserts (FIs) will decrease the magnitude of the toroidal field ripple. 3D magnetic equilibria in the presence of toroidal field ripple and ferromagnetic structures are calculated for an ITER steady-state scenario using the Variational Moments Equilibrium Code (VMEC). Furthermore, neoclassical transport quantities in the presence of these error fields are calculated using the Stellarator Fokker-Planckmore » Iterative Neoclassical Conservative Solver (SFINCS).« less

Toroidal cell and battery. [storage battery for high amp-hour load applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nagle, W. J. (Inventor)

1981-01-01

A toroidal storage battery designed to handle relatively high amp-hour loads is described. The cell includes a wound core disposed within a pair of toroidal channel shaped electrodes spaced apart by nylon insulator. The shape of the case electrodes of this toroidal cell allows a first planar doughnut shaped surface and the inner cylindrical case wall to be used as a first electrode and a second planar doughnut shaped surface and the outer cylindrical case wall to be used as a second electrode. Connectors may be used to stack two or more toroidal cells together by connecting substantially the entire surface area of the first electrode of a first cell to substantially the entire surface area of the second electrode of a second cell. The central cavity of each toroidal cell may be used as a conduit for pumping a fluid through the toroidal cell to thereby cool the cell.

Steady state toroidal magnetic field at earth's core-mantle boundary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levy, Eugene H.; Pearce, Steven J.

1991-01-01

Measurements of the dc electrical potential near the top of earth's mantle have been extrapolated into the deep mantle in order to estimate the strength of the toroidal magnetic field component at the core-mantle interface. Recent measurements have been interpreted as indicating that at the core-mantle interface, the magnetic toroidal and poloidal field components are approximately equal in magnitude. A motivation for such measurements is to obtain an estimate of the strength of the toroidal magnetic field in the core, a quantity important to our understanding of the geomagnetic field's dynamo generation. Through the use of several simple and idealized calculation, this paper discusses the theoretical relationship between the amplitude of the toroidal magnetic field at the core-mantle boundary and the actual amplitude within the core. Even with a very low inferred value of the toroidal field amplitude at the core-mantle boundary, (a few gauss), the toroidal field amplitude within the core could be consistent with a magnetohydrodynamic dynamo dominated by nonuniform rotation and having a strong toroidal magnetic field.

Chandrasekhar-Kendall modes and Taylor relaxation in an axisymmetric torus

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tang, X.Z.; Boozer, A.H.; Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027

2005-10-01

The helicity-conserving Taylor relaxation of a plasma in a toroidal chamber to a force-free configuration, which means j=(j{sub parallel})/B)B with j{sub parallel}/B independent of position, can be generalized to include the external injection of magnetic helicity. When this is done, j{sub parallel}/B has resonant values, which can be understood using the eigenmodes of Taylor-relaxed plasmas enclosed by a perfectly conducting toroidal shell. These eigenmodes include a toroidal generalization of those found by Chandrasekhar and Kendall (CK) [Astrophys. J. 126, 457 (1957)] for a spherical chamber, which has no externally produced magnetic flux. It is shown that the CK modes inmore » an axisymmetric torus are of three types: (1) helical modes as well as axisymmetric modes that have (2) and have no (3) net toroidal flux. Yoshida and Giga (YG) [Math. Z. 204, 235 (1990)] published a fourth class of modes: axisymmetric modes that have no net toroidal flux in the chamber due to toroidal flux produced by a net poloidal current in the shell canceling the net toroidal flux from the plasma currents. Jensen and Chu [Phys. Fluids 27, 2881 (1984)], as well as Taylor [Rev. Mod. Phys. 58, 741 (1986)], considered modes in which the vector potential was zero on the axisymmetric toroidal chamber. It is shown that these Jensen-Chu-Taylor modes include only the CK helical modes and the CK axisymmetric modes without net toroidal flux. If the toroidal chamber is perfectly conducting except for a cut that prevents a net poloidal current from flowing, resonances in j{sub parallel}/B occur at the eigenvalues of the axisymmetric CK modes. Jensen and Chu studied this type of resonance. Without the cut, so a poloidal current flows to conserve the net toroidal flux, it is shown that j{sub parallel}/B resonances occur at the eigenvalues of the CK modes that have no net toroidal flux and at the eigenvalues of the YG modes, which are upshifted from the eigenvalues of the axisymmetric CK modes that carry net toroidal flux.« less

Toroidal magnetic detector for high resolution measurement of muon momenta

DOEpatents

Bonanos, P.

1992-01-07

A muon detector system including central and end air-core superconducting toroids and muon detectors enclosing a central calorimeter/detector. Muon detectors are positioned outside of toroids and all muon trajectory measurements are made in a nonmagnetic environment. Internal support for each magnet structure is provided by sheets, located at frequent and regularly spaced azimuthal planes, which interconnect the structural walls of the toroidal magnets. In a preferred embodiment, the shape of the toroidal magnet volume is adjusted to provide constant resolution over a wide range of rapidity. 4 figs.

Toroidal magnetic detector for high resolution measurement of muon momenta

DOEpatents

Bonanos, Peter

1992-01-01

A muon detector system including central and end air-core superconducting toroids and muon detectors enclosing a central calorimeter/detector. Muon detectors are positioned outside of toroids and all muon trajectory measurements are made in a nonmagnetic environment. Internal support for each magnet structure is provided by sheets, located at frequent and regularly spaced azimuthal planes, which interconnect the structural walls of the toroidal magnets. In a preferred embodiment, the shape of the toroidal magnet volume is adjusted to provide constant resolution over a wide range of rapidity.

Microscopic Description of Electric and Magnetic Toroidal Multipoles in Hybrid Orbitals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayami, Satoru; Kusunose, Hiroaki

2018-03-01

We derive the quantum-mechanical operator expressions of multipoles under the space-time inversion group. We elucidate that electric and magnetic toroidal multipoles, in addition to ordinary non-toroidal ones, are fundamental pieces to express arbitrary electronic degrees of freedom. We show that electric (magnetic) toroidal multipoles higher than the dipole (monopole) can become active in a hybridized-orbital system. We also demonstrate emergent cross-correlated couplings between the electric, magnetic, and elastic degrees of freedom, such as magneto-electric and magneto(electro)-elastic coupling, under toroidal multipole orders.

Predictions of toroidal rotation and torque sources arising in non-axisymmetric perturbed magnetic fields in tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Honda, M.; Satake, S.; Suzuki, Y.; Shinohara, K.; Yoshida, M.; Narita, E.; Nakata, M.; Aiba, N.; Shiraishi, J.; Hayashi, N.; Matsunaga, G.; Matsuyama, A.; Ide, S.

2017-11-01

Capabilities of the integrated framework consisting of TOPICS, OFMC, VMEC and FORTEC-3D, have been extended to calculate toroidal rotation in fully non-axisymmetric perturbed magnetic fields for demonstrating operation scenarios in actual tokamak geometry and conditions. The toroidally localized perturbed fields due to the test blanket modules and the tangential neutral beam ports in ITER augment the neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) substantially, while do not significantly influence losses of beam ions and alpha particles in an ITER L-mode discharge. The NTV takes up a large portion of total torque in ITER and fairly decelerates toroidal rotation, but the change in toroidal rotation may have limited effectiveness against turbulent heat transport. The error field correction coils installed in JT-60SA can externally apply the perturbed fields, which may alter the NTV and the resultant toroidal rotation profiles. However, the non-resonant n=18 components of the magnetic fields arising from the toroidal field ripple mainly contribute to the NTV, regardless of the presence of the applied field by the coil current of 10 kA , where n is the toroidal mode number. The theoretical model of the intrinsic torque due to the fluctuation-induced residual stress is calibrated by the JT-60U data. For five JT-60U discharges, the sign of the calibration factor conformed to the gyrokinetic linear stability analysis and a range of the amplitude thereof was revealed. This semi-empirical approach opens up access to an attempt on predicting toroidal rotation in H-mode plasmas.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pamminger, Michael; Sevik, James; Scarcelli, Riccardo

The compression ratio is a strong lever to increase the efficiency of an internal combustion engine. However, among others, it is limited by the knock resistance of the fuel used. Natural gas shows a higher knock resistance compared to gasoline, which makes it very attractive for use in internal combustion engines. The current paper describes the knock behavior of two gasoline fuels, and specific incylinder blend ratios with one of the gasoline fuels and natural gas. The engine used for these investigations is a single cylinder research engine for light duty application which is equipped with two separate fuel systems.more » Both fuels can be used simultaneously which allows for gasoline to be injected into the intake port and natural gas to be injected directly into the cylinder to overcome the power density loss usually connected with port fuel injection of natural gas. Adding natural gas at wide open throttle helps to reduce knock mitigating measures and increases the efficiency and power density compared to the other gasoline type fuels with lower knock resistance. The used methods, knock intensity and number of pressure waves, do not show significant differences in knock behavior for the natural gas - gasoline blends compared to the gasoline type fuels. A knock integral was used to describe the knock onset location of the fuels tested. Two different approaches were used to determine the experimental knock onset and were compared to the knock onset delivered by the knock integral (chemical knock onset). The gasoline type fuels show good agreement between chemical and experimental knock onset. However, the natural gas -gasoline blends show higher discrepancies comparing chemical and experimental knock onset.« less

Cbp80 is needed for the expression of piRNA components and piRNAs

PubMed Central

Colombo, Martino; Hernandez, Greco; Beuchle, Dirk; Berger, Fabienne; Peischl, Stephan; Bruggmann, Rémy

2017-01-01

Cap binding protein 80 (Cbp80) is the larger subunit of the nuclear cap-binding complex (nCBC), which is known to play important roles in nuclear mRNA processing, export, stability and quality control events. Reducing Cbp80 mRNA levels in the female germline revealed that Cbp80 is also involved in defending the germline against transposable elements. Combining such knockdown experiments with large scale sequencing of small RNAs further showed that Cbp80 is involved in the initial biogenesis of piRNAs as well as in the secondary biogenesis pathway, the ping-pong amplification cycle. We further found that Cbp80 knockdown not only led to the upregulation of transposons, but also to delocalization of Piwi, Aub and Ago3, key factors in the piRNA biosynthesis pathway. Furthermore, compared to controls, levels of Piwi and Aub were also reduced upon knock down of Cbp80. On the other hand, with the same treatment we could not detect significant changes in levels or subcellular distribution (nuage localization) of piRNA precursor transcripts. This shows that Cbp80 plays an important role in the production and localization of the protein components of the piRNA pathway and it seems to be less important for the production and export of the piRNA precursor transcripts. PMID:28746365

The effect of sheared toroidal rotation on pressure driven magnetic islands in toroidal plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hegna, C. C.

2016-05-15

The impact of sheared toroidal rotation on the evolution of pressure driven magnetic islands in tokamak plasmas is investigated using a resistive magnetohydrodynamics model augmented by a neoclassical Ohm's law. Particular attention is paid to the asymptotic matching data as the Mercier indices are altered in the presence of sheared flow. Analysis of the nonlinear island Grad-Shafranov equation shows that sheared flows tend to amplify the stabilizing pressure/curvature contribution to pressure driven islands in toroidal tokamaks relative to the island bootstrap current contribution. As such, sheared toroidal rotation tends to reduce saturated magnetic island widths.

Compact magnetic energy storage module

DOEpatents

Prueitt, M.L.

1994-12-20

A superconducting compact magnetic energy storage module in which a plurality of superconducting toroids, each having a toroidally wound superconducting winding inside a poloidally wound superconducting winding, are stacked so that the flow of electricity in each toroidally wound superconducting winding is in a direction opposite from the direction of electrical flow in other contiguous superconducting toroids. This allows for minimal magnetic pollution outside of the module. 4 figures.

Compact magnetic energy storage module

DOEpatents

Prueitt, Melvin L.

1994-01-01

A superconducting compact magnetic energy storage module in which a plurality of superconducting toroids, each having a toroidally wound superconducting winding inside a poloidally wound superconducting winding, are stacked so that the flow of electricity in each toroidally wound superconducting winding is in a direction opposite from the direction of electrical flow in other contiguous superconducting toroids. This allows for minimal magnetic pollution outside of the module.

Collisional damping of the geodesic acoustic mode with toroidal rotation. I. Viscous damping

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gong, Xueyu; Xie, Baoyi; Chen, You

2016-03-15

With the dispersion relation derived for the geodesic acoustic mode in toroidally rotating tokamak plasmas using the fluid model, the effect of the toroidal rotation on the collisional viscous damping of the geodesic acoustic mode is investigated. It is found that the collisional viscous damping of the geodesic acoustic mode has weak increase with respect to the toroidal Mach number.

Modular low-aspect-ratio high-beta torsatron

DOEpatents

Sheffield, G.V.

1982-04-01

A fusion-reactor device is described which the toroidal magnetic field and at least a portion of the poloidal magnetic field are provided by a single set of modular coils. The coils are arranged on the surface of a low-aspect-ratio toroid in planed having the cylindrical coordinate relationship phi = phi/sub i/ + kz, where k is a constant equal to each coil's pitch and phi/sub i/ is the toroidal angle at which the i'th coil intersects the z = o plane. The toroid defined by the modular coils preferably has a race track minor cross section. When vertical field coils and, preferably, a toroidal plasma current are provided for magnetic-field-surface closure within the toroid, a vacuum magnetic field of racetrack-shaped minor cross section with improved stability and beta valves is obtained.

Segmented saddle-shaped passive stabilization conductors for toroidal plasmas

DOEpatents

Leuer, James A.

1990-05-01

A large toroidal vacuum chamber for plasma generation and confinement is lined with a toroidal blanket for shielding using modules segmented in the toroidal direction. To provide passive stabilization in the same manner as a conductive vacuum chamber wall, saddle-shaped conductor loops are provided on blanket modules centered on a midplane of the toroidal chamber with horizontal conductive bars above and below the midplane, and vertical conductive legs on opposite sides of each module to provide return current paths between the upper and lower horizontal conductive bars. The close proximity of the vertical legs provided on adjacent modules without making physical contact cancel the electromagnetic field of adjacent vertical legs. The conductive bars spaced equally above and below the midplane simulate toroidal conductive loops or hoops that are continuous, for vertical stabilization of the plasma even though they are actually segmented.

On the dynamic toroidal multipoles from localized electric current distributions.

PubMed

Fernandez-Corbaton, Ivan; Nanz, Stefan; Rockstuhl, Carsten

2017-08-08

We analyze the dynamic toroidal multipoles and prove that they do not have an independent physical meaning with respect to their interaction with electromagnetic waves. We analytically show how the split into electric and toroidal parts causes the appearance of non-radiative components in each of the two parts. These non-radiative components, which cancel each other when both parts are summed, preclude the separate determination of each part by means of measurements of the radiation from the source or of its coupling to external electromagnetic waves. In other words, there is no toroidal radiation or independent toroidal electromagnetic coupling. The formal meaning of the toroidal multipoles is clear in our derivations. They are the higher order terms of an expansion of the multipolar coefficients of electric parity with respect to the electromagnetic size of the source.

Method and apparatus to produce and maintain a thick, flowing, liquid lithium first wall for toroidal magnetic confinement DT fusion reactors

DOEpatents

Woolley, Robert D.

2002-01-01

A system for forming a thick flowing liquid metal, in this case lithium, layer on the inside wall of a toroid containing the plasma of a deuterium-tritium fusion reactor. The presence of the liquid metal layer or first wall serves to prevent neutron damage to the walls of the toroid. A poloidal current in the liquid metal layer is oriented so that it flows in the same direction as the current in a series of external magnets used to confine the plasma. This current alignment results in the liquid metal being forced against the wall of the toroid. After the liquid metal exits the toroid it is pumped to a heat extraction and power conversion device prior to being reentering the toroid.

Convection in three dimensions with surface plates - Generation of toroidal flow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gable, Carl W.; O'Connell, Richard J.; Travis, Bryan J.

1991-01-01

This work presents numerical calculations of mantle convection that incorporate some of the basic observational constraints imposed by plate tectonics. The model is three-dimensional and includes surface plates; it allows plate velocity to change dynamically according to the forces which result from convection. It is shown that plates are an effective means of introducing a toroidal component into the flow field. After initial transients the plate motion is nearly parallel to transform faults and in the direction that tends to minimize the toroidal flow field. The toroidal field decays with depth from its value at the surface; the poloidal field is relatively constant throughout the layer but falls off slightly at the top and bottom boundaries. Layered viscosity increasing with depth causes the toroidal field to decay more rapidly, effectively confining it to the upper, low-viscosity layer. The effect of viscosity layering on the poloidal field is relatively small, which is attributed to its generation by temperature variations distributed throughout the system. The generation of toroidal flow by surface plates would seem to account for the observed nearly equal energy of toroidal and poloidal fields of plate motions on the earth. A low-viscosity region in the upper mantle will cause the toroidal flow to decay significantly before reaching the lower mantle. The resulting concentration of toroidal flow in the upper mantle may result in more thorough mixing there and account for some of the geochemical and isotopic differences proposed to exist between the upper and lower mantles.

Tunable plasmonic toroidal terahertz metamodulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerislioglu, Burak; Ahmadivand, Arash; Pala, Nezih

2018-04-01

Optical modulators are essential and strategic parts of micro- and nanophotonic circuits to encode electro-optical signals in the optical domain. Here, by using arrays of multipixel toroidal plasmonic terahertz (THz) metamolecules, we developed a functional plasmonic metamodulator with high efficiency and tunability. Technically, the dynamic toroidal dipole induces nonradiating charge-current arrangements leading to have an exquisite role in defining the inherent spectral features of various materials. By categorizing in a different family of multipoles far from the traditional electromagnetic multipoles, the toroidal dipole corresponds to poloidal currents flowing on the surface of a closed-loop torus. Utilizing the sensitivity of the optically driven toroidal momentum to the incident THz beam power and by employing both numerical tools and experimental analysis, we systematically studied the spectral response of the proposed THz plasmonic metadevice. In this Rapid Communication, we uncover a correlation between the existence and the excitation of the toroidal response and the incident beam power. This mechanism is employed to develop THz toroidal metamodulators with a strong potential to be employed for practical advanced and next-generation communication, filtering, and routing applications.

Simulation loop between cad systems, GEANT-4 and GeoModel: Implementation and results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharmazanashvili, A.; Tsutskiridze, Niko

2016-09-01

Compare analysis of simulation and as-built geometry descriptions of detector is important field of study for data_vs_Monte-Carlo discrepancies. Shapes consistency and detalization is not important while adequateness of volumes and weights of detector components are essential for tracking. There are 2 main reasons of faults of geometry descriptions in simulation: (1) Difference between simulated and as-built geometry descriptions; (2) Internal inaccuracies of geometry transformations added by simulation software infrastructure itself. Georgian Engineering team developed hub on the base of CATIA platform and several tools enabling to read in CATIA different descriptions used by simulation packages, like XML->CATIA; VP1->CATIA; Geo-Model->CATIA; Geant4->CATIA. As a result it becomes possible to compare different descriptions with each other using the full power of CATIA and investigate both classes of reasons of faults of geometry descriptions. Paper represents results of case studies of ATLAS Coils and End-Cap toroid structures.

From dots to doughnuts: Two-dimensionally confined deposition of polyelectrolytes on block copolymer templates

DOE PAGES

Oded, Meirav; Kelly, Stephen T.; Gilles, Mary K.; ...

2016-07-05

The combination of block copolymer templating with electrostatic self-assembly provides a simple and robust method for creating nano-patterned polyelectrolyte multilayers over large areas. The deposition of the first polyelectrolyte layer provides important insights on the initial stages of multilayer buildup. Here, we focus on two-dimensionally confined “dots” patterns afforded by block copolymer films featuring hexagonally-packed cylinders that are oriented normal to the substrate. Rendering the cylinder caps positively charged enables the selective deposition of negatively charged polyelectrolytes on them under salt-free conditions. The initially formed polyelectrolyte nanostructures adopt a toroidal (“doughnut”) shape, which results from retraction of dangling polyelectrolyte segmentsmore » into the “dots” upon drying. With increasing exposure time to the polyelectrolyte solution, the final shape of the deposited polyelectrolyte transitions from a doughnut to a hemisphere. In conclusion, these insights would enable the creation of patterned polyelectrolyte multilayers with increased control over adsorption selectivity of the additional incoming polyelectrolytes.« less

From dots to doughnuts: Two-dimensionally confined deposition of polyelectrolytes on block copolymer templates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oded, Meirav; Kelly, Stephen T.; Gilles, Mary K.

The combination of block copolymer templating with electrostatic self-assembly provides a simple and robust method for creating nano-patterned polyelectrolyte multilayers over large areas. The deposition of the first polyelectrolyte layer provides important insights on the initial stages of multilayer buildup. Here, we focus on two-dimensionally confined “dots” patterns afforded by block copolymer films featuring hexagonally-packed cylinders that are oriented normal to the substrate. Rendering the cylinder caps positively charged enables the selective deposition of negatively charged polyelectrolytes on them under salt-free conditions. The initially formed polyelectrolyte nanostructures adopt a toroidal (“doughnut”) shape, which results from retraction of dangling polyelectrolyte segmentsmore » into the “dots” upon drying. With increasing exposure time to the polyelectrolyte solution, the final shape of the deposited polyelectrolyte transitions from a doughnut to a hemisphere. In conclusion, these insights would enable the creation of patterned polyelectrolyte multilayers with increased control over adsorption selectivity of the additional incoming polyelectrolytes.« less

Electrostatic shielding of transformers

DOEpatents

De Leon, Francisco

2017-11-28

Toroidal transformers are currently used only in low-voltage applications. There is no published experience for toroidal transformer design at distribution-level voltages. Toroidal transformers are provided with electrostatic shielding to make possible high voltage applications and withstand the impulse test.

Segmented saddle-shaped passive stabilization conductors for toroidal plasmas

DOEpatents

Leuer, J.A.

1990-05-01

A large toroidal vacuum chamber for plasma generation and confinement is lined with a toroidal blanket for shielding using modules segmented in the toroidal direction. To provide passive stabilization in the same manner as a conductive vacuum chamber wall, saddle-shaped conductor loops are provided on blanket modules centered on a midplane of the toroidal chamber with horizontal conductive bars above and below the midplane, and vertical conductive legs on opposite sides of each module to provide return current paths between the upper and lower horizontal conductive bars. The close proximity of the vertical legs provided on adjacent modules without making physical contact cancel the electromagnetic field of adjacent vertical legs. The conductive bars spaced equally above and below the midplane simulate toroidal conductive loops or hoops that are continuous, for vertical stabilization of the plasma even though they are actually segmented. 5 figs.

Toroidal momentum pinch velocity due to the coriolis drift effect on small scale instabilities in a toroidal plasma.

PubMed

Peeters, A G; Angioni, C; Strintzi, D

2007-06-29

In this Letter, the influence of the "Coriolis drift" on small scale instabilities in toroidal plasmas is shown to generate a toroidal momentum pinch velocity. Such a pinch results because the Coriolis drift generates a coupling between the density and temperature perturbations on the one hand and the perturbed parallel flow velocity on the other. A simple fluid model is used to highlight the physics mechanism and gyro-kinetic calculations are performed to accurately assess the magnitude of the pinch. The derived pinch velocity leads to a radial gradient of the toroidal velocity profile even in the absence of a torque on the plasma and is predicted to generate a peaking of the toroidal velocity profile similar to the peaking of the density profile. Finally, the pinch also affects the interpretation of current experiments.

Toroidal Momentum Pinch Velocity due to the Coriolis Drift Effect on Small Scale Instabilities in a Toroidal Plasma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peeters, A. G.; Angioni, C.; Strintzi, D.

In this Letter, the influence of the ''Coriolis drift'' on small scale instabilities in toroidal plasmas is shown to generate a toroidal momentum pinch velocity. Such a pinch results because the Coriolis drift generates a coupling between the density and temperature perturbations on the one hand and the perturbed parallel flow velocity on the other. A simple fluid model is used to highlight the physics mechanism and gyro-kinetic calculations are performed to accurately assess the magnitude of the pinch. The derived pinch velocity leads to a radial gradient of the toroidal velocity profile even in the absence of a torquemore » on the plasma and is predicted to generate a peaking of the toroidal velocity profile similar to the peaking of the density profile. Finally, the pinch also affects the interpretation of current experiment000.« less

Modular low aspect ratio-high beta torsatron

DOEpatents

Sheffield, George V.; Furth, Harold P.

1984-02-07

A fusion reactor device in which the toroidal magnetic field and at least a portion of the poloidal magnetic field are provided by a single set of modular coils. The coils are arranged on the surface of a low aspect ratio toroid in planes having the cylindrical coordinate relationship .phi.=.phi..sub.i +kz where k is a constant equal to each coil's pitch and .phi..sub.i is the toroidal angle at which the i'th coil intersects the z=o plane. The device may be described as a modular, high beta torsation whose screw symmetry is pointed along the systems major (z) axis. The toroid defined by the modular coils preferably has a racetrack minor cross section. When vertical field coils and preferably a toroidal plasma current are provided for magnetic field surface closure within the toroid, a vacuum magnetic field of racetrack shaped minor cross section with improved stability and beta valves is obtained.

Dynamics of multiple double layers in high pressure glow discharge in a simple torus

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kumar Paul, Manash, E-mail: manashkr@gmail.com; Sharma, P. K.; Thakur, A.

2014-06-15

Parametric characterization of multiple double layers is done during high pressure glow discharge in a toroidal vessel of small aspect ratio. Although glow discharge (without magnetic field) is known to be independent of device geometry, but the toroidal boundary conditions are conducive to plasma growth and eventually the plasma occupy the toroidal volume partially. At higher anode potential, the visibly glowing spots on the body of spatially extended anode transform into multiple intensely luminous spherical plasma blob structures attached to the tip of the positive electrode. Dynamics of multiple double layers are observed in argon glow discharge plasma in presencemore » of toroidal magnetic field. The radial profiles of plasma parameters measured at various toroidal locations show signatures of double layer formation in our system. Parametric dependence of double layer dynamics in presence of toroidal magnetic field is presented here.« less

The Experiment of Modulated Toroidal Current on HT-7 and HT-6M Tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, Jian-shan; P, Phillips; Luo, Jia-rong; Xu, Yu-hong; Zhao, Jun-yu; Zhang, Xian-mei; Wan, Bao-nian; Zhang, Shou-yin; Jie, Yin-xian; Wu, Zhen-wei; Hu, Li-qun; Liu, Sheng-xia; Shi, Yue-jiang; Li, Jian-gang; HT-6M; HT-7 Group

2003-02-01

The Experiments of Modulated Toroidal Current were done on the HT-6M tokamak and HT-7 superconducting tokamak. The toroidal current was modulated by programming the Ohmic heating field. Modulation of the plasma current has been used successfully to suppress MHD activity in discharges near the density limit where large MHD m = 2 tearing modes were suppressed by sufficiently large plasma current oscillations. The improved Ohmic confinement phase was observed during modulating toroidal current (MTC) on the Hefei Tokamak-6M (HT-6M) and Hefei superconducting Tokamak-7 (HT-7). A toroidal frequency-modulated current, induced by a modulated loop voltage, was added on the plasma equilibrium current. The ratio of A.C. amplitude of plasma current to the main plasma current ΔIp/Ip is about 12%-30%. The different formats of the frequency-modulated toroidal current were compared.

Toroidal gyrofluid equations for simulations of tokamak turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beer, M. A.; Hammett, G. W.

1996-11-01

A set of nonlinear gyrofluid equations for simulations of tokamak turbulence are derived by taking moments of the nonlinear toroidal gyrokinetic equation. The moment hierarchy is closed with approximations that model the kinetic effects of parallel Landau damping, toroidal drift resonances, and finite Larmor radius effects. These equations generalize the work of Dorland and Hammett [Phys. Fluids B 5, 812 (1993)] to toroidal geometry by including essential toroidal effects. The closures for phase mixing from toroidal ∇B and curvature drifts take the basic form presented in Waltz et al. [Phys. Fluids B 4, 3138 (1992)], but here a more rigorous procedure is used, including an extension to higher moments, which provides significantly improved accuracy. In addition, trapped ion effects and collisions are incorporated. This reduced set of nonlinear equations accurately models most of the physics considered important for ion dynamics in core tokamak turbulence, and is simple enough to be used in high resolution direct numerical simulations.

Dielectric metamaterials with toroidal dipolar response

DOE PAGES

Basharin, Alexey A.; Kafesaki, Maria; Economou, Eleftherios N.; ...

2015-03-27

Toroidal multipoles are the terms missing in the standard multipole expansion; they are usually overlooked due to their relatively weak coupling to the electromagnetic fields. Here, we propose and theoretically study all-dielectric metamaterials of a special class that represent a simple electromagnetic system supporting toroidal dipolar excitations in the THz part of the spectrum. In addition, we show that resonant transmission and reflection of such metamaterials is dominated by toroidal dipole scattering, the neglect of which would result in a misunderstanding interpretation of the metamaterials’ macroscopic response. Due to the unique field configuration of the toroidal mode, the proposed metamaterialsmore » could serve as a platform for sensing or enhancement of light absorption and optical nonlinearities.« less

MHD Studies of Advanced Tokamak Equilibria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strumberger, E.

2005-10-01

Advanced tokamak scenarios are often characterized by an extremely reversed profile of the safety factor, q, and a fast toroidal rotation. ASDEX Upgrade type equilibria with toroidal flow are computed up to a toroidal Mach number of Mta= 0.5, and compared with the static solution. Using these equilibria, the stabilizing effect of differential toroidal rotation on double tearing modes (DTMs) is investigated. These studies show that the computation of equilibria with flow is necessary for toroidally rotating plasma with Mta>=0.2. The use of ρtor instead of ρpol as radial coordinate enables us also to investigate the stability of equilibria with current holes. For numerical reasons, the rotational transform, = 1/q, has to be unequal zero in the CASTOR$FLOW code, but values of a>=0.001 (qa<=1000) can be easily handled. Stability studies of DTMs in the presence of a current hole are presented. Tokamak equilibria are only approximately axisymmetric. The finite number of toroidal field coils destroys the perfect axisymmetry of the device, and the coils produce a short wavelength ripple in the magnetic field strength. This toroidal field ripple plays a crucial role for the loss of high energy particles. Therefore, three-dimensional tokamak equilibria with and without current holes are computed for various plasma beta values. In addition the influence of the plasma beta on the toroidal field ripple is investigated.

Baroclinic Instability in the Solar Tachocline for Continuous Vertical Profiles of Rotation, Effective Gravity, and Toroidal Field

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gilman, Peter A., E-mail: gilman@ucar.edu

We present results from an MHD model for baroclinic instability in the solar tachocline that includes rotation, effective gravity, and toroidal field that vary continuously with height. We solve the perturbation equations using a shooting method. Without toroidal fields but with an effective gravity declining linearly from a maximum at the bottom to much smaller values at the top, we find instability at all latitudes except at the poles, at the equator, and where the vertical rotation gradient vanishes (32.°3) for longitude wavenumbers m from 1 to >10. High latitudes are much more unstable than low latitudes, but both havemore » e -folding times that are much shorter than a sunspot cycle. The higher the m and the steeper the decline in effective gravity, the closer the unstable mode peak to the top boundary, where the energy available to drive instability is greatest. The effect of the toroidal field is always stabilizing, shrinking the latitude ranges of instability as the toroidal field is increased. The larger the toroidal field, the smaller the longitudinal wavenumber of the most unstable disturbance. All latitudes become stable for a toroidal field exceeding about 4 kG. The results imply that baroclinic instability should occur in the tachocline at latitudes where the toroidal field is weak or is changing sign, but not where the field is strong.« less

Highly efficient siRNA delivery from core-shell mesoporous silica nanoparticles with multifunctional polymer caps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Möller, Karin; Müller, Katharina; Engelke, Hanna; Bräuchle, Christoph; Wagner, Ernst; Bein, Thomas

2016-02-01

A new general route for siRNA delivery is presented combining porous core-shell silica nanocarriers with a modularly designed multifunctional block copolymer. Specifically, the internal storage and release of siRNA from mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) with orthogonal core-shell surface chemistry was investigated as a function of pore-size, pore morphology, surface properties and pH. Very high siRNA loading capacities of up to 380 μg per mg MSN were obtained with charge-matched amino-functionalized mesoporous cores, and release profiles show up to 80% siRNA elution after 24 h. We demonstrate that adsorption and desorption of siRNA is mainly driven by electrostatic interactions, which allow for high loading capacities even in medium-sized mesopores with pore diameters down to 4 nm in a stellate pore morphology. The negatively charged MSN shell enabled the association with a block copolymer containing positively charged artificial amino acids and oleic acid blocks, which acts simultaneously as capping and endosomal release agent. The potential of this multifunctional delivery platform is demonstrated by highly effective cell transfection and siRNA delivery into KB-cells. A luciferase reporter gene knock-down of up to 80-90% was possible using extremely low cell exposures with only 2.5 μg MSN containing 0.5 μg siRNA per 100 μL well.A new general route for siRNA delivery is presented combining porous core-shell silica nanocarriers with a modularly designed multifunctional block copolymer. Specifically, the internal storage and release of siRNA from mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) with orthogonal core-shell surface chemistry was investigated as a function of pore-size, pore morphology, surface properties and pH. Very high siRNA loading capacities of up to 380 μg per mg MSN were obtained with charge-matched amino-functionalized mesoporous cores, and release profiles show up to 80% siRNA elution after 24 h. We demonstrate that adsorption and desorption of siRNA is mainly driven by electrostatic interactions, which allow for high loading capacities even in medium-sized mesopores with pore diameters down to 4 nm in a stellate pore morphology. The negatively charged MSN shell enabled the association with a block copolymer containing positively charged artificial amino acids and oleic acid blocks, which acts simultaneously as capping and endosomal release agent. The potential of this multifunctional delivery platform is demonstrated by highly effective cell transfection and siRNA delivery into KB-cells. A luciferase reporter gene knock-down of up to 80-90% was possible using extremely low cell exposures with only 2.5 μg MSN containing 0.5 μg siRNA per 100 μL well. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: MSN synthesis and analysis, sample preparation for cell transfections as well as additional studies including experiments with a second cell line and a toxicity assay. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr06246b

Investigation of intrinsic toroidal rotation scaling in KSTAR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoo, J. W.; Lee, S. G.; Ko, S. H.; Seol, J.; Lee, H. H.; Kim, J. H.

2017-07-01

The behaviors of an intrinsic toroidal rotation without any external momentum sources are investigated in KSTAR. In these experiments, pure ohmic discharges with a wide range of plasma parameters are carefully selected and analyzed to speculate an unrevealed origin of toroidal rotation excluding any unnecessary heating sources, magnetic perturbations, and strong magneto-hydrodynamic activities. The measured core toroidal rotation in KSTAR is mostly in the counter-current direction and its magnitude strongly depends on the ion temperature divided by plasma current (Ti/IP). Especially the core toroidal rotation in the steady-state is well fitted by Ti/IP scaling with a slope of ˜-23, and the possible explanation of the scaling is compared with various candidates. As a result, the calculated offset rotation could not explain the measured core toroidal rotation since KSTAR has an extremely low intrinsic error field. For the stability conditions for ion and electron turbulences, it is hard to determine a dominant turbulence mode in this study. In addition, the intrinsic toroidal rotation level in ITER is estimated based on the KSTAR scaling since the intrinsic rotation plays an important role in stabilizing resistive wall modes for future reference.

The intensity of knock in an internal combustion engine: An experimental and modeling study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cowart, J. S.; Haghooie, M.; Newman, C. E.; Davis, G. C.; Pitz, W. J.; Westbrook, C. K.

1992-09-01

Experimental data have been obtained that characterize knock occurrence times and knock intensities in a spark ignition engine operating on indolene and 91 primary reference fuel, as spark timing and inlet temperature were varied. Individual, in-cylinder pressure histories measured under knocking conditions were conditioned and averaged to obtain representative pressure traces. These averaged pressure histories were used as input to a reduced and detailed chemical kinetic model. The time derivative of CO concentration and temperature were correlated with the measured knock intensity and percent cycles knocking. The goal was to evaluate the potential of using homogeneous, chemical kinetic models as predictive tools for knock intensity.

System and method for generating current by selective electron heating

DOEpatents

Fisch, Nathaniel J.; Boozer, Allen H.

1984-01-01

A system for the generation of toroidal current in a plasma which is prepared in a toroidal magnetic field. The system utilizes the injection of high-frequency waves into the plasma by means of waveguides. The wave frequency and polarization are chosen such that when the waveguides are tilted in a predetermined fashion, the wave energy is absorbed preferentially by electrons traveling in one toroidal direction. The absorption of energy in this manner produces a toroidal electric current even when the injected waves themselves do not have substantial toroidal momentum. This current can be continuously maintained at modest cost in power and may be used to confine the plasma. The system can operate efficiently on fusion grade tokamak plasmas.

Influence of toroidal rotation on resistive tearing modes in tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, S.; Ma, Z. W.

2015-12-01

Influence of toroidal equilibrium plasma rotation on m/n = 2/1 resistive tearing modes is studied numerically using a 3D toroidal MHD code (CLT). It is found that the toroidal rotation with or without shear can suppress the tearing instability and the Coriolis effect in the toroidal geometry plays a dominant role on the rotation induced stabilization. For a high viscosity plasma (τR/τV ≫ 1, where τR and τV represent resistive and viscous diffusion time, respectively), the effect of the rotation shear combined with the viscosity appears to be stabilizing. For a low viscosity plasmas (τR/τV ≪ 1), the rotation shear shows a destabilizing effect when the rotation is large.

Knock down of the myostatin gene by RNA interference increased body weight in chicken.

PubMed

Bhattacharya, T K; Shukla, R; Chatterjee, R N; Dushyanth, K

2017-01-10

Myostatin is a negative regulator of muscular growth in poultry and other animals. Of several approaches, knocking down the negative regulator is an important aspect to augment muscular growth in chicken. Knock down of myostatin gene has been performed by shRNA acting against the expression of gene in animals. Two methods of knock down of gene in chicken such as embryo manipulation and sperm mediated method have been performed. The hatching percentage in embryo manipulation and sperm mediated method of knock down was 58.0 and 41.5%, respectively. The shRNA in knock down chicken enhanced body weight at 6 weeks by 26.9%. The dressing percentage and serum biochemical parameters such as SGPT and alkaline phosphatase differed significantly (P<0.05) between knock down and control birds. It is concluded that knocking down the myostatin gene successfully augmented growth in chicken. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Variable control of neutron albedo in toroidal fusion devices

DOEpatents

Jassby, D.L.; Micklich, B.J.

1983-06-01

This invention pertains to methods of controlling in the steady state, neutron albedo in toroidal fusion devices, and in particular, to methods of controlling the flux and energy distribution of collided neutrons which are incident on an outboard wall of a toroidal fusion device.

Reduction of toroidal rotation by fast wave power in DIII-D

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grassie, J.S. de; Baker, D.R.; Burrell, K.H.

1997-04-01

The application of fast wave power in DIII-D has proven effective for both electron heating and current drive. Since the last RIF Conference FW power has been applied to advanced confinement regimes in DIII-D; negative central shear (NCS), VH- and H-modes, high {beta}{sub p}, and high-{ell}i. Typically these regimes show enhanced confinement of toroidal momentum exhibited by increased toroidal rotation velocity. Indeed, layers of large shear in toroidal velocity are associated with transport barriers. A rather common occurrence in these experiments is that the toroidal rotation velocity is decreased when the FW power is turned on, to lowest order independentmore » of whether the antennas are phased for co or counter current drive. At present all the data is for co-injected beams. The central toroidal rotation can be reduced to 1/2 of the non-FW level. Here the authors describe the effect in NCS discharges with co-beam injection.« less

Rapid Detection of Infectious Envelope Proteins by Magnetoplasmonic Toroidal Metasensors.

PubMed

Ahmadivand, Arash; Gerislioglu, Burak; Manickam, Pandiaraj; Kaushik, Ajeet; Bhansali, Shekhar; Nair, Madhavan; Pala, Nezih

2017-09-22

Unconventional characteristics of magnetic toroidal multipoles have triggered researchers to study these unique resonant phenomena by using both 3D and planar resonators under intense radiation. Here, going beyond conventional planar unit cells, we report on the observation of magnetic toroidal modes using artificially engineered multimetallic planar plasmonic resonators. The proposed microstructures consist of iron (Fe) and titanium (Ti) components acting as magnetic resonators and torus, respectively. Our numerical studies and following experimental verifications show that the proposed structures allow for excitation of toroidal dipoles in the terahertz (THz) domain with the experimental Q-factor of ∼18. Taking the advantage of high-Q toroidal line shape and its dependence on the environmental perturbations, we demonstrate that room-temperature toroidal metasurface is a reliable platform for immunosensing applications. As a proof of concept, we utilized our plasmonic metasurface to detect Zika-virus (ZIKV) envelope protein (with diameter of 40 nm) using a specific ZIKV antibody. The sharp toroidal resonant modes of the surface functionalized structures shift as a function of the ZIKV envelope protein for small concentrations (∼pM). The results of sensing experiments reveal rapid, accurate, and quantitative detection of envelope proteins with the limit of detection of ∼24.2 pg/mL and sensitivity of 6.47 GHz/log(pg/mL). We envision that the proposed toroidal metasurface opens new avenues for developing low-cost, and efficient THz plasmonic sensors for infection and targeted bioagent detection.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sileghem, L.; Wallner, T.; Verhelst, S.

As knock is one of the main factors limiting the efficiency of spark-ignition engines, the introduction of alcohol blends could help to mitigate knock concerns due to the elevated knock resistance of these blends. A model that can accurately predict their autoignition behavior would be of great value to engine designers. The current work aims to develop such a model for alcohol–gasoline blends. First, a mixing rule for the autoignition delay time of alcohol–gasoline blends is proposed. Subsequently, this mixing rule is used together with an autoignition delay time correlation of gasoline and an autoignition delay time cor-relation of methanolmore » in a knock integral model that is implemented in a two-zone engine code. The pre-dictive performance of the resulting model is validated through comparison against experimental measurements on a CFR engine for a range of gasoline–methanol blends. The knock limited spark advance, the knock intensity, the knock onset crank angle and the value of the knock integral at the experimental knock onset have been simulated and compared to the experimental values derived from in-cylinder pressure measurements.« less

Toroidal high-spin isomers in the nucleus 304120

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Staszczak, A.; Wong, Cheuk-Yin; Kosior, A.

2017-05-01

Background: Strongly deformed oblate superheavy nuclei form an intriguing region where the toroidal nuclear structures may bifurcate from the oblate spheroidal shape. The bifurcation may be facilitated when the nucleus is endowed with a large angular moment about the symmetry axis with I =Iz . The toroidal high-K isomeric states at their local energy minima can be theoretically predicted using the cranked self-consistent Skyrme-Hartree-Fock method. Purpose: We use the cranked Skyrme-Hartree-Fock method to predict the properties of the toroidal high-spin isomers in the superheavy nucleus 120304184. Method: Our method consists of three steps: First, we use the deformation-constrained Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach to search for the nuclear density distributions with toroidal shapes. Next, using these toroidal distributions as starting configurations, we apply an additional cranking constraint of a large angular momentum I =Iz about the symmetry z axis and search for the energy minima of the system as a function of the deformation. In the last step, if a local energy minimum with I =Iz is found, we perform at this point the cranked symmetry- and deformation-unconstrained Skyrme-Hartree-Fock calculations to locate a stable toroidal high-spin isomeric state in free convergence. Results: We have theoretically located two toroidal high-spin isomeric states of 120304184 with an angular momentum I =Iz=81 ℏ (proton 2p-2h, neutron 4p-4h excitation) and I =Iz=208 ℏ (proton 5p-5h, neutron 8p-8h) at the quadrupole moment deformations Q20=-297.7 b and Q20=-300.8 b with energies 79.2 and 101.6 MeV above the spherical ground state, respectively. The nuclear density distributions of the toroidal high-spin isomers 120304184(Iz=81 ℏ and 208 ℏ ) have the maximum density close to the nuclear matter density, 0.16 fm-3, and a torus major to minor radius aspect ratio R /d =3.25 . Conclusions: We demonstrate that aligned angular momenta of Iz=81 ℏ and 208 ℏ arising from multiparticle-multihole excitations in the toroidal system of 120304184 can lead to high-spin isomeric states, even though the toroidal shape of 120304184 without spin is unstable. Toroidal energy minima without spin may be possible for superheavy nuclei with higher atomic numbers, Z ≳122 , as reported previously [7 A. Staszczak and C. Y. Wong, Acta Phys. Pol. B 40, 753 (2008)].

Toroidal high-spin isomers in the nucleus 120 304

DOE PAGES

Staszczak, A.; Wong, Cheuk-Yin; Kosior, A.

2017-05-22

Strongly deformed oblate superheavy nuclei form an intriguing region where the toroidal nuclear structures may bifurcate from the oblate spheroidal shape. The bifurcation may be facilitated when the nucleus is endowed with a large angular moment about the symmetry axis withmore » $$I=I_{z}$$. The toroidal high-$K$ isomeric states at their local energy minima can be theoretically predicted using the cranked self-consistent Skyrme-Hartree-Fock method. We use the cranked Skyrme-Hartree-Fock method to predict the properties of the toroidal high-spin isomers in the superheavy nucleus $$^{304}{120}_{184}$$. This method consists of three steps: first, we use the deformation-constrained Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach to search for the nuclear density distributions with toroidal shapes. Next, using these toroidal distributions as starting configurations we apply an additional cranking constraint of a large angular momentum $$I=I_{z}$$ about the symmetry $z$-axis and search for the energy minima of the system as a function of the deformation. In the last step, if a local energy minimum with $$I=I_{z}$$ is found, we perform at this point the cranked symmetry- and deformation-unconstrained Skyrme-Hartree-Fock calculations to locate a stable toroidal high-spin isomeric state in free convergence. Furthemore, we have theoretically located two toroidal high-spin isomeric states of $$^{304}{120}_{184}$$ with an angular momentum $I$=$$I_z$$=81$$\\hbar$$ (proton 2p-2h, neutron 4p-4h excitation) and $I$=$$I_z$$=208$$\\hbar$$ (proton 5p-5h, neutron 8p-8h) at the quadrupole moment deformations $$Q_{20}=-297.7$$~b and $$Q_{20}=-300.8$$~b with energies 79.2 MeV and 101.6 MeV above the spherical ground state, respectively. The nuclear density distributions of the toroidal high-spin isomers $$^{304}{120}_{184}(I_z$$=81$$\\hbar$$ and 208$$\\hbar$$) have the maximum density close to the nuclear matter density, 0.16 fm$$^{-3}$$, and a torus major to minor radius aspect ratio $R/d=3.25$. Here, we demonstrate that aligned angular momenta of $$I_z$$=81$$\\hbar$$ and 208$$\\hbar$$ arising from multi-particle-multi-hole excitations in the toroidal system of $$^{304}{120}_{184}$$ can lead to high-spin isomeric states, even though the toroidal shape of $$^{304}120_{184}$$ without spin is unstable. Toroidal energy minima without spin may be possible for superheavy nuclei with higher atomic numbers, $$Z\\gtrsim$$122, as reported previously [A. Staszczak and C. Y. Wong,Acta Phys. Pol. B 40 , 753 (2008)].« less

Theoretical studies of possible toroidal high-spin isomers in the light-mass region

DOE PAGES

Staszczak, A.; Wong, Cheuk-Yin

2016-05-11

We review our theoretical knowledge of possible toroidal high-spin isomers in the light mass region in 28≤A≤52 obtained previously in cranked Skyrme-Hartree-Fock calculations. We report additional toroidal high-spin isomers in 56Ni with I=114ℏ and 140ℏ, which follow the same (multi-particle) (multi-hole) systematics as other toroidal high-spin isomers. We examine the production of these exotic nuclei by fusion of various projectiles on 20Ne or 28Si as an active target in time-projection-chamber (TPC) experiments.

Axisymmetric magnetic modes of neutron stars having mixed poloidal and toroidal magnetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Umin

2018-05-01

We calculate axisymmetric magnetic modes of a neutron star possessing a mixed poloidal and toroidal magnetic field, where the toroidal field is assumed to be proportional to a dimensionless parameter ζ0. Here, we assume an isentropic structure for the neutron star and consider no effects of rotation. Ignoring the equilibrium deformation due to the magnetic field, we employ a polytrope of the index n = 1 as the background model for our modal analyses. For the mixed poloidal and toroidal magnetic field with ζ _0\

Confinement time exceeding one second for a toroidal electron plasma.

PubMed

Marler, J P; Stoneking, M R

2008-04-18

Nearly steady-state electron plasmas are trapped in a toroidal magnetic field for the first time. We report the first results from a new toroidal electron plasma experiment, the Lawrence Non-neutral Torus II, in which electron densities on the order of 10(7) cm(-3) are trapped in a 270-degree toroidal arc (670 G toroidal magnetic field) by application of trapping potentials to segments of a conducting shell. The total charge inferred from measurements of the frequency of the m=1 diocotron mode is observed to decay on a 3 s time scale, a time scale that approaches the predicted limit due to magnetic pumping transport. Three seconds represents approximately equal to 10(5) periods of the lowest frequency plasma mode, indicating that nearly steady-state conditions are achieved.

Steady state compact toroidal plasma production

DOEpatents

Turner, William C.

1986-01-01

Apparatus and method for maintaining steady state compact toroidal plasmas. A compact toroidal plasma is formed by a magnetized coaxial plasma gun and held in close proximity to the gun electrodes by applied magnetic fields or magnetic fields produced by image currents in conducting walls. Voltage supply means maintains a constant potential across the electrodes producing an increasing magnetic helicity which drives the plasma away from a minimum energy state. The plasma globally relaxes to a new minimum energy state, conserving helicity according to Taylor's relaxation hypothesis, and injecting net helicity into the core of the compact toroidal plasma. Controlling the voltage so as to inject net helicity at a predetermined rate based on dissipative processes maintains or increases the compact toroidal plasma in a time averaged steady state mode.

Toroidal band limiter for a plasma containment device

DOEpatents

Kelley, George G.

1978-01-01

This invention relates to a toroidal plasma confinement device having poloidal and toroidal magnetic fields for confining a toroidal plasma column with a plasma current induced therein along an endless, circular equilibrium axis in a torus vacuum cavity wherein the improvement comprises the use of a toroidal plasma band limiter mounted within the vacuum cavity in such a manner as to ensure that the plasma energy is distributed more uniformly over the limiter surface thereby avoiding intense local heating of the limiter while at the same time substantially preventing damage to the plasma containment wall of the cavity by the energetic particles diffusing out from the confined plasma. A plurality of poloidal plasma ring limiters are also utilized for containment wall protection during any disruptive instability that might occur during operation of the device.

Knock detection system to improve petrol engine performance, using microphone sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sujono, Agus; Santoso, Budi; Juwana, Wibawa Endra

2017-01-01

An increase of power and efficiency of spark ignition engines (petrol engines) are always faced with the problem of knock. Even the characteristics of the engine itself are always determined from the occurrence of knock. Until today, this knocking problem has not been solved completely. Knock is caused by principal factors that are influenced by the engine rotation, the load or opening the throttle and spark advance (ignition timing). In this research, the engine is mounted on the engine test bed (ETB) which is equipped with the necessary sensors. Knock detection using a new method, which is based on pattern recognition, which through the knock sound detection by using a microphone sensor, active filter, the regression of the normalized envelope function, and the calculation of the Euclidean distance is used for identifying knock. This system is implemented with a microcontroller which uses fuzzy logic controller ignition (FLIC), which aims to set proper spark advance, in accordance with operating conditions. This system can improve the engine performance for approximately 15%.

Relation Between Spark-Ignition Engine Knock, Detonation Waves, and Autoignition as Shown by High-Speed Photography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Cearcy D

1946-01-01

A critical review of literature bearing on the autoignition and detonation-wave theories of spark-ignition engine knock and on the nature of gas vibrations associated with combustion and knock results in the conclusion that neither the autoignition theory nor the detonation-wave theory is an adequate explanation of spark-ignition engine knock. A knock theory is proposed, combining the autoignition and detonation-wave theories, which introduces the idea that the detonation wave develops in autoignited or after-burning gases, and ascribes comparatively low-pitched heavy knocks to autoignition but high-pitched pinging knocks to detonation waves with the possibility of combinations of the two types of knocks. Analysis of five shots of knocking combustion, taken with the NACA high-speed motion-picture camera at the rate of 40,000 photographs per second reveals propagation speeds ranging from 3250 to more than 5500 feet per second. The range of propagation speeds from 3250 to more than 5500 feet per second is held to be considered with the proposed combined theory but not with either the simple autoignition theory or the simple detonation-wave theory.

Development and evaluation of an efficient heterologous gene knock-in reporter system in Lactococcus lactis.

PubMed

Lu, Yifei; Yan, Hongxiang; Deng, Jiezhong; Huang, Zhigang; Jin, Xurui; Yu, Yanlan; Hu, Qiwen; Hu, Fuquan; Wang, Jing

2017-09-18

Lactococcus lactis is a food grade probiotics and widely used to express heterologous proteins. Generally, target genes are knocked into the L. lactis genome through double-crossover recombination to express heterologous proteins stably. However, creating marker-less heterologous genes knocked-in clones is laborious. In this study, an efficient heterologous gene knock-in reporter system was developed in L. lactis NZ9000. Our knock-in reporter system consists of a temperature-sensitive plasmid pJW and a recombinant L. lactis strain named NZB. The pJW contains homologous arms, and was constructed to knock-in heterologous genes at a fixed locus of NZ9000 genome. lacZ (β-galactosidase) gene was knocked into the chromosome of NZ9000 as a counter-selective marker through the plasmid pJW to generate NZB. The engineered NZB strain formed blue colonies on X-Gal plate. The desired double-crossover mutants formed white colonies distinctive from the predominantly blue colonies (parental and plasmid-integrated clones) when the embedded lacZ was replaced with the target heterologous genes carried by pJW in NZB. By using the system, the heterologous gene knocked-in clones are screened by colony phenotype change rather than by checking colonies individually. Our new knock-in reporter system provides an efficient method to create heterologous genes knocked-in clones.

Techniques for the measurement of disruption halo currents in the National Spherical Torus Experiment.

PubMed

Gerhardt, S P; Fredrickson, E; Guttadora, L; Kaita, R; Kugel, H; Menard, J; Takahashi, H

2011-10-01

This paper describes techniques for measuring halo currents, and their associated toroidal peaking, in the National Spherical Torus Experiments [M. Ono et al., Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 (2000)]. The measurements are based on three techniques: (1) measurement of the toroidal field created by the poloidal halo current, either with segmented Rogowski coils or discrete toroidal field sensors, (2) the direct measurement of halo currents into specially instrument tiles, and (3) small Rogowski coils placed on the mechanical supports of in-vessel components. For the segmented Rogowski coils and discrete toroidal field detectors, it is shown that the toroidal peaking factor inferred from the data is significantly less than the peaking factor of the underlying halo current distribution, and a simple model is developed to relate the two. For the array of discrete toroidal field detectors and small Rogowski sensors, the compensation steps that are used to isolate the halo current signal are described. The electrical and mechanical design of compact under-tile resistive shunts and mini-Rogowski coils is described. Example data from the various systems are shown.

Air core poloidal magnetic field system for a toroidal plasma producing device

DOEpatents

Marcus, Frederick B.

1978-01-01

A poloidal magnetics system for a plasma producing device of toroidal configuration is provided that reduces both the total volt-seconds requirement and the magnitude of the field change at the toroidal field coils. The system utilizes an air core transformer wound between the toroidal field (TF) coils and the major axis outside the TF coils. Electric current in the primary windings of this transformer is distributed and the magnetic flux returned by air core windings wrapped outside the toroidal field coils. A shield winding that is closely coupled to the plasma carries a current equal and opposite to the plasma current. This winding provides the shielding function and in addition serves in a fashion similar to a driven conducting shell to provide the equilibrium vertical field for the plasma. The shield winding is in series with a power supply and a decoupling coil located outside the TF coil at the primary winding locations. The present invention requires much less energy than the usual air core transformer and is capable of substantially shielding the toroidal field coils from poloidal field flux.

Method and apparatus for the formation of a spheromak plasma

DOEpatents

Jardin, Stephen C.; Yamada, Masaaki; Furth, Harold P.; Okabayashi, Mitcheo

1984-01-01

An inductive method and apparatus for forming detached spheromak plasma using a thin-walled metal toroidal ring, with external current leads and internal poloidal and toroidal field coils located inside a vacuum chamber filled with low density hydrogen gas and an external axial field generating coil. The presence of a current in the poloidal field coils, and an externally generated axial field sets up the initial poloidal field configuration in which the field is strongest toward the major axis of the toroid. The internal toroidal-field-generating coil is then pulsed on, ionizing the gas and inducing poloidal current and toroidal magnetic field into the plasma region in the sleeve exterior to and adjacent to the ring and causing the plasma to expand away from the ring and toward the major axis. Next the current in the poloidal field coils in the ring is reversed. This induces toroidal current into the plasma and causes the poloidal magnetic field lines to reconnect. The reconnection continues until substantially all of the plasma is formed in a separated spheromak configuration held in equilibrium by the initial external field.

A two-dimensional statistical framework connecting thermodynamic profiles with filaments in the scrape off layer and application to experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Militello, F.; Farley, T.; Mukhi, K.; Walkden, N.; Omotani, J. T.

2018-05-01

A statistical framework was introduced in Militello and Omotani [Nucl. Fusion 56, 104004 (2016)] to correlate the dynamics and statistics of L-mode and inter-ELM plasma filaments with the radial profiles of thermodynamic quantities they generate in the Scrape Off Layer. This paper extends the framework to cases in which the filaments are emitted from the separatrix at different toroidal positions and with a finite toroidal velocity. It is found that the toroidal velocity does not affect the profiles, while the toroidal distribution of filament emission renormalises the waiting time between two events. Experimental data collected by visual camera imaging are used to evaluate the statistics of the fluctuations, to inform the choice of the probability distribution functions used in the application of the framework. It is found that the toroidal separation of the filaments is exponentially distributed, thus suggesting the lack of a toroidal modal structure. Finally, using these measurements, the framework is applied to an experimental case and good agreement is found.

Techniques for the measurement of disruption halo currents in the National Spherical Torus Experiment

DOE PAGES

Gerhardt, S. P.; Fredrickson, E.; Guttadora, L.; ...

2011-10-06

This paper describes techniques for measuring halo currents, and their associated toroidal peaking, in the National Spherical Torus Experiments. The measurements are based on three techniques: (i) measurement of the toroidal field created by the poloidal halo current, either with segmented Rogowski coils or discrete toroidal field sensors, (ii) the direct measurement of halo currents into specially instrument tiles, and (iii) small Rogowski coils placed on the mechanical supports of in-vessel components. For the segmented Rogowski coils and discrete toroidal field detectors, it is shown that the toroidal peaking factor inferred from the data is significantly less than the peakingmore » factor of the underlying halo current distribution, and a simple model is developed to relate the two. For the array of discrete toroidal field detectors and small Rogowski sensors, the compensation steps that are used to isolate the halo current signal are described. The electrical and mechanical design of compact under-tile resistive shunts and mini-Rogowski coils is described. Example data from the various systems is shown.« less

Influence of toroidal rotation on resistive tearing modes in tokamaks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, S.; Ma, Z. W., E-mail: zwma@zju.edu.cn

Influence of toroidal equilibrium plasma rotation on m/n = 2/1 resistive tearing modes is studied numerically using a 3D toroidal MHD code (CLT). It is found that the toroidal rotation with or without shear can suppress the tearing instability and the Coriolis effect in the toroidal geometry plays a dominant role on the rotation induced stabilization. For a high viscosity plasma (τ{sub R}/τ{sub V} ≫ 1, where τ{sub R} and τ{sub V} represent resistive and viscous diffusion time, respectively), the effect of the rotation shear combined with the viscosity appears to be stabilizing. For a low viscosity plasmas (τ{sub R}/τ{sub V} ≪ 1), the rotation shearmore » shows a destabilizing effect when the rotation is large.« less

High-frequency electric field measurement using a toroidal antenna

DOEpatents

Lee, Ki Ha

2002-01-01

A simple and compact method and apparatus for detecting high frequency electric fields, particularly in the frequency range of 1 MHz to 100 MHz, uses a compact toroidal antenna. For typical geophysical applications the sensor will be used to detect electric fields for a wide range of spectrum starting from about 1 MHz, in particular in the frequency range between 1 to 100 MHz, to detect small objects in the upper few meters of the ground. Time-varying magnetic fields associated with time-varying electric fields induce an emf (voltage) in a toroidal coil. The electric field at the center of (and perpendicular to the plane of) the toroid is shown to be linearly related to this induced voltage. By measuring the voltage across a toroidal coil one can easily and accurately determine the electric field.

System and method for generating current by selective minority species heating

DOEpatents

Fisch, Nathaniel J.

1983-01-01

A system for the generation of toroidal current in a plasma which is prepared in a toroidal magnetic field. The system utilizes the injection of low-frequency waves into the plasma by means of phased antenna arrays or phased waveguide arrays. The plasma is prepared with a minority ion species of different charge state and different gyrofrequency from the majority ion species. The wave frequency and wave phasing are chosen such that the wave energy is absorbed preferentially by minority species ions traveling in one toroidal direction. The absorption of energy in this manner produces a toroidal electric current even when the injected waves themselves do not have substantial toroidal momentum. This current can be continuously maintained at modest cost in power and may be used to confine the plasma. The system can operate efficiently on fusion grade tokamak plasmas.

Gene cassette knock-in in mammalian cells and zygotes by enhanced MMEJ.

PubMed

Aida, Tomomi; Nakade, Shota; Sakuma, Tetsushi; Izu, Yayoi; Oishi, Ayu; Mochida, Keiji; Ishikubo, Harumi; Usami, Takako; Aizawa, Hidenori; Yamamoto, Takashi; Tanaka, Kohichi

2016-11-28

Although CRISPR/Cas enables one-step gene cassette knock-in, assembling targeting vectors containing long homology arms is a laborious process for high-throughput knock-in. We recently developed the CRISPR/Cas-based precise integration into the target chromosome (PITCh) system for a gene cassette knock-in without long homology arms mediated by microhomology-mediated end-joining. Here, we identified exonuclease 1 (Exo1) as an enhancer for PITCh in human cells. By combining the Exo1 and PITCh-directed donor vectors, we achieved convenient one-step knock-in of gene cassettes and floxed allele both in human cells and mouse zygotes. Our results provide a technical platform for high-throughput knock-in.

Electrostatics of a Family of Conducting Toroids

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lekner, John

2009-01-01

An exact solution is found for the electrostatic potential of a family of conducting charged toroids. The toroids are characterized by two lengths "a" and "b", with "a" greater than or equal to "2b". They are closed, with no hole in the "doughnut". The results are obtained by considering the potential of two equal charges, displaced from the…

A method of estimating the knock rating of hydrocarbon fuel blend

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sanders, Newell D

1943-01-01

The usefulness of the knock ratings of pure hydrocarbon compounds would be increased if some reliable method of calculating the knock ratings of fuel blends was known. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of developing a method of predicting the knock ratings of fuel blends.

A Method of Estimating the Knock Rating of Hydrocarbon Fuel Blends

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sanders, Newell D.

1943-01-01

The usefulness of the knock ratings of pure hydrocarbon compounds would be increased if some reliable method of calculating the knock ratings of fuel blends was known. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of developing a method of predicting the knock ratings of fuel blends.

Porcine Knock-in Fibroblasts Expressing hDAF on α-1,3-Galactosyltransferase (GGTA1) Gene Locus.

PubMed

Kim, Ji Woo; Kim, Hye-Min; Lee, Sang Mi; Kang, Man-Jong

2012-10-01

The Galactose-α1,3-galactose (α1,3Gal) epitope is responsible for hyperacute rejection in pig-to-human xenotransplantation. Human decay-accelerating factor (hDAF) is a cell surface regulatory protein that serves as a complement inhibitor to protect self cells from complement attack. The generation of α1,3-galactosyltransferase (GGTA1) knock-out pigs expressing DAF is a necessary step for their use as organ donors for humans. In this study, we established GGTA1 knock-out cell lines expressing DAF from pig ear fibroblasts for somatic cell nuclear transfer. hDAF expression was detected in hDAF knock-in heterozygous cells, but not in normal pig cells. Expression of the GGTA1 gene was lower in the knock-in heterozygous cell line compared to the normal pig cell. Knock-in heterozygous cells afforded more effective protection against cytotoxicity with human serum than with GGTA1 knock-out heterozygous and control cells. These cell lines may be used in the production of GGTA1 knock-out and DAF expression pigs for xenotransplantation.

Simulation research on the effect of cooled EGR, supercharging and compression ratio on downsized SI engine knock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shu, Gequn; Pan, Jiaying; Wei, Haiqiao; Shi, Ning

2013-03-01

Knock in spark-ignition(SI) engines severely limits engine performance and thermal efficiency. The researches on knock of downsized SI engine have mainly focused on structural design, performance optimization and advanced combustion modes, however there is little for simulation study on the effect of cooled exhaust gas recirculation(EGR) combined with downsizing technologies on SI engine performance. On the basis of mean pressure and oscillating pressure during combustion process, the effect of different levels of cooled EGR ratio, supercharging and compression ratio on engine dynamic and knock characteristic is researched with three-dimensional KIVA-3V program coupled with pressure wave equation. The cylinder pressure, combustion temperature, ignition delay timing, combustion duration, maximum mean pressure, and maximum oscillating pressure at different initial conditions are discussed and analyzed to investigate potential approaches to inhibiting engine knock while improving power output. The calculation results of the effect of just cooled EGR on knock characteristic show that appropriate levels of cooled EGR ratio can effectively suppress cylinder high-frequency pressure oscillations without obvious decrease in mean pressure. Analysis of the synergistic effect of cooled EGR, supercharging and compression ratio on knock characteristic indicates that under the condition of high supercharging and compression ratio, several times more cooled EGR ratio than that under the original condition is necessarily utilized to suppress knock occurrence effectively. The proposed method of synergistic effect of cooled EGR and downsizing technologies on knock characteristic, analyzed from the aspects of mean pressure and oscillating pressure, is an effective way to study downsized SI engine knock and provides knock inhibition approaches in practical engineering.

Extreme sensitive metasensor for targeted biomarkers identification using colloidal nanoparticles-integrated plasmonic unit cells

PubMed Central

Ahmadivand, Arash; Gerislioglu, Burak; Tomitaka, Asahi; Manickam, Pandiaraj; Kaushik, Ajeet; Bhansali, Shekhar; Nair, Madhavan; Pala, Nezih

2018-01-01

Engineered terahertz (THz) plasmonic metamaterials have emerged as promising platforms for quick infection diagnosis, cost-effective and real-time pharmacology applications owing to their non-destructive and harmless interaction with biological tissues in both in vivo and in vitro assays. As a recent member of THz metamaterials family, toroidal metamaterials have been demonstrated to be supporting high-quality sharp resonance modes. Here we introduce a THz metasensor based on a plasmonic surface consisting of metamolecules that support ultra-narrow toroidal resonances excited by the incident radiation and demonstrate detection of an ultralow concertation targeted biomarker. The toroidal plasmonic metasurface was designed and optimized through extensive numerical studies and fabricated by standard microfabrication techniques. The surface then functionalized by immobilizing the antibody for virus-envelope proteins (ZIKV-EPs) for selective sensing. We sensed and quantified the ZIKV-EP in the assays by measuring the spectral shifts of the toroidal resonances while varying the concentration. In an improved protocol, we introduced gold nanoparticles (GNPs) decorated with the same antibodies onto the metamolecules and monitored the resonance shifts for the same concentrations. Our studies verified that the presence of GNPs enhances capturing of biomarker molecules in the surrounding medium of the metamaterial. By measuring the shift of the toroidal dipolar momentum (up to Δω~0.35 cm−1) for different concentrations of the biomarker proteins, we analyzed the sensitivity, repeatability, and limit of detection (LoD) of the proposed toroidal THz metasensor. The results show that up to 100-fold sensitivity enhancement can be obtained by utilizing plasmonic nanoparticles-integrated toroidal metamolecules in comparison to analogous devices. This approach allows for detection of low molecular-weight biomolecules (≈13 kDa) in diluted solutions using toroidal THz plasmonic unit cells. PMID:29552379

Extreme sensitive metasensor for targeted biomarkers identification using colloidal nanoparticles-integrated plasmonic unit cells.

PubMed

Ahmadivand, Arash; Gerislioglu, Burak; Tomitaka, Asahi; Manickam, Pandiaraj; Kaushik, Ajeet; Bhansali, Shekhar; Nair, Madhavan; Pala, Nezih

2018-02-01

Engineered terahertz (THz) plasmonic metamaterials have emerged as promising platforms for quick infection diagnosis, cost-effective and real-time pharmacology applications owing to their non-destructive and harmless interaction with biological tissues in both in vivo and in vitro assays. As a recent member of THz metamaterials family, toroidal metamaterials have been demonstrated to be supporting high-quality sharp resonance modes. Here we introduce a THz metasensor based on a plasmonic surface consisting of metamolecules that support ultra-narrow toroidal resonances excited by the incident radiation and demonstrate detection of an ultralow concertation targeted biomarker. The toroidal plasmonic metasurface was designed and optimized through extensive numerical studies and fabricated by standard microfabrication techniques. The surface then functionalized by immobilizing the antibody for virus-envelope proteins (ZIKV-EPs) for selective sensing. We sensed and quantified the ZIKV-EP in the assays by measuring the spectral shifts of the toroidal resonances while varying the concentration. In an improved protocol, we introduced gold nanoparticles (GNPs) decorated with the same antibodies onto the metamolecules and monitored the resonance shifts for the same concentrations. Our studies verified that the presence of GNPs enhances capturing of biomarker molecules in the surrounding medium of the metamaterial. By measuring the shift of the toroidal dipolar momentum (up to Δ ω ~0.35 cm -1 ) for different concentrations of the biomarker proteins, we analyzed the sensitivity, repeatability, and limit of detection (LoD) of the proposed toroidal THz metasensor. The results show that up to 100-fold sensitivity enhancement can be obtained by utilizing plasmonic nanoparticles-integrated toroidal metamolecules in comparison to analogous devices. This approach allows for detection of low molecular-weight biomolecules (≈13 kDa) in diluted solutions using toroidal THz plasmonic unit cells.

Influence of Compression Ratio on High Load Performance and Knock Behavior for Gasoline Port-Fuel Injection, Natural Gas Direct Injection and Blended Operation in a Spark Ignition Engine

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pamminger, Michael; Sevik, James; Scarcelli, Riccardo

Natural Gas (NG) is an alternative fuel which has attracted a lot of attention recently, in particular in the US due to shale gas availability. The higher hydrogen-to-carbon (H/C) ratio, compared to gasoline, allows for decreasing carbon dioxide emissions throughout the entire engine map. Furthermore, the high knock resistance of NG allows increasing the efficiency at high engine loads compared to fuels with lower knock resistance. NG direct injection (DI) allows for fuel to be added after intake valve closing (IVC) resulting in an increase in power density compared to an injection before IVC. Steady-state engine tests were performed onmore » a single-cylinder research engine equipped with gasoline (E10) port-fuel injection (PFI) and NG DI to allow for in-cylinder blending of both fuels. Knock investigations were performed at two discrete compression ratios (CR), 10.5 and 12.5. Operating conditions span mid-load, wide-open-throttle and boosted conditions, depending on the knock response of the fuel blend. Blended operation was performed using E10 gasoline and NG. An additional gasoline type fuel (E85) with higher knock resistance than E10 was used as a high-octane reference fuel, since the octane rating of E10-NG fuel blends is unknown. Spark timing was varied at different loads under stoichiometric conditions in order to study the knock response as well as the effects on performance and efficiency. As anticipated, results suggest that the knock resistance can be increased significantly by increasing the NG amount. Comparing the engine operation with the least knock resistant fuel, E10 PFI, and the fuel blend with the highest knock resistance, 75% NG DI, shows an increase in indicated mean effective pressure of about 9 bar at CR 12.5. The usage of reference fuels with known knock characteristics allowed an assessment of knock characteristic of intermediate E10-NG blend levels. Mathematical correlations were developed allowing characterizing the occurrence of knocking combustion by using the Livengood-Wu knock integral. For most of the fueling strategies and operating conditions, the mathematical correlations show good agreement when compared to experimental data.« less

Modeling of toroidal torques exerted by internal kink instability in a tokamak plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, N.; Liu, Y. Q.; Yu, D. L.; Wang, S.; Xia, G. L.; Dong, G. Q.; Bai, X.

2017-08-01

Toroidal modeling efforts are initiated to systematically compute and compare various toroidal torques, exerted by an unstable internal kink in a tokamak plasma, using the MARS-F/K/Q suite of codes. The torques considered here include the resonant electromagnetic torque due to the Maxwell stress (the EM or JXB torque), the neoclassical toroidal viscous (NTV) torque, and the torque associated with the Reynolds stress. Numerical results show that the relative magnitude of the net resonant electromagnetic and the Reynolds stress torques increases with the equilibrium flow speed of the plasma, whilst the net NTV torque follows the opposite trend. The global flow shear sensitively affects the Reynolds stress torque, but not the electromagnetic and the NTV torques. Detailed examinations reveal dominant contributions to the Maxwell and Reynolds stress torques, in terms of the poloidal harmonic numbers of various perturbation fields, as well as their relative toroidal phasing.

Tokamak reactor for treating fertile material or waste nuclear by-products

DOEpatents

Kotschenreuther, Michael T.; Mahajan, Swadesh M.; Valanju, Prashant M.

2012-10-02

Disclosed is a tokamak reactor. The reactor includes a first toroidal chamber, current carrying conductors, at least one divertor plate within the first toroidal chamber and a second chamber adjacent to the first toroidal chamber surrounded by a section that insulates the reactor from neutrons. The current carrying conductors are configured to confine a core plasma within enclosed walls of the first toroidal chamber such that the core plasma has an elongation of 1.5 to 4 and produce within the first toroidal chamber at least one stagnation point at a perpendicular distance from an equatorial plane through the core plasma that is greater than the plasma minor radius. The at least one divertor plate and current carrying conductors are configured relative to one another such that the current carrying conductors expand the open magnetic field lines at the divertor plate.

Design and manufacture of a D-shape coil-based toroid-type HTS DC reactor using 2nd generation HTS wire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Kwangmin; Go, Byeong-Soo; Sung, Hae-Jin; Park, Hea-chul; Kim, Seokho; Lee, Sangjin; Jin, Yoon-Su; Oh, Yunsang; Park, Minwon; Yu, In-Keun

2014-09-01

This paper describes the design specifications and performance of a real toroid-type high temperature superconducting (HTS) DC reactor. The HTS DC reactor was designed using 2G HTS wires. The HTS coils of the toroid-type DC reactor magnet were made in the form of a D-shape. The target inductance of the HTS DC reactor was 400 mH. The expected operating temperature was under 20 K. The electromagnetic performance of the toroid-type HTS DC reactor magnet was analyzed using the finite element method program. A conduction cooling method was adopted for reactor magnet cooling. Performances of the toroid-type HTS DC reactor were analyzed through experiments conducted under the steady-state and charge conditions. The fundamental design specifications and the data obtained from this research will be applied to the design of a commercial-type HTS DC reactor.

Toroidal Localized Spoof Plasmons on Compact Metadisks.

PubMed

Qin, Pengfei; Yang, Yihao; Musa, Muhyiddeen Yahya; Zheng, Bin; Wang, Zuojia; Hao, Ran; Yin, Wenyan; Chen, Hongsheng; Li, Erping

2018-03-01

Localized spoof surface plasmons (LSSPs) have recently emerged as a new research frontier due to their unique properties and increasing applications. Despite the importance, most of the current researches only focus on electric/magnetic LSSPs. Very recent research has revealed that toroidal LSSPs, LSSPs modes with multipole toroidal moments, can be achieved at a point defect in a 2D groove metal array. However, this metamaterial shows the limitations of large volume and poor compatibility to photonic integrated circuits. To overcome the above challenges, here it is proposed and experimentally demonstrated compact planar metadisks based on split ring resonators to support the toroidal LSSPs at microwave frequencies. Additionally, it is experimentally demonstrated that the toroidal LSSPs resonance is very sensitive to the structure changes and the background medium. These might facilitate its utilization in the design and application of plasmonic deformation sensors and the refractive index sensors.

Downregulated expression of the cyclase-associated protein 1 (CAP1) reduces migration in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

PubMed

Li, Mei; Yang, Xiaojing; Shi, Hui; Ren, Hanru; Chen, Xueyu; Zhang, Shu; Zhu, Junya; Zhang, Jianguo

2013-09-01

Overexpression of cyclase-associated proteins has been associated with poor prognosis in several human cancers. Cyclase-associated protein 1 is a member of the cyclase-associated proteins which contributes to tumor progression. The aim of the present study was to examine the expression of cyclase-associated protein 1 and to elucidate its clinicopathologic significance in a larger series of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Immunohistochemical and western blot analyses were performed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues. Survival analyses were performed by using the Kaplan-Meier method. The role of cyclase-associated protein 1 in migration was studied in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell lines of TE1 through knocking down cyclase-associated protein 1 with siRNA and overexpression of cyclase-associated protein 1. The regulation of cyclase-associated protein 1 on migration was determined by transwell and wound-healing assays. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that cyclase-associated protein 1 expression was negatively associated with E-cadherin and significantly associated with lymph node metastases. Survival analysis revealed that cyclase-associated protein 1 overexpression was significantly associated with overall survival (P = 0.011). Knock down of cyclase-associated protein 1 in TE1 cells resulted in decreased vimentin and F-actin levels and the capability for migration. In addition, overexpression of cyclase-associated protein 1 promoted the migration of TE1 cells. These findings suggest that cyclase-associated protein 1 is involved in the metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and that elevated levels of cyclase-associated protein 1 expression may indicate a poor prognosis for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Effects of magnetic islands on drift wave instability

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jiang, P., E-mail: jiangp@pku.edu.cn; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, California 92697; Lin, Z., E-mail: zhihongl@uci.edu

2014-12-15

Magnetic islands have been implemented in the gyrokinetic toroidal code to study the effects of the islands on microturbulence. The pressure profile flattening is verified in the simulation with the islands. Simulations of ion temperature gradient instability find that different toroidal modes are linearly coupled together and that toroidal spectra become broader when the island width increases. The real frequencies and growth rates of different toroidal modes approach each other with the averaged value independent of the island width. The linear mode structures are enhanced at the island separatrices and weakened at the island centers, consistent with the flattening ofmore » the pressure profile inside the islands.« less

Single-molecule toroics in Ising-type lanthanide molecular clusters.

PubMed

Ungur, Liviu; Lin, Shuang-Yan; Tang, Jinkui; Chibotaru, Liviu F

2014-01-01

Single-molecule toroics (SMTs) are defined, by analogy with single-molecule magnets, as bistable molecules with a toroidal magnetic state, and seem to be most promising for future applications in quantum computing and information storage and use as multiferroic materials with magnetoelectric effect. As an interdisciplinary research area that spans chemistry, physics and material sciences, synthetic chemists have produced systems suitable for detailed study by physicists and materials scientists, while ab initio calculations have been playing a major role in the detection of toroidal magnetization and the advancement of this field. In this tutorial review, we demonstrate the research developed in the fascinating and challenging field of molecular-based SMTs with particular focus on how recent studies tend to address the issue of toroidal arrangement of the magnetic moment in these systems. Herein, nine typical SMTs are summarized, showing that the assembly of wheel-shaped complexes with the high symmetry of the molecule unit and strong intra-molecular dipolar interactions using strong anisotropy metal ions represents the most promising route toward the design of a toroidal moment. Furthermore, the linkage of such robust toroidal moment units with ferromagnetic type through appropriate bridging ligands enhances the toroidal magnetic moment per unit cell.

Development of toroid-type HTS DC reactor series for HVDC system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Kwangmin; Go, Byeong-Soo; Park, Hea-chul; Kim, Sung-kyu; Kim, Seokho; Lee, Sangjin; Oh, Yunsang; Park, Minwon; Yu, In-Keun

2015-11-01

This paper describes design specifications and performance of a toroid-type high-temperature superconducting (HTS) DC reactor. The first phase operation targets of the HTS DC reactor were 400 mH and 400 A. The authors have developed a real HTS DC reactor system during the last three years. The HTS DC reactor was designed using 2G GdBCO HTS wires. The HTS coils of the toroid-type DC reactor magnet were made in the form of a D-shape. The electromagnetic performance of the toroid-type HTS DC reactor magnet was analyzed using the finite element method program. A conduction cooling method was adopted for reactor magnet cooling. The total system has been successfully developed and tested in connection with LCC type HVDC system. Now, the authors are studying a 400 mH, kA class toroid-type HTS DC reactor for the next phase research. The 1500 A class DC reactor system was designed using layered 13 mm GdBCO 2G HTS wire. The expected operating temperature is under 30 K. These fundamental data obtained through both works will usefully be applied to design a real toroid-type HTS DC reactor for grid application.

Plasma Density Effects on Toroidal Flow Stabilization of Edge Localized Modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Shikui; Zhu, Ping; Banerjee, Debabrata

2016-10-01

Recent EAST experiments have demonstrated mitigation and suppression of edge localized modes (ELMs) with toroidal rotation flow in higher collisionality regime, suggesting potential roles of plasma density. In this work, the effects of plasma density on the toroidal flow stabilization of the high- n edge localized modes have been extensively studied in linear calculations for a circular-shaped limiter H-mode tokamak, using the initial-value extended MHD code NIMROD. In the single MHD model, toroidal flow has a weak stabilizing effects on the high- n modes. Such a stabilization, however, can be significantly enhanced with the increase in plasma density. Furthermore, our calculations show that the enhanced stabilization of high- n modes from toroidal flow with higher edge plasma density persists in the 2-fluid MHD model. These findings may explain the ELM mitigation and suppression by toroidal rotation in higher collisionality regime due to the enhancement of plasma density obtained in EAST experiment. Supported by the National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Program of China under Grant Nos. 2014GB124002 and 2015GB101004, the 100 Talent Program and the President International Fellowship Initiative of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Drift Wave Simulation in Toroidal Geometry.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lebrun, Maurice Joseph, III

1988-12-01

The drift wave, a general category of plasma behavior arising from a plasma inhomogeneity, is studied using the particle simulation method. In slab geometry, the drift wave (or universal mode) is stabilized by any finite amount of magnetic shear. In toroidal geometry, however, the coupling of the poloidal harmonics gives rise to a new branch of drift wave eigenmodes called the toroidicity -induced mode, which is predicted to be unstable in some regimes. The drift wave in a toroidal system is intrinsically three-dimensional, and is sensitive to the handling of the parallel electron dynamics, the (nearly) perpendicular wave dynamics, and the radial variation of magnetic field vector (shear). A simulation study must therefore be kinetic in nature, motivating the extension of particle simulation techniques to complex geometries. From this effort a three dimensional particle code in a toroidal coordinate system has been developed and applied to the toroidal drift wave problem. The code uses an (r,theta,phi) -type coordinate system, and a nonuniform radial grid that increases resolution near the mode-rational surfaces. Full ion dynamics and electron guiding center dynamics are employed. Further, the algorithm incorporates a straightforward limiting process to cylindrical geometry and slab geometry, enabling comparison to the theoretical results in these regimes. Simulations of the density-driven modes in toroidal geometry retain a single toroidal mode number (n = 9). In this regime, the poloidal harmonics are expected to be strongly coupled, giving rise to the marginally unstable toroidicity-induced drift mode. Analysis of the simulation data reveals a strong, low-frequency response that peaks near each mode rational surface. Further, the characteristic oscillation frequencies persist from one mode rational surface to the next, which identifies them as multiple harmonics of the toroidicity-induced mode. The lowest harmonic occurs at a frequency of omega/ omega^{*} ~ 0.26, which is reasonably close to the prediction of linear theory. Interferogram analysis of these modes indicates a "ballooning" structure toward the outside of the torus. The amplitude of the potential is observed to grow exponentially for the m = 8 through m = 10 poloidal mode numbers, with a growth rate of approximately gamma/omega ^{*} ~ 0.075. Saturation occurs at time t ~ 1000 Omega_sp{i}{-1}, and may be caused by quasilinear flattening of the density profile.

Optimized knock-in of point mutations in zebrafish using CRISPR/Cas9.

PubMed

Prykhozhij, Sergey V; Fuller, Charlotte; Steele, Shelby L; Veinotte, Chansey J; Razaghi, Babak; Robitaille, Johane M; McMaster, Christopher R; Shlien, Adam; Malkin, David; Berman, Jason N

2018-06-14

We have optimized point mutation knock-ins into zebrafish genomic sites using clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 reagents and single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides. The efficiency of knock-ins was assessed by a novel application of allele-specific polymerase chain reaction and confirmed by high-throughput sequencing. Anti-sense asymmetric oligo design was found to be the most successful optimization strategy. However, cut site proximity to the mutation and phosphorothioate oligo modifications also greatly improved knock-in efficiency. A previously unrecognized risk of off-target trans knock-ins was identified that we obviated through the development of a workflow for correct knock-in detection. Together these strategies greatly facilitate the study of human genetic diseases in zebrafish, with additional applicability to enhance CRISPR-based approaches in other animal model systems.

A Photographic Study of Combustion and Knock in a Spark-Ignition Engine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rothrock, A M; Spencer, R C

1938-01-01

Report presents the results of a photographic study of the combustion in a spark-ignition engine using both Schlieren and flame photographs taken at high rates of speed. Although shock waves are present after knock occurs, there was no evidence of any type of sonic or supersonic compression waves existing in the combustion gases prior to the occurrence of knock. Artificially induced shock waves in the engine did not in themselves cause knock. The photographs also indicate that, although auto-ignition ahead of the flame front may occur in conjunction with knock, it is not necessary for the occurrence of knock. There is also evidence that the reaction is not completed in the flame front but continues for some time after the flame front has passed through the charge.

Grinding Inside A Toroidal Cavity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mayer, Walter; Adams, James F.; Burley, Richard K.

1987-01-01

Weld lines ground smooth within about 0.001 in. Grinding tool for smoothing longitudinal weld lines inside toroidal cavity includes curved tunnel jig to guide grinding "mouse" along weld line. Curvature of tunnel jig matched to shape of toroid so grinding ball in mouse follows circular arc of correct radius as mouse is pushed along tunnel. Tool enables precise control of grindout shape, yet easy to use.

TOROID II

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

three axis fluxgate magnetometer , CMOS sun and star sensors, and a Kalman filter. The work and tasks that have been accomplished on the TOROID... magnetometer . The problem was found to be a missing ferrite bead which connects the 12V power supply to the op-amps which are used to appropriately...establish an overall operational timeline for TOROID. Testing and calibration was performed on the three-axis magnetometer which is primary attitude

Method and apparatus for the formation of a spheromak plasma

DOEpatents

Yamada, Masaaki; Furth, Harold P.; Stix, Thomas H.; Todd, Alan M. M.

1982-01-01

A method and apparatus for forming a detached, compact toroidally shaped spheromak plasma by an inductive mechanism. A generally spheroidal vacuum vessel (1) houses a toroidally shaped flux ring or core (2) which contains poloidal and toroidal field generating coils. A plasma discharge occurs with the pulsing of the toroidal field coil, and the plasma is caused to expand away from the core (2) and toward the center of the vacuum vessel (1). When the plasma is in an expanded state, a portion of it is pinched off in order to form a separate, detached spheromak plasma configuration. The detached plasma is supported by a magnetic field generated by externally arranged equilibrium field coils (5).

NMR apparatus for in situ analysis of fuel cells

DOEpatents

Gerald, II, Rex E; Rathke, Jerome W

2012-11-13

The subject apparatus is a fuel cell toroid cavity detector for in situ analysis of samples through the use of nuclear magnetic resonance. The toroid cavity detector comprises a gas-tight housing forming a toroid cavity where the housing is exposed to an externally applied magnetic field B.sub.0 and contains fuel cell component samples to be analyzed. An NMR spectrometer is electrically coupled and applies a radiofrequency excitation signal pulse to the detector to produce a radiofrequency magnetic field B.sub.1 in the samples and in the toroid cavity. Embedded coils modulate the static external magnetic field to provide a means for spatial selection of the recorded NMR signals.

Establishment of expanded and streamlined pipeline of PITCh knock-in – a web-based design tool for MMEJ-mediated gene knock-in, PITCh designer, and the variations of PITCh, PITCh-TG and PITCh-KIKO

PubMed Central

Nakamae, Kazuki; Nishimura, Yuki; Takenaga, Mitsumasa; Sakamoto, Naoaki; Ide, Hiroshi; Sakuma, Tetsushi; Yamamoto, Takashi

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT The emerging genome editing technology has enabled the creation of gene knock-in cells easily, efficiently, and rapidly, which has dramatically accelerated research in the field of mammalian functional genomics, including in humans. We recently developed a microhomology-mediated end-joining-based gene knock-in method, termed the PITCh system, and presented various examples of its application. Since the PITCh system only requires very short microhomologies (up to 40 bp) and single-guide RNA target sites on the donor vector, the targeting construct can be rapidly prepared compared with the conventional targeting vector for homologous recombination-based knock-in. Here, we established a streamlined pipeline to design and perform PITCh knock-in to further expand the availability of this method by creating web-based design software, PITCh designer (http://www.mls.sci.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/smg/PITChdesigner/index.html), as well as presenting an experimental example of versatile gene cassette knock-in. PITCh designer can automatically design not only the appropriate microhomologies but also the primers to construct locus-specific donor vectors for PITCh knock-in. By using our newly established pipeline, a reporter cell line for monitoring endogenous gene expression, and transgenesis (TG) or knock-in/knockout (KIKO) cell line can be produced systematically. Using these new variations of PITCh, an exogenous promoter-driven gene cassette expressing fluorescent protein gene and drug resistance gene can be integrated into a safe harbor or a specific gene locus to create transgenic reporter cells (PITCh-TG) or knockout cells with reporter knock-in (PITCh-KIKO), respectively. PMID:28453368

Establishment of expanded and streamlined pipeline of PITCh knock-in - a web-based design tool for MMEJ-mediated gene knock-in, PITCh designer, and the variations of PITCh, PITCh-TG and PITCh-KIKO.

PubMed

Nakamae, Kazuki; Nishimura, Yuki; Takenaga, Mitsumasa; Nakade, Shota; Sakamoto, Naoaki; Ide, Hiroshi; Sakuma, Tetsushi; Yamamoto, Takashi

2017-05-04

The emerging genome editing technology has enabled the creation of gene knock-in cells easily, efficiently, and rapidly, which has dramatically accelerated research in the field of mammalian functional genomics, including in humans. We recently developed a microhomology-mediated end-joining-based gene knock-in method, termed the PITCh system, and presented various examples of its application. Since the PITCh system only requires very short microhomologies (up to 40 bp) and single-guide RNA target sites on the donor vector, the targeting construct can be rapidly prepared compared with the conventional targeting vector for homologous recombination-based knock-in. Here, we established a streamlined pipeline to design and perform PITCh knock-in to further expand the availability of this method by creating web-based design software, PITCh designer ( http://www.mls.sci.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/smg/PITChdesigner/index.html ), as well as presenting an experimental example of versatile gene cassette knock-in. PITCh designer can automatically design not only the appropriate microhomologies but also the primers to construct locus-specific donor vectors for PITCh knock-in. By using our newly established pipeline, a reporter cell line for monitoring endogenous gene expression, and transgenesis (TG) or knock-in/knockout (KIKO) cell line can be produced systematically. Using these new variations of PITCh, an exogenous promoter-driven gene cassette expressing fluorescent protein gene and drug resistance gene can be integrated into a safe harbor or a specific gene locus to create transgenic reporter cells (PITCh-TG) or knockout cells with reporter knock-in (PITCh-KIKO), respectively.

RACK1-mediated translation control promotes liver fibrogenesis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Min; Peng, Peike; Wang, Jiajun

Activation of quiescent hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is the central event of liver fibrosis. The translational machinery is an optimized molecular network that affects cellular homoeostasis and diseases, whereas the role of protein translation in HSCs activation and liver fibrosis is little defined. Our previous report suggests that up-regulation of receptor for activated C-kinase 1(RACK1) in HSCs is critical for liver fibrogenesis. In this study, we found that RACK1 promoted macrophage conditioned medium (MCM)-induced assembly of eIF4F and phosphorylation of eIF4E in primary HSCs. RACK1 enhanced the translation and expression of pro-fibrogenic factors collagen 1α1, snail and cyclin E1 inducedmore » by MCM. Administration of PP242 or knock-down of eIF4E suppressed RACK1-stimulated collagen 1α1 production, proliferation and migration in primary HSCs. In addition, depletion of eIF4E attenuated thioacetamide (TAA)-induced liver fibrosis in vivo. Our data suggest that RACK1-mediated stimulation of cap-dependent translation plays crucial roles in HSCs activation and liver fibrogenesis, and targeting translation initiation could be a promising strategy for the treatment of liver fibrosis. - Highlights: • RACK1 induces the assembly of eIF4F and phosphorylation of eIF4E in primary HSCs. • RACK1 stimulates the translation of collagen 1α1, snail and cyclin E1 in HSCs. • RACK1 promotes HSCs activation via cap-mediated translation. • Depletion of eIF4E suppresses liver fibrogenesis in vivo.« less

Toroidal resonance based optical modulator employing hybrid graphene-dielectric metasurface.

PubMed

Liu, Gui-Dong; Zhai, Xiang; Xia, Sheng-Xuan; Lin, Qi; Zhao, Chu-Jun; Wang, Ling-Ling

2017-10-16

In this paper, we demonstrate the combination of a dielectric metasurface with a graphene layer to realize a high performance toroidal resonance based optical modulator. The dielectric metasurface consists of two mirrored asymmetric silicon split-ring resonators (ASSRRs) that can support strong toroidal dipolar resonance with narrow line width (~0.77 nm) and high quality (Q)-factor (~1702) and contrast ratio (~100%). Numerical simulation results show that the transmission amplitude of the toroidal dipolar resonance can be efficiently modulated by varying the Fermi energy EF when the graphene layer is integrated with the dielectric metasurface, and a max transmission coefficient difference up to 78% is achieved indicating that the proposed hybrid graphene/dielectric metasurface shows good performance as an optical modulator. The effects of the asymmetry degree of the ASSRRs on the toroidal dipolar resonance are studied and the efficiency of the transmission amplitude modulation of graphene is also investigated. Our results may also provide potential applications in optical filter and bio-chemical sensing.

Turbulence induced radial transport of toroidal momentum in boundary plasma of EAST tokamak

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhao, N.; Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031; Yan, N., E-mail: yanning@ipp.ac.cn

Turbulence induced toroidal momentum transport in boundary plasma is investigated in H-mode discharge using Langmuir-Mach probes on EAST. The Reynolds stress is found to drive an inward toroidal momentum transport, while the outflow of particles convects the toroidal momentum outwards in the edge plasma. The Reynolds stress driven momentum transport dominates over the passive momentum transport carried by particle flux, which potentially provides a momentum source for the edge plasma. The outflow of particles delivers a momentum flux into the scrape-off layer (SOL) region, contributing as a momentum source for the SOL flows. At the L-H transitions, the outward momentummore » transport suddenly decreases due to the suppression of edge turbulence and associated particle transport. The SOL flows start to decelerate as plasma entering into H-mode. The contributions from turbulent Reynolds stress and particle transport for the toroidal momentum transport are identified. These results shed lights on the understanding of edge plasma accelerating at L-H transitions.« less

Ferrotoroidic ground state in a heterometallic {CrIIIDyIII6} complex displaying slow magnetic relaxation.

PubMed

Vignesh, Kuduva R; Soncini, Alessandro; Langley, Stuart K; Wernsdorfer, Wolfgang; Murray, Keith S; Rajaraman, Gopalan

2017-10-18

Toroidal quantum states are most promising for building quantum computing and information storage devices, as they are insensitive to homogeneous magnetic fields, but interact with charge and spin currents, allowing this moment to be manipulated purely by electrical means. Coupling molecular toroids into larger toroidal moments via ferrotoroidic interactions can be pivotal not only to enhance ground state toroidicity, but also to develop materials displaying ferrotoroidic ordered phases, which sustain linear magneto-electric coupling and multiferroic behavior. However, engineering ferrotoroidic coupling is known to be a challenging task. Here we have isolated a {Cr III Dy III 6 } complex that exhibits the much sought-after ferrotoroidic ground state with an enhanced toroidal moment, solely arising from intramolecular dipolar interactions. Moreover, a theoretical analysis of the observed sub-Kelvin zero-field hysteretic spin dynamics of {Cr III Dy III 6 } reveals the pivotal role played by ferrotoroidic states in slowing down the magnetic relaxation, in spite of large calculated single-ion quantum tunneling rates.

Influence of toroidal rotation on tearing modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Huishan; Cao, Jintao; Li, Ding

2017-10-01

Tearing modes stability analysis including toroidal rotation is studied. It is found that rotation affects the stability of tearing modes mainly through the interaction with resistive inner region of tearing mode. The coupling of magnetic curvature with centrifugal force and Coriolis force provides a perturbed perpendicular current, and a return parallel current is induced to affect the stability of tearing modes. Toroidal rotation plays a stable role, which depends on the magnitude of Mach number and adiabatic index Γ, and is independent on the direction of toroidal rotation. For Γ >1, the scaling of growth rate is changed for typical Mach number in present tokamaks. For Γ = 1 , the scaling keeps unchanged, and the effect of toroidal rotation is much less significant, compared with that for Γ >1. National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Science Program and National Science Foundation of China under Grants No. 2014GB106004, No. 2013GB111000, No. 11375189, No. 11075161 and No. 11275260, and Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS.

Apparatus and method for extracting power from energetic ions produced in nuclear fusion

DOEpatents

Fisch, N.J.; Rax, J.M.

1994-12-20

An apparatus and method of extracting power from energetic ions produced by nuclear fusion in a toroidal plasma to enhance respectively the toroidal plasma current and fusion reactivity. By injecting waves of predetermined frequency and phase traveling substantially in a selected poloidal direction within the plasma, the energetic ions become diffused in energy and space such that the energetic ions lose energy and amplify the waves. The amplified waves are further adapted to travel substantially in a selected toroidal direction to increase preferentially the energy of electrons traveling in one toroidal direction which, in turn, enhances or generates a toroidal plasma current. In an further adaptation, the amplified waves can be made to preferentially increase the energy of fuel ions within the plasma to enhance the fusion reactivity of the fuel ions. The described direct, or in situ, conversion of the energetic ion energy provides an efficient and economical means of delivering power to a fusion reactor. 4 figures.

Eigenvalue problems for Beltrami fields arising in a three-dimensional toroidal magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium problem

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hudson, S. R.; Hole, M. J.; Dewar, R. L.

2007-05-15

A generalized energy principle for finite-pressure, toroidal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibria in general three-dimensional configurations is proposed. The full set of ideal-MHD constraints is applied only on a discrete set of toroidal magnetic surfaces (invariant tori), which act as barriers against leakage of magnetic flux, helicity, and pressure through chaotic field-line transport. It is argued that a necessary condition for such invariant tori to exist is that they have fixed, irrational rotational transforms. In the toroidal domains bounded by these surfaces, full Taylor relaxation is assumed, thus leading to Beltrami fields {nabla}xB={lambda}B, where {lambda} is constant within each domain. Two distinctmore » eigenvalue problems for {lambda} arise in this formulation, depending on whether fluxes and helicity are fixed, or boundary rotational transforms. These are studied in cylindrical geometry and in a three-dimensional toroidal region of annular cross section. In the latter case, an application of a residue criterion is used to determine the threshold for connected chaos.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Albert, Christopher G.; Heyn, Martin F.; Kapper, Gernot

Toroidal torque generated by neoclassical viscosity caused by external non-resonant, non-axisymmetric perturbations has a significant influence on toroidal plasma rotation in tokamaks. In this article, a derivation for the expressions of toroidal torque and radial transport in resonant regimes is provided within quasilinear theory in canonical action-angle variables. The proposed approach treats all low-collisional quasilinear resonant neoclassical toroidal viscosity regimes including superbanana-plateau and drift-orbit resonances in a unified way and allows for magnetic drift in all regimes. It is valid for perturbations on toroidally symmetric flux surfaces of the unperturbed equilibrium without specific assumptions on geometry or aspect ratio. Themore » resulting expressions are shown to match the existing analytical results in the large aspect ratio limit. Numerical results from the newly developed code NEO-RT are compared to calculations by the quasilinear version of the code NEO-2 at low collisionalities. The importance of the magnetic shear term in the magnetic drift frequency and a significant effect of the magnetic drift on drift-orbit resonances are demonstrated.« less

Apparatus and method for extracting power from energetic ions produced in nuclear fusion

DOEpatents

Fisch, Nathaniel J.; Rax, Jean M.

1994-01-01

An apparatus and method of extracting power from energetic ions produced by nuclear fusion in a toroidal plasma to enhance respectively the toroidal plasma current and fusion reactivity. By injecting waves of predetermined frequency and phase traveling substantially in a selected poloidal direction within the plasma, the energetic ions become diffused in energy and space such that the energetic ions lose energy and amplify the waves. The amplified waves are further adapted to travel substantially in a selected toroidal direction to increase preferentially the energy of electrons traveling in one toroidal direction which, in turn, enhances or generates a toroidal plasma current. In an further adaptation, the amplified waves can be made to preferentially increase the energy of fuel ions within the plasma to enhance the fusion reactivity of the fuel ions. The described direct, or in situ, conversion of the energetic ion energy provides an efficient and economical means of delivering power to a fusion reactor.

Double-stranded DNA organization in bacteriophage heads: an alternative toroid-based model.

PubMed Central

Hud, N V

1995-01-01

Studies of the organization of double-stranded DNA within bacteriophage heads during the past four decades have produced a wealth of data. However, despite the presentation of numerous models, the true organization of DNA within phage heads remains unresolved. The observations of toroidal DNA structures in electron micrographs of phage lysates have long been cited as support for the organization of DNA in a spool-like fashion. This particular model, like all other models, has not been found to be consistent will all available data. Recently we proposed that DNA within toroidal condensates produced in vitro is organized in a manner significantly different from that suggested by the spool model. This new toroid model has allowed the development of an alternative model for DNA organization within bacteriophage heads that is consistent with a wide range of biophysical data. Here we propose that bacteriophage DNA is packaged in a toroid that is folded into a highly compact structure. Images FIGURE 1 FIGURE 2 FIGURE 3 FIGURE 4 PMID:8534805

Bowlegs and Knock-Knees

MedlinePlus

... Español Text Size Email Print Share Bowlegs and Knock-Knees Page Content Article Body Toddlers’ legs often ... about two years old, then they’ll look knock-kneed until they are about six years of ...

Objective evaluation of the knocking sound of a diesel engine considering the temporal and frequency masking effect simultaneously

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yun, Dong-Un; Lee, Sang-Kwon

2017-06-01

In this paper, we present a novel method for an objective evaluation of knocking noise emitted by diesel engines based on the temporal and frequency masking theory. The knocking sound of a diesel engine is a vibro-acoustic sound correlated with the high-frequency resonances of the engine structure and a periodic impulsive sound with amplitude modulation. Its period is related to the engine speed and includes specific frequency bands related to the resonances of the engine structure. A knocking sound with the characteristics of a high-frequency impulsive wave can be masked by low-frequency sounds correlated with the harmonics of the firing frequency and broadband noise. The degree of modulation of the knocking sound signal was used for such objective evaluations in previous studies, without considering the masking effect. However, the frequency masking effect must be considered for the objective evaluation of the knocking sound. In addition to the frequency masking effect, the temporal masking effect occurs because the period of the knocking sound changes according to the engine speed. Therefore, an evaluation method considering the temporal and frequency masking effect is required to analyze the knocking sound objectively. In this study, an objective evaluation method considering the masking effect was developed based on the masking theory of sound and signal processing techniques. The method was applied successfully for the objective evaluation of the knocking sound of a diesel engine.

Fluctuations and differential contraction during regeneration of Hydra vulgaris tissue toroids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krahe, Michael; Wenzel, Iris; Lin, Kao-Nung; Fischer, Julia; Goldmann, Joseph; Kästner, Markus; Fütterer, Claus

2013-03-01

We studied regenerating bilayered tissue toroids dissected from Hydra vulgaris polyps and relate our macroscopic observations to the dynamics of force-generating mesoscopic cytoskeletal structures. Tissue fragments undergo a specific toroid-spheroid folding process leading to complete regeneration towards a new organism. The time scale of folding is too fast for biochemical signalling or morphogenetic gradients, which forced us to assume purely mechanical self-organization. The initial pattern selection dynamics was studied by embedding toroids into hydro-gels, allowing us to observe the deformation modes over longer periods of time. We found increasing mechanical fluctuations which break the toroidal symmetry, and discuss the evolution of their power spectra for various gel stiffnesses. Our observations are related to single-cell studies which explain the mechanical feasibility of the folding process. In addition, we observed switching of cells from a tissue bound to a migrating state after folding failure as well as in tissue injury. We found a supra-cellular actin ring assembled along the toroid's inner edge. Its contraction can lead to the observed folding dynamics as we could confirm by finite element simulations. This actin ring in the inner cell layer is assembled by myosin-driven length fluctuations of supra-cellular F-actin bundles (myonemes) in the outer cell layer. This paper is dedicated to Malcolm Steinberg.

Interpretations of the impact of cross-field drifts on divertor flows in DIII-D with UEDGE

DOE PAGES

Jaervinen, Aaro E.; Allen, Steve L.; Groth, Mathias; ...

2017-01-27

Simulations using the multi-fluid code UEDGE indicates that, in low confinement (Lmode) plasmas in DIII-D, recycling driven flows dominate poloidal particle flows in the divertor, whereas E×B drift flows dominate the radial particle flows. In contrast, in high confinement (H-mode) conditions E×B drift flows dominate both poloidal and radial particle flows in the divertor. UEDGE indicates that the toroidal C 2+ flow velocities in the divertor plasma are entrained within 30% to the background deuterium flow in both Land H-mode plasmas in the plasma region where the CIII 465 nm emission is measured. Therefore, UEDGE indicates that the Carbon Dopplermore » Coherence Imaging System (CIS), measuring the toroidal velocity of the C 2+ ions, can provide insight to the deuterium flows in the divertor. Parallel-to-B velocity dominates the toroidal divertor flow; direct drift impact being less than 1%. Toroidal divertor flow is predicted to reverse when the magnetic field is reversed. This is explained by the parallel-B flow towards the nearest divertor plate corresponding to opposite toroidal directions in opposite toroidal field configurations. Due to strong poloidal E×B flows in H-mode, net poloidal particle transport can be in opposite direction than the poloidal component of the parallel-B plasma flow.« less

Ketone Body Metabolic Enzyme OXCT1 Regulates Prostate Cancer Chemoresistance

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

increased ADP/ATP, NAD +/NADH and oxygen consumption in docetaxel treated cells compared to control knock down cells, therefore induced metabolic...substrate for mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and ATP biosynthesis. Next, we examined NAD +/NADH levels in OXC1 knock down prostate cancer cells...The results showed that after docetaxel treatment, NAD + level was significantly increased in OXCT1 knock down cells compared to control knock down

Knock probability estimation through an in-cylinder temperature model with exogenous noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bares, P.; Selmanaj, D.; Guardiola, C.; Onder, C.

2018-01-01

This paper presents a new knock model which combines a deterministic knock model based on the in-cylinder temperature and an exogenous noise disturbing this temperature. The autoignition of the end-gas is modelled by an Arrhenius-like function and the knock probability is estimated by propagating a virtual error probability distribution. Results show that the random nature of knock can be explained by uncertainties at the in-cylinder temperature estimation. The model only has one parameter for calibration and thus can be easily adapted online. In order to reduce the measurement uncertainties associated with the air mass flow sensor, the trapped mass is derived from the in-cylinder pressure resonance, which improves the knock probability estimation and reduces the number of sensors needed for the model. A four stroke SI engine was used for model validation. By varying the intake temperature, the engine speed, the injected fuel mass, and the spark advance, specific tests were conducted, which furnished data with various knock intensities and probabilities. The new model is able to predict the knock probability within a sufficient range at various operating conditions. The trapped mass obtained by the acoustical model was compared in steady conditions by using a fuel balance and a lambda sensor and differences below 1 % were found.

Development of versatile non-homologous end joining-based knock-in module for genome editing.

PubMed

Sawatsubashi, Shun; Joko, Yudai; Fukumoto, Seiji; Matsumoto, Toshio; Sugano, Shigeo S

2018-01-12

CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing has dramatically accelerated genome engineering. An important aspect of genome engineering is efficient knock-in technology. For improved knock-in efficiency, the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) repair pathway has been used over the homology-dependent repair pathway, but there remains a need to reduce the complexity of the preparation of donor vectors. We developed the versatile NHEJ-based knock-in module for genome editing (VIKING). Using the consensus sequence of the time-honored pUC vector to cut donor vectors, any vector with a pUC backbone could be used as the donor vector without customization. Conditions required to minimize random integration rates of the donor vector were also investigated. We attempted to isolate null lines of the VDR gene in human HaCaT keratinocytes using knock-in/knock-out with a selection marker cassette, and found 75% of clones isolated were successfully knocked-in. Although HaCaT cells have hypotetraploid genome composition, the results suggest multiple clones have VDR null phenotypes. VIKING modules enabled highly efficient knock-in of any vectors harboring pUC vectors. Users now can insert various existing vectors into an arbitrary locus in the genome. VIKING will contribute to low-cost genome engineering.

Tracking of Pacific walruses in the Chukchi Sea using a single hydrophone.

PubMed

Mouy, Xavier; Hannay, David; Zykov, Mikhail; Martin, Bruce

2012-02-01

The vocal repertoire of Pacific walruses includes underwater sound pulses referred to as knocks and bell-like calls. An extended acoustic monitoring program was performed in summer 2007 over a large region of the eastern Chukchi Sea using autonomous seabed-mounted acoustic recorders. Walrus knocks were identified in many of the recordings and most of these sounds included multiple bottom and surface reflected signals. This paper investigates the use of a localization technique based on relative multipath arrival times (RMATs) for potential behavior studies. First, knocks are detected using a semi-automated kurtosis-based algorithm. Then RMATs are matched to values predicted by a ray-tracing model. Walrus tracks with vertical and horizontal movements were obtained. The tracks included repeated dives between 4.0 m and 15.5 m depth and a deep dive to the sea bottom (53 m). Depths at which bell-like sounds are produced, average knock production rate and source levels estimates of the knocks were determined. Bell sounds were produced at all depths throughout the dives. Average knock production rates varied from 59 to 75 knocks/min. Average source level of the knocks was estimated to 177.6 ± 7.5 dB re 1 μPa peak @ 1 m. © 2012 Acoustical Society of America

RS-1 enhances CRISPR/Cas9- and TALEN-mediated knock-in efficiency.

PubMed

Song, Jun; Yang, Dongshan; Xu, Jie; Zhu, Tianqing; Chen, Y Eugene; Zhang, Jifeng

2016-01-28

Zinc-finger nuclease, transcription activator-like effector nuclease and CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9) are becoming major tools for genome editing. Importantly, knock-in in several non-rodent species has been finally achieved thanks to these customizable nucleases; yet the rates remain to be further improved. We hypothesize that inhibiting non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) or enhancing homology-directed repair (HDR) will improve the nuclease-mediated knock-in efficiency. Here we show that the in vitro application of an HDR enhancer, RS-1, increases the knock-in efficiency by two- to five-fold at different loci, whereas NHEJ inhibitor SCR7 has minimal effects. We then apply RS-1 for animal production and have achieved multifold improvement on the knock-in rates as well. Our work presents tools to nuclease-mediated knock-in animal production, and sheds light on improving gene-targeting efficiencies on pluripotent stem cells.

Improved high power/high frequency inductor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mclyman, W. T. (Inventor)

1990-01-01

A toroidal core is mounted on an alignment disc having uniformly distributed circumferential notches or holes therein. Wire is then wound about the toroidal core in a uniform pattern defined by the notches or holes. Prior to winding, the wire may be placed within shrink tubing. The shrink tubing is then wound about the alignment disc and core and then heat-shrunk to positively retain the wire in the uniform position on the toroidal core.

Toroidal core winder

DOEpatents

Potthoff, Clifford M.

1978-01-01

The disclosure is directed to an apparatus for placing wire windings on a toroidal body, such as a transformer core, having an orifice in its center. The apparatus comprises a wire storage spool, a wire loop holding continuous belt maintained in a C-shaped loop by a belt supporting structure and provision for turning the belt to place and tighten loops of wire on a toroidal body, which is disposed within the gap of the C-shaped belt loop.

Thermal and magnetic properties of electron gas in toroidal quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baghdasaryan, D. A.; Hayrapetyan, D. B.; Kazaryan, E. M.; Sarkisyan, H. A.

2018-07-01

One-electron states in a toroidal quantum dot in the presence of an external magnetic field have been considered. The magnetic field operator and the Schrodinger equation have been written in toroidal coordinates. The dependence of one-electron energy spectrum and wave function on the geometrical parameters of a toroidal quantum dot and magnetic field strength have been studied. The energy levels are employed to calculate the canonical partition function, which in its turn is used to obtain mean energy, heat capacity, entropy, magnetization, and susceptibility of noninteracting electron gas. The possibility to control the thermodynamic and magnetic properties of the noninteracting electron gas via changing the geometric parameters of the QD, magnetic field, and temperature, was demonstrated.

Dielectric tensor elements for the description of waves in rotating inhomogeneous magnetized plasma spheroids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdoli-Arani, A.; Ramezani-Arani, R.

2012-11-01

The dielectric permittivity tensor elements of a rotating cold collisionless plasma spheroid in an external magnetic field with toroidal and axial components are obtained. The effects of inhomogeneity in the densities of charged particles and the initial toroidal velocity on the dielectric permittivity tensor and field equations are investigated. The field components in terms of their toroidal components are calculated and it is shown that the toroidal components of the electric and magnetic fields are coupled by two differential equations. The influence of thermal and collisional effects on the dielectric tensor and field equations in the rotating plasma spheroid are also investigated. In the limiting spherical case, the dielectric tensor of a stationary magnetized collisionless cold plasma sphere is presented.

STELLAR DYNAMO MODELS WITH PROMINENT SURFACE TOROIDAL FIELDS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bonanno, Alfio

2016-12-20

Recent spectro-polarimetric observations of solar-type stars have shown the presence of photospheric magnetic fields with a predominant toroidal component. If the external field is assumed to be current-free it is impossible to explain these observations within the framework of standard mean-field dynamo theory. In this work, it will be shown that if the coronal field of these stars is assumed to be harmonic, the underlying stellar dynamo mechanism can support photospheric magnetic fields with a prominent toroidal component even in the presence of axisymmetric magnetic topologies. In particular, it is argued that the observed increase in the toroidal energy inmore » low-mass fast-rotating stars can be naturally explained with an underlying α Ω mechanism.« less

'Knock, and it shall be opened': knocking out and knocking in to reveal mechanisms of disease and novel therapies.

PubMed

Hacking, Douglas F

2008-12-01

Recent significant advances in molecular biology have generated genetically modified bacteria, yeast, nematodes, fruit flies, and fish. However, it is the genetic modification of mammalian model organisms, particularly the mouse, that has the greatest potential to shed light on human development, physiology and pathology in ways that have significant implications for neonatal and paediatric clinical practice. Here, we review some of the techniques for knocking out (inactivating), mutating and knocking in (inserting) selected genes that are important to neonatology and show how this research will lead both to a better understanding of disease and to novel therapies for infants and children.

Hige Compression Ratio Turbo Gasoline Engine Operation Using Alcohol Enhancement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heywood, John; Jo, Young Suk; Lewis, Raymond

The overall objective of this project was to quantify the potential for improving the performance and efficiency of gasoline engine technology by use of alcohols to suppress knock. Knock-free operation is obtained by direct injection of a second “anti-knock” fuel such as ethanol, which suppresses knock when, with gasoline fuel, knock would occur. Suppressing knock enables increased turbocharging, engine downsizing, and use of higher compression ratios throughout the engine’s operating map. This project combined engine testing and simulation to define knock onset conditions, with different mixtures of gasoline and alcohol, and with this information quantify the potential for improving themore » efficiency of turbocharged gasoline spark-ignition engines, and the on-vehicle fuel consumption reductions that could then be realized. The more focused objectives of this project were therefore to: Determine engine efficiency with aggressive turbocharging and downsizing and high compression ratio (up to a compression ratio of 13.5:1) over the engine’s operating range; Determine the knock limits of a turbocharged and downsized engine as a function of engine speed and load; Determine the amount of the knock-suppressing alcohol fuel consumed, through the use of various alcohol-gasoline and alcohol-water gasoline blends, for different driving cycles, relative to the gasoline consumed; Determine implications of using alcohol-boosted engines, with their higher efficiency operation, in both light-duty and medium-duty vehicle sectors.« less

Magnetism of toroidal field in two-fluid equilibrium of CHI driven spherical torus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanki, T.; Nagata, M.

2016-10-01

Double-pulsing CHI (D-CHI) experiment has been conducted in the HIST device to achieve a quasi-steady sustainment and good confinement of spherical torus (ST) plasmas. The feature of CHI driven ST such as diamagnetic toroidal field in the central open flux column (OFC) region and strong poloidal flow shear around the separatrix in the high field side suggests the two-fluid effect. The relationship between the magnetism of the toroidal field and the poloidal flow velocity is investigated by modelling the D-CHI (mainly driving the poloidal electron flow along the open flux) in the two-fluid equilibrium calculations. The poloidal component of Ampere's law leads that the toroidal field is related to the difference between the stream functions of ion ψi and electron ψe for the poloidal flow, indicating that the toroidal field with ψe >ψi results in a diamagnetic profile, while that with ψe <ψi results in a paramagnetic one. The gradient of the stream function determines the polarity and the strength of the poloidal flow velocity. It is found that the two-fluid equilibrium of CHI driven ST satisfies ψe > 0 and ψi < 0 in the OFC region, and ψe < 0 and ψi < 0 in the closed flux region. The toroidal field is a diamagnetic profile in the OFC region due to ψe >ψi and |uez | > |uiz | , where uez and uiz denote the poloidal electron and ion flow velocities, respectively. It becomes from a diamagnetic to a paramagnetic profile in the closed flux region, because ψe (uez) approaches ψi (uiz) around the magnetic axis. The poloidal ion flow shear is enhanced in the OFC region due to the ion inertial effect through the toroidal ion flow velocity.

Destructive interference between electric and toroidal dipole moments in TiO2 cylinders and frustums with coaxial voids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Terekhov, P. D.; Baryshnikova, K. V.; Evlyukhin, A. B.; Shalin, A. S.

2017-11-01

We demonstrate numerically the possibility of multipole interference in the TiO2 (titanium dioxide) microcylinders and microfrustums in the wavelength range 210-300 μm. Resonantly strong destructive interference between toroidal and electric dipole contributions to the scattered field is achieved by a geometry tuning. The toroidal and electric dipole mode overlapping at the resonant wavelength with almost total suppression of the total electric dipole moment is achieved.

The triangular kagomé lattices revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xiaoyun; Yan, Weigen

2013-11-01

The dimer problem, Ising spins and bond percolation on the triangular kagomé lattice have been studied extensively by physicists. In this paper, based on the fact the triangular kagomé lattice with toroidal boundary condition can be regarded as the line graph of 3.12.12 lattice with toroidal boundary condition, we derive the formulae of the number of spanning trees, the energy, and the Kirchhoff index of the triangular kagomé lattice with toroidal boundary condition.

What happens to full-f gyrokinetic transport and turbulence in a toroidal wedge simulation?

DOE PAGES

Kim, Kyuho; Chang, C. S.; Seo, Janghoon; ...

2017-01-24

Here, in order to save the computing time or to fit the simulation size into a limited computing hardware in a gyrokinetic turbulence simulation of a tokamak plasma, a toroidal wedge simulation may be utilized in which only a partial toroidal section is modeled with a periodic boundary condition in the toroidal direction. The most severe restriction in the wedge simulation is expected to be in the longest wavelength turbulence, i.e., ion temperature gradient (ITG) driven turbulence. The global full-f gyrokinetic code XGC1 is used to compare the transport and turbulence properties from a toroidal wedge simulation against the fullmore » torus simulation in an ITG unstable plasma in a model toroidal geometry. It is found that (1) the convergence study in the wedge number needs to be conducted all the way down to the full torus in order to avoid a false convergence, (2) a reasonably accurate simulation can be performed if the correct wedge number N can be identified, (3) the validity of a wedge simulation may be checked by performing a wave-number spectral analysis of the turbulence amplitude |δΦ| and assuring that the variation of δΦ between the discrete kθ values is less than 25% compared to the peak |δΦ|, and (4) a frequency spectrum may not be used for the validity check of a wedge simulation.« less

What happens to full-f gyrokinetic transport and turbulence in a toroidal wedge simulation?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Kyuho; Chang, C. S.; Seo, Janghoon

Here, in order to save the computing time or to fit the simulation size into a limited computing hardware in a gyrokinetic turbulence simulation of a tokamak plasma, a toroidal wedge simulation may be utilized in which only a partial toroidal section is modeled with a periodic boundary condition in the toroidal direction. The most severe restriction in the wedge simulation is expected to be in the longest wavelength turbulence, i.e., ion temperature gradient (ITG) driven turbulence. The global full-f gyrokinetic code XGC1 is used to compare the transport and turbulence properties from a toroidal wedge simulation against the fullmore » torus simulation in an ITG unstable plasma in a model toroidal geometry. It is found that (1) the convergence study in the wedge number needs to be conducted all the way down to the full torus in order to avoid a false convergence, (2) a reasonably accurate simulation can be performed if the correct wedge number N can be identified, (3) the validity of a wedge simulation may be checked by performing a wave-number spectral analysis of the turbulence amplitude |δΦ| and assuring that the variation of δΦ between the discrete kθ values is less than 25% compared to the peak |δΦ|, and (4) a frequency spectrum may not be used for the validity check of a wedge simulation.« less

Two-fluid flowing equilibria of spherical torus sustained by coaxial helicity injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanki, Takashi; Steinhauer, Loren; Nagata, Masayoshi

2007-11-01

Two-dimensional equilibria in helicity-driven systems using two-fluid model were previously computed, showing the existence of an ultra-low-q spherical torus (ST) configuration with diamagnetism and higher beta. However, this computation assumed purely toroidal ion flow and uniform density. The purpose of the present study is to apply the two-fluid model to the two-dimensional equilibria of helicity-driven ST with non-uniform density and both toroidal and poloidal flows for each species by means of the nearby-fluids procedure, and to explore their properties. We focus our attention on the equilibria relevant to the HIST device, which are characterized by either driven or decaying λ profiles. The equilibrium for the driven λ profile has a diamagnetic toroidal field, high-β (βt = 32%), and centrally broad density. By contrast, the decaying equilibrium has a paramagnetic toroidal field, low-β (βt = 10%), and centrally peaked density with a steep gradient in the outer edge region. In the driven case, the toroidal ion and electron flows are in the same direction, and two-fluid effects are less important since the ExB drift is dominant. In the decaying case, the toroidal ion and electron flows are opposite in the outer edge region, and two-fluid effects are significant locally in the edge due to the ion diamagnetic drift.

Instability of Non-uniform Toroidal Magnetic Fields in Accretion Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirabayashi, Kota; Hoshino, Masahiro

2016-05-01

We present a new type of instability that is expected to drive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence from a purely toroidal magnetic field in an accretion disk. It is already known that in a differentially rotating system, the uniform toroidal magnetic field is unstable due to magnetorotational instability (MRI) under a non-axisymmetric and vertical perturbation, while it is stable under a purely vertical perturbation. Contrary to the previous study, this paper proposes an unstable mode completely confined to the equatorial plane, driven by the expansive nature of the magnetic pressure gradient force under a non-uniform toroidal field. The basic nature of this growing eigenmode, which we name “magneto-gradient driven instability,” is studied using linear analysis, and the corresponding nonlinear evolution is then investigated using two-dimensional ideal MHD simulations. Although a single localized magnetic field channel alone cannot provide sufficient Maxwell stress to contribute significantly to the angular momentum transport, we find that the mode coupling between neighboring toroidal fields under multiple localized magnetic field channels drastically generates a highly turbulent state and leads to the enhanced transport of angular momentum, which is comparable to the efficiency seen in previous studies on MRIs. This horizontally confined mode may play an important role in the saturation of an MRI through complementray growth with the toroidal MRIs and coupling with magnetic reconnection.

INSTABILITY OF NON-UNIFORM TOROIDAL MAGNETIC FIELDS IN ACCRETION DISKS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hirabayashi, Kota; Hoshino, Masahiro, E-mail: hirabayashi-k@eps.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp

We present a new type of instability that is expected to drive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence from a purely toroidal magnetic field in an accretion disk. It is already known that in a differentially rotating system, the uniform toroidal magnetic field is unstable due to magnetorotational instability (MRI) under a non-axisymmetric and vertical perturbation, while it is stable under a purely vertical perturbation. Contrary to the previous study, this paper proposes an unstable mode completely confined to the equatorial plane, driven by the expansive nature of the magnetic pressure gradient force under a non-uniform toroidal field. The basic nature of thismore » growing eigenmode, which we name “magneto-gradient driven instability,” is studied using linear analysis, and the corresponding nonlinear evolution is then investigated using two-dimensional ideal MHD simulations. Although a single localized magnetic field channel alone cannot provide sufficient Maxwell stress to contribute significantly to the angular momentum transport, we find that the mode coupling between neighboring toroidal fields under multiple localized magnetic field channels drastically generates a highly turbulent state and leads to the enhanced transport of angular momentum, which is comparable to the efficiency seen in previous studies on MRIs. This horizontally confined mode may play an important role in the saturation of an MRI through complementray growth with the toroidal MRIs and coupling with magnetic reconnection.« less

Living Toroids - Cells on Toroidal Surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Ya-Wen; Angelini, Thomas; Marquez, Samantha; Kim, Harold; Fernandez-Nieves, Alberto

2014-03-01

Cellular environment influences a multitude of cellular functions by providing chemical and physical signals that modulate cell behavior, dynamics, development, and eventually survival. Substrate mechanics has been recognized as one of the important physical cues that governs cell behavior at single cell level as well as in collective cell motion. Past research has suggested several contact-guided behaviors to be the result of surface curvature. However, studies on the effect of curvature are relatively scarce likely due to the difficulty in generating substrates with well-defined curvature. Here we describe the generation of toroidal droplets, which unlike spherical droplets, have regions of both positive and negative Gaussian curvature. Additionally, the range of curvatures can be controlled by varying the size and aspect ratio of the torus. Cells are either encapsulated inside toroidal droplets or located on toroidal hydrogel surfaces. Preliminary studies use B. Subtilis to study the organization of bacteria biofilms. When confined in droplets surrounded by yield-stress fluid, bacteria self-organize into heterogeneous biofilm at fluid- substrate interface. It is found that the surface curvature in the sub-millimeter scale has little effect on biofilm architecture.

High-frequency plasma-heating apparatus

DOEpatents

Brambilla, Marco; Lallia, Pascal

1978-01-01

An array of adjacent wave guides feed high-frequency energy into a vacuum chamber in which a toroidal plasma is confined by a magnetic field, the wave guide array being located between two toroidal current windings. Waves are excited in the wave guide at a frequency substantially equal to the lower frequency hybrid wave of the plasma and a substantially equal phase shift is provided from one guide to the next between the waves therein. For plasmas of low peripheral density gradient, the guides are excited in the TE.sub.01 mode and the output electric field is parallel to the direction of the toroidal magnetic field. For exciting waves in plasmas of high peripheral density gradient, the guides are excited in the TM.sub.01 mode and the magnetic field at the wave guide outlets is parallel to the direction of the toroidal magnetic field. The wave excited at the outlet of the wave guide array is a progressive wave propagating in the direction opposite to that of the toroidal current and is, therefore, not absorbed by so-called "runaway" electrons.

The evaluation of a deformable diffraction grating for a stigmatic EUV spectroheliometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Timothy, J. G.

1987-01-01

A high-efficiency, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) imaging spectrometer is constructed and tested. The spectrometer employs a concave toroidal grating illuminated at normal incidence in a Rowland circle mounting and has only one reflecting surface. The toroidal grating has been fabricated by a new technique employing an elastically-deformable sub-master grating replicated in a spherical form and then mechanically distorted to produce the desired aspect ratio of the toroidal surface for stigmatic imaging over the selected wavelength range. The fixed toroidal grating used in the spectrometer is then replicated from this surface. Photographic tests and initial photoelectric tests with a two-dimensional, pulse-counting detector system verify the image quality of the toroidal grating at wavelengths near 600 A. The results of these tests and the basic designs of two instruments which could employ the imaging spectrometer for astrophysical investigations in space are described; i.e., a high-resolution EUV spectroheliometer for studies of the solar chromosphere, transition region, and corona; and an EUV spectroscopic telescope for studies of non-solar objects.

Dynamic divertor control using resonant mixed toroidal harmonic magnetic fields during ELM suppression in DIII-D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, M.; Sun, Y.; Paz-Soldan, C.; Nazikian, R.; Gu, S.; Liu, Y. Q.; Abrams, T.; Bykov, I.; Cui, L.; Evans, T.; Garofalo, A.; Guo, W.; Gong, X.; Lasnier, C.; Logan, N. C.; Makowski, M.; Orlov, D.; Wang, H. H.

2018-05-01

Experiments using Resonant Magnetic Perturbations (RMPs), with a rotating n = 2 toroidal harmonic combined with a stationary n = 3 toroidal harmonic, have validated predictions that divertor heat and particle flux can be dynamically controlled while maintaining Edge Localized Mode (ELM) suppression in the DIII-D tokamak. Here, n is the toroidal mode number. ELM suppression over one full cycle of a rotating n = 2 RMP that was mixed with a static n = 3 RMP field has been achieved. Prominent heat flux splitting on the outer divertor has been observed during ELM suppression by RMPs in low collisionality regime in DIII-D. Strong changes in the three dimensional heat and particle flux footprint in the divertor were observed during the application of the mixed toroidal harmonic magnetic perturbations. These results agree well with modeling of the edge magnetic field structure using the TOP2D code, which takes into account the plasma response from the MARS-F code. These results expand the potential effectiveness of the RMP ELM suppression technique for the simultaneous control of divertor heat and particle load required in ITER.

Effect of anisotropic thermal transport on the resistive plasma response to resonant magnetic perturbation field

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bai, Xue; Liu, Yueqiang; Gao, Zhe

Plasma response to the resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) field is numerically investigated by an extended toroidal fluid model, which includes anisotropic thermal transport physics parallel and perpendicular to the total magnetic field. The thermal transport is found to be effective in eliminating the toroidal average curvature induced plasma screening (the so called Glasser-Green-Johnson, GGJ screening) at slow toroidal flow regime, whilst having minor effect on modifying the conventional plasma screening regimes at faster flow. Furthermore, this physics effect of interaction between thermal transport and GGJ screening is attributed to the modification of the radial structure of the shielding current, resultedmore » from the plasma response to the applied field. The modification of the plasma response (shielding current, response field, plasma displacement and the perturbed velocity) also has direct consequence on the toroidal torques produced by RMP. These modelling results show that thermal transport reduces the resonant electromagnetic torque as well as the torque associated with the Reynolds stress, but enhances the neoclassical toroidal viscous torque at slow plasma flow.« less

Effect of anisotropic thermal transport on the resistive plasma response to resonant magnetic perturbation field

DOE PAGES

Bai, Xue; Liu, Yueqiang; Gao, Zhe

2017-09-21

Plasma response to the resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) field is numerically investigated by an extended toroidal fluid model, which includes anisotropic thermal transport physics parallel and perpendicular to the total magnetic field. The thermal transport is found to be effective in eliminating the toroidal average curvature induced plasma screening (the so called Glasser-Green-Johnson, GGJ screening) at slow toroidal flow regime, whilst having minor effect on modifying the conventional plasma screening regimes at faster flow. Furthermore, this physics effect of interaction between thermal transport and GGJ screening is attributed to the modification of the radial structure of the shielding current, resultedmore » from the plasma response to the applied field. The modification of the plasma response (shielding current, response field, plasma displacement and the perturbed velocity) also has direct consequence on the toroidal torques produced by RMP. These modelling results show that thermal transport reduces the resonant electromagnetic torque as well as the torque associated with the Reynolds stress, but enhances the neoclassical toroidal viscous torque at slow plasma flow.« less

Effect of anisotropic thermal transport on the resistive plasma response to resonant magnetic perturbation field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Xue; Liu, Yueqiang; Gao, Zhe

2017-10-01

Plasma response to the resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) field is numerically investigated by an extended toroidal fluid model, which includes anisotropic thermal transport physics parallel and perpendicular to the total magnetic field. The thermal transport is found to be effective in eliminating the toroidal average curvature induced plasma screening (the so called Glasser-Green-Johnson, GGJ screening) in a slow toroidal flow regime, whilst having minor effect on modifying the conventional plasma screening regimes at faster flow. This physics effect of interaction between thermal transport and GGJ screening is attributed to the modification of the radial structure of the shielding current, which resulted from the plasma response to the applied field. The modification of the plasma response (shielding current, response field, plasma displacement, and the perturbed velocity) also has direct consequence on the toroidal torques produced by RMP. Modelling results show that thermal transport reduces the resonant electromagnetic torque as well as the torque associated with the Reynolds stress, but enhances the neoclassical toroidal viscous torque at slow plasma flow.

Determination of knock characteristics in spark ignition engines: an approach based on ensemble empirical mode decomposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ning; Yang, Jianguo; Zhou, Rui; Liang, Caiping

2016-04-01

Knock is one of the major constraints to improve the performance and thermal efficiency of spark ignition (SI) engines. It can also result in severe permanent engine damage under certain operating conditions. Based on the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD), this paper proposes a new approach to determine the knock characteristics in SI engines. By adding a uniformly distributed and finite white Gaussian noise, the EEMD can preserve signal continuity in different scales and therefore alleviates the mode-mixing problem occurring in the classic empirical mode decomposition (EMD). The feasibilities of applying the EEMD to detect the knock signatures of a test SI engine via the pressure signal measured from combustion chamber and the vibration signal measured from cylinder head are investigated. Experimental results show that the EEMD-based method is able to detect the knock signatures from both the pressure signal and vibration signal, even in initial stage of knock. Finally, by comparing the application results with those obtained by short-time Fourier transform (STFT), Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT), the superiority of the EEMD method in determining knock characteristics is demonstrated.

Modern gyrokinetic formulation of collisional and turbulent transport in toroidally rotating plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugama, H.

2017-12-01

Collisional and turbulent transport processes in toroidal plasmas with large toroidal flows on the order of the ion thermal velocity are formulated based on the modern gyrokinetic theory. Governing equations for background and turbulent electromagnetic fields and gyrocenter distribution functions are derived from the Lagrangian variational principle with effects of collisions and external sources taken into account. Noether's theorem modified for collisional systems and the collision operator given in terms of Poisson brackets are applied to derivation of the particle, energy, and toroidal momentum balance equations in the conservative forms which are desirable properties for long-time global transport simulation. The resultant balance equations are shown to include the classical, neoclassical, and turbulent transport fluxes which agree with those obtained from the conventional recursive formulations.

Inward transport of a toroidally confined plasma subject to strong radial electric fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roth, J. R.; Krawczonek, W. M.; Powers, E. J.; Hong, J.; Kim, Y.

1977-01-01

The paper aims at showing that the density and confinement time of a toroidal plasma can be enhanced by radial electric fields far stronger than the ambipolar values, and that, if such electric fields point into the plasma, radially inward transport can result. The investigation deals with low-frequency fluctuation-induced transport using digitally implemented spectral analysis techniques and with the role of strong applied radial electric fields and weak vertical magnetic fields on plasma density and particle confinement times in a Bumpy Torus geometry. Results indicate that application of sufficiently strong radially inward electric fields results in radially inward fluctuation-induced transport into the toroidal electrostatic potential well; this inward transport gives rise to higher average electron densities and longer particle confinement times in the toroidal plasma.

Comparison of JET AVDE disruption data with M3D simulations and implications for ITER

DOE PAGES

Strauss, H.; Joffrin, E.; Riccardo, V.; ...

2017-10-02

Nonlinear 3D MHD asymmetric vertical displacement disruption simulations have been performed using JET equilibrium reconstruction initial data. There were several experimentally measured quantities compared with the simulation. These include vertical displacement, halo current, toroidal current asymmetry, and toroidal rotation. The experimental data and the simulations are in reasonable agreement. Also compared was the correlation of the toroidal current asymmetry and the vertical displacement asymmetry. The Noll relation between asymmetric wall force and vertical current moment is verified in the simulations. Also verified is the toroidal flux asymmetry. Though, JET is a good predictor of ITER disruption behavior, JET and ITERmore » can be in different parameter regimes, and extrapolating from JET data can overestimate the ITER wall force.« less

Comparison of JET AVDE disruption data with M3D simulations and implications for ITER

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Strauss, H.; Joffrin, E.; Riccardo, V.

Nonlinear 3D MHD asymmetric vertical displacement disruption simulations have been performed using JET equilibrium reconstruction initial data. There were several experimentally measured quantities compared with the simulation. These include vertical displacement, halo current, toroidal current asymmetry, and toroidal rotation. The experimental data and the simulations are in reasonable agreement. Also compared was the correlation of the toroidal current asymmetry and the vertical displacement asymmetry. The Noll relation between asymmetric wall force and vertical current moment is verified in the simulations. Also verified is the toroidal flux asymmetry. Though, JET is a good predictor of ITER disruption behavior, JET and ITERmore » can be in different parameter regimes, and extrapolating from JET data can overestimate the ITER wall force.« less

Comparison study of toroidal-field divertors for a compact reversed-field pinch reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bathke, C. G.; Krakowski, R. A.; Miller, R. L.

Two divertor configurations for the Compact Reversed-Field Pinch Reactor (CRFPR) based on diverting the minority (toroidal) field have been reported. A critical factor in evaluating the performance of both poloidally symmetric and bundle divertor configurations is the accurate determination of the divertor connection length and the monitoring of magnetic islands introduced by the divertors, the latter being a three-dimensional effect. To this end the poloidal-field, toroidal-field, and divertor coils and the plasma currents are simulated in three dimensions for field-line trackings in both the divertor channel and the plasma-edge regions. The results of this analysis indicate a clear preference for the poloidally symmetric toroidal-field divertor. Design modifications to the limiter-based CRFPR design that accommodate this divertor are presented.

Efficiency of wave-driven rigid body rotation toroidal confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rax, J. M.; Gueroult, R.; Fisch, N. J.

2017-03-01

The compensation of vertical drifts in toroidal magnetic fields through a wave-driven poloidal rotation is compared with compensation through the wave driven toroidal current generation to support the classical magnetic rotational transform. The advantages and drawbacks associated with the sustainment of a radial electric field are compared with those associated with the sustainment of a poloidal magnetic field both in terms of energy content and power dissipation. The energy content of a radial electric field is found to be smaller than the energy content of a poloidal magnetic field for a similar set of orbits. The wave driven radial electric field generation efficiency is similarly shown, at least in the limit of large aspect ratio, to be larger than the efficiency of wave-driven toroidal current generation.

Relation between Spark-Ignition Engine Knock, Detonation Waves, and Autoignition as Shown by High-Speed Photography

DTIC Science & Technology

1946-01-01

unfortunate” fiat this work has not, in the past few years , received more carcf~ll considera- tion. Th~ photographs of %kolik and Voinov wcro taken through a...with the propo8ed combined theory but not with either the simple autoignition theory or the simple detonation- wace theory. INTRODUCTION Knock is one of...countries for about 25 yeara. The past researches on knock have uncovered an immense amount of information, not only concerning the basic nature of knock but

System and method for controlling engine knock using electro-hydraulic valve actuation

DOEpatents

Brennan, Daniel G

2013-12-10

A control system for an engine includes a knock control module and a valve control module. The knock control module adjusts a period that one or more of an intake valve and an exhaust valve of a cylinder are open based on engine knock corresponding to the cylinder. The valve control module, based on the adjusted period, controls the one or more of the intake valve and the exhaust valve using one or more hydraulic actuators.

Understanding fuel anti-knock performances in modern SI engines using fundamental HCCI experiments

DOE PAGES

Yang, Yi; Dec, John E.; Sjoberg, Magnus; ...

2015-08-19

Modern spark-ignition (SI) engine technologies have considerably changed in-cylinder conditions under which fuel autoignition and engine knock take place. In this paper, fundamental HCCI engine experiments are proposed as a means for characterizing the impact of these technologies on the knock propensity of different fuels. In particular, the impacts of turbocharging, direct injection (DI), and downspeeding on operation with ethanol and gasoline are investigated to demonstrate this approach. Results reported earlier for ethanol and gasoline on HCCI combustion are revisited with the new perspective of how their autoignition characteristics fit into the anti-knock requirement in modern SI engines. For example,more » the weak sensitivity to pressure boost demonstrated by ethanol in HCCI autoignition can be used to explain the strong knock resistance of ethanol fuels for turbocharged SI engines. Further, ethanol's high sensitivity to charge temperature makes charge cooling, which can be produced by fuel vaporization via direct injection or by piston expansion via spark-timing retard, very effective for inhibiting knock. On the other hand, gasoline autoignition shows a higher sensitivity to pressure, so only very low pressure boost can be applied before knock occurs. Gasoline also demonstrates low temperature sensitivity, so it is unable to make as effective use of the charge cooling produced by fuel vaporization or spark retard. These arguments comprehensively explain literature results on ethanol's substantially better anti-knock performance over gasoline in modern turbocharged DISI engines. Fundamental HCCI experiments such as these can thus be used as a diagnostic and predictive tool for knock-limited SI engine performance for various fuels. As a result, examples are presented where HCCI experiments are used to identify biofuel compounds with good potential for modern SI-engine applications.« less

Deficiency in the manganese efflux transporter SLC30A10 induces severe hypothyroidism in mice.

PubMed

Hutchens, Steven; Liu, Chunyi; Jursa, Thomas; Shawlot, William; Chaffee, Beth K; Yin, Weiling; Gore, Andrea C; Aschner, Michael; Smith, Donald R; Mukhopadhyay, Somshuvra

2017-06-09

Manganese is an essential metal that becomes toxic at elevated levels. Loss-of-function mutations in SLC30A10, a cell-surface-localized manganese efflux transporter, cause a heritable manganese metabolism disorder resulting in elevated manganese levels and parkinsonian-like movement deficits. The underlying disease mechanisms are unclear; therefore, treatment is challenging. To understand the consequences of loss of SLC30A10 function at the organism level, we generated Slc30a10 knock-out mice. During early development, knock-outs were indistinguishable from controls. Surprisingly, however, after weaning and compared with controls, knock-out mice failed to gain weight, were smaller, and died prematurely (by ∼6-8 weeks of age). At 6 weeks, manganese levels in the brain, blood, and liver of the knock-outs were ∼20-60-fold higher than controls. Unexpectedly, histological analyses revealed that the brain and liver of the knock-outs were largely unaffected, but their thyroid exhibited extensive alterations. Because hypothyroidism leads to growth defects and premature death in mice, we assayed for changes in thyroid and pituitary hormones. At 6 weeks and compared with controls, the knock-outs had markedly reduced thyroxine levels (∼50-80%) and profoundly increased thyroid-stimulating hormone levels (∼800-1000-fold), indicating that Slc30a10 knock-out mice develop hypothyroidism. Importantly, a low-manganese diet produced lower tissue manganese levels in the knock-outs and rescued the phenotype, suggesting that manganese toxicity was the underlying cause. Our unanticipated discovery highlights the importance of determining the role of thyroid dysfunction in the onset and progression of manganese-induced disease and identifies Slc30a10 knock-out mice as a new model for studying thyroid biology. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Knock-in mice harboring a Ca(2+) desensitizing mutation in cardiac troponin C develop early onset dilated cardiomyopathy.

PubMed

McConnell, Bradley K; Singh, Sonal; Fan, Qiying; Hernandez, Adriana; Portillo, Jesus P; Reiser, Peter J; Tikunova, Svetlana B

2015-01-01

The physiological consequences of aberrant Ca(2+) binding and exchange with cardiac myofilaments are not clearly understood. In order to examine the effect of decreasing Ca(2+) sensitivity of cTnC on cardiac function, we generated knock-in mice carrying a D73N mutation (not known to be associated with heart disease in human patients) in cTnC. The D73N mutation was engineered into the regulatory N-domain of cTnC in order to reduce Ca(2+) sensitivity of reconstituted thin filaments by increasing the rate of Ca(2+) dissociation. In addition, the D73N mutation drastically blunted the extent of Ca(2+) desensitization of reconstituted thin filaments induced by cTnI pseudo-phosphorylation. Compared to wild-type mice, heterozygous knock-in mice carrying the D73N mutation exhibited a substantially decreased Ca(2+) sensitivity of force development in skinned ventricular trabeculae. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that median survival time for knock-in mice was 12 weeks. Echocardiographic analysis revealed that knock-in mice exhibited increased left ventricular dimensions with thinner walls. Echocardiographic analysis also revealed that measures of systolic function, such as ejection fraction (EF) and fractional shortening (FS), were dramatically reduced in knock-in mice. In addition, knock-in mice displayed electrophysiological abnormalities, namely prolonged QRS and QT intervals. Furthermore, ventricular myocytes isolated from knock-in mice did not respond to β-adrenergic stimulation. Thus, knock-in mice developed pathological features similar to those observed in human patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). In conclusion, our results suggest that decreasing Ca(2+) sensitivity of the regulatory N-domain of cTnC is sufficient to trigger the development of DCM.

Toroidal marginally outer trapped surfaces in closed Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker spacetimes: Stability and isoperimetric inequalities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mach, Patryk; Xie, Naqing

2017-10-01

We investigate toroidal marginally outer trapped surfaces (MOTS) and marginally outer trapped tubes (MOTT) in closed Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) geometries. They are constructed by embedding constant mean curvature (CMC) Clifford tori in a FLRW spacetime. This construction is used to assess the quality of certain isoperimetric inequalities, recently proved in axial symmetry. Similarly to spherically symmetric MOTS existing in FLRW spacetimes, the toroidal ones are also unstable.

Influence of bending stress on flux distribution in toroidal transducers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goktepe, M.; Meydan, T.

1994-05-01

Amorphous transducers consisting of toroidally wound amorphous ribbon with a magnetising winding and search coil windings have been investigated. The application of displacement to the toroid gives a linear search coil voltage against the applied force characteristics. The position of the search coils with respect to the applied force has been studied and it is shown that the effect of applied force is localised. These results have elucidated the operation of ac amorphous ribbon transducers and enabled improved designs to be produced.

Generation of an allelic series of knock-in mice using recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE).

PubMed

Roebroek, Anton J M; Van Gool, Bart

2014-01-01

Molecular genetic strategies applying embryonic stem cell (ES cell) technologies to study the function of a gene in mice or to generate a mouse model for a human disease are continuously under development. Next to (conditional) inactivation of genes the application and importance of approaches to generate knock-in mutations are increasing. In this chapter the principle and application of recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE) are discussed as being a new emerging knock-in strategy, which enables easy generation of a series of different knock-in mutations within one gene. An RMCE protocol, which was used to generate a series of different knock-in mutations in the Lrp1 gene of ES cells, is described in detail as an example of how RMCE can be used to generate highly efficiently an allelic series of differently modified ES cell clones from a parental modified ES cell clone. Subsequently the differently modified ES cell clones can be used to generate an allelic series of mutant knock-in mice.

RS-1 enhances CRISPR/Cas9- and TALEN-mediated knock-in efficiency

PubMed Central

Song, Jun; Yang, Dongshan; Xu, Jie; Zhu, Tianqing; Chen, Y. Eugene; Zhang, Jifeng

2016-01-01

Zinc-finger nuclease, transcription activator-like effector nuclease and CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9) are becoming major tools for genome editing. Importantly, knock-in in several non-rodent species has been finally achieved thanks to these customizable nucleases; yet the rates remain to be further improved. We hypothesize that inhibiting non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) or enhancing homology-directed repair (HDR) will improve the nuclease-mediated knock-in efficiency. Here we show that the in vitro application of an HDR enhancer, RS-1, increases the knock-in efficiency by two- to five-fold at different loci, whereas NHEJ inhibitor SCR7 has minimal effects. We then apply RS-1 for animal production and have achieved multifold improvement on the knock-in rates as well. Our work presents tools to nuclease-mediated knock-in animal production, and sheds light on improving gene-targeting efficiencies on pluripotent stem cells. PMID:26817820

Role of blood ribosomal protein S19 in coagulum resorption: a study using Gln137Glu-ribosomal protein S19 gene knock-in mouse.

PubMed

Chen, Jun; Fujino, Rika; Zhao, Rui; Semba, Umeko; Araki, Kimi; Yamamoto, Tetsuro

2014-11-01

Sera of human, guinea pig or mouse contain a strong monocyte chemoattractant capacity that is attributed to the ribosomal protein S19 (RP S19) oligomers generated during blood coagulation. In contrast, sera prepared from Gln137Glu-RP S19 gene knock-in mice contained negligible chemoattractant capacity. When coagula that had been pre-formed from the blood of both the wild type and knock-in mice were intraperitoneally inserted into host mice, after 3 days of recovery, the knock-in mouse coagula remained larger than the wild type mouse coagula. The wild type mouse coagula were covered by multiple macrophage layers at the surface and were infiltrated inside by macrophages. Knock-in mouse coagula exhibited less macrophage involvement. When coagula of knock-in mice and coagula of knock-in mice containing C5a/RP S19, an artificial substitute of the RP S19 oligomers, were intraperitoneally inserted as pairs, the C5a/RP S19 containing coagulum was more rapidly absorbed, concomitant with increased macrophage involvement. Finally, when the knock-in mouse and wild type mouse coagula pairs were inserted into mice in which macrophages had been depleted using clodronate liposome, the size difference of recovered coagula was reversed. These results indicate the importance of the RP S19 oligomer-induced macrophage recruitment in coagulum resorption. © 2014 Japanese Society of Pathology and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Enhanced EGFP-chromophore-assisted laser inactivation using deficient cells rescued with functional EGFP-fusion proteins.

PubMed

Vitriol, Eric A; Uetrecht, Andrea C; Shen, Feimo; Jacobson, Ken; Bear, James E

2007-04-17

Chromophore-assisted laser inactivation (CALI) is a light-mediated technique that offers precise spatiotemporal control of protein inactivation, enabling better understanding of the protein's role in cell function. EGFP has been used effectively as a CALI chromophore, and its cotranslational attachment to the target protein avoids having to use exogenously added labeling reagents. A potential drawback to EGFP-CALI is that the CALI phenotype can be obscured by the endogenous, unlabeled protein that is not susceptible to light inactivation. Performing EGFP-CALI experiments in deficient cells rescued with functional EGFP-fusion proteins permits more complete loss of function to be achieved. Here, we present a modified lentiviral system for rapid and efficient generation of knockdown cell lines complemented with physiological levels of EGFP-fusion proteins. We demonstrate that CALI of EGFP-CapZbeta increases uncapped actin filaments, resulting in enhanced filament growth and the formation of numerous protrusive structures. We show that these effects are completely dependent upon knocking down the endogenous protein. We also demonstrate that CALI of EGFP-Mena in Mena/VASP-deficient cells stabilizes lamellipodial protrusions.

Toroidal reactor

DOEpatents

Dawson, John M.; Furth, Harold P.; Tenney, Fred H.

1988-12-06

Method for producing fusion power wherein a neutral beam is injected into a toroidal bulk plasma to produce fusion reactions during the time permitted by the slowing down of the particles from the injected beam in the bulk plasma.

Functional form for plasma velocity in a rapidly rotating tokamak discharge

DOE PAGES

Burrell, Keith H.; Chrystal, C. olin

2014-07-25

A recently developed technique using charge exchange spectroscopy determines the ion poloidal rotation in tokamak plasmas from the poloidal variation in the toroidal angular rotation speed. The basis for this technique is the functional form for the plasma velocity calculated from the equilibrium equations. The initial development of this technique utilized the functional form determined for conditions where the ion toroidal rotation speed is much smaller than the ion thermal speed. There are cases, however, where the toroidal rotation can be comparable to the ion thermal speed, especially for high atomic number impurities. Furthermore, the present paper extends the previousmore » analysis to this high rotation speed case and demonstrates how to extract the poloidal rotation speed from measurements of the toroidal angular rotation speed at two points on a flux surface.« less

Toroidal magnet system

DOEpatents

Ohkawa, Tihiro; Baker, Charles C.

1981-01-01

In a plasma device having a toroidal plasma containment vessel, a toroidal field-generating coil system includes fixed linking coils each formed of first and second sections with the first section passing through a central opening through the containment vessel and the second section completing the linking coil to link the containment vessel. A plurality of removable unlinked coils are each formed of first and second C-shaped sections joined to each other at their open ends with their bights spaced apart. The second C-shaped section of each movable coil is removably mounted adjacent the second section of a linking coil, with the containment vessel disposed between the open ends of the first and second C-shaped sections. Electric current is passed through the linking and removable coils in opposite sense in the respective adjacent second sections to produce a net toroidal field.

High-beta spherical tokamak startup in TS-4 merging experiment by use of toroidal field ramp-up

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaminou, Yasuhiro; , Toru, II; Kato, Joji; Inomoto, Michiaki; Ono, Yasushi; TS Group Team; National InstituteFusion Science Collaboration

2014-10-01

We demonstrated the formation method of an ultrahigh-beta spherical tokamak by use of a field-reversed configuration and a spheromak in TS-4 device (R ~ 0.5 m, A ~ 1.5, Ip ~ 30-100 kA, B ~ 100 mT). This method is composed of the following steps: 1. Two spheromaks are merged together and a high-beta spheromak or FRC is formed by reconnection heating. 2. External toroidal magnetic field is added (current rising time ~50 μs), and spherical tokamak-like configuration is formed. In this way, the ultrahigh-beta ST is formed. The ultrahigh-beta ST formed by FRC has a diamagnetic toroidal field, and it presumed to be in a second-stable state for ballooning stability, and the one formed by spheromak has a weak paramagnetic toroidal magnetic field, while a spheormak has a strong paramagnetic toroidal magnetic field. This diamagnetic current derives from inductive electric field by ramping up the external toroidal magnetic field, and the diamagnetic current sustains high thermal pressure of the ultrahigh-beta spherical tokamak. And the beta of the ultrahigh-beta ST formed by FRC reaches about 50%. To sustain the high-beta state, 0.6 MW neutral beam injection and center solenoid coils are installed to the TS-4 device. In the poster, we report the experimental results of ultrahigh-beta spherical tokamak startup and sustainment by NBI and CS current driving experiment.

Long-wavelength microinstabilities in toroidal plasmas*

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, W. M.; Rewoldt, G.

1993-07-01

Realistic kinetic toroidal eigenmode calculations have been carried out to support a proper assessment of the influence of long-wavelength microturbulence on transport in tokamak plasmas. In order to efficiently evaluate large-scale kinetic behavior extending over many rational surfaces, significant improvements have been made to a toroidal finite element code used to analyze the fully two-dimensional (r,θ) mode structures of trapped-ion and toroidal ion temperature gradient (ITG) instabilities. It is found that even at very long wavelengths, these eigenmodes exhibit a strong ballooning character with the associated radial structure relatively insensitive to ion Landau damping at the rational surfaces. In contrast to the long-accepted picture that the radial extent of trapped-ion instabilities is characterized by the ion-gyroradius-scale associated with strong localization between adjacent rational surfaces, present results demonstrate that under realistic conditions, the actual scale is governed by the large-scale variations in the equilibrium gradients. Applications to recent measurements of fluctuation properties in Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) [Plasma Phys. Controlled Nucl. Fusion Res. (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1985), Vol. 1, p. 29] L-mode plasmas indicate that the theoretical trends appear consistent with spectral characteristics as well as rough heuristic estimates of the transport level. Benchmarking calculations in support of the development of a three-dimensional toroidal gyrokinetic code indicate reasonable agreement with respect to both the properties of the eigenfunctions and the magnitude of the eigenvalues during the linear phase of the simulations of toroidal ITG instabilities.

Human thrombomodulin knock-in mice reveal differential effects of human thrombomodulin on thrombosis and atherosclerosis.

PubMed

Raife, Thomas J; Dwyre, Denis M; Stevens, Jeff W; Erger, Rochelle A; Leo, Lorie; Wilson, Katina M; Fernández, Jose A; Wilder, Jennifer; Kim, Hyung-Suk; Griffin, John H; Maeda, Nobuyo; Lentz, Steven R

2011-11-01

We sought to develop a murine model to examine the antithrombotic and antiinflammatory functions of human thrombomodulin in vivo. Knock-in mice that express human thrombomodulin from the murine thrombomodulin gene locus were generated. Compared with wild-type mice, human thrombomodulin knock-in mice exhibited decreased protein C activation in the aorta (P<0.01) and lung (P<0.001). Activation of endogenous protein C following infusion of thrombin was decreased by 90% in knock-in mice compared with wild-type mice (P<0.05). Carotid artery thrombosis induced by photochemical injury occurred more rapidly in knock-in mice (12±3 minutes) than in wild-type mice (31±6 minutes; P<0.05). No differences in serum cytokine levels were detected between knock-in and wild-type mice after injection of endotoxin. When crossed with apolipoprotein E-deficient mice and fed a Western diet, knock-in mice had a further decrease in protein C activation but did not exhibit increased atherosclerosis. Expression of human thrombomodulin in place of murine thrombomodulin produces viable mice with a prothrombotic phenotype but unaltered responses to systemic inflammatory or atherogenic stimuli. This humanized animal model will be useful for investigating the function of human thrombomodulin under pathophysiological conditions in vivo.

Self-consistent perturbed equilibrium with neoclassical toroidal torque in tokamaks

DOE PAGES

Park, Jong-Kyu; Logan, Nikolas C.

2017-03-01

Toroidal torque is one of the most important consequences of non-axisymmetric fields in tokamaks. The well-known neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) is due to the second-order toroidal force from anisotropic pressure tensor in the presence of these asymmetries. This work shows that the first-order toroidal force originating from the same anisotropic pressure tensor, despite having no flux surface average, can significantly modify the local perturbed force balance and thus must be included in perturbed equilibrium self-consistent with NTV. The force operator with an anisotropic pressure tensor is not self-adjoint when the NTV torque is finite and thus is solved directly formore » each component. This approach yields a modified, non-self-adjoint Euler-Lagrange equation that can be solved using a variety of common drift-kinetic models in generalized tokamak geometry. The resulting energy and torque integral provides a unique way to construct a torque response matrix, which contains all the information of self-consistent NTV torque profiles obtainable by applying non-axisymmetric fields to the plasma. This torque response matrix can then be used to systematically optimize non-axisymmetric field distributions for desired NTV profiles. Published by AIP Publishing.« less

Scrape-off-layer currents during MHD activity and disruptions in HBT-EP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levesque, J. P.; Desanto, S.; Battey, A.; Bialek, J.; Brooks, J. W.; Mauel, M. E.; Navratil, G. A.

2017-10-01

We report scrape-off layer (SOL) current measurements during MHD mode activity and disruptions in the HBT-EP tokamak. Currents are measured via Rogowski coils mounted on tiles in the low-field-side SOL, toroidal jumpers between otherwise-isolated vessel sections, and segmented plasma current Rogowski coils. These currents strongly depend on the plasma's major radius, mode amplitude, and mode phase. Plasma current asymmetries and SOL currents during disruptions reach 4% of the plasma current. Asymmetric toroidal currents between vessel sections rotate at tens of kHz through most of the current quench, then symmetrize once Ip reaches 30% of its pre-disruptive value. Toroidal jumper currents oscillate between co- and counter-Ip, with co-Ip being dominant on average during disruptions. Increases in local plasma current correlate with counter-Ip current in the nearest toroidal jumper. Measurements are interpreted in the context of two models that produce contrary predictions for the toroidal vessel current polarity during disruptions. Plasma current asymmetries are consistent with both models, and scale with plasma displacement toward the wall. Progress of ongoing SOL current diagnostic upgrades is also presented. Supported by U.S. DOE Grant DE-FG02-86ER53222.

Toroidal midplane neutral beam armor and plasma limiter

DOEpatents

Kugel, H.W.; Hand, S.W. Jr.; Ksayian, H.

1985-05-31

This invention contemplates an armor shield/plasma limiter positioned upon the inner wall of a toroidal vacuum chamber within which is magnetically confined an energetic plasma in a tokamak nuclear fusion reactor. The armor shield/plasma limiter is thus of a general semi-toroidal shape and is comprised of a plurality of adjacent graphite plates positioned immediately adjacent to each other so as to form a continuous ring upon and around the toroidal chamber's inner wall and the reactor's midplane coil. Each plate has a generally semi-circular outer circumference and a recessed inner portion and is comprised of upper and lower half sections positioned immediately adjacent to one another along the midplane of the plate. With the upper and lower half sections thus joined, a channel or duct is provided within the midplane of the plate in which a magnetic flux loop is positioned. The magnetic flux loop is thus positioned immediately adjacent to the fusing toroidal plasma and serves as a diagnostic sensor with the armor shield/plasma limiter minimizing the amount of power from the energetic plasma as well as from the neutral particle beams heating the plasma incident upon the flux loop.

Collisionality Scaling of Main-ion Toroidal and Poloidal Rotation in Low Torque DIII-D Plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

B A Grierson, et al

In tokamak plasmas with low levels of toroidal rotation, the radial electric fi eld Er is a combination of pressure gradient and toroidal and poloidal rotation components, all having similar magnitudes. In order to assess the validity of neoclassical poloidal rotation theory for determining the poloidal rotation contribution to Er , Dα emission from neutral beam heated tokamak discharges in DIII-D [J.L. Luxon, Nucl. Fusion 42 , 614 (2002)] has been evaluated in a sequence of low torque (electron cyclotron resonance heating and balanced diagnostic neutral beam pulse) discharges to determine the local deuterium toroidal rotation velocity. By invoking themore » radial force balance relation the deuterium poloidal rotation can be inferred. It is found that the deuterium poloidal low exceeds the neoclassical value in plasmas with collisionality νi < 0: 1, being more ion diamagnetic, and with a stronger dependence on collisionality than neoclassical theory predicts. At low toroidal rotation, the poloidal rotation contribution to the radial electric fi eld and its shear is signi cant. The eff ect of anomalous levels of poloidal rotation on the radial electric fi eld and cross fi eld heat transport is investigated for ITER parameters.« less

Escape of magnetic toroids from the Sun

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bieber, John W.; Rust, David M.

1995-01-01

Analysis of heliospheric magnetic fields at 1 AU shows that 10(exp 24) Mx of net azimuthal flux escapes from the Sun per solar cycle. This rate is consistent with rates derived from other indicators of flux escape, including coronal mass ejections and filament eruptions. The toroidal flux escape rate is compared with the apparent rate of flux emergence at the solar surface, and it is concluded that escaping toroids will remove at least 20% of the emerging flux, and may remove as much as 100% of emerging flux if multiple eruptions occur on the toroids. The data imply that flux escapes the Sun with an efficiency far exceeding Parker's upper limit estimate of 3%. Toroidal flux escape is almost certainly the source of the observed overwinding of the interplanetary magnetic field spiral. Two mechanisms to facilitate net flux escape are discussed: helicity charging to push open the fields and flux transport with reconnection to close them off. We estimate the Sun will shed approximately 2 x 10(exp 45) of magnetic helicity per solar cycle, leading to a mean helicity density of 100 Mx(exp 2)cm(exp -3) at 1 AU, which agrees well with observations.

Plasma Properties of Microwave Produced Plasma in a Toroidal Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Ajay; Edwards, W. F.; Held, Eric

2011-10-01

We have modified a small tokamak, STOR-1M, on loan from University of Saskatchewan, to operate as a low-temperature (~5 eV) toroidal plasma machine with externally induced toroidal magnetic fields ranging from zero to ~50 G. The plasma is produced using microwave discharges at relatively high pressures. Microwaves are produced by a kitchen microwave-oven magnetron operating at 2.45 GHz in continuous operating mode, resulting in pulses ~0.5 s in duration. Initial measurements of plasma formation in this device with and without applied magnetic fields are presented. Plasma density and temperature profiles have been measured using Langmuir probes and the magnetic field profile inside the plasma has been obtained using Hall probes. When the discharge is created with no applied toroidal magnetic field, the plasma does not fill the entire torus due to high background pressure. However, when a toroidal magnetic field is applied, the plasma flows along the applied field, filling the torus. Increasing the applied magnetic field seems to aid plasma formation - the peak density increases and the density gradient becomes steeper. Above a threshold magnetic field, the plasma develops low-frequency density oscillations due to probable excitation of flute modes in the plasma.

[RS-1 enhanced the efficiency of CRISPR-Cas9 mediated knock-in of human lactoferrin].

PubMed

Zhou, Wenjun; Guo, Rihong; Deng, Mingtian; Wang, Feng; Zhang, Yanli

2017-08-25

This study aims to knock out the goat β-lactoglobulin (BLG) gene using CRISPR-Cas9 system and knock in human lactoferrin (hLF) at the BLG locus, and further study the effect of RAD51 stimulatory compound (RS-1) on homologous recombination efficiency. First, we designed an sgRNA targeting the first exon of goat BLG gene and constructed a co-expression vector pCas9-sgBLG. This sgRNA vector was then transfected into goat ear fibroblasts (GEFs), and the target region was examined by T7EN1 assay and sequencing. Second, we constructed a targeting vector pBHA-hLF-NIE including NEO and EGFP genes based on BLG gene locus. This targeting vector together with pCas9-sgBLG expression vector was co-transfected into GEFs. Transfected cells were then treated with 0, 5, 10 and 20 μmol/L RS-1 for 72 h to analyse the EGFP expression efficiency. Next, we used 800 μg/mL G418 to screen G418-resistent cell clones, and studied hLF site-specific knock-in cell clones by PCR and sequencing. The editing efficiency of sgBLG was between 25% and 31%. The EGFP expression efficiency indicated that the gene knock-in efficiency was improved by RS-1 in a dose-dependent manner, which could reach 3.5-fold compared to the control group. The percentage of positive cells with hLF knock-in was increased to 32.61% when 10 μmol/L RS-1 was used. However, when the concentration of RS-1 increased to 20 μmol/L, the percentage of positive cells decreased to 22.22% and resulted in an increase of senescent cell clone number. These results suggested that hLF knock-in and BLG knock-out in GEFs were achieved by using CRISPR/Cas9 system, and optimum concentration of RS-1 could improve knock-in efficiency, which provides a reference for efficiently obtaining gene knock-in cells using CRISPR/Cas9 in the future.

Effects of Heat of Vaporization and Octane Sensitivity on Knock-Limited Spark Ignition Engine Performance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ratcliff, Matthew A; Burton, Jonathan L; Sindler, Petr

Knock-limited loads for a set of surrogate gasolines all having nominal 100 research octane number (RON), approximately 11 octane sensitivity (S), and a heat of vaporization (HOV) range of 390 to 595 kJ/kg at 25 degrees C were investigated. A single-cylinder spark-ignition engine derived from a General Motors Ecotec direct injection (DI) engine was used to perform load sweeps at a fixed intake air temperature (IAT) of 50 degrees C, as well as knock-limited load measurements across a range of IATs up to 90 degrees C. Both DI and pre-vaporized fuel (supplied by a fuel injector mounted far upstream ofmore » the intake valves and heated intake runner walls) experiments were performed to separate the chemical and thermal effects of the fuels' knock resistance. The DI load sweeps at 50 degrees C intake air temperature showed no effect of HOV on the knock-limited performance. The data suggest that HOV acts as a thermal contributor to S under the conditions studied. Measurement of knock-limited loads from the IAT sweeps for DI at late combustion phasing showed that a 40 vol% ethanol (E40) blend provided additional knock resistance at the highest temperatures, compared to a 20 vol% ethanol blend and hydrocarbon fuel with similar RON and S. Using the pre-vaporized fuel system, all the high S fuels produced nearly identical knock-limited loads at each temperature across the range of IATs studied. For these fuels RON ranged from 99.2 to 101.1 and S ranged from 9.4 to 12.2, with E40 having the lowest RON and highest S. The higher knock-limited loads for E40 at the highest IATs examined were consistent with the slightly higher S for this fuel, and the lower engine operating condition K values arising from use of this fuel. The study highlights how fuel HOV can affect the temperature at intake valve closing, and consequently the pressure-temperature history of the end gas leading to more negative values of K, thereby enhancing the effect of S on knock resistance.« less

Toroids as NMR detectors in metal pressure probes and in flow systems

DOEpatents

Rathke, Jerome W.

1991-01-01

A nuclear magnetic resonance probe to measure the properties of a sample under high pressure conditions. The apparatus employs a free standing, elongated toroidal coil as the RF transmitter and receiver.

Ideal magnetohydrodynamic theory for localized interchange modes in toroidal anisotropic plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shi, Tonghui, E-mail: thshi@ipp.ac.cn; Wan, B. N.; Sun, Y.

2016-08-15

Ideal magnetohydrodynamic theory for localized interchange modes is developed for toroidal plasmas with anisotropic pressure. The work extends the existing theories of Johnson and Hastie [Phys. Fluids 31, 1609 (1988)], etc., to the low n mode case, where n is the toroidal mode number. Also, the plasma compressibility is included, so that the coupling of the parallel motion to perpendicular one, i.e., the so-called apparent mass effect, is investigated in the anisotropic pressure case. The singular layer equation is obtained, and the generalized Mercier's criterion is derived.

Full toroidal imaging of non-axisymmetric plasma material interaction in the National Spherical Torus Experiment divertor.

PubMed

Scotti, Filippo; Roquemore, A L; Soukhanovskii, V A

2012-10-01

A pair of two dimensional fast cameras with a wide angle view (allowing a full radial and toroidal coverage of the lower divertor) was installed in the National Spherical Torus Experiment in order to monitor non-axisymmetric effects. A custom polar remapping procedure and an absolute photometric calibration enabled the easier visualization and quantitative analysis of non-axisymmetric plasma material interaction (e.g., strike point splitting due to application of 3D fields and effects of toroidally asymmetric plasma facing components).

Opportunity Knocks: A Connecticut School-Community Partnership Closes the Door on Preschool Expulsion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fahey, Christine; Ihle, Pat; Macary, Susan; O'Callahan, Cliff

2007-01-01

Several years ago, the people of Middletown made young children a priority by forming a coalition called Opportunity Knocks. A school-community partnership, Opportunity Knocks includes representatives from local health and social service agencies, early childhood educators, and families, all committed to improving the health and well-being of…

The Effect of Compression Ratio on Knock Limits of High-Performance Fuels in a CFR Engine II : Blends of 2,2,3-Trimethylpentane with 28-R

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tower, Leonard K

1945-01-01

The knock-limited performance of blends of 0,50; and 100 percent by volume of 2,2,3-trimethylpentane in 28-R fuel determined with a modified F-4 engine at three sets of conditions varying from severe to mild at each of three compression ratios (6.0, 8.0, and 10.0). A comparison of the knock-limited performance of 2,2,3-trimethylpentane with that of triptane (2,2,3-trimethylbutane) is included. The knock-Limited performance of 2,2,3-trimethylpontane was usually more sensitive to either compression ratio or inlet-air temperature than 28-R fuel, but the ratio of the knock-limited indicated mean effective pressure of a given blend containing 2,2,3-trimethypentane and 28-R to the indicated mean effective pressure of 28-R alone was not greatly affected by compression ratio if the engine operating conditions were mild. Although 2,2,3-trimethylpentane in general had a lower knock-limited performance than triptane, the characteristics of the two fuels were somewhat similar.

MMEJ-assisted gene knock-in using TALENs and CRISPR-Cas9 with the PITCh systems.

PubMed

Sakuma, Tetsushi; Nakade, Shota; Sakane, Yuto; Suzuki, Ken-Ichi T; Yamamoto, Takashi

2016-01-01

Programmable nucleases enable engineering of the genome by utilizing endogenous DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair pathways. Although homologous recombination (HR)-mediated gene knock-in is well established, it cannot necessarily be applied in every cell type and organism because of variable HR frequencies. We recently reported an alternative method of gene knock-in, named the PITCh (Precise Integration into Target Chromosome) system, assisted by microhomology-mediated end-joining (MMEJ). MMEJ harnesses independent machinery from HR, and it requires an extremely short homologous sequence (5-25 bp) for DSB repair, resulting in precise gene knock-in with a more easily constructed donor vector. Here we describe a streamlined protocol for PITCh knock-in, including the design and construction of the PITCh vectors, and their delivery to either human cell lines by transfection or to frog embryos by microinjection. The construction of the PITCh vectors requires only a few days, and the entire process takes ∼ 1.5 months to establish knocked-in cells or ∼ 1 week from injection to early genotyping in frog embryos.

Simulation of bubble expansion and collapse in the vicinity of a free surface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Koukouvinis, P., E-mail: foivos.koukouvinis.1@city.ac.uk; Gavaises, M.; Supponen, O.

The present paper focuses on the numerical simulation of the interaction of laser-generated bubbles with a free surface, including comparison of the results with instances from high-speed videos of the experiment. The Volume Of Fluid method was employed for tracking liquid and gas phases while compressibility effects were introduced with appropriate equations of state for each phase. Initial conditions of the bubble pressure were estimated through the traditional Rayleigh Plesset equation. The simulated bubble expands in a non-spherically symmetric way due to the interference of the free surface, obtaining an oval shape at the maximum size. During collapse, a jetmore » with mushroom cap is formed at the axis of symmetry with the same direction as the gravity vector, which splits the initial bubble to an agglomeration of toroidal structures. Overall, the simulation results are in agreement with the experimental images, both quantitatively and qualitatively, while pressure waves are predicted both during the expansion and the collapse of the bubble. Minor discrepancies in the jet velocity and collapse rate are found and are attributed to the thermodynamic closure of the gas inside the bubble.« less

Fixture for winding transformers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mclyman, M. T.

1980-01-01

Bench-mounted fixture assists operator in winding toroid-shaped transformer cores. Toroid is rigidly held in place as wires are looped around. Arrangement frees both hands for rapid winding and untangling of wires that occurs when core is hand held.

System and method of operating toroidal magnetic confinement devices

DOEpatents

Chance, M.S.; Jardin, S.C.; Stix, T.H.; Grimm, R.C.; Manickam, J.; Okabayashi, M.

1984-08-30

This invention pertains to methods and arrangements for attaining high beta values in plasma confinement devices. More specifically, this invention pertains to methods for accessing the second stability region of operation in toroidal magnetic confinement devices.

Alterations in ethanol-induced behaviors and consumption in knock-in mice expressing ethanol-resistant NMDA receptors.

PubMed

den Hartog, Carolina R; Beckley, Jacob T; Smothers, Thetford C; Lench, Daniel H; Holseberg, Zack L; Fedarovich, Hleb; Gilstrap, Meghin J; Homanics, Gregg E; Woodward, John J

2013-01-01

Ethanol's action on the brain likely reflects altered function of key ion channels such as glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs). In this study, we determined how expression of a mutant GluN1 subunit (F639A) that reduces ethanol inhibition of NMDARs affects ethanol-induced behaviors in mice. Mice homozygous for the F639A allele died prematurely while heterozygous knock-in mice grew and bred normally. Ethanol (44 mM; ∼0.2 g/dl) significantly inhibited NMDA-mediated EPSCs in wild-type mice but had little effect on responses in knock-in mice. Knock-in mice had normal expression of GluN1 and GluN2B protein across different brain regions and a small reduction in levels of GluN2A in medial prefrontal cortex. Ethanol (0.75-2.0 g/kg; i.p.) increased locomotor activity in wild-type mice but had no effect on knock-in mice while MK-801 enhanced activity to the same extent in both groups. Ethanol (2.0 g/kg) reduced rotarod performance equally in both groups but knock-in mice recovered faster following a higher dose (2.5 g/kg). In the elevated zero maze, knock-in mice had a blunted anxiolytic response to ethanol (1.25 g/kg) as compared to wild-type animals. No differences were noted between wild-type and knock-in mice for ethanol-induced loss of righting reflex, sleep time, hypothermia or ethanol metabolism. Knock-in mice consumed less ethanol than wild-type mice during daily limited-access sessions but drank more in an intermittent 24 h access paradigm with no change in taste reactivity or conditioned taste aversion. Overall, these data support the hypothesis that NMDA receptors are important in regulating a specific constellation of effects following exposure to ethanol.

Alterations in Ethanol-Induced Behaviors and Consumption in Knock-In Mice Expressing Ethanol-Resistant NMDA Receptors

PubMed Central

den Hartog, Carolina R.; Beckley, Jacob T.; Smothers, Thetford C.; Lench, Daniel H.; Holseberg, Zack L.; Fedarovich, Hleb; Gilstrap, Meghin J.; Homanics, Gregg E.; Woodward, John J.

2013-01-01

Ethanol's action on the brain likely reflects altered function of key ion channels such as glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs). In this study, we determined how expression of a mutant GluN1 subunit (F639A) that reduces ethanol inhibition of NMDARs affects ethanol-induced behaviors in mice. Mice homozygous for the F639A allele died prematurely while heterozygous knock-in mice grew and bred normally. Ethanol (44 mM; ∼0.2 g/dl) significantly inhibited NMDA-mediated EPSCs in wild-type mice but had little effect on responses in knock-in mice. Knock-in mice had normal expression of GluN1 and GluN2B protein across different brain regions and a small reduction in levels of GluN2A in medial prefrontal cortex. Ethanol (0.75–2.0 g/kg; IP) increased locomotor activity in wild-type mice but had no effect on knock-in mice while MK-801 enhanced activity to the same extent in both groups. Ethanol (2.0 g/kg) reduced rotarod performance equally in both groups but knock-in mice recovered faster following a higher dose (2.5 g/kg). In the elevated zero maze, knock-in mice had a blunted anxiolytic response to ethanol (1.25 g/kg) as compared to wild-type animals. No differences were noted between wild-type and knock-in mice for ethanol-induced loss of righting reflex, sleep time, hypothermia or ethanol metabolism. Knock-in mice consumed less ethanol than wild-type mice during daily limited-access sessions but drank more in an intermittent 24 h access paradigm with no change in taste reactivity or conditioned taste aversion. Overall, these data support the hypothesis that NMDA receptors are important in regulating a specific constellation of effects following exposure to ethanol. PMID:24244696

Investigating Trapped Particle Asymmetry Modes and Temperature Effects in the Lawrence Non-neutral Torus II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nirwan, R.; Swanson, P.; Stoneking, M. R.

2017-10-01

Electron plasma is confined in the Lawrence Non-Neutral Torus II using a purely toroidal magnetic field (R0 = 18 cm, B < 1 kG) for confinement times exceeding 1 second. The LNT II can be configured for fully toroidal traps or variable-length partial toroidal traps. The behavior of the plasma is observed by monitoring the image charge on isolated wall sectors. The plasma is excited by application of a sinusoidal tone burst to selected wall sectors. Phase-space separatrices are introduced by applying squeeze potentials to toroidally localized, but poloidally continuous sectors and the resulting interaction between trapped and passing particles populations results in asymmetry modes and transport. These experiments provide a comparison with similar experiments in cylindrical traps. We also report on the development of temperature measurement techniques and assess temperature affects on diocotron and asymmetry modes. This work is supported by National Science Foundation Grant No. PHY-1202540.

Theoretical study on the laser-driven ion-beam trace probe in toroidal devices with large poloidal magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, X.; Xiao, C.; Chen, Y.; Xu, T.; Yu, Y.; Xu, M.; Wang, L.; Wang, X.; Lin, C.

2018-03-01

Recently, a new diagnostic method, Laser-driven Ion-beam Trace Probe (LITP), has been proposed to reconstruct 2D profiles of the poloidal magnetic field (Bp) and radial electric field (Er) in the tokamak devices. A linear assumption and test particle model were used in those reconstructions. In some toroidal devices such as the spherical tokamak and the Reversal Field Pinch (RFP), Bp is not small enough to meet the linear assumption. In those cases, the error of reconstruction increases quickly when Bp is larger than 10% of the toroidal magnetic field (Bt), and the previous test particle model may cause large error in the tomography process. Here a nonlinear reconstruction method is proposed for those cases. Preliminary numerical results show that LITP could be applied not only in tokamak devices, but also in other toroidal devices, such as the spherical tokamak, RFP, etc.

Fast Erase Method and Apparatus For Digital Media

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oakely, Ernest C. (Inventor)

2006-01-01

A non-contact fast erase method for erasing information stored on a magnetic or optical media. The magnetic media element includes a magnetic surface affixed to a toroidal conductor and stores information in a magnetic polarization pattern. The fast erase method includes applying an alternating current to a planar inductive element positioned near the toroidal conductor, inducing an alternating current in the toroidal conductor, and heating the magnetic surface to a temperature that exceeds the Curie-point so that information stored on the magnetic media element is permanently erased. The optical disc element stores information in a plurality of locations being defined by pits and lands in a toroidal conductive layer. The fast erase method includes similarly inducing a plurality of currents in the optical media element conductive layer and melting a predetermined portion of the conductive layer so that the information stored on the optical medium is destroyed.

Observations of toroidicity-induced Alfvén eigenmodes in a reversed field pinch plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Regnoli, G.; Bergsâker, H.; Tennfors, E.; Zonca, F.; Martines, E.; Serianni, G.; Spolaore, M.; Vianello, N.; Cecconello, M.; Antoni, V.; Cavazzana, R.; Malmberg, J.-A.

2005-04-01

High frequency peaks in the spectra of magnetic field signals have been detected at the edge of Extrap-T2R [P. R. Brunsell, H. Bergsåker, M. Cecconello, J. R. Drake, R. M. Gravestijn, A. Hedqvist, and J.-A. Malmberg, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion, 43, 1457 (2001)]. The measured fluctuation is found to be mainly polarized along the toroidal direction, with high toroidal periodicity n and Alfvénic scaling (f∝B/√mini ). Calculations for a reversed field pinch plasma predict the existence of an edge resonant, high frequency, high-n number toroidicity-induced Alfvén eigenmode with the observed frequency scaling. In addition, gas puffing experiments show that edge density fluctuations are responsible for the rapid changes of mode frequency. Finally a coupling with the electron drift turbulence is proposed as drive mechanism for the eigenmode.

GTC simulations of ion temperature gradient driven instabilities in W7-X and LHD stellarators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Hongyu

2017-10-01

We report GTC linear simulations of ion temperature gradient (ITG) instabilities in Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) and Large Helical Device (LHD) stellarators. GTC has recently been updated to treat 3D equilibria by interfacing with MHD equilibrium code VMEC. GTC simulations of ITG have been carried out in both full torus and partial torus taking into account the toroidal periodicity of the stellarators. The effects of toroidal mode coupling on linear dispersions and mode structures in W7-X and LHD are studied. The mode structure in W7-X is more localized in the toroidal direction, and LHD is more extended in the toroidal direction and tokamak-like. Linear growth rates, real frequencies, and mode structures agree reasonably with results of EUTERPE simulations. In collaboration with I. Holod, J. Riemann, Z. Lin, J. Bao, L. Shi, S. Taimourzadeh, R. Kleiber, and M. Borchardt.

Effect of toroidal field ripple on the formation of internal transport barriers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Vries, P. C.; Joffrin, E.; Hawkes, N. C.; Litaudon, X.; Challis, C. D.; Andrew, Y.; Beurskens, M.; Brix, M.; Brzozowski, J.; Crombé, K.; Giroud, C.; Hobirk, J.; Johnson, T.; Lönnroth, J.; Salmi, A.; Tala, T.; Yavorskij, V.; Zastrow, K.-D.; EFDA Contributors, JET

2008-06-01

The effect of a toroidal field (TF) ripple on the formation and performance of internal transport barriers (ITBs) has been studied in JET. It was found that the TF ripple had a profound effect on the toroidal plasma rotation. An increased TF ripple up to δ = 1% led to a lower rotation and reduced the rotational shear in the region where the ITBs were formed. ITB triggering events were observed in all cases and it is thought that the rotational shear may be less important for this process than, for example, the q-profile. However, the increase in the pressure gradient following the ITB trigger was reduced in discharges with a larger TF ripple and consequently a lower rotational shear. This suggests that toroidal rotation and its shear play a role in the growth of the ITB once it has been triggered.

A feasibility study of developing toroidal tanks for a spinning spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, J. E.; Fester, D. A.

1973-01-01

A study was made to determine the feasibility of developing toroidal propellant tanks for a bipropellant (N204/MMH) propulsion system to be used in a proposed advanced Pioneer spin-stabilized vehicle intended for a Jupiter-orbiter and possibly a Saturn-orbiter mission. The rationale for considering the use of two toroidal tanks rather than the proposed use of four spherical tanks includes the belief that a more symmetrical distribution of propellant mass and a smaller variation in the position of the vehicle center-of-mass during propellant consumption would result, reducing requirements for attitude-control propellants, for balance weight, and for other weights associated with the dynamics of the spinning spacecraft. Results lead to the conclusion that a toroidal tank containing an effective, passive surface tension propellant acquisition device could be fabricated with available manufacturing methods and could be used interchangeably for either fuel or oxidizer.

A feasibility study of developing toroidal tanks for a spinning spacecraft. Part 2: Evaluation of fluid behavior in spinning toroidal tanks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, J. E.

1974-01-01

An experimental program was conducted for the purpose of evaluating propellant behavior characteristics in spinning toroidal tanks. The effects of typical mission requirements, and related phenomena upon propellant slosh and settling, and orientation and stability of the ullage were investigated in a subscale model tank under both one-g and low-g acceleration environments. Specific conditions included were axial acceleration, spin rate, spinrate change, and spacecraft wobble, both singly and in combination. Methanol and water in combination with appropriate spin-rates and accelerations of the scale model system were used to simulate the behavior of fluorine, nitrogen tetroxide, monomethylhydrazine, and hydrazine. The experimental results indicate that no major fluid behavior problems would be encountered with the use of toroidal tanks containing any of the four propellants in a proposed spin-stabilized orbiter spacecraft.

Video Toroid Cavity Imager

DOEpatents

Gerald, II, Rex E.; Sanchez, Jairo; Rathke, Jerome W.

2004-08-10

A video toroid cavity imager for in situ measurement of electrochemical properties of an electrolytic material sample includes a cylindrical toroid cavity resonator containing the sample and employs NMR and video imaging for providing high-resolution spectral and visual information of molecular characteristics of the sample on a real-time basis. A large magnetic field is applied to the sample under controlled temperature and pressure conditions to simultaneously provide NMR spectroscopy and video imaging capabilities for investigating electrochemical transformations of materials or the evolution of long-range molecular aggregation during cooling of hydrocarbon melts. The video toroid cavity imager includes a miniature commercial video camera with an adjustable lens, a modified compression coin cell imager with a fiat circular principal detector element, and a sample mounted on a transparent circular glass disk, and provides NMR information as well as a video image of a sample, such as a polymer film, with micrometer resolution.

Symmetric modular torsatron

DOEpatents

Rome, J.A.; Harris, J.H.

1984-01-01

A fusion reactor device is provided in which the magnetic fields for plasma confinement in a toroidal configuration is produced by a plurality of symmetrical modular coils arranged to form a symmetric modular torsatron referred to as a symmotron. Each of the identical modular coils is helically deformed and comprise one field period of the torsatron. Helical segments of each coil are connected by means of toroidally directed windbacks which may also provide part of the vertical field required for positioning the plasma. The stray fields of the windback segments may be compensated by toroidal coils. A variety of magnetic confinement flux surface configurations may be produced by proper modulation of the winding pitch of the helical segments of the coils, as in a conventional torsatron, winding the helix on a noncircular cross section and varying the poloidal and radial location of the windbacks and the compensating toroidal ring coils.

Culture time of vitrified/warmed zygotes before microinjection affects the production efficiency of CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knock-in mice.

PubMed

Nakagawa, Yoshiko; Sakuma, Tetsushi; Nishimichi, Norihisa; Yokosaki, Yasuyuki; Takeo, Toru; Nakagata, Naomi; Yamamoto, Takashi

2017-05-15

Robust reproductive engineering techniques are required for the efficient and rapid production of genetically modified mice. We have reported the efficient production of genome-edited mice using reproductive engineering techniques, such as ultra-superovulation, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and vitrification/warming of zygotes. We usually use vitrified/warmed fertilized oocytes created by IVF for microinjection because of work efficiency and flexible scheduling. Here, we investigated whether the culture time of zygotes before microinjection influences the efficiency of producing knock-in mice. Knock-in mice were generated using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) system and single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotide (ssODN) or PITCh (Precise Integration into Target Chromosome) system, a method of integrating a donor vector assisted by microhomology-mediated end-joining. The cryopreserved fertilized oocytes were warmed, cultured for several hours and microinjected at different timings. Microinjection was performed with Cas9 protein, guide RNA(s), and an ssODN or PITCh donor plasmid for the ssODN knock-in and the PITCh knock-in, respectively. Different production efficiencies of knock-in mice were observed by changing the timing of microinjection. Our study provides useful information for the CRISPR-Cas9-based generation of knock-in mice. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Highly efficient CRISPR/HDR-mediated knock-in for mouse embryonic stem cells and zygotes.

PubMed

Wang, Bangmei; Li, Kunyu; Wang, Amy; Reiser, Michelle; Saunders, Thom; Lockey, Richard F; Wang, Jia-Wang

2015-10-01

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) gene editing technique, based on the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) repair pathway, has been used to generate gene knock-outs with variable sizes of small insertion/deletions with high efficiency. More precise genome editing, either the insertion or deletion of a desired fragment, can be done by combining the homology-directed-repair (HDR) pathway with CRISPR cleavage. However, HDR-mediated gene knock-in experiments are typically inefficient, and there have been no reports of successful gene knock-in with DNA fragments larger than 4 kb. Here, we describe the targeted insertion of large DNA fragments (7.4 and 5.8 kb) into the genomes of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells and zygotes, respectively, using the CRISPR/HDR technique without NHEJ inhibitors. Our data show that CRISPR/HDR without NHEJ inhibitors can result in highly efficient gene knock-in, equivalent to CRISPR/HDR with NHEJ inhibitors. Although NHEJ is the dominant repair pathway associated with CRISPR-mediated double-strand breaks (DSBs), and biallelic gene knock-ins are common, NHEJ and biallelic gene knock-ins were not detected. Our results demonstrate that efficient targeted insertion of large DNA fragments without NHEJ inhibitors is possible, a result that should stimulate interest in understanding the mechanisms of high efficiency CRISPR targeting in general.

Motor Deficits and Cerebellar Atrophy in Elovl5 Knock Out Mice.

PubMed

Hoxha, Eriola; Gabriele, Rebecca M C; Balbo, Ilaria; Ravera, Francesco; Masante, Linda; Zambelli, Vanessa; Albergo, Cristian; Mitro, Nico; Caruso, Donatella; Di Gregorio, Eleonora; Brusco, Alfredo; Borroni, Barbara; Tempia, Filippo

2017-01-01

Spino-Cerebellar-Ataxia type 38 (SCA38) is caused by missense mutations in the very long chain fatty acid elongase 5 gene, ELOVL5 . The main clinical findings in this disease are ataxia, hyposmia and cerebellar atrophy. Mice in which Elovl5 has been knocked out represent a model of the loss of function hypothesis of SCA38. In agreement with this hypothesis, Elovl5 knock out mice reproduced the main symptoms of patients, motor deficits at the beam balance test and hyposmia. The cerebellar cortex of Elovl5 knock out mice showed a reduction of thickness of the molecular layer, already detectable at 6 months of age, confirmed at 12 and 18 months. The total perimeter length of the Purkinje cell (PC) layer was also reduced in Elovl5 knock out mice. Since Elovl5 transcripts are expressed by PCs, whose dendrites are a major component of the molecular layer, we hypothesized that an alteration of their dendrites might be responsible for the reduced thickness of this layer. Reconstruction of the dendritic tree of biocytin-filled PCs, followed by Sholl analysis, showed that the distribution of distal dendrites was significantly reduced in Elovl5 knock out mice. Dendritic spine density was conserved. These results suggest that Elovl5 knock out mice recapitulate SCA38 symptoms and that their cerebellar atrophy is due, at least in part, to a reduced extension of PC dendritic arborization.

Strong morphological defects in conditional Arabidopsis abp1 knock-down mutants generated in absence of functional ABP1 protein.

PubMed

Michalko, Jaroslav; Glanc, Matouš; Perrot-Rechenmann, Catherine; Friml, Jiří

2016-01-01

The Auxin Binding Protein 1 (ABP1) is one of the most studied proteins in plants. Since decades ago, it has been the prime receptor candidate for the plant hormone auxin with a plethora of described functions in auxin signaling and development. The developmental importance of ABP1 has recently been questioned by identification of Arabidopsis thaliana abp1 knock-out alleles that show no obvious phenotypes under normal growth conditions. In this study, we examined the contradiction between the normal growth and development of the abp1 knock-outs and the strong morphological defects observed in three different ethanol-inducible abp1 knock-down mutants ( abp1-AS, SS12K, SS12S). By analyzing segregating populations of abp1 knock-out vs. abp1 knock-down crosses we show that the strong morphological defects that were believed to be the result of conditional down-regulation of ABP1 can be reproduced also in the absence of the functional ABP1 protein. This data suggests that the phenotypes in  abp1 knock-down lines are due to the off-target effects and asks for further reflections on the biological function of ABP1 or alternative explanations for the missing phenotypic defects in the abp1 loss-of-function alleles.

[Establishment of L-periaxin gene knock-out RSC96 cell line].

PubMed

Liang, Min; Peng, Tingting; Shi, Yawei

2016-12-25

Periaxin, a protein of noncompact myelin, is specifically expressed in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). There are two protein isoform L-periaxin and S-Periaxin by alternative splicing of periaxin gene, playing an important role in the initiation of myelin formation. So far, 18 different mutation sites in L-periaxin gene have been found to induce the peripheral demyelinating neurological charcot-marie-tooth diseases subtype 4F (CMT4F). The technique of activation of transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENS) was used to knock out the L-periaxin gene in RSC 96 cell line of Rattus. According to the design principle, the knock-out site of L-periaxin was assured to NLS domain of L-periaxin, which is target sequence of left and right arms of TALEN. The knock-out vectors of TALEN-L and TALEN-R were established and transfected into RSC96 cell. After puromycin screening, L-periaxin was knocked out successfully in RSC96 cell, which is confirmed by DNA sequence. The mutation efficiency is 21.6%. S-periaxin, not L-periaxin can be detected by Western blotting in L-periaxin gene knock-out RSC96 cell. The cell growth rate was decreased and the number of cells in G1 increased and decreased in S phase in L-periaxin gene knock-out RSC96 cell by flow cytometry and MTT assay.

A note on the application of the Prigogine theorem to rotation of tokamak-plasmas in absence of external torques.

PubMed

Sonnino, Giorgio; Cardinali, Alessandro; Sonnino, Alberto; Nardone, Pasquale; Steinbrecher, György; Zonca, Fulvio

2014-03-01

Rotation of tokamak-plasmas, not at the mechanical equilibrium, is investigated using the Prigogine thermodynamic theorem. This theorem establishes that, for systems confined in rectangular boxes, the global motion of the system with barycentric velocity does not contribute to dissipation. This result, suitably applied to toroidally confined plasmas, suggests that the global barycentric rotations of the plasma, in the toroidal and poloidal directions, are pure reversible processes. In case of negligible viscosity and by supposing the validity of the balance equation for the internal forces, we show that the plasma, even not in the mechanical equilibrium, may freely rotate in the toroidal direction with an angular frequency, which may be higher than the neoclassical estimation. In addition, its toroidal rotation may cause the plasma to rotate globally in the poloidal direction at a speed faster than the expression found by the neoclassical theory. The eventual configuration is attained when the toroidal and poloidal angular frequencies reaches the values that minimize dissipation. The physical interpretation able to explain the reason why some layers of plasma may freely rotate in one direction while, at the same time, others may freely rotate in the opposite direction, is also provided. Invariance properties, herein studied, suggest that the dynamic phase equation might be of the second order in time. We then conclude that a deep and exhaustive study of the invariance properties of the dynamical and thermodynamic equations is the most correct and appropriate way for understanding the triggering mechanism leading to intrinsic plasma-rotation in toroidal magnetic configurations.

Dynamical model for the toroidal sporadic meteors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pokorný, Petr; Vokrouhlický, David; Nesvorný, David

More than a decade of radar operations by the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar have allowed both young and moderately old streams to be distinguished from the dispersed sporadic background component. The latter has been categorized according to broad radiant regions visible to Earth-based observers into three broad classes: the helion and anti-helion source, the north and south apex sources, and the north and south toroidal sources (and a related arc structure). The first two are populated mainly by dust released from Jupiter-family comets and new comets. Proper modeling of the toroidal sources has not to date been accomplished. Here, wemore » develop a steady-state model for the toroidal source of the sporadic meteoroid complex, compare our model with the available radar measurements, and investigate a contribution of dust particles from our model to the whole population of sporadic meteoroids. We find that the long-term stable part of the toroidal particles is mainly fed by dust released by Halley type (long period) comets (HTCs). Our synthetic model reproduces most of the observed features of the toroidal particles, including the most troublesome low-eccentricity component, which is due to a combination of two effects: particles' ability to decouple from Jupiter and circularize by the Poynting-Robertson effect, and large collision probability for orbits similar to that of the Earth. Our calibrated model also allows us to estimate the total mass of the HTC-released dust in space and check the flux necessary to maintain the cloud in a steady state.« less

Instabilities of Current Carrying Torus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Wenjuan; Qiu, J.

2010-05-01

We investigate the initial equilibrium and stability conditions for an uniform current-carrying plasma ring with a non-trivial toroidal magnetic field Bt. Realistic parameters comparable to observations are used to describe the magnetic field inside and outside the torus. The external poloidal magnetic field is assumed to fall off as a power function with decay index n (n = - d log (Bex) /d log(h)). The parameter space is explored to find all initial equilibrium solutions, at which perturbation is introduced. It is shown that with non-trivial toroidal field, the current ring attains equilibrium with a weaker external field. It is also shown that the torus attains equilibrium at higher altitude when the external field decays more rapidly (greater n) or the ratio of the toroidal flux in the torus to the external field increases. We further study stabilities of the torus at equilibrium by defining a critical decay index ncr (Kliem and Török 2006). A sufficiently strong toroidal field can completely suppress the torus instability due to the current hoop force. With a weak toroidal field, similar to the case of Bt=0, the instability occurs when the external magnetic field declines rapidly with height when the field decay index n>ncr. For realistic sets of parameters, the equilibrium height is within 10 solar radii, and the effective ncr is in the range of 1.0-1.6. The critical decay index increases when the ratio of the toroidal flux to the external field decreases. This work is supported by NSF CAREER grant ATM-0748428.

Measurement of Knock Characteristics in Spark-ignition Engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schutz, R

1940-01-01

This paper presents a discussion of three potential sources of error in recording engine knocking which are: the natural oscillation of the membrane, the shock process between test contacts, and the danger of burned contacts. Following this discussion, the paper calls attention to various results which make the bouncing-pin indicator appear fundamentally unsuitable for recording knock phenomena.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Yi; Dec, John E.; Sjoberg, Magnus

Modern spark-ignition (SI) engine technologies have considerably changed in-cylinder conditions under which fuel autoignition and engine knock take place. In this paper, fundamental HCCI engine experiments are proposed as a means for characterizing the impact of these technologies on the knock propensity of different fuels. In particular, the impacts of turbocharging, direct injection (DI), and downspeeding on operation with ethanol and gasoline are investigated to demonstrate this approach. Results reported earlier for ethanol and gasoline on HCCI combustion are revisited with the new perspective of how their autoignition characteristics fit into the anti-knock requirement in modern SI engines. For example,more » the weak sensitivity to pressure boost demonstrated by ethanol in HCCI autoignition can be used to explain the strong knock resistance of ethanol fuels for turbocharged SI engines. Further, ethanol's high sensitivity to charge temperature makes charge cooling, which can be produced by fuel vaporization via direct injection or by piston expansion via spark-timing retard, very effective for inhibiting knock. On the other hand, gasoline autoignition shows a higher sensitivity to pressure, so only very low pressure boost can be applied before knock occurs. Gasoline also demonstrates low temperature sensitivity, so it is unable to make as effective use of the charge cooling produced by fuel vaporization or spark retard. These arguments comprehensively explain literature results on ethanol's substantially better anti-knock performance over gasoline in modern turbocharged DISI engines. Fundamental HCCI experiments such as these can thus be used as a diagnostic and predictive tool for knock-limited SI engine performance for various fuels. As a result, examples are presented where HCCI experiments are used to identify biofuel compounds with good potential for modern SI-engine applications.« less

Electromyographic evidence in support of a knock-in mouse model of DYT1 Dystonia.

PubMed

DeAndrade, Mark P; Trongnetrpunya, Amy; Yokoi, Fumiaki; Cheetham, Chad C; Peng, Ning; Wyss, J Michael; Ding, Mingzhou; Li, Yuqing

2016-11-01

DYT1 dystonia is an autosomal-dominant movement disorder characterized by abnormal, often repetitive, movements and postures. Its hallmark feature is sustained or intermittent contractions of muscles involving co-contractions of antagonist muscle pairs. The symptoms are relieved with the anticholinergic drug trihexyphenidyl. The primary mutation is a trinucleotide deletion (ΔGAG) in DYT1/TOR1A, which codes for torsinA. Previous studies showed that (1) heterozygous Dyt1 ΔGAG knock-in mice, which have an analogous mutation in the endogenous gene, exhibit motor deficits and altered corticostriatal synaptic plasticity in the brain and (2) these deficits can be rescued by trihexyphenidyl. However, brain imaging studies suggest that the Dyt1 knock-in mouse models nonmanifesting mutation carriers of DYT1 dystonia. The aim of this work was to examine the hallmark features of DYT1 dystonia in the Dyt1 knock-in mice by analyzing muscular activities. Wireless telemetry devices with biopotential channels were implanted to the bicep and the rectus femori muscles in Dyt1 knock-in mice, and muscular activities were recorded before and after trihexyphenidyl administration. (1) Consistent with DYT1 dystonia patients, Dyt1 knock-in mice showed sustained contractions and co-contractions of the antagonistic bicep femoris and rectus femoris. (2) The abnormal muscle contractions were normalized by trihexyphenidyl. The results suggest that the motor deficits in Dyt1 knock-in mice are likely produced by abnormal muscle contractions, and Dyt1 knock-in mice can potentially be used as a manifesting disease model to study pathophysiology and develop novel therapeutics. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 1 (STAT1) Knock-down Induces Apoptosis in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma.

PubMed

Arzt, Lisa; Halbwedl, Iris; Gogg-Kamerer, Margit; Popper, Helmut H

2017-07-01

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is the most common primary tumor of the pleura. Its incidence is still increasing in Europe and the prognosis remains poor. We investigated the oncogenic function of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) in MPM in more detail. A miRNA profiling was performed on 52 MPM tissue samples. Upregulated miRNAs (targeting SOCS1/3) were knocked-down using miRNA inhibitors. mRNA expression levels of STAT1/3, SOCS1/3 were detected in MPM cell lines. STAT1 has been knocked-down using siRNA and qPCR was used to detect mRNA expression levels of all JAK/STAT family members and genes that regulate them. An immunohistochemical staining was performed to detect the expression of caspases. STAT1 was upregulated and STAT3 was downregulated, SOCS1/3 protein was not detected but it was possible to detect SOCS1/3 mRNA in MPM cell lines. The upregulated miRNAs were successfully knocked-down, however the expected effect on SOCS1 expression was not detected. STAT1 knock-down had different effects on STAT3/5 expression. Caspase 3a and 8 expression was found to be increased after STAT1 knock-down. The physiologic regulation of STAT1 via SOCS1 is completely lost in MPM and it does not seem that the miRNAs identified by now, do inhibit the expression of SOCS1. MPM cell lines compensate STAT1 knock-down by increasing the expression of STAT3 or STAT5a, two genes which are generally considered to be oncogenes. And much more important, STAT1 knock-down induces apoptosis in MPM cell lines and STAT1 might therefore be a target for therapeutic intervention.

Knock-in fibroblasts and transgenic blastocysts for expression of human FGF2 in the bovine β-casein gene locus using CRISPR/Cas9 nuclease-mediated homologous recombination.

PubMed

Jeong, Young-Hee; Kim, Yeong Ji; Kim, Eun Young; Kim, Se Eun; Kim, Jiwoo; Park, Min Jee; Lee, Hong-Gu; Park, Se Pill; Kang, Man-Jong

2016-06-01

Many transgenic domestic animals have been developed to produce therapeutic proteins in the mammary gland, and this approach is one of the most important methods for agricultural and biomedical applications. However, expression and secretion of a protein varies because transgenes are integrated at random sites in the genome. In addition, distal enhancers are very important for transcriptional gene regulation and tissue-specific gene expression. Development of a vector system regulated accurately in the genome is needed to improve production of therapeutic proteins. The objective of this study was to develop a knock-in system for expression of human fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) in the bovine β-casein gene locus. The F2A sequence was fused to the human FGF2 gene and inserted into exon 3 of the β-casein gene. We detected expression of human FGF2 mRNA in the HC11 mouse mammary epithelial cells by RT-PCR and human FGF2 protein in the culture media using western blot analysis when the knock-in vector was introduced. We transfected the knock-in vector into bovine ear fibroblasts and produced knock-in fibroblasts using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 system. Moreover, the CRISPR/Cas9 system was more efficient than conventional methods. In addition, we produced knock-in blastocysts by somatic cell nuclear transfer using the knock-in fibroblasts. Our knock-in fibroblasts may help to create cloned embryos for development of transgenic dairy cattle expressing human FGF2 protein in the mammary gland via the expression system of the bovine β-casein gene.

[Application of atomic absorption spectrometry in the engine knock detection].

PubMed

Chen, Li-Dan

2013-02-01

Because existing human experience diagnosis method and apparatus for auxiliary diagnosis method are difficult to diagnose quickly engine knock. Atomic absorption spectrometry was used to detect the automobile engine knock in in innovative way. After having determined Fe, Al, Cu, Cr and Pb content in the 35 groups of Audi A6 engine oil whose travel course is 2 000 -70 000 kilometers and whose sampling interval is 2 000 kilometers by atomic absorption spectrometry, the database of primary metal content in the same automobile engine at different mileage was established. The research shows that the main metal content fluctuates within a certain range. In practical engineering applications, after the determination of engine oil main metal content and comparison with its database value, it can not only help to diagnose the type and location of engine knock without the disintegration and reduce vehicle maintenance costs and improve the accuracy of engine knock fault diagnosis.

Fascin-1 knock-down of human glioma cells reduces their microvilli/filopodia while improving their susceptibility to lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity

PubMed Central

Hoa, Neil T; Ge, Lisheng; Erickson, Kate L; Kruse, Carol A; Cornforth, Andrew N; Kuznetsov, Yurii; McPherson, Alex; Martini, Filippo; Jadus, Martin R

2015-01-01

Cancer cells derived from Glioblastoma multiforme possess membranous protrusions allowing these cells to infiltrate surrounding tissue, while resisting lymphocyte cytotoxicity. Microvilli and filopodia are supported by actin filaments cross-linked by fascin. Fascin-1 was genetically silenced within human U251 glioma cells; these knock-down glioma cells lost their microvilli/filopodia. The doubling time of these fascin-1 knock-down cells was doubled that of shRNA control U251 cells. Fascin-1 knock-down cells lost their transmigratory ability responding to interleukin-6 or insulin-like growth factor-1. Fascin-1 silenced U251 cells were more easily killed by cytolytic lymphocytes. Fascin-1 knock-down provides unique opportunities to augment glioma immunotherapy by simultaneously targeting several key glioma functions: like cell transmigration, cell division and resisting immune responses. PMID:25901196

Fabrication of artificial toroid nanostructures by modified β-sheet peptides.

PubMed

Li, Wen; Li, Jingfang; Lee, Myongsoo

2013-09-25

Facial peptide P1 carrying repeating hydrophobic and hydrophilic residues as well as lysine terminals self-assemble into uniform toroid structures. The sensitive balance between the hydrophobic interactions and electrostatic repulsion dominates the formation of highly curved assemblies.

Determination of broken KAM surfaces for particle orbits in toroidal confinement systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

White, R. B.

2015-10-05

Here, the destruction of Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser surfaces in a Hamiltonian system is an important topic in nonlinear dynamics, and in particular in the theory of particle orbits in toroidal magnetic confinement systems. Analytic models for transport due to mode-particle resonances are not sufficiently correct to give the effect of these resonances on transport. In this paper we compare three different methods for the detection of the loss of stability of orbits in the dynamics of charged particles in a toroidal magnetic confinement device in the presence of time dependent magnetic perturbations.

Grazing incidence toroidal mirror pairs in imaging and spectroscopic applications.

PubMed

Malvezzi, A M; Tondello, G

1983-08-15

The optical performance of pairs of toroidal mirrors in grazing incidence has been studied analytically and numerically. Two types of toroidal surface are possible: football and bicycle tire. In grazing incidence and for configurations that compensate up to second-order aberrations, there are significant differences in performance between the two types. For football-type tori the best configuration appears to be Z-shaped with tangential and sagittal foci at the middle point between the mirrors. For bicycle tire-type tori the best configuration is U-shaped with the tangential focus at the middle point and the sagittal at infinity.

Spherical torus fusion reactor

DOEpatents

Martin Peng, Y.K.M.

1985-10-03

The object of this invention is to provide a compact torus fusion reactor with dramatic simplification of plasma confinement design. Another object of this invention is to provide a compact torus fusion reactor with low magnetic field and small aspect ratio stable plasma confinement. In accordance with the principles of this invention there is provided a compact toroidal-type plasma confinement fusion reactor in which only the indispensable components inboard of a tokamak type of plasma confinement region, mainly a current conducting medium which carries electrical current for producing a toroidal magnet confinement field about the toroidal plasma region, are retained.

VORTEX CREEP AGAINST TOROIDAL FLUX LINES, CRUSTAL ENTRAINMENT, AND PULSAR GLITCHES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gügercinoğlu, Erbil; Alpar, M. Ali, E-mail: egugercinoglu@gmail.com, E-mail: alpar@sabanciuniv.edu

2014-06-10

A region of toroidally oriented quantized flux lines must exist in the proton superconductor in the core of the neutron star. This region will be a site of vortex pinning and creep. Entrainment of the neutron superfluid with the crustal lattice leads to a requirement of superfluid moment of inertia associated with vortex creep in excess of the available crustal moment of inertia. This will bring about constraints on the equation of state. The toroidal flux region provides the moment of inertia necessary to complement the crust superfluid with postglitch relaxation behavior fitting the observations.

Ring stability of underground toroidal tanks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lubis, Asnawi; Su'udi, Ahmad

2017-06-01

The design of pressure vessels subjected to internal pressure is governed by its strength, while the design of pressure vessels subjected to external pressure is governed by its stability, which is for circular cross-section is called the ring stability. This paper presented the results of finite element study of ring stability of circular toroidal tank without stiffener under external pressure. The tank was placed underground and external pressure load from soil was simulated as pressure at the top of the vessel along 30° circumferentially. One might ask the reason for choosing toroidal rather than cylindrical tank. Preliminary finite element studies showed that toroidal shells can withstand higher external pressure than cylindrical shells. In this study, the volume of the tank was fixed for 15,000 litters. The buckling external pressure (pL) was calculated for radius ratio (R/r) of 2, 3, and 4. The corresponding cross-section radiuses were 724.3 mm, 632.7 mm, and 574.9 mm, respectively. The selected element type was SHELL 281 from the ANSYS element library. To obtain the buckling load, the arc-length method was used in the nonlinear analysis. Both material and geometric nonlinearities were activated during the analysis. The conclusion of this study is that short-radius and thin-walled toroidal shell produces higher buckling load.

Nearly axisymmetric hot plasmas in a highly rippled tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellan, Paul

2002-11-01

Tokamak ohmic heating current flowing along toroidally rippled flux surfaces results in a poloidal torque. Since pressure gradients cannot offset torques, the torque drives plasma flows which convect plasma toroidally from ripple necks (high B_pol^2) to ripple bulges (low B_pol^2). Stagnation of the oppositely directed toroidal flows at the ripple bulges thermalizes the directed flow velocity ˜ B_pol/μ_0ρ , giving β _pol ˜1. These flows also convect frozen-in poloidal field lines which accumulate at the bulges enhancing the pinch force there and so reducing the bulge. Thus, a nearly axisymmetric β_pol ˜1 equilibrium is achieved using only a few TF coils. Particles bouncing in step between approaching flows will be Fermi accelerated to form a high energy tail. The ST tokamak magnetic mountain experiment [1] showed that, compared to a 1.8% ripple configuration, a 28% ripple configuration had four times the neutron production, and only a modest degradation of overall confinement; the former is consistent with the notion of Fermi acceleration of particles bouncing between colliding toroidal flows and the latter is consistent with ripple reduction due to toroidal convection of poloidal field lines. [1] W. Stodiek et al, Proc. 4th Intl. Conf. Plasma Phys. and Contr. Nuc. Fusion Res., (Madison, 1971), Vol. 1, p. 465

Using RNA interference to knock down the adhesion protein TES.

PubMed

Griffith, Elen

2007-01-01

RNA interference (RNAi) is a specific and efficient method to knock down protein levels using small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which target mRNA degradation. RNAi can be used in mammalian cell culture systems to target any protein of interest, and several studies have used this method to knock down adhesion proteins. We used siRNAs to knock down the levels of TES, a focal adhesion protein, in HeLa cells. We demonstrated knockdown of both TES mRNA and TES protein. Although total knockdown of TES was not achieved, the observed reduction in TES protein was sufficient to result in a cellular phenotype of reduced actin stress fibers.

The Knock-Limited Performance of Fuel Blends Containing Spiropentane, Methylenecyclobutane, Di-Tert-Butyl Ether, Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether, and Triptane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meyer, Carl L.

1946-01-01

Tests show that at inlet-air temperatures of 250 deg F and 100 deg F the knock-limited performance of the base fuel of blends, leaded with 4 ml TEL per gallon and containing 20 percent spiropentane, was reduced at fuel/air ratios below 0.085. The 20 percent methylenecyclobutane reduced the knock-limited power of the base fuel at fuel/air ratios below 0.112. Di-tert-butyl ether, methyl-tert-butyl ether, and triptane increased the knock-limited power of the base fuel at all fuel/air ratios and at both temperatures.

Analysis of Spark-Ignition Engine Knock as Seen in Photographs Taken at 200,000 Frames Per Second

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Cearcy D; Olsen, H Lowell; Logan, Walter O , Jr; Osterstrom, Gordon E

1946-01-01

A motion picture of the development of knock in a spark-ignition engine is presented, which consists of 20 photographs taken at intervals of 5 microseconds, or at a rate of 200,000 photographs per second, with an equivalent wide-open exposure time of 6.4 microseconds for each photograph. A motion picture of a complete combustion process, including the development of knock, taken at the rate of 40,000 photographs per second is also presented to assist the reader in orienting the photographs of the knock development taken at 200,000 frames per second.

Efficient generation of knock-in transgenic zebrafish carrying reporter/driver genes by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome engineering.

PubMed

Kimura, Yukiko; Hisano, Yu; Kawahara, Atsuo; Higashijima, Shin-ichi

2014-10-08

The type II bacterial CRISPR/Cas9 system is rapidly becoming popular for genome-engineering due to its simplicity, flexibility, and high efficiency. Recently, targeted knock-in of a long DNA fragment via homology-independent DNA repair has been achieved in zebrafish using CRISPR/Cas9 system. This raised the possibility that knock-in transgenic zebrafish could be efficiently generated using CRISPR/Cas9. However, how widely this method can be applied for the targeting integration of foreign genes into endogenous genomic loci is unclear. Here, we report efficient generation of knock-in transgenic zebrafish that have cell-type specific Gal4 or reporter gene expression. A donor plasmid containing a heat-shock promoter was co-injected with a short guide RNA (sgRNA) targeted for genome digestion, a sgRNA targeted for donor plasmid digestion, and Cas9 mRNA. We have succeeded in establishing stable knock-in transgenic fish with several different constructs for 4 genetic loci at a frequency being exceeding 25%. Due to its simplicity, design flexibility, and high efficiency, we propose that CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knock-in will become a standard method for the generation transgenic zebrafish.

Closed loop statistical performance analysis of N-K knock controllers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peyton Jones, James C.; Shayestehmanesh, Saeed; Frey, Jesse

2017-09-01

The closed loop performance of engine knock controllers cannot be rigorously assessed from single experiments or simulations because knock behaves as a random process and therefore the response belongs to a random distribution also. In this work a new method is proposed for computing the distributions and expected values of the closed loop response, both in steady state and in response to disturbances. The method takes as its input the control law, and the knock propensity characteristic of the engine which is mapped from open loop steady state tests. The method is applicable to the 'n-k' class of knock controllers in which the control action is a function only of the number of cycles n since the last control move, and the number k of knock events that have occurred in this time. A Cumulative Summation (CumSum) based controller falls within this category, and the method is used to investigate the performance of the controller in a deeper and more rigorous way than has previously been possible. The results are validated using onerous Monte Carlo simulations, which confirm both the validity of the method and its high computational efficiency.

Optimization of the production of knock-in alleles by CRISPR/Cas9 microinjection into the mouse zygote.

PubMed

Raveux, Aurélien; Vandormael-Pournin, Sandrine; Cohen-Tannoudji, Michel

2017-02-17

Microinjection of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in zygotes is an efficient and comparatively fast method to generate genetically modified mice. So far, only few knock-in mice have been generated using this approach, and because no systematic study has been performed, parameters controlling the efficacy of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted insertion are not fully established. Here, we evaluated the effect of several parameters on knock-in efficiency changing only one variable at a time. We found that knock-in efficiency was dependent on injected Cas9 mRNA and single-guide RNA concentrations and that cytoplasmic injection resulted in more genotypic complexity compared to pronuclear injection. Our results also indicated that injection into the pronucleus compared to the cytoplasm is preferable to generate knock-in alleles with an oligonucleotide or a circular plasmid. Finally, we showed that Cas9D10A nickase variant was less efficient than wild-type Cas9 for generating knock-in alleles and caused a higher rate of mosaicism. Thus, our study provides valuable information that will help to improve the future production of precise genetic modifications in mice.

Enhanced serotonin response in the hippocampus of Galphaz protein knock-out mice.

PubMed

Oleskevich, Sharon; Leck, Kwong-Joo; Matthaei, Klaus; Hendry, Ian A

2005-06-21

The serotonin-1A [5-hydroxytryptamine 1A (5HT1A)] receptor is important for emotional and homeostatic processes in the central nervous system. In the hippocampus, the 5HT1A receptor couples to inhibitory Gi/o proteins to decrease pyramidal cell excitability. Here we investigate the 5HT1A receptor in a mouse deficient in the alpha-subunit of Gz protein (Galphaz knock-out). Behavioural tests showed heightened anxiety and depression-like behaviour in the Galphaz knock-out mice. Whole-cell recording in CA1 pyramidal neurons showed a significantly greater 5HT1A receptor-mediated potassium current in Galphaz knock-out mice. The effect was independent of 5HT4 receptors as the slow after-hyperpolarization was unaffected and a slow depolarization was absent in the Galphaz knock-out mice. Other receptors linked to Gi/o proteins [gamma-aminobutyric acid type B receptor (GABAB), adenosine A1 and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors] were not affected in Galphaz knock-out mice. These results suggest that the 5HT1A receptor may be linked to Galphaz protein, as reported previously in cell culture but shown here in an intact neural network.

Analysis of Knock Phenomenon Induced in a Constant Volume Chamber by Local Gas Temperature Measurement and Visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moriyoshi, Yasuo; Kobayashi, Shigemi; Enomoto, Yoshiteru

Knock phenomenon in SI engines is regarded as an auto-ignition of unburned end-gas, and it has been widely examined by using rapid compression machines (RCM), shock-tubes or test engines. Recent researches point out the importance of the low temperature chemical reaction and the negative temperature coefficient (NTC). To investigate the effects, analyses of instantaneous local gas temperature, flow visualization and gaseous pressure were conducted in this study. As measurements using real engines are too difficult to analyze, the authors aimed to make measurements using a constant volume vessel under knock conditions where propagating flame exists during the induction time of auto-ignition. Adopting the two-wire thermocouple method enabled us to measure the instantaneous local gas temperature until the moment when the flame front passes by. High-speed images inside the unburned region were also recorded simultaneously using an endoscope. As a result, it was found that when knock occurs, the auto-ignition initiation time seems slightly early compared to the results without knock. This causes a higher volume ratio of unburned mixture and existence of many hot spots and stochastically leads to an initiation of knock.

Efficient Knock-in of a Point Mutation in Porcine Fibroblasts Using the CRISPR/Cas9-GMNN Fusion Gene.

PubMed

Gerlach, Max; Kraft, Theresia; Brenner, Bernhard; Petersen, Björn; Niemann, Heiner; Montag, Judith

2018-06-13

During CRISPR/Cas9 mediated genome editing, site-specific double strand breaks are introduced and repaired either unspecific by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) or sequence dependent by homology directed repair (HDR). Whereas NHEJ-based generation of gene knock-out is widely performed, the HDR-based knock-in of specific mutations remains a bottleneck. Especially in primary cell lines that are essential for the generation of cell culture and animal models of inherited human diseases, knock-in efficacy is insufficient and needs significant improvement. Here, we tested two different approaches to increase the knock-in frequency of a specific point mutation into the MYH7 -gene in porcine fetal fibroblasts. We added a small molecule inhibitor of NHEJ, SCR7 (5,6-bis((E)-benzylideneamino)-2-mercaptopyrimidin-4-ol), during genome editing and screened cell cultures for the point mutation. However, this approach did not yield increased knock-in rates. In an alternative approach, we fused humanized Cas9 (hCas9) to the N-terminal peptide of the Geminin gene ( GMNN ). The fusion protein is degraded in NHEJ-dominated cell cycle phases, which should increase HDR-rates. Using hCas9- GMNN and point mutation-specific real time PCR screening, we found a two-fold increase in genome edited cell cultures. This increase of HDR by hCas9- GMNN provides a promising way to enrich specific knock-in in porcine fibroblast cultures for somatic cloning approaches.

Knock-in of Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein or/and Human Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 Gene into β-Casein Gene Locus in the Porcine Fibroblasts to Produce Therapeutic Protein.

PubMed

Lee, Sang Mi; Kim, Ji Woo; Jeong, Young-Hee; Kim, Se Eun; Kim, Yeong Ji; Moon, Seung Ju; Lee, Ji-Hye; Kim, Keun-Jung; Kim, Min-Kyu; Kang, Man-Jong

2014-11-01

Transgenic animals have become important tools for the production of therapeutic proteins in the domestic animal. Production efficiencies of transgenic animals by conventional methods as microinjection and retrovirus vector methods are low, and the foreign gene expression levels are also low because of their random integration in the host genome. In this study, we investigated the homologous recombination on the porcine β-casein gene locus using a knock-in vector for the β-casein gene locus. We developed the knock-in vector on the porcine β-casein gene locus and isolated knock-in fibroblast for nuclear transfer. The knock-in vector consisted of the neomycin resistance gene (neo) as a positive selectable marker gene, diphtheria toxin-A gene as negative selection marker, and 5' arm and 3' arm from the porcine β-casein gene. The secretion of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) was more easily detected in the cell culture media than it was by western blot analysis of cell extract of the HC11 mouse mammary epithelial cells transfected with EGFP knock-in vector. These results indicated that a knock-in system using β-casein gene induced high expression of transgene by the gene regulatory sequence of endogenous β-casein gene. These fibroblasts may be used to produce transgenic pigs for the production of therapeutic proteins via the mammary glands.

Knock-in of Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein or/and Human Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 Gene into β-Casein Gene Locus in the Porcine Fibroblasts to Produce Therapeutic Protein

PubMed Central

Lee, Sang Mi; Kim, Ji Woo; Jeong, Young-Hee; Kim, Se Eun; Kim, Yeong Ji; Moon, Seung Ju; Lee, Ji-Hye; Kim, Keun-Jung; Kim, Min-Kyu; Kang, Man-Jong

2014-01-01

Transgenic animals have become important tools for the production of therapeutic proteins in the domestic animal. Production efficiencies of transgenic animals by conventional methods as microinjection and retrovirus vector methods are low, and the foreign gene expression levels are also low because of their random integration in the host genome. In this study, we investigated the homologous recombination on the porcine β-casein gene locus using a knock-in vector for the β-casein gene locus. We developed the knock-in vector on the porcine β-casein gene locus and isolated knock-in fibroblast for nuclear transfer. The knock-in vector consisted of the neomycin resistance gene (neo) as a positive selectable marker gene, diphtheria toxin-A gene as negative selection marker, and 5′ arm and 3′ arm from the porcine β-casein gene. The secretion of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) was more easily detected in the cell culture media than it was by western blot analysis of cell extract of the HC11 mouse mammary epithelial cells transfected with EGFP knock-in vector. These results indicated that a knock-in system using β-casein gene induced high expression of transgene by the gene regulatory sequence of endogenous β-casein gene. These fibroblasts may be used to produce transgenic pigs for the production of therapeutic proteins via the mammary glands. PMID:25358326

Targeted Knock-Down of miR21 Primary Transcripts Using snoMEN Vectors Induces Apoptosis in Human Cancer Cell Lines.

PubMed

Ono, Motoharu; Yamada, Kayo; Avolio, Fabio; Afzal, Vackar; Bensaddek, Dalila; Lamond, Angus I

2015-01-01

We have previously reported an antisense technology, 'snoMEN vectors', for targeted knock-down of protein coding mRNAs using human snoRNAs manipulated to contain short regions of sequence complementarity with the mRNA target. Here we characterise the use of snoMEN vectors to target the knock-down of micro RNA primary transcripts. We document the specific knock-down of miR21 in HeLa cells using plasmid vectors expressing miR21-targeted snoMEN RNAs and show this induces apoptosis. Knock-down is dependent on the presence of complementary sequences in the snoMEN vector and the induction of apoptosis can be suppressed by over-expression of miR21. Furthermore, we have also developed lentiviral vectors for delivery of snoMEN RNAs and show this increases the efficiency of vector transduction in many human cell lines that are difficult to transfect with plasmid vectors. Transduction of lentiviral vectors expressing snoMEN targeted to pri-miR21 induces apoptosis in human lung adenocarcinoma cells, which express high levels of miR21, but not in human primary cells. We show that snoMEN-mediated suppression of miRNA expression is prevented by siRNA knock-down of Ago2, but not by knock-down of Ago1 or Upf1. snoMEN RNAs colocalise with Ago2 in cell nuclei and nucleoli and can be co-immunoprecipitated from nuclear extracts by antibodies specific for Ago2.

CRISPR/Cas9 Allows Efficient and Complete Knock-In of a Destabilization Domain-Tagged Essential Protein in a Human Cell Line, Allowing Rapid Knockdown of Protein Function

PubMed Central

Park, Arnold; Won, Sohui T.; Pentecost, Mickey; Bartkowski, Wojciech; Lee, Benhur

2014-01-01

Although modulation of protein levels is an important tool for study of protein function, it is difficult or impossible to knockdown or knockout genes that are critical for cell growth or viability. For such genes, a conditional knockdown approach would be valuable. The FKBP protein-based destabilization domain (DD)-tagging approach, which confers instability to the tagged protein in the absence of the compound Shield-1, has been shown to provide rapid control of protein levels determined by Shield-1 concentration. Although a strategy to knock-in DD-tagged protein at the endogenous loci has been employed in certain parasite studies, partly due to the relative ease of knock-in as a result of their mostly haploid lifecycles, this strategy has not been demonstrated in diploid or hyperploid mammalian cells due to the relative difficulty of achieving complete knock-in in all alleles. The recent advent of CRISPR/Cas9 homing endonuclease-mediated targeted genome cleavage has been shown to allow highly efficient homologous recombination at the targeted locus. We therefore assessed the feasibility of using CRISPR/Cas9 to achieve complete knock-in to DD-tag the essential gene Treacher Collins-Franceschetti syndrome 1 (TCOF1) in human 293T cells. Using a double antibiotic selection strategy to select clones with at least two knock-in alleles, we obtained numerous complete knock-in clones within three weeks of initial transfection. DD-TCOF1 expression in the knock-in cells was Shield-1 concentration-dependent, and removal of Shield-1 resulted in destabilization of DD-TCOF1 over the course of hours. We further confirmed that the tagged TCOF1 retained the nucleolar localization of the wild-type untagged protein, and that destabilization of DD-TCOF1 resulted in impaired cell growth, as expected for a gene implicated in ribosome biogenesis. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homologous recombination to completely knock-in a DD tag likely represents a generalizable and efficient strategy to achieve rapid modulation of protein levels in mammalian cells. PMID:24743236

CRISPR/Cas9 allows efficient and complete knock-in of a destabilization domain-tagged essential protein in a human cell line, allowing rapid knockdown of protein function.

PubMed

Park, Arnold; Won, Sohui T; Pentecost, Mickey; Bartkowski, Wojciech; Lee, Benhur

2014-01-01

Although modulation of protein levels is an important tool for study of protein function, it is difficult or impossible to knockdown or knockout genes that are critical for cell growth or viability. For such genes, a conditional knockdown approach would be valuable. The FKBP protein-based destabilization domain (DD)-tagging approach, which confers instability to the tagged protein in the absence of the compound Shield-1, has been shown to provide rapid control of protein levels determined by Shield-1 concentration. Although a strategy to knock-in DD-tagged protein at the endogenous loci has been employed in certain parasite studies, partly due to the relative ease of knock-in as a result of their mostly haploid lifecycles, this strategy has not been demonstrated in diploid or hyperploid mammalian cells due to the relative difficulty of achieving complete knock-in in all alleles. The recent advent of CRISPR/Cas9 homing endonuclease-mediated targeted genome cleavage has been shown to allow highly efficient homologous recombination at the targeted locus. We therefore assessed the feasibility of using CRISPR/Cas9 to achieve complete knock-in to DD-tag the essential gene Treacher Collins-Franceschetti syndrome 1 (TCOF1) in human 293T cells. Using a double antibiotic selection strategy to select clones with at least two knock-in alleles, we obtained numerous complete knock-in clones within three weeks of initial transfection. DD-TCOF1 expression in the knock-in cells was Shield-1 concentration-dependent, and removal of Shield-1 resulted in destabilization of DD-TCOF1 over the course of hours. We further confirmed that the tagged TCOF1 retained the nucleolar localization of the wild-type untagged protein, and that destabilization of DD-TCOF1 resulted in impaired cell growth, as expected for a gene implicated in ribosome biogenesis. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homologous recombination to completely knock-in a DD tag likely represents a generalizable and efficient strategy to achieve rapid modulation of protein levels in mammalian cells.

A knock-in/knock-out mouse model of HSPB8-associated distal hereditary motor neuropathy and myopathy reveals toxic gain-of-function of mutant Hspb8.

PubMed

Bouhy, Delphine; Juneja, Manisha; Katona, Istvan; Holmgren, Anne; Asselbergh, Bob; De Winter, Vicky; Hochepied, Tino; Goossens, Steven; Haigh, Jody J; Libert, Claude; Ceuterick-de Groote, Chantal; Irobi, Joy; Weis, Joachim; Timmerman, Vincent

2018-01-01

Mutations in the small heat shock protein B8 gene (HSPB8/HSP22) have been associated with distal hereditary motor neuropathy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, and recently distal myopathy. It is so far not clear how mutant HSPB8 induces the neuronal and muscular phenotypes and if a common pathogenesis lies behind these diseases. Growing evidence points towards a role of HSPB8 in chaperone-associated autophagy, which has been shown to be a determinant for the clearance of poly-glutamine aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases but also for the maintenance of skeletal muscle myofibrils. To test this hypothesis and better dissect the pathomechanism of mutant HSPB8, we generated a new transgenic mouse model leading to the expression of the mutant protein (knock-in lines) or the loss-of-function (functional knock-out lines) of the endogenous protein Hspb8. While the homozygous knock-in mice developed motor deficits associated with degeneration of peripheral nerves and severe muscle atrophy corroborating patient data, homozygous knock-out mice had locomotor performances equivalent to those of wild-type animals. The distal skeletal muscles of the post-symptomatic homozygous knock-in displayed Z-disk disorganisation, granulofilamentous material accumulation along with Hspb8, αB-crystallin (HSPB5/CRYAB), and desmin aggregates. The presence of the aggregates correlated with reduced markers of effective autophagy. The sciatic nerve of the homozygous knock-in mice was characterized by low autophagy potential in pre-symptomatic and Hspb8 aggregates in post-symptomatic animals. On the other hand, the sciatic nerve of the homozygous knock-out mice presented a normal morphology and their distal muscle displayed accumulation of abnormal mitochondria but intact myofiber and Z-line organisation. Our data, therefore, suggest that toxic gain-of-function of mutant Hspb8 aggregates is a major contributor to the peripheral neuropathy and the myopathy. In addition, mutant Hspb8 induces impairments in autophagy that may aggravate the phenotype.

A theory of the helical ripple-induced stochastic behavior of fast toroidal bananas in torsatrons and heliotrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smirnova, M. S.

2001-05-01

A theory of the helical ripple-induced stochastic behavior of fast toroidal bananas in torsatrons and heliotrons [K. Uo, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 16, 1380 (1961)] is developed. It is supplemented by an analysis of the structure of the secondary magnetic wells along field lines. Conditions, under which these wells are suppressed in torsatrons-heliotrons by poloidally modulated helical field ripple, are found. It is shown that inside the secondary magnetic well-free region, favorable conditions exist for a transition of fast toroidal bananas to stochastic trajectories. The analytical estimation for the value of an additional radial jump of a banana particle near its turning point, induced by the helical field ripple effect, is derived. It is found to be similar to the corresponding banana radial jump in a tokamak with the toroidal field ripple. Critical values of the helical field ripple dangerous from the viewpoint of a banana transition to stochastic behavior are estimated.

Minimum magnetic curvature for resilient divertors using Compact Toroidal Hybrid geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bader, A.; Hegna, C. C.; Cianciosa, M.; Hartwell, G. J.

2018-05-01

The properties of resilient divertors are explored using equilibria derived from Compact Toroidal Hybrid (CTH) geometries. Resilience is defined here as the robustness of the strike point patterns as the plasma geometry and/or plasma profiles are changed. The addition of plasma current in the CTH configurations significantly alters the shape of the last closed flux surface and the rotational transform profile, however, it does not alter the strike point pattern on the target plates, and hence has resilient divertor features. The limits of when a configuration transforms to a resilient configuration is then explored. New CTH-like configurations are generated that vary from a perfectly circular cross section to configurations with increasing amounts of toroidal shaping. It is found that even small amounts of toroidal shaping lead to strike point localization that is similar to the standard CTH configuration. These results show that only a small degree of three-dimensional shaping is necessary to produce a resilient divertor, implying that any highly shaped optimized stellarator will possess the resilient divertor property.

Demountable externally anchored low-stress magnet system and related method

DOEpatents

Powell, James; Hsieh, Shih-Yung; Lehner, John R.

1981-01-01

Toroidal field coils are interlaced with other toroidal structures and are operated under supercooled conditions. To facilitate demounting the toroidal field coils, which are supercooled, they are made in the form of connected segments constituting coils of polygonal form. The segments may be rectilinear in form, but some may also be U-shaped or L-shaped. The segments are detachable from one another and are supported in load relieving manner. Power devices are used to displace the segments to facilitate removal of the coils from the aforesaid toroidal structures and to provide for the accommodation of dimensional changes and stresses due to thermal and magnetic conditions. The segments are formed of spaced parallel conductive slabs with the slabs of one segment being interdigitated with the slabs of the adjacent segment. The interdigitated slabs may be soldered together or slidingly engaged. The slabs are shaped to accommodate superconductors and to provide passages for a cooling medium. The slabs are moreover separated by insulator slabs with which they form a coil structure which is jacketed.

Thermal magnetic noise in a strip wound crystalline ferromagnetic core at 4.2 K

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snigirev, O. V.; Maslennikov, Yu. V.; Vitale, S.; Cerdonio, M.; Prodi, G. A.

1996-01-01

A dc SQUID magnetometer-based system has been developed and used to measure, in the frequency range 50-2300 Hz, the complex magnetic permeability μr(ν) and the magnetization noise at 4.2 K in a strip wound toroid. This toroidal core has been made of the 3-μm-thick ribbon fabricated from a crystalline magnetically soft alloy, Ultraperm. Below 1 kHz a constant value of -arg[μr(ν)]≊2×10-3 and 1/ν shaped noise spectral density have been measured. For frequencies higher than 1 kHz a linear growth of the imaginary part μr and a white noise have been found. The noise due to the sample is found in quantitative agreement with the standard fluctuation-dissipation formula for the thermal noise, while a comparison of the permeability imaginary part magnitude with the theoretical value has indicated a partially shorted windings in the toroid, which have decreased the toroid roll-off frequency down to 1 MHz.

Measurements of the toroidal torque balance of error field penetration locked modes

DOE PAGES

Shiraki, Daisuke; Paz-Soldan, Carlos; Hanson, Jeremy M.; ...

2015-01-05

Here, detailed measurements from the DIII-D tokamak of the toroidal dynamics of error field penetration locked modes under the influence of slowly evolving external fields, enable study of the toroidal torques on the mode, including interaction with the intrinsic error field. The error field in these low density Ohmic discharges is well known based on the mode penetration threshold, allowing resonant and non-resonant torque effects to be distinguished. These m/n = 2/1 locked modes are found to be well described by a toroidal torque balance between the resonant interaction with n = 1 error fields, and a viscous torque inmore » the electron diamagnetic drift direction which is observed to scale as the square of the perturbed field due to the island. Fitting to this empirical torque balance allows a time-resolved measurement of the intrinsic error field of the device, providing evidence for a time-dependent error field in DIII-D due to ramping of the Ohmic coil current.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sugama, H.; Nunami, M.; Department of Fusion Science, SOKENDAI

Effects of collisions on conservation laws for toroidal plasmas are investigated based on the gyrokinetic field theory. Associating the collisional system with a corresponding collisionless system at a given time such that the two systems have the same distribution functions and electromagnetic fields instantaneously, it is shown how the collisionless conservation laws derived from Noether's theorem are modified by the collision term. Effects of the external source term added into the gyrokinetic equation can be formulated similarly with the collisional effects. Particle, energy, and toroidal momentum balance equations including collisional and turbulent transport fluxes are systematically derived using a novelmore » gyrokinetic collision operator, by which the collisional change rates of energy and canonical toroidal angular momentum per unit volume in the gyrocenter space can be given in the conservative forms. The ensemble-averaged transport equations of particles, energy, and toroidal momentum given in the present work are shown to include classical, neoclassical, and turbulent transport fluxes which agree with those derived from conventional recursive formulations.« less

Toroidal sensor arrays for real-time photoacoustic imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bychkov, Anton S.; Cherepetskaya, Elena B.; Karabutov, Alexander A.; Makarov, Vladimir A.

2017-07-01

This article addresses theoretical and numerical investigation of image formation in photoacoustic (PA) imaging with complex-shaped concave sensor arrays. The spatial resolution and the size of sensitivity region of PA and laser ultrasonic (LU) imaging systems are assessed using sensitivity maps and spatial resolution maps in the image plane. This paper also discusses the relationship between the size of high-sensitivity regions and the spatial resolution of real-time imaging systems utilizing toroidal arrays. It is shown that the use of arrays with toroidal geometry significantly improves the diagnostic capabilities of PA and LU imaging to investigate biological objects, rocks, and composite materials.

Nonlinear Decay and Plasma Heating by a Toroidal Alfvén Eigenmode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Z.; Chen, L.; Zonca, F.; Chen, W.

2018-03-01

We demonstrate theoretically that a toroidal Alfvén eigenmode (TAE) can parametrically decay into a geodesic acoustic mode and kinetic TAE in a toroidal plasma. The corresponding threshold condition for the TAE amplitude is estimated to be |δ B⊥/B0|˜O (10-4). Here, δ B⊥ and B0 are, respectively, the perturbed magnetic field of the pump TAE and the equilibrium magnetic field. This novel decay process, in addition to contributing to the nonlinear saturation of energetic-particle or α -particle driven TAE instability, could also contribute to the heating as well as regulating the transports of thermal plasmas.

Verification of gyrokinetic particle simulation of current-driven instability in fusion plasmas. I. Internal kink mode

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McClenaghan, J.; Lin, Z.; Holod, I.

The gyrokinetic toroidal code (GTC) capability has been extended for simulating internal kink instability with kinetic effects in toroidal geometry. The global simulation domain covers the magnetic axis, which is necessary for simulating current-driven instabilities. GTC simulation in the fluid limit of the kink modes in cylindrical geometry is verified by benchmarking with a magnetohydrodynamic eigenvalue code. Gyrokinetic simulations of the kink modes in the toroidal geometry find that ion kinetic effects significantly reduce the growth rate even when the banana orbit width is much smaller than the radial width of the perturbed current layer at the mode rational surface.

Modeling and control of plasma rotation and βn for NSTX-U using Neoclassical Toroidal Viscosity and Neutral Beam Injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goumiri, Imene; Rowley, Clarence; Sabbagh, Steven; Gates, David; Gerhardt, Stefan; Boyer, Mark

2015-11-01

A model-based system is presented allowing control of the plasma rotation profile in a magnetically confined toroidal fusion device to maintain plasma stability for long pulse operation. The analysis, using NSTX data and NSTX-U TRANSP simulations, is aimed at controlling plasma rotation using momentum from six injected neutral beams and neoclassical toroidal viscosity generated by three-dimensional applied magnetic fields as actuators. Based on the momentum diffusion and torque balance model obtained, a feedback controller is designed and predictive simulations using TRANSP will be presented. Robustness of the model and the rotation controller will be discussed.

The role of fluctuation-induced transport in a toroidal plasma with strong radial electric fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roth, J. R.; Krawczonek, W. M.; Powers, E. J.; Hong, J. Y.; Kim, Y. C.

1981-01-01

Previous work employing digitally implemented spectral analysis techniques is extended to demonstrate that radial fluctuation-induced transport is the dominant ion transport mechanism in an electric field dominated toroidal plasma. Such transport can be made to occur against a density gradient, and hence may have a very beneficial effect on confinement in toroidal plasmas of fusion interest. It is shown that Bohm or classical diffusion down a density gradient, the collisional Pedersen-current mechanism, and the collisionless electric field gradient mechanism described by Cole (1976) all played a minor role, if any, in the radial transport of this plasma.

Characterisation of the Interaction between Toroidal Vortex Structures and Flame Front Propagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Long, E. J.; Hargrave, G. K.; Jarvis, S.; Justham, T.; Halliwell, N.

2006-07-01

Experimental laser diagnostic data is presented for flame characterisation during interactions with toroidal vortices generated in the wake of an annular obstacle. A novel twin section combustion chamber has been utilised to allow the controlled formation of stable eddy structures into which a flame front can propagate. High speed laser sheet visualisation was employed to record the flow field and flame front temporal development and high-speed digital particle image velocimetry was used to quantify the velocity field of the unburnt mixture ahead of the flame front. Results provide characterisation of the toroidal vortex/flame front interaction for a range of vortex scales of and recirculation strengths.

Drag Characteristics of Several Towed Decelerator Models at Mach 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miserentino, Robert; Bohon, Herman L.

1970-01-01

An investigation has been made to determine the possibility of using toroid-membrane and wide-angle conical shapes as towed decelerators. Parameter variations were investigated which might render toroid-membrane models and wide-angle- cone models stable without loss of the high drag coefficients obtainable with sting-mounted models. The parameters varied included location of center of gravity, location of the pivot between the towline and the model, and configuration modifications of the aft end as the addition of a corner radius and the addition of a skirt. The toroid membrane can be made into a stable towed decelerator with a suitable configuration modification of the aft end.

Integrals of motion from quantum toroidal algebras

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feigin, B.; Jimbo, M.; Mukhin, E.

2017-11-01

We identify the Taylor coefficients of the transfer matrices corresponding to quantum toroidal algebras with the elliptic local and non-local integrals of motion introduced by Kojima, Shiraishi, Watanabe, and one of the authors. That allows us to prove the Litvinov conjectures on the Intermediate Long Wave model. We also discuss the ({gl_m, {gl_n) duality of XXZ models in quantum toroidal setting and the implications for the quantum KdV model. In particular, we conjecture that the spectrum of non-local integrals of motion of Bazhanov, Lukyanov, and Zamolodchikov is described by Gaudin Bethe ansatz equations associated to affine {sl}2 . Dedicated to the memory of Petr Petrovich Kulish.

The effect of SIRT1 protein knock down on PGC-1α acetylation during skeletal muscle contraction.

PubMed

Park, Dae Ryoung; Kim, Jeong Seok; Kim, Chang Keun

2014-03-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) and General control nonderepressible 5 (GCN5) knock down on peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α) deacetylation during electrical stimulated skeletal muscle contraction. Skeletal muscle primary cell were isolated from C57BL/6 mice gastrocnemius and transfected lentiviral SIRT1 and GCN5 shRNA. Knock downed muscle cell were stimulated by electrical stimulation (1Hz, 3min) and collected for PGC-1α deceatylation assays. Immunoprecipitation performed for PGC-1α deacetylation, acetyl-lysine level was measured. Our resulted showed SIRT1 knock down not influenced to PGC-1α deacetylation during electrical stimulation induced muscle contraction while GCN5 knock down decreased PGC-1α deacetylation significantly (p<0.05). This study can be concluded that GCN5 is a critical factor for muscle contraction induced PGC-1α deacetylation.

Deterministic Walks with Choice

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Beeler, Katy E.; Berenhaut, Kenneth S.; Cooper, Joshua N.

2014-01-10

This paper studies deterministic movement over toroidal grids, integrating local information, bounded memory and choice at individual nodes. The research is motivated by recent work on deterministic random walks, and applications in multi-agent systems. Several results regarding passing tokens through toroidal grids are discussed, as well as some open questions.

Public Data Set: H-mode Plasmas at Very Low Aspect Ratio on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

DOE Data Explorer

Thome, Kathreen E. [University of Wisconsin-Madison; Oak Ridge Associated Universities] (ORCID:0000000248013922); Bongard, Michael W. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000231609746); Barr, Jayson L. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000177685931); Bodner, Grant M. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000324979172); Burke, Marcus G. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000176193724); Fonck, Raymond J. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000294386762); Kriete, David M. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000236572911); Perry, Justin M. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000171228609); Reusch, Joshua A. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000284249422); Schlossberg, David J. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000287139448)

2016-09-30

This data set contains openly-documented, machine readable digital research data corresponding to figures published in K.E. Thome et al., 'H-mode Plasmas at Very Low Aspect Ratio on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment,' Nucl. Fusion 57, 022018 (2017).

The Reduced Effectiveness of EGR to Mitigate Knock at High Loads in Boosted SI Engines

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Szybist, James P.; Wagnon, Scott W.; Splitter, Derek A.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) can attenuate knock propensity in spark ignition (SI) engines at naturally aspirated or lightly boosted conditions. In this paper, we investigate the role of cooled EGR under higher load conditions with multiple fuel compositions, where highly retarded combustion phasing typical of modern SI engines was used. It was found that under these conditions, EGR attenuation of knock is greatly reduced, where EGR doesn’t allow significant combustion phasing advance as it does under lighter load conditions. Detailed combustion analysis shows that when EGR is added, the polytropic coefficient increases causing the compressivemore » pressure and temperature to increase. At sufficiently highly boosted conditions, the increase in polytropic coefficient and additional trapped mass from EGR can sufficiently reduce fuel ignition delay to overcome knock attenuation effects. Kinetic modeling demonstrates that the effectiveness of EGR to mitigate knock is highly dependent on the pressure-temperature condition. Experiments at 2000 rpm have confirmed reduced fuel ignition delay under highly boosted conditions relevant to modern downsized boosted SI engines, where in-cylinder pressure is higher and the temperature is cooler. Finally, at these conditions, charge reactivity increases compared to naturally aspirated conditions, and attenuation of knock by EGR is reduced.« less

The Reduced Effectiveness of EGR to Mitigate Knock at High Loads in Boosted SI Engines

DOE PAGES

Szybist, James P.; Wagnon, Scott W.; Splitter, Derek A.; ...

2017-09-04

Numerous studies have demonstrated that exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) can attenuate knock propensity in spark ignition (SI) engines at naturally aspirated or lightly boosted conditions. In this paper, we investigate the role of cooled EGR under higher load conditions with multiple fuel compositions, where highly retarded combustion phasing typical of modern SI engines was used. It was found that under these conditions, EGR attenuation of knock is greatly reduced, where EGR doesn’t allow significant combustion phasing advance as it does under lighter load conditions. Detailed combustion analysis shows that when EGR is added, the polytropic coefficient increases causing the compressivemore » pressure and temperature to increase. At sufficiently highly boosted conditions, the increase in polytropic coefficient and additional trapped mass from EGR can sufficiently reduce fuel ignition delay to overcome knock attenuation effects. Kinetic modeling demonstrates that the effectiveness of EGR to mitigate knock is highly dependent on the pressure-temperature condition. Experiments at 2000 rpm have confirmed reduced fuel ignition delay under highly boosted conditions relevant to modern downsized boosted SI engines, where in-cylinder pressure is higher and the temperature is cooler. Finally, at these conditions, charge reactivity increases compared to naturally aspirated conditions, and attenuation of knock by EGR is reduced.« less

Paired immunoglobulin-like receptor B knockout does not enhance axonal regeneration or locomotor recovery after spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Nakamura, Yuka; Fujita, Yuki; Ueno, Masaki; Takai, Toshiyuki; Yamashita, Toshihide

2011-01-21

Myelin components that inhibit axonal regeneration are believed to contribute significantly to the lack of axonal regeneration noted in the adult central nervous system. Three proteins found in myelin, Nogo, myelin-associated glycoprotein, and oligodendrocyte-myelin glycoprotein, inhibit neurite outgrowth in vitro. All of these proteins interact with the same receptors, namely, the Nogo receptor (NgR) and paired immunoglobulin-like receptor B (PIR-B). As per previous reports, corticospinal tract (CST) regeneration is not enhanced in NgR-knock-out mice after spinal cord injury. Therefore, we assessed CST regeneration in PIR-B-knock-out mice. We found that hindlimb motor function, as assessed using the Basso mouse scale, footprint test, inclined plane test, and beam walking test, did not differ between the PIR-B-knock-out and wild-type mice after dorsal hemisection of the spinal cord. Further, tracing of the CST fibers after injury did not reveal enhanced axonal regeneration or sprouting in the CST of the PIR-B-knock-out mice. Systemic administration of NEP1-40, a NgR antagonist, to PIR-B knock-out mice did not enhance the regenerative response. These results indicate that PIR-B knock-out is not sufficient to induce extensive axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury.

Analysis of Spark-Ignition Engine Knock as Seen in Photographs Taken at 200,000 Frames Per Second

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Cearcy D.; Olsen, H. Lowell; Logan, Walter O., Jr.; Osterstrom, Gordon E

1946-01-01

A motion picture of the development of knock in a spark-ignition engine, is presented, which consists of 20 photographs taken at intervals of 5 microseconds, or at a rate of 200,000 photographs a second, with an equivalent wide-open exposure time of 6.4 microseconds for each photograph. A motion picture of a complete combustion process, including the development of knock, taken at the rate of 40,000 photographs a second is also presented to assist the reader in orienting the photographs of the knock development taken at 200,000 frames per second. The photographs taken at 200,000 frames per second are analyzed and the conclusion is made that the type of knock in the spark-ignition engine involving violent gas vibration originates as self-propagating disturbance starting at a point in the.burn1ig or autoigniting gases and spreading out from that point through the incompletely burned gases at a rate as high as 6800 feet per second, or about twice the speed of sound in the burned gases. Apparent formation of free carbon particles in both the burning and the burned gas is observed within 10 microseconds after passage of the knock disturbance through the gases.

Novel In Vivo Model for Combinatorial Fluorescence Labeling in Mouse Prostate

PubMed Central

Fang, Xiaolan; Gyabaah, Kenneth; Nickkholgh, Bita; Cline, J. Mark; Balaji, K.C.

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND The epithelial layer of prostate glands contains several types of cells, including luminal and basal cells. Yet there is paucity of animal models to study the cellular origin of normal or neoplastic development in the prostate to facilitate the treatment of heterogenous prostate diseases by targeting individual cell lineages. METHODS We developed a mouse model that expresses different types of fluorescent proteins (XFPs) specifically in prostatic cells. Using an in vivo stochastic fluorescent protein combinatorial strategy, XFP signals were expressed specifically in prostate of Protein Kinase D1 (PKD1) knock-out, K-RasG12D knock-in, and Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and PKD1 double knock-out mice under the control of PB-Cre promoter. RESULTS In vivo XFP signals were observed in prostate of PKD1 knock-out, K-RasG12D knock-in, and PTEN PKD1 double knock-out mice, which developed normal, hyperplastic, and neoplastic prostate, respectively. The patchy expression pattern of XFPs in neoplasia tissue indicated the clonal origin of cancer cells in the prostate. CONCLUSIONS The transgenic mouse models demonstrate combinatorial fluorescent protein expression in normal and cancerous prostatic tissues. This novel prostate-specific fluorescent labeled mouse model, which we named Prorainbow, could be useful in studying benign and malignant pathology of prostate. PMID:25753731

Novel In Vivo model for combinatorial fluorescence labeling in mouse prostate.

PubMed

Fang, Xiaolan; Gyabaah, Kenneth; Nickkholgh, Bita; Cline, J Mark; Balaji, K C

2015-06-15

The epithelial layer of prostate glands contains several types of cells, including luminal and basal cells. Yet there is paucity of animal models to study the cellular origin of normal or neoplastic development in the prostate to facilitate the treatment of heterogenous prostate diseases by targeting individual cell lineages. We developed a mouse model that expresses different types of fluorescent proteins (XFPs) specifically in prostatic cells. Using an in vivo stochastic fluorescent protein combinatorial strategy, XFP signals were expressed specifically in prostate of Protein Kinase D1 (PKD1) knock-out, K-Ras(G) (12) (D) knock-in, and Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and PKD1 double knock-out mice under the control of PB-Cre promoter. In vivo XFP signals were observed in prostate of PKD1 knock-out, K-Ras(G) (12) (D) knock-in, and PTEN PKD1 double knock-out mice, which developed normal, hyperplastic, and neoplastic prostate, respectively. The patchy expression pattern of XFPs in neoplasia tissue indicated the clonal origin of cancer cells in the prostate. The transgenic mouse models demonstrate combinatorial fluorescent protein expression in normal and cancerous prostatic tissues. This novel prostate-specific fluorescent labeled mouse model, which we named Prorainbow, could be useful in studying benign and malignant pathology of prostate. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Evaluation of the toroidal torque driven by external non-resonant non-axisymmetric magnetic field perturbations in a tokamak

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kasilov, Sergei V.; Institute of Plasma Physics National Science Center “Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology” ul. Akademicheskaya 1, 61108 Kharkov; Kernbichler, Winfried

2014-09-15

The toroidal torque driven by external non-resonant magnetic perturbations (neoclassical toroidal viscosity) is an important momentum source affecting the toroidal plasma rotation in tokamaks. The well-known force-flux relation directly links this torque to the non-ambipolar neoclassical particle fluxes arising due to the violation of the toroidal symmetry of the magnetic field. Here, a quasilinear approach for the numerical computation of these fluxes is described, which reduces the dimension of a standard neoclassical transport problem by one without model simplifications of the linearized drift kinetic equation. The only limiting condition is that the non-axisymmetric perturbation field is small enough such thatmore » the effect of the perturbation field on particle motion within the flux surface is negligible. Therefore, in addition to most of the transport regimes described by the banana (bounce averaged) kinetic equation also such regimes as, e.g., ripple-plateau and resonant diffusion regimes are naturally included in this approach. Based on this approach, a quasilinear version of the code NEO-2 [W. Kernbichler et al., Plasma Fusion Res. 3, S1061 (2008).] has been developed and benchmarked against a few analytical and numerical models. Results from NEO-2 stay in good agreement with results from these models in their pertinent range of validity.« less

NIMROD simulations of HIT-SI plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akcay, Cihan; Jarboe, Thomas; Nelson, Brian; Kim, Charlson

2011-10-01

HIT-SI (Steady Inductive Helicity Injected Torus) is a current drive experiment that uses two semi-toroidal helicity injectors driven at 5-15 kHz to generate steady inductive helicity injection (SIHI). All the plasma-facing walls of the experiment are coated with an insulating material to guarantee an inductive discharge. NIMROD is a 3-D extended MHD code that can only model toroidally-uniform geometries. The helicity injectors of the experiment are simulated as flux and voltage boundary conditions with odd toroidal symmetry. A highly resistive, thin edge-layer approximates the insulating walls. The simulations are initial-value calculations that use a zero β resistive MHD (rMHD) model with uniform density. The Prandtl number (Pr = 10), and Lundquist number (S = 5 - 50) closely match the experimental values. rMHD calculations at S ~ 10 show no growth of an n = 0 mode and only a few kA of toroidal current whereas HIT-SI has demonstrated toroidal currents greater than 50 kA with a current amplification of 3. At higher S (>= 20) the simulations exhibit significant n = 0 magnetic energy growth and a current amplification exceeding unity: Itor/Iinj >= 1 . While HIT-SI has shown evidence for separatrix formation, rMHD calculations indicate an entirely stochastic magnetic structure during sustainment. Results will also presented for Hall MHD, anticipated to play a crucial role in the physics of SIHI.

Neoclassical poloidal and toroidal rotation in tokamaks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Y.B.; Diamond, P.H.; Groebner, R.J.

1991-08-01

Explicit expressions for the neoclassical poloidal and toroidal rotation speeds of primary ion and impurity species are derived via the Hirshman and Sigmar moment approach. The rotation speeds of the primary ion can be significantly different from those of impurities in various interesting cases. The rapid increase of impurity poloidal rotation in the edge region of H-mode discharges in tokamaks can be explained by a rapid steepening of the primary ion pressure gradient. Depending on ion collisionality, the poloidal rotation speed of the primary ions at the edge can be quite small and the flow direction may be opposite tomore » that of the impurities. This may cast considerable doubts on current L to H bifurcation models based on primary ion poloidal rotation only. Also, the difference between the toroidal rotation velocities of primary ions and impurities is not negligible in various cases. In Ohmic plasmas, the parallel electric field induces a large impurity toroidal rotation close to the magnetic axis, which seems to agree with experimental observations. In the ion banana and plateau regime, there can be non-negligible disparities between primary ion and impurity toroidal rotation velocities due to the ion density and temperature gradients. Detailed analytic expressions for the primary ion and impurity rotation speeds are presented, and the methodology for generalization to the case of several impurity species is also presented for future numerical evaluation.« less

Poloidal and toroidal plasmons and fields of multilayer nanorings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garapati, K. V.; Salhi, M.; Kouchekian, S.; Siopsis, G.; Passian, A.

2017-04-01

Composite and janus type metallodielectric nanoparticles are increasingly considered as a means to control the spatial and temporal behavior of electromagnetic fields in diverse applications such as coupling to quantum emitters, achieving invisibility cloaks, and obtaining quantum correlations between qubits. We investigate the surface modes of a toroidal nanostructure and obtain the canonical plasmon dispersion relations and resonance modes for arbitrarily layered nanorings. Unlike particle plasmon eigenmodes in other geometries, the amplitudes of the eigenmodes of tori exhibit a distinct forward and backward coupling. We present the plasmon dispersion relations for several relevant toroidal configurations in the quasistatic limit and obtain the dominant retarded dispersion relations of a single ring for comparison, discuss mode complementarity and hybridization, and introduce two new types of toroidal particles in the form of janus nanorings. The resonance frequencies for the first few dominant modes of a ring composed of plasmon supporting materials such as gold, silver, and aluminum are provided and compared to those for a silicon ring. A generalized Green's function is obtained for multilayer tori allowing for calculation of the scattering response to interacting fields. Employing the Green's function, the scalar electric potential distribution corresponding to individual poloidal and toroidal modes in response to an arbitrarily polarized external field and the field of electrons is obtained. The results are applied to obtain the local density of states and decay rate of a dipole near the center of the torus.

The Study of Spherical Cores with a Toroidal Magnetic Field Configuration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gholipour, Mahmoud

Observational studies of the magnetic fields in molecular clouds have significantly improved the theoretical models developed for the structure and evolution of dense clouds and for the star formation process as well. The recent observational analyses on some cores indicate that there is a power-law relationship between magnetic field and density in the molecular clouds. In this study, we consider the stability of spherical cores with a toroidal magnetic field configuration in the molecular clouds. For this purpose, we model a spherical core that is in magnetostatic equilibrium. Herein, we propose an equation of density structure, which is a modifiedmore » form of the isothermal Lane–Emden equation in the presence of the toroidal magnetic field. The proposed equation describes the effect of the toroidal magnetic field on the cloud structure and the mass cloud. Furthermore, we found an upper limit for this configuration of magnetic field in the molecular clouds. Then, the virial theorem is used to consider the cloud evolution leading to an equation in order to obtain the lower limit of the field strength in the molecular cloud. However, the results show that the field strength of the toroidal configuration has an important effect on the cloud structure, whose upper limit is related to the central density and field gradient. The obtained results address some regions of clouds where the cloud decomposition or star formation can be seen.« less

Exploring the Relationship Between Octane Sensitivity and Heat-of-Vaporization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sluder, C. Scott; Szybist, James P.; McCormick, Robert L.

2016-04-05

The latent heat-of-vaporization (HoV) of blends of biofuel and hydrocarbon components into gasolines has recently experienced expanded interest because of the potential for increased HoV to increase fuel knock resistance in direct-injection (DI) engines. Several studies have been conducted, with some studies identifying an additional anti-knock benefit from HoV and others failing to arrive at the same conclusion. Consideration of these studies holistically shows that they can be grouped according to the level of fuel octane sensitivity variation within their fuel matrices. When comparing fuels of different octane sensitivity significant additional anti-knock benefits associated with HoV are sometimes observed. Studiesmore » that fix the octane sensitivity find that HoV does not produce additional anti-knock benefit. New studies were performed at ORNL and NREL to further investigate the relationship between HoV and octane sensitivity. Three fuels were formulated for the ORNL study with matched RON and octane sensitivity, but with differing HoV. Experiments with these fuels in a 1.6-liter GTDI engine showed that the fuels exhibited very similar combustion phasing under knock-limited spark advance (KLSA) conditions. Fuels having a range of RON, octane sensitivity, and HoV were tested at NREL in a single-cylinder GDI engine under conditions where octane sensitivity has little effect on knock resistance. KLSA was found to be well correlated with RON. These results reinforce the concept that HoV anti-knock effects can be viewed as a contributor to octane sensitivity. From this viewpoint, HoV effects manifest themselves as increases in octane sensitivity.« less

The knock-down of the expression of MdMLO19 reduces susceptibility to powdery mildew (Podosphaera leucotricha) in apple (Malus domestica).

PubMed

Pessina, Stefano; Angeli, Dario; Martens, Stefan; Visser, Richard G F; Bai, Yuling; Salamini, Francesco; Velasco, Riccardo; Schouten, Henk J; Malnoy, Mickael

2016-10-01

Varieties resistant to powdery mildew (PM; caused by Podosphaera leucotricha) are a major component of sustainable apple production. Resistance can be achieved by knocking-out susceptibility S-genes to be singled out among members of the MLO (Mildew Locus O) gene family. Candidates are MLO S-genes of phylogenetic clade V up-regulated upon PM inoculation, such as MdMLO11 and 19 (clade V) and MdMLO18 (clade VII). We report the knock-down through RNA interference of MdMLO11 and 19, as well as the complementation of resistance with MdMLO18 in the Arabidopsis thaliana triple mlo mutant Atmlo2/6/12. The knock-down of MdMLO19 reduced PM disease severity by 75%, whereas the knock-down of MdMLO11, alone or in combination with MdMLO19, did not result in any reduction or additional reduction of susceptibility compared with MdMLO19 alone. The test in A. thaliana excluded a role for MdMLO18 in PM susceptibility. Cell wall appositions (papillae) were present in both PM-resistant and PM-susceptible plants, but were larger in resistant lines. No obvious negative phenotype was observed in plants with mlo genes knocked down. Apparently, MdMLO19 plays the pivotal role in apple PM susceptibility and its knock-down induces a very significant level of resistance. © 2016 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Knock knee and the gait of six-year-old children.

PubMed

Pretkiewicz-Abacjew, E

2003-06-01

Knock knee (genu valgum) interferes with the locomotive and supporting function of the lower limb. In static conditions the load-bearing axis of the valgus limb is displaced laterally in relation to the middle of the joint, causing the knee joint, the ankle joint, and the foot as a whole to be weighted in the wrong way. The purpose of this work is to examine the influence of knock knee on gait kinematics. The gait of twenty-two 6-year-old children of both sexes in whom knock knee had been medically diagnosed was compared with the gait of 33 children of the same age whose knee joints conformed to the norm in formation and position. Gait was recorded separately for the sagittal and the frontal planes, using a video-computer system. The results of the examination indicated statistically significant differences in the gait of the two groups of children. These differences related mainly to the time features of gait and to data on the angles in the knee and ankle joints. Although the results obtained for other features of gait did not reveal statistical differences, these did indicate that the children with knock knee walked more slowly and with a lower cadence. The results indicate that knock knee in 6-year-old children has an adverse impact on the mechanics of the lower limb joints in gait and causes a deterioration in gait quality. Thus knock knee in children should not be treated merely as a superficial defect but should be subject to therapy and, more importantly, taken into account when introducing children to early sports training.

Characterization of the first knock-out aldh7a1 zebrafish model for pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy using CRISPR-Cas9 technology

PubMed Central

Zabinyakov, Nikita; Bullivant, Garrett; Cao, Feng; Fernandez Ojeda, Matilde; Jia, Zheng Ping; Wen, Xiao-Yan; Dowling, James J.; Salomons, Gajja S.

2017-01-01

Pyridoxine dependent epilepsy (PDE) is caused by likely pathogenic variants in ALDH7A1 (PDE-ALDH7A1) and inherited autosomal recessively. Neurotoxic alpha-amino adipic semialdehyde (alpha-AASA), piperideine 6-carboxylate and pipecolic acid accumulate in body fluids. Neonatal or infantile onset seizures refractory to anti-epileptic medications are clinical features. Treatment with pyridoxine, arginine and lysine-restricted diet does not normalize neurodevelopmental outcome or accumulation of neurotoxic metabolites. There is no animal model for high throughput drug screening. For this reason, we developed and characterized the first knock-out aldh7a1 zebrafish model using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. Zebrafish aldh7a1 mutants were generated by using a vector free method of CRISPR-Cas9 mutagenesis. Genotype analysis of aldh7a1 knock-out zebrafish was performed by high resolution melt analysis, direct sequencing and QIAxcel system. Electroencephalogram was performed. Alpha-AASA, piperideine 6-carboxylate and pipecolic acid, were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Our knock-out aldh7a1 zebrafish has homozygous 5 base pair (bp) mutation in ALDH7A1. Knock-out aldh7a1 embryos have spontaneous rapid increase in locomotion and a rapid circling swim behavior earliest 8-day post fertilization (dpf). Electroencephalogram revealed large amplitude spike discharges compared to wild type. Knock-out aldh7a1 embryos have elevated alpha-AASA, piperideine 6-carboxylate and pipecolic acid compared to wild type embryos at 3 dpf. Knock-out aldh7a1 embryos showed no aldh7a1 protein by western blot compared to wild type. Our knock-out aldh7a1 zebrafish is a well characterized model for large-scale drug screening using behavioral and biochemical features and accurately recapitulates the human PDE-ALDH7A1 disease. PMID:29053735

Characterization of the first knock-out aldh7a1 zebrafish model for pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy using CRISPR-Cas9 technology.

PubMed

Zabinyakov, Nikita; Bullivant, Garrett; Cao, Feng; Fernandez Ojeda, Matilde; Jia, Zheng Ping; Wen, Xiao-Yan; Dowling, James J; Salomons, Gajja S; Mercimek-Andrews, Saadet

2017-01-01

Pyridoxine dependent epilepsy (PDE) is caused by likely pathogenic variants in ALDH7A1 (PDE-ALDH7A1) and inherited autosomal recessively. Neurotoxic alpha-amino adipic semialdehyde (alpha-AASA), piperideine 6-carboxylate and pipecolic acid accumulate in body fluids. Neonatal or infantile onset seizures refractory to anti-epileptic medications are clinical features. Treatment with pyridoxine, arginine and lysine-restricted diet does not normalize neurodevelopmental outcome or accumulation of neurotoxic metabolites. There is no animal model for high throughput drug screening. For this reason, we developed and characterized the first knock-out aldh7a1 zebrafish model using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. Zebrafish aldh7a1 mutants were generated by using a vector free method of CRISPR-Cas9 mutagenesis. Genotype analysis of aldh7a1 knock-out zebrafish was performed by high resolution melt analysis, direct sequencing and QIAxcel system. Electroencephalogram was performed. Alpha-AASA, piperideine 6-carboxylate and pipecolic acid, were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Our knock-out aldh7a1 zebrafish has homozygous 5 base pair (bp) mutation in ALDH7A1. Knock-out aldh7a1 embryos have spontaneous rapid increase in locomotion and a rapid circling swim behavior earliest 8-day post fertilization (dpf). Electroencephalogram revealed large amplitude spike discharges compared to wild type. Knock-out aldh7a1 embryos have elevated alpha-AASA, piperideine 6-carboxylate and pipecolic acid compared to wild type embryos at 3 dpf. Knock-out aldh7a1 embryos showed no aldh7a1 protein by western blot compared to wild type. Our knock-out aldh7a1 zebrafish is a well characterized model for large-scale drug screening using behavioral and biochemical features and accurately recapitulates the human PDE-ALDH7A1 disease.

Babcock Redux: An Amendment of Babcock's Schematic of the Sun's Magnetic Cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, Ronald L.; Cirtain, Jonathan W.; Sterling, Alphonse C.

2017-08-01

We amend Babcock's original scenario for the global dynamo process that sustains the Sun's 22-year magnetic cycle. The amended scenario fits post-Babcock observed features of the magnetic activity cycle and convection zone, and is based on ideas of Spruit & Roberts (1983, Nature, 304, 401) about magnetic flux tubes in the convection zone. A sequence of four schematic cartoons lays out the proposed evolution of the global configuration of the magnetic field above, in, and at the bottom of the convection zone through sunspot Cycle 23 and into Cycle 24. Three key elements of the amended scenario are: (1) as the net following-polarity magnetic field from the sunspot-region Ω-loop fields of an ongoing sunspot cycle is swept poleward to cancel and replace the opposite-polarity polar-cap field from the previous sunspot cycle, it remains connected to the ongoing sunspot cycle's toroidal source-field band at the bottom of the convection zone; (2) topological pumping by the convection zone's free convection keeps the horizontal extent of the poleward-migrating following-polarity field pushed to the bottom, forcing it to gradually cancel and replace old horizontal field below it that connects the ongoing-cycle source-field band to the previous-cycle polar-cap field; (3) in each polar hemisphere, by continually shearing the poloidal component of the settling new horizontal field, the latitudinal differential rotation low in the convection zone generates the next-cycle source-field band poleward of the ongoing-cycle band. The amended scenario is a more-plausible version of Babcock's scenario, and its viability can be explored by appropriate kinematic flux-transport solar-dynamo simulations. A paper giving a full description of our dynamo scenario is posted on arXiv (http://arxiv.org/abs/1606.05371).This work was funded by the Heliophysics Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate through the Living With a Star Targeted Research and Technology Program and the Hinode Project.

Inward transport of a toroidally confined plasma subject to strong radial electric fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roth, J. R.; Krawczonek, W. M.; Powers, E. J.; Hong, J.; Kim, Y. H.

1977-01-01

Digitally implemented spectral analysis techniques were used to investigate the frequency-dependent fluctuation-induced particle transport across a toroidal magnetic field. When the electric field pointed radially inward, the transport was inward and a significant enhancement of the plasma density and confinement time resulted.

Anomalous-viscosity current drive

DOEpatents

Stix, T.H.; Ono, M.

1986-04-25

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for maintaining a steady-state current for magnetically confining the plasma in a toroidal magnetic confinement device using anomalous viscosity current drive. A second aspect of this invention relates to an apparatus and method for the start-up of a magnetically confined toroidal plasma.

Targeting Transcription Elongation Machinery for Breast Cancer Therapy

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-05-01

be performed to evaluate the pausing index for RNA Pol II. The potential role of a Super Enhancer will also be tested by knocking down the mediator...generation of all the cell lines stably knocking out the components of various P-TEFb complexes and performed some of the biochemical experiments...assessing the changes in P-TEFb complex formation upon knocking down or overexpression of various components. Funding Support: NIH Has there been a

Targeting the Prometastatic Microenvironment of the Involuting mammary gland

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

metastatic variants and by lentiviral knock down. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Cell Adhesion, Involution, Metastasis, Latent TGFbeta Binding Protein, Pregnancy...metastatic parental cell line (Report year 2 Fig. 4). We generated a lentiviral knock down system that effectively reduced LTBP1 expression within this cell...this pilot set of animals and will be infecting and following a larger cohort by IVIS to track the effect of knocking down Ltbp1 on metastasis in

Efficient gene knock-out and knock-in with transgenic Cas9 in Drosophila.

PubMed

Xue, Zhaoyu; Ren, Mengda; Wu, Menghua; Dai, Junbiao; Rong, Yikang S; Gao, Guanjun

2014-03-21

Bacterial Cas9 nuclease induces site-specific DNA breaks using small gRNA as guides. Cas9 has been successfully introduced into Drosophila for genome editing. Here, we improve the versatility of this method by developing a transgenic system that expresses Cas9 in the Drosophila germline. Using this system, we induced inheritable knock-out mutations by injecting only the gRNA into embryos, achieved highly efficient mutagenesis by expressing gRNA from the promoter of a novel non-coding RNA gene, and recovered homologous recombination-based knock-in of a fluorescent marker at a rate of 4.5% by co-injecting gRNA with a circular DNA donor. Copyright © 2014 Xue et al.

Flow shear stabilization of rotating plasmas due to the Coriolis effect.

PubMed

Haverkort, J W; de Blank, H J

2012-07-01

A radially decreasing toroidal rotation frequency can have a stabilizing effect on nonaxisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities. We show that this is a consequence of the Coriolis effect that induces a restoring pressure gradient force when plasma is perturbed radially. In a rotating cylindrical plasma, this Coriolis-pressure effect is canceled by the centrifugal effect responsible for the magnetorotational instability. In a magnetically confined toroidal plasma, a large aspect ratio expansion shows that only half of the effect is canceled. This analytical result is confirmed by numerical computations. When the plasma rotates faster toroidally in the core than near the edge, the effect can contribute to the formation of transport barriers by stabilizing MHD instabilities.

Simultaneous feedback control of plasma rotation and stored energy on NSTX-U using neoclassical toroidal viscosity and neutral beam injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goumiri, I. R.; Rowley, C. W.; Sabbagh, S. A.; Gates, D. A.; Boyer, M. D.; Gerhardt, S. P.; Kolemen, E.; Menard, J. E.

2017-05-01

A model-based feedback system is presented enabling the simultaneous control of the stored energy through βn and the toroidal rotation profile of the plasma in National Spherical Torus eXperiment Upgrade device. Actuation is obtained using the momentum from six injected neutral beams and the neoclassical toroidal viscosity generated by applying three-dimensional magnetic fields. Based on a model of the momentum diffusion and torque balance, a feedback controller is designed and tested in closed-loop simulations using TRANSP, a time dependent transport analysis code, in predictive mode. Promising results for the ongoing experimental implementation of controllers are obtained.

Simultaneous feedback control of plasma rotation and stored energy on NSTX-U using neoclassical toroidal viscosity and neutral beam injection

PubMed Central

Goumiri, I. R.; Sabbagh, S. A.; Boyer, M. D.; Gerhardt, S. P.; Kolemen, E.; Menard, J. E.

2017-01-01

A model-based feedback system is presented enabling the simultaneous control of the stored energy through βn and the toroidal rotation profile of the plasma in National Spherical Torus eXperiment Upgrade device. Actuation is obtained using the momentum from six injected neutral beams and the neoclassical toroidal viscosity generated by applying three-dimensional magnetic fields. Based on a model of the momentum diffusion and torque balance, a feedback controller is designed and tested in closed-loop simulations using TRANSP, a time dependent transport analysis code, in predictive mode. Promising results for the ongoing experimental implementation of controllers are obtained. PMID:28435207

Calculation of impurity poloidal rotation from measured poloidal asymmetries in the toroidal rotation of a tokamak plasma.

PubMed

Chrystal, C; Burrell, K H; Grierson, B A; Groebner, R J; Kaplan, D H

2012-10-01

To improve poloidal rotation measurement capabilities on the DIII-D tokamak, new chords for the charge exchange recombination spectroscopy (CER) diagnostic have been installed. CER is a common method for measuring impurity rotation in tokamak plasmas. These new chords make measurements on the high-field side of the plasma. They are designed so that they can measure toroidal rotation without the need for the calculation of atomic physics corrections. Asymmetry between toroidal rotation on the high- and low-field sides of the plasma is used to calculate poloidal rotation. Results for the main impurity in the plasma are shown and compared with a neoclassical calculation of poloidal rotation.

Toroidal magnetized plasma device with sheared magnetic field lines using an internal ring conductor.

PubMed

Pierre, Th

2013-01-01

In a new toroidal laboratory plasma device including a poloidal magnetic field created by an internal circular conductor, the confinement efficiency of the magnetized plasma and the turbulence level are studied in different situations. The plasma density is greatly enhanced when a sufficiently large poloidal magnetic field is established. Moreover, the instabilities and the turbulence usually found in toroidal devices without sheared magnetic field lines are suppressed by the finite rotational transform. The particle confinement time is estimated from the measurement of the plasma decay time. It is compared to the Bohm diffusion time and to the value predicted by different diffusion models, in particular neoclassical diffusion involving trapped particles.

On the possibility of controlling the hydrophilic/hydrophobic characteristics of toroid Mo138 nanocluster polyoxometalates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grzhegorzhevskii, K. V.; Adamova, L. V.; Eremina, E. V.; Ostroushko, A. A.

2017-03-01

The possibility of changing the hydrophilic (polar) surfaces of toroid nanocluster polyoxomolibdates to hydrophobic (nonpolar) surfaces via the modification of Mo138 nanoclusters by surfactant molecules (dodecylpyridinium chloride) as a result of the interaction between these compounds in solutions is demonstrated. Benzene and methanol are used as molecular probes (indicators of the condition of nanocluster surfaces). Comparative characteristics of the equilibrium sorption of benzene and methanol vapors on the initial and modified surfaces of the solid polyoxometalate, and data on the sorption of organic molecules on the surfaces of Rhodamine B-modified nanoclusters of the toroid (Mo138) and keplerate (Mo132) types are obtained.

Spherical torus fusion reactor

DOEpatents

Peng, Yueng-Kay M.

1989-04-04

A fusion reactor is provided having a near spherical-shaped plasma with a modest central opening through which straight segments of toroidal field coils extend that carry electrical current for generating a toroidal magnet plasma confinement fields. By retaining only the indispensable components inboard of the plasma torus, principally the cooled toroidal field conductors and in some cases a vacuum containment vessel wall, the fusion reactor features an exceptionally small aspect ratio (typically about 1.5), a naturally elongated plasma cross section without extensive field shaping, requires low strength magnetic containment fields, small size and high beta. These features combine to produce a spherical torus plasma in a unique physics regime which permits compact fusion at low field and modest cost.

Spherical torus fusion reactor

DOEpatents

Peng, Yueng-Kay M.

1989-01-01

A fusion reactor is provided having a near spherical-shaped plasma with a modest central opening through which straight segments of toroidal field coils extend that carry electrical current for generating a toroidal magnet plasma confinement fields. By retaining only the indispensable components inboard of the plasma torus, principally the cooled toroidal field conductors and in some cases a vacuum containment vessel wall, the fusion reactor features an exceptionally small aspect ratio (typically about 1.5), a naturally elongated plasma cross section without extensive field shaping, requires low strength magnetic containment fields, small size and high beta. These features combine to produce a spherical torus plasma in a unique physics regime which permits compact fusion at low field and modest cost.

Simultaneous feedback control of plasma rotation and stored energy on NSTX-U using neoclassical toroidal viscosity and neutral beam injection

DOE PAGES

Goumiri, I. R.; Rowley, C. W.; Sabbagh, S. A.; ...

2017-02-23

In this study, a model-based feedback system is presented enabling the simultaneous control of the stored energy through β n and the toroidal rotation profile of the plasma in National Spherical Torus eXperiment Upgrade device. Actuation is obtained using the momentum from six injected neutral beams and the neoclassical toroidal viscosity generated by applying three-dimensional magnetic fields. Based on a model of the momentum diffusion and torque balance, a feedback controller is designed and tested in closed-loop simulations using TRANSP, a time dependent transport analysis code, in predictive mode. Promising results for the ongoing experimental implementation of controllers are obtained.

Reynolds stress of localized toroidal modes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Y.Z.; Mahajan, S.M.

1995-02-01

An investigation of the 2D toroidal eigenmode problem reveals the possibility of a new consistent 2D structure, the dissipative BM-II mode. In contrast to the conventional ballooning mode, the new mode is poloidally localized at {pi}/2 (or -{pi}/2), and possesses significant radial asymmetry. The radial asymmetry, in turn, allows the dissipative BM-II to generate considerably larger Reynolds stress as compared to the standard slab drift type modes. It is also shown that a wide class of localized dissipative toroidal modes are likely to be of the dissipative BM-II nature, suggesting that at the tokamak edge, the fluctuation generated Reynolds stressmore » (a possible source of poloidal flow) can be significant.« less

Glutaminyl Cyclase Knock-out Mice Exhibit Slight Hypothyroidism but No Hypogonadism

PubMed Central

Schilling, Stephan; Kohlmann, Stephanie; Bäuscher, Christoph; Sedlmeier, Reinhard; Koch, Birgit; Eichentopf, Rico; Becker, Andreas; Cynis, Holger; Hoffmann, Torsten; Berg, Sabine; Freyse, Ernst-Joachim; von Hörsten, Stephan; Rossner, Steffen; Graubner, Sigrid; Demuth, Hans-Ulrich

2011-01-01

Glutaminyl cyclases (QCs) catalyze the formation of pyroglutamate (pGlu) residues at the N terminus of peptides and proteins. Hypothalamic pGlu hormones, such as thyrotropin-releasing hormone and gonadotropin-releasing hormone are essential for regulation of metabolism and fertility in the hypothalamic pituitary thyroid and gonadal axes, respectively. Here, we analyzed the consequences of constitutive genetic QC ablation on endocrine functions and on the behavior of adult mice. Adult homozygous QC knock-out mice are fertile and behave indistinguishably from wild type mice in tests of motor function, cognition, general activity, and ingestion behavior. The QC knock-out results in a dramatic drop of enzyme activity in the brain, especially in hypothalamus and in plasma. Other peripheral organs like liver and spleen still contain QC activity, which is most likely caused by its homolog isoQC. The serum gonadotropin-releasing hormone, TSH, and testosterone concentrations were not changed by QC depletion. The serum thyroxine was decreased by 24% in homozygous QC knock-out animals, suggesting a mild hypothyroidism. QC knock-out mice were indistinguishable from wild type with regard to blood glucose and glucose tolerance, thus differing from reports of thyrotropin-releasing hormone knock-out mice significantly. The results suggest a significant formation of the hypothalamic pGlu hormones by alternative mechanisms, like spontaneous cyclization or conversion by isoQC. The different effects of QC depletion on the hypothalamic pituitary thyroid and gonadal axes might indicate slightly different modes of substrate conversion of both enzymes. The absence of significant abnormalities in QC knock-out mice suggests the presence of a therapeutic window for suppression of QC activity in current drug development. PMID:21330373

Hyperactivity of newborn Pten knock-out neurons results from increased excitatory synaptic drive.

PubMed

Williams, Michael R; DeSpenza, Tyrone; Li, Meijie; Gulledge, Allan T; Luikart, Bryan W

2015-01-21

Developing neurons must regulate morphology, intrinsic excitability, and synaptogenesis to form neural circuits. When these processes go awry, disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or epilepsy, may result. The phosphatase Pten is mutated in some patients having ASD and seizures, suggesting that its mutation disrupts neurological function in part through increasing neuronal activity. Supporting this idea, neuronal knock-out of Pten in mice can cause macrocephaly, behavioral changes similar to ASD, and seizures. However, the mechanisms through which excitability is enhanced following Pten depletion are unclear. Previous studies have separately shown that Pten-depleted neurons can drive seizures, receive elevated excitatory synaptic input, and have abnormal dendrites. We therefore tested the hypothesis that developing Pten-depleted neurons are hyperactive due to increased excitatory synaptogenesis using electrophysiology, calcium imaging, morphological analyses, and modeling. This was accomplished by coinjecting retroviruses to either "birthdate" or birthdate and knock-out Pten in granule neurons of the murine neonatal dentate gyrus. We found that Pten knock-out neurons, despite a rapid onset of hypertrophy, were more active in vivo. Pten knock-out neurons fired at more hyperpolarized membrane potentials, displayed greater peak spike rates, and were more sensitive to depolarizing synaptic input. The increased sensitivity of Pten knock-out neurons was due, in part, to a higher density of synapses located more proximal to the soma. We determined that increased synaptic drive was sufficient to drive hypertrophic Pten knock-out neurons beyond their altered action potential threshold. Thus, our work contributes a developmental mechanism for the increased activity of Pten-depleted neurons. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/350943-17$15.00/0.

The Expression of TALEN before Fertilization Provides a Rapid Knock-Out Phenotype in Xenopus laevis Founder Embryos.

PubMed

Miyamoto, Kei; Suzuki, Ken-Ichi T; Suzuki, Miyuki; Sakane, Yuto; Sakuma, Tetsushi; Herberg, Sarah; Simeone, Angela; Simpson, David; Jullien, Jerome; Yamamoto, Takashi; Gurdon, J B

2015-01-01

Recent advances in genome editing using programmable nucleases have revolutionized gene targeting in various organisms. Successful gene knock-out has been shown in Xenopus, a widely used model organism, although a system enabling less mosaic knock-out in founder embryos (F0) needs to be explored in order to judge phenotypes in the F0 generation. Here, we injected modified highly active transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN) mRNA to oocytes at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage, followed by in vitro maturation and intracytoplasmic sperm injection, to achieve a full knock-out in F0 embryos. Unlike conventional injection methods to fertilized embryos, the injection of TALEN mRNA into GV oocytes allows expression of nucleases before fertilization, enabling them to work from an earlier stage. Using this procedure, most of developed embryos showed full knock-out phenotypes of the pigmentation gene tyrosinase and/or embryonic lethal gene pax6 in the founder generation. In addition, our method permitted a large 1 kb deletion. Thus, we describe nearly complete gene knock-out phenotypes in Xenopus laevis F0 embryos. The presented method will help to accelerate the production of knock-out frogs since we can bypass an extra generation of about 1 year in Xenopus laevis. Meantime, our method provides a unique opportunity to rapidly test the developmental effects of disrupting those genes that do not permit growth to an adult able to reproduce. In addition, the protocol shown here is considerably less invasive than the previously used host transfer since our protocol does not require surgery. The experimental scheme presented is potentially applicable to other organisms such as mammals and fish to resolve common issues of mosaicism in founders.

Generation of Knock-in Mouse by Genome Editing.

PubMed

Fujii, Wataru

2017-01-01

Knock-in mice are useful for evaluating endogenous gene expressions and functions in vivo. Instead of the conventional gene-targeting method using embryonic stem cells, an exogenous DNA sequence can be inserted into the target locus in the zygote using genome editing technology. In this chapter, I describe the generation of epitope-tagged mice using engineered endonuclease and single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotide through the mouse zygote as an example of how to generate a knock-in mouse by genome editing.

Identification of rat Rosa26 locus enables generation of knock-in rat lines ubiquitously expressing tdTomato.

PubMed

Kobayashi, Toshihiro; Kato-Itoh, Megumi; Yamaguchi, Tomoyuki; Tamura, Chihiro; Sanbo, Makoto; Hirabayashi, Masumi; Nakauchi, Hiromitsu

2012-11-01

Recent discovery of a method for derivation and culture of germline-competent rat pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) enables generation of transgenic rats or knock-out rats via genetic modification of such PSCs. This opens the way to use rats, as is routine in mice, for analyses of gene functions or physiological features. In mouse or human, one widely used technique to express a gene of interest stably and ubiquitously is to insert that gene into the Rosa26 locus via gene targeting of PSCs. Rosa26 knock-in mice conditionally expressing a reporter or a toxin gene have contributed to tracing or ablation of specific cell lineages. We successfully identified a rat orthologue of the mouse Rosa26 locus. Insertion of tdTomato, a variant of red fluorescent protein, into the Rosa26 locus of PSCs of various rat strains allows ubiquitous expression of tdTomato. Through germline transmission of one Rosa26-tdTomato knock-in embryonic stem cell line, we also obtained tdTomato knock-in rats. These expressed tdTomato ubiquitously throughout their bodies, which indicates that the rat Rosa26 locus conserves functions of its orthologues in mouse and human. The new tools described here (targeting vectors, knock-in PSCs, and rats) should be useful for a variety of research using rats.

Public Data Set: A Novel, Cost-Effective, Multi-Point Thomson Scattering System on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

DOE Data Explorer

Schlossberg, David J. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000287139448); Bodner, Grant M. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000324979172); Reusch, Joshua A. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000284249422); Bongard, Michael W. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000231609746); Fonck, Raymond J. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000294386762); Rodriguez Sanchez, Cuauhtemoc [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000334712586)

2016-09-16

This public data set contains openly-documented, machine readable digital research data corresponding to figures published in D.J. Schlossberg et. al., 'A Novel, Cost-Effective, Multi-Point Thomson Scattering System on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment,' Rev. Sci. Instrum. 87, 11E403 (2016).

Propagation of a Toroidal Magnetic Cloud through the Inner Heliosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romashets, Eugene; Vandas, Marek

2003-09-01

An analytical solution for a potential magnetic field with arbitrary intensity around a toroidal magnetic cloud has been found. The background external field may have a gradient. The solution is used for calculation of magnetic cloud propagation. Obtained velocity profiles show a good agreement with in situ observations near the Earth's orbit.

Public Data Set: Non-inductively Driven Tokamak Plasmas at Near-Unity βt in the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reusch, Joshua A.; Bodner, Grant M.; Bongard, Michael W.

This public data set contains openly-documented, machine readable digital research data corresponding to figures published in J.A. Reusch et al., 'Non-inductively Driven Tokamak Plasmas at Near-Unity βt in the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment,' Phys. Plasmas 25, 056101 (2018).

Temperature Effects on the Magnetic Properties of Silicon-Steel Sheets Using Standardized Toroidal Frame

PubMed Central

Wu, Cheng-Ju; Lin, Shih-Yu; Chou, Shang-Chin; Tsai, Chia-Yun; Yen, Jia-Yush

2014-01-01

This study designed a detachable and standardized toroidal test frame to measure the electromagnetic characteristic of toroidal laminated silicon steel specimens. The purpose of the design was to provide the measurements with standardized and controlled environment. The device also can withstand high temperatures (25–300°C) for short time period to allow high temperature tests. The accompanying driving circuit facilitates testing for high frequency (50–5,000 Hz) and high magnetic flux (0.2–1.8 T) conditions and produces both sinusoidal and nonsinusoidal test waveforms. The thickness of the stacked laminated silicon-steel sheets must be 30~31 mm, with an internal diameter of 72 mm and an outer diameter of 90 mm. With the standardized setup, it is possible to carry out tests for toroidal specimen in high temperature and high flux operation. The test results show that there is a tendency of increased iron loss under high temperature operation. The test results with various driving waveforms also provide references to the required consideration in engineering designs. PMID:25525629

Individual Low-Energy Toroidal Dipole State in Mg 24

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nesterenko, V. O.; Repko, A.; Kvasil, J.; Reinhard, P.-G.

2018-05-01

The low-energy dipole excitations in Mg 24 are investigated within the Skyrme quasiparticle random phase approximation for axial nuclei. The calculations with the force SLy6 reveal a remarkable feature: the lowest IπK =1-1 excitation (E =7.92 MeV ) in Mg 24 is a vortical toroidal state (TS) representing a specific vortex-antivortex realization of the well-known spherical Hill's vortex in a strongly deformed axial confinement. This is a striking example of an individual TS which can be much more easily discriminated in experiment than the toroidal dipole resonance embracing many states. The TS acquires the lowest energy due to the huge prolate axial deformation in Mg 24 . The result persists for different Skyrme parametrizations (SLy6, SVbas, SkM*). We analyze spectroscopic properties of the TS and its relation with the cluster structure of Mg 24 . Similar TSs could exist in other highly prolate light nuclei. They could serve as promising tests for various reactions to probe a vortical (toroidal) nuclear flow.

Feedback stabilization of resistive wall modes in a reversed-field pinch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brunsell, P. R.; Yadikin, D.; Gregoratto, D.; Paccagnella, R.; Liu, Y. Q.; Cecconello, M.; Drake, J. R.; Manduchi, G.; Marchiori, G.

2005-09-01

An array of saddle coils having Nc=16 equally spaced positions along the toroidal direction has been installed for feedback control of resistive wall modes (RWMs) on the EXTRAP T2R reversed-field pinch [P. R. Brunsell, H. Bergsaker, M. Cecconello et al., Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 43, 1457 (2001)]. Using feedback, multiple nonresonant RWMs are simultaneously suppressed for three to four wall times. Feedback stabilization of RWMs results in a significant prolongation of the discharge duration. This is linked to a better sustainment of the plasma and tearing mode toroidal rotation with feedback. Due to the limited number of coils in the toroidal direction, pairs of modes with toroidal mode numbers n ,n' that fulfill the condition ∣n-n'∣=Nc are coupled by the feedback action from the discrete coil array. With only one unstable mode in a pair of coupled modes, the suppression of the unstable mode is successful. If two modes are unstable in a coupled pair, two possibilities exist: partial suppression of both modes or, alternatively, complete stabilization of one target mode while the other is left unstable.

Chapter 9: The FTU Machine - Design Construction and Assembly

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pizzuto, A.; Annino, C.; Baldarelli, M.

2004-05-15

The main design features and guidelines for the construction of the 8-T cryogenically cooled Frascati Tokamak Upgrade (FTU) are presented. The main features include the very compact toroidal magnets based on the concept of the 'Bitter' type of coil with wedge-shaped turns, utilized for the first time for the Alcator A and C magnets, and the original configuration of the vacuum vessel (VV) structure, which is fully welded in order to achieve the required high strength and electric resistivity. The present toroidal limiter has been installed following several years of operation, and this installation has required the development of specificmore » remote-handling tools. The toroidal limiter consists of 12 independent sectors made of stainless steel carriers and molybdenum alloy (TZM) tiles. The main fabrication processes developed for the toroidal and poloidal coils as well as for the VV are described. It is to be noted that the assembly procedure has required very accurate machining of all the structures requiring several trials and steps. The machine has shown no problem in operating routinely at its maximum design values (8 T, 1.6 MA)« less

Solvating additives drive solution-mediated electrochemistry and enhance toroid growth in non-aqueous Li-O2 batteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aetukuri, Nagaphani B.; McCloskey, Bryan D.; García, Jeannette M.; Krupp, Leslie E.; Viswanathan, Venkatasubramanian; Luntz, Alan C.

2015-01-01

Given their high theoretical specific energy, lithium-oxygen batteries have received enormous attention as possible alternatives to current state-of-the-art rechargeable Li-ion batteries. However, the maximum discharge capacity in non-aqueous lithium-oxygen batteries is limited to a small fraction of its theoretical value due to the build-up of insulating lithium peroxide (Li2O2), the battery’s primary discharge product. The discharge capacity can be increased if Li2O2 forms as large toroidal particles rather than as a thin conformal layer. Here, we show that trace amounts of electrolyte additives, such as H2O, enhance the formation of Li2O2 toroids and result in significant improvements in capacity. Our experimental observations and a growth model show that the solvating properties of the additives prompt a solution-based mechanism that is responsible for the growth of Li2O2 toroids. We present a general formalism describing an additive’s tendency to trigger the solution process, providing a rational design route for electrolytes that afford larger lithium-oxygen battery capacities.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Park, Jong-Kyu; Logan, Nikolas C.

Toroidal torque is one of the most important consequences of non-axisymmetric fields in tokamaks. The well-known neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) is due to the second-order toroidal force from anisotropic pressure tensor in the presence of these asymmetries. This work shows that the first-order toroidal force originating from the same anisotropic pressure tensor, despite having no flux surface average, can significantly modify the local perturbed force balance and thus must be included in perturbed equilibrium self-consistent with NTV. The force operator with an anisotropic pressure tensor is not self-adjoint when the NTV torque is finite and thus is solved directly formore » each component. This approach yields a modified, non-self-adjoint Euler-Lagrange equation that can be solved using a variety of common drift-kinetic models in generalized tokamak geometry. The resulting energy and torque integral provides a unique way to construct a torque response matrix, which contains all the information of self-consistent NTV torque profiles obtainable by applying non-axisymmetric fields to the plasma. This torque response matrix can then be used to systematically optimize non-axisymmetric field distributions for desired NTV profiles. Published by AIP Publishing.« less

Temperature effects on the magnetic properties of silicon-steel sheets using standardized toroidal frame.

PubMed

Wu, Cheng-Ju; Lin, Shih-Yu; Chou, Shang-Chin; Tsai, Chia-Yun; Yen, Jia-Yush

2014-01-01

This study designed a detachable and standardized toroidal test frame to measure the electromagnetic characteristic of toroidal laminated silicon steel specimens. The purpose of the design was to provide the measurements with standardized and controlled environment. The device also can withstand high temperatures (25-300°C) for short time period to allow high temperature tests. The accompanying driving circuit facilitates testing for high frequency (50-5,000 Hz) and high magnetic flux (0.2-1.8 T) conditions and produces both sinusoidal and nonsinusoidal test waveforms. The thickness of the stacked laminated silicon-steel sheets must be 30~31 mm, with an internal diameter of 72 mm and an outer diameter of 90 mm. With the standardized setup, it is possible to carry out tests for toroidal specimen in high temperature and high flux operation. The test results show that there is a tendency of increased iron loss under high temperature operation. The test results with various driving waveforms also provide references to the required consideration in engineering designs.

Toroidal configurations of perfect fluid in the Reissner-Nordström-(anti-)de Sitter spacetimes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kucáková, Hana; Slaný, Petr; Stuchlík, Zdenĕk, E-mail: hana.kucakova@centrum.cz, E-mail: petr.slany@fpf.slu.cz, E-mail: zdenek.stuchlik@fpf.slu.cz

Influence of cosmological constant on toroidal fluid configurations around charged spherically symmetric black holes and naked singularities is demostrated by study of perfect-fluid tori with uniform distribution of specific angular momentum orbiting in the Reissner-Nordström-(anti-)de Sitter spacetimes. Toroidal configurations are allowed only in the spacetimes admitting existence of stable circular geodesics. Configurations with marginally closed equipotential (equipressure) surfaces crossing itself in a cusp allow accretion (through the inner cusp) and/or excretion (through the outer cusp) of matter from the toroidal configuration. Detailed classification of the Reissner-Nordström-(anti-)de Sitter spacetimes according to properties of the marginally stable tori is given. It ismore » demonstrated that in the Reissner-Nordström-de Sitter naked-singularity spacetimes an interesting phenomenon of doubled tori can exist enabling exchange of matter between two tori in both inward and outward directions. In naked-singularity spacetimes the accretion onto the central singularity is impossible due to existence of a potential barrier.« less

Minimum magnetic curvature for resilient divertors using Compact Toroidal Hybrid geometry

DOE PAGES

Bader, Aaron; Hegna, C. C.; Cianciosa, Mark R.; ...

2018-03-16

The properties of resilient divertors are explored using equilibria derived from Compact Toroidal Hybrid (CTH) geometries. Resilience is defined here as the robustness of the strike point patterns as the plasma geometry and/or plasma profiles are changed. The addition of plasma current in the CTH configurations significantly alters the shape of the last closed flux surface and the rotational transform profile, however, it does not alter the strike point pattern on the target plates, and hence has resilient divertor features. The limits of when a configuration transforms to a resilient configuration is then explored. New CTH-like configurations are generated thatmore » vary from a perfectly circular cross section to configurations with increasing amounts of toroidal shaping. It is found that even small amounts of toroidal shaping lead to strike point localization that is similar to the standard CTH configuration. Lastly, these results show that only a small degree of three-dimensional shaping is necessary to produce a resilient divertor, implying that any highly shaped optimized stellarator will possess the resilient divertor property.« less

Efficient generation of Rosa26 knock-in mice using CRISPR/Cas9 in C57BL/6 zygotes.

PubMed

Chu, Van Trung; Weber, Timm; Graf, Robin; Sommermann, Thomas; Petsch, Kerstin; Sack, Ulrike; Volchkov, Pavel; Rajewsky, Klaus; Kühn, Ralf

2016-01-16

The CRISPR/Cas9 system is increasingly used for gene inactivation in mouse zygotes, but homology-directed mutagenesis and use of inbred embryos are less established. In particular, Rosa26 knock-in alleles for the insertion of transgenes in a genomic 'safe harbor' site, have not been produced. Here we applied CRISPR/Cas9 for the knock-in of 8-11 kb inserts into Rosa26 of C57BL/6 zygotes. We found that 10-20 % of live pups derived from microinjected zygotes were founder mutants, without apparent off-target effects, and up to 50 % knock-in embryos were recovered upon coinjection of Cas9 mRNA and protein. Using this approach, we established a new mouse line for the Cre/loxP-dependent expression of Cas9. Altogether, our protocols and resources support the fast and direct generation of new Rosa26 knock-in alleles and of Cas9-mediated in vivo gene editing in the widely used C57BL/6 inbred strain.

Targeted knock-in of an scFv-Fc antibody gene into the hprt locus of Chinese hamster ovary cells using CRISPR/Cas9 and CRIS-PITCh systems.

PubMed

Kawabe, Yoshinori; Komatsu, Shinya; Komatsu, Shodai; Murakami, Mai; Ito, Akira; Sakuma, Tetsushi; Nakamura, Takahiro; Yamamoto, Takashi; Kamihira, Masamichi

2018-05-01

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells have been used as host cells for the production of pharmaceutical proteins. For the high and stable production of target proteins, the transgene should be integrated into a suitable genomic locus of host cells. Here, we generated knock-in CHO cells, in which transgene cassettes without a vector backbone sequence were integrated into the hprt locus of the CHO genome using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 and CRISPR-mediated precise integration into target chromosome (CRIS-PITCh) systems. We investigated the efficiency of targeted knock-in of transgenes using these systems. As a practical example, we generated knock-in CHO cells producing an scFv-Fc antibody using the CRIS-PITCh system mediated by microhomology sequences for targeting. We found that the CRIS-PITCh system can facilitate targeted knock-in for CHO cell engineering. Copyright © 2017 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Developments on the Toroid Ion Trap Analyzer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lammert, S.A.; Thompson, C.V.; Wise, M.B.

1999-06-13

Investigations into several areas of research have been undertaken to address the performance limitations of the toroid analyzer. The Simion 3D6 (2) ion optics simulation program was used to determine whether the potential well minimum of the toroid trapping field is in the physical center of the trap electrode structure. The results (Figures 1) indicate that the minimum of the potential well is shifted towards the inner ring electrode by an amount approximately equal to 10% of the r0 dimension. A simulation of the standard 3D ion trap under similar conditions was performed as a control. In this case, themore » ions settle to the minimum of the potential well at a point that is coincident with the physical center (both radial and axial) of the trapping electrodes. It is proposed that by using simulation programs, a set of new analyzer electrodes can be fashioned that will correct for the non- linear fields introduced by curving the substantially quadrupolar field about the toroid axis in order to provide a trapping field similar to the 3D ion trap cross- section. A new toroid electrode geometry has been devised to allow the use of channel- tron style detectors in place of the more expensive multichannel plate detector. Two different versions have been designed and constructed - one using the current ion trap cross- section (Figure 2) and another using the linear quedrupole cross- section design first reported by Bier and Syka (3).« less

Flow and dynamo measurements during the coaxial helicity injection on HIST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ando, K.; Higashi, T.; Nakatsuka, M.; Kikuchi, Y.; Fukumoto, N.; Nagata, M.

2009-11-01

The current drive by Coaxial Helicity Injection (CHI-CD) was performed on HIST in a wide range of configurations from high-q ST to low-q ST and spheromak generated by the utilization of the toroidal field. It is a key issue to investigate the dynamo mechanism required to maintain each configuration. To identify the detail mechanisms, it is needed to manifest a role of plasma flows in the CHI-CD. For this purpose, we have measured the ion flow and the dynamo electric field using an ion Doppler spectrometer (IDS) system, a Mach probe and a dynamo probe. The new dynamo probe consists of 3-axis Mach probes and magnetic pick-up coils. The flow measurements have shown that the intermittent generation of the flow is correlated to the fluctuation seen on the electron density and current signals during the driven phase. At this time, the toroidal direction of the ion flow in the central open flux column is opposite to that of the toroidal current there, i.e. the same direction as electrons. After the plasma enters to the resistive decay phase, the toroidal flow tends to reverse to the same direction as the toroidal current. The results are consistent with the model of the repetitive plasmoid ejection and coalescence proposed for CHI-CD. The plasma jet emanating from the gun source and magnetic field generations through reconnection during the driven phase is well reflected in the 3D MHD simulation.

Nonlinear MHD simulation of magnetic relaxation during DC helicity injection in spherical torus plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanki, Takashi; Nagata, Masayoshi; Kagei, Yasuhiro

2009-11-01

Recently, the intermittent plasma flow has been observed to be correlated with the fluctuations of the toroidal current It and n=1 mode in the HIST spherical torus device. During the partially driven phase mixed with a resistive decay, the toroidal ion flow velocity (˜ 40 km/s) in the opposite direction of It is driven in the central open flux region, and the oscillations in n=1 mode occur there, while during the resistive decay phase, this flow velocity reverses and results in the same as that of It, and the oscillations in n=1 mode disappear there. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the plasma flow reversal process and the relevant MHD relaxation by using the 3-D nonlinear MHD simulations. The numerical results exhibit that during the driven phase, the toroidal flow velocity (˜ 37 km/s) is in the opposite direction to It, but in the same direction as the ExB rotation induced by an applied voltage. This flow is driven by the magnetic reconnection occurring at the X-point during the repetitive process of the non-axisymmetric magnetized plasmoid ejection from the helicity injector. The oscillations of poloidal flux ψp are out of phase with those of toroidal flux ψt and magnetic energy for the dominant n=1 mode, indicating the flux conversion from ψt to ψp. The effect of the vacuum toroidal field strength on the plasma dynamics is discussed.

Poloidal and toroidal plasmons and fields of multilayer nanorings

DOE PAGES

Garapati, K. V.; Salhi, M.; Kouchekian, S.; ...

2017-04-17

Composite and janus type metallodielectric nanoparticles are increasingly considered as a means to control the spatial and temporal behavior of electromagnetic fields in diverse applications such as coupling to quantum emitters, achieving invisibility cloaks, and obtaining quantum correlations between qubits. We investigate the surface modes of a toroidal nanostructure and obtain the canonical plasmon dispersion relations and resonance modes for arbitrarily layered nanorings. Unlike particle plasmon eigenmodes in other geometries, the amplitudes of the eigenmodes of tori exhibit a distinct forward and backward coupling. We present the plasmon dispersion relations for several relevant toroidal configurations in the quasistatic limit andmore » obtain the dominant retarded dispersion relations of a single ring for comparison, discuss mode complementarity and hybridization, and introduce two new types of toroidal particles in the form of janus nanorings. The resonance frequencies for the first few dominant modes of a ring composed of plasmon supporting materials such as gold, silver, and aluminum are provided and compared to those for a silicon ring. A generalized Green's function is obtained for multilayer tori allowing for calculation of the scattering response to interacting fields. Employing the Green's function, the scalar electric potential distribution corresponding to individual poloidal and toroidal modes in response to an arbitrarily polarized external field and the field of electrons is obtained. The results are applied to obtain the local density of states and decay rate of a dipole near the center of the torus.« less

Continuous Cooling from 10 K to 4 K Using a Toroidal ADR

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DiPirro, Michael J.; Canavan, Edgar R.; Shirron, Peter J.; Tuttle, James G.

2003-01-01

Future large infrared space telescopes will require cooling to 4K to achieve background limited performance for submillimeter wavelengths. These observatories will require lifetimes of many years and will have relatively large cooling requirements making stored helium dewars impractical. We have designed and are building an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) for use in cooling relatively large loads (10- 100 mW) at 4K and rejecting that heat to a cryocooler operating at 1 OK. Cryocoolers below 1 OK have poor thermodynamic efficiency and ADRs can operate in this temperature range with an efficiency of 75% of Carnot or better. Overall, this can save as much as 2/3 of the input power required to operate a 4K cryocooler. The ADR magnet consists of 8 short coils wired in series and arranged in a toroid to provide self shielding of its magnetic field. This will save mass (about 30% of the mass or about 1.5 kg in our small version, higher percentages in higher cooling power, larger versions) that would have been used for passive or active shields in an ordinary solenoid. The toroid has a 100 mm outer diameter and will produce an approximately 3T average field. In the initial demonstration model the toroid coils will be wound with ordinary NbTi wire and operated at 4K. A second version will then use Nb3Sn wire to provide complete 10K operation. As a refrigerant for this temperature range we will use either GdLiF4 or GdF3 crystals, pending tests of these crystals' cooling capacity per field and thermal conductance. Preliminary indications are that these materials are superior to GGG. We will use gas gap heat switches to alternately connect the toroid to the cold load and the warm heat sink. A small continuous stage will maintain the cold end at 4K while the main toroid is recycled.

A Genome-Wide Knockout Screen to Identify Genes Involved in Acquired Carboplatin Resistance

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-01

library screen to identify genes that when knocked out render human ovarian cells > 2.5-fold resistant to CBDCA; 2) Validate the ability of...a GeCKOv2 library screen to identify genes that when knocked out render human ovarian cells > 2.5-fold resistant to CBDCA; 2) validate the ability of...resistance in either cell lines or clinical samples. The CRIPSR-cas9 technology now provides us with a major new tool to introduce knock out mutations

Genetics Home Reference: mucopolysaccharidosis type IV

MedlinePlus

... individuals develop various skeletal abnormalities, including short stature, knock knees, and abnormalities of the ribs, chest, spine, ... links) Encyclopedia: Cloudy cornea Encyclopedia: Hypermobile joints Encyclopedia: Knock ... Morquio syndrome Encyclopedia: Mucopolysaccharides Health Topic: ...

Lack of huntingtin promotes neural stem cells differentiation into glial cells while neurons expressing huntingtin with expanded polyglutamine tracts undergo cell death.

PubMed

Conforti, Paola; Camnasio, Stefano; Mutti, Cesare; Valenza, Marta; Thompson, Morgan; Fossale, Elisa; Zeitlin, Scott; MacDonald, Marcy E; Zuccato, Chiara; Cattaneo, Elena

2013-02-01

Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects muscle coordination and diminishes cognitive abilities. The genetic basis of the disease is an expansion of CAG repeats in the Huntingtin (Htt) gene. Here we aimed to generate a series of mouse neural stem (NS) cell lines that carried varying numbers of CAG repeats in the mouse Htt gene (Hdh CAG knock-in NS cells) or that had Hdh null alleles (Hdh knock-out NS cells). Towards this end, Hdh CAG knock-in mouse ES cell lines that carried an Htt gene with 20, 50, 111, or 140 CAG repeats or that were Htt null were neuralized and converted into self-renewing NS cells. The resulting NS cell lines were immunopositive for the neural stem cell markers NESTIN, SOX2, and BLBP and had similar proliferative rates and cell cycle distributions. After 14 days in vitro, wild-type NS cells gave rise to cultures composed of 70% MAP2(+) neurons and 30% GFAP(+) astrocytes. In contrast, NS cells with expanded CAG repeats underwent neuronal cell death, with only 38%±15% of the MAP2(+) cells remaining at the end of the differentiation period. Cell death was verified by increased caspase 3/7 activity on day 14 of the neuronal differentiation protocol. Interestingly, Hdh knock-out NS cells treated using the same neuronal differentiation protocol showed a dramatic increase in the number of GFAP(+) cells on day 14 (61%±20% versus 24%±10% in controls), and a massive decrease of MAP2(+) neurons (30%±11% versus 64%±17% in controls). Both Hdh CAG knock-in NS cells and Hdh knock-out NS cells showed reduced levels of Bdnf mRNA during neuronal differentiation, in agreement with data obtained previously in HD mouse models and in post-mortem brain samples from HD patients. We concluded that Hdh CAG knock-in and Hdh knock-out NS cells have potential as tools for investigating the roles of normal and mutant HTT in differentiated neurons and glial cells of the brain. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Estimating turbulent electrovortex flow parameters hear the dynamo cycle bifurcation point

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zimin, V.D.; Kolpakov, N.Yu.; Khripchenko, S.Yu.

1988-07-01

Models for estimating turbulent electrovortex flow parameters, derived in earlier studies, were delineated and extended in this paper to express those parameters near the dynamo cycle bifurcation point in a spherical cavity. Toroidal and poloidal fields rising from the induction currents within the liquid metal and their electrovortex interactions were calculated. Toroidal field strengthening by the poloidal electrovortex flow, the first part of the dynamo loop, was determined by the viscous dissipation in the liquid metal. The second part of the loop, in which the toroidal field localized in the liquid metal is converted to a poloidal field and emergesmore » from the sphere, was also established. The dissipative effects near the critical magnetic Reynolds number were estimated.« less

Spherical harmonic representation of the main geomagnetic field for world charting and investigations of some fundamental problems of physics and geophysics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barraclough, D. R.; Hide, R.; Leaton, B. R.; Lowes, F. J.; Malin, S. R. C.; Wilson, R. L. (Principal Investigator)

1981-01-01

Quiet-day data from MAGSAT were examined for effects which might test the validity of Maxwell's equations. Both external and toroidal fields which might represent a violation of the equations appear to exist, well within the associated errors. The external field might be associated with the ring current, and varies of a time-scale of one day or less. Its orientation is parallel to the geomagnetic dipole. The toriodal field can be confused with an orientation in error (in yaw). It the toroidal field really exists, its can be related to either ionospheric currents, or to toroidal fields in the Earth's core in accordance with Einstein's unified field theory, or to both.

Modeling and control of plasma rotation for NSTX using neoclassical toroidal viscosity and neutral beam injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goumiri, I. R.; Rowley, C. W.; Sabbagh, S. A.; Gates, D. A.; Gerhardt, S. P.; Boyer, M. D.; Andre, R.; Kolemen, E.; Taira, K.

2016-03-01

A model-based feedback system is presented to control plasma rotation in a magnetically confined toroidal fusion device, to maintain plasma stability for long-pulse operation. This research uses experimental measurements from the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) and is aimed at controlling plasma rotation using two different types of actuation: momentum from injected neutral beams and neoclassical toroidal viscosity generated by three-dimensional applied magnetic fields. Based on the data-driven model obtained, a feedback controller is designed, and predictive simulations using the TRANSP plasma transport code show that the controller is able to attain desired plasma rotation profiles given practical constraints on the actuators and the available measurements of rotation.

Hollow nanotubular toroidal polymer microrings.

PubMed

Lee, Jiyeong; Baek, Kangkyun; Kim, Myungjin; Yun, Gyeongwon; Ko, Young Ho; Lee, Nam-Suk; Hwang, Ilha; Kim, Jeehong; Natarajan, Ramalingam; Park, Chan Gyung; Sung, Wokyung; Kim, Kimoon

2014-02-01

Despite the remarkable progress made in the self-assembly of nano- and microscale architectures with well-defined sizes and shapes, a self-organization-based synthesis of hollow toroids has, so far, proved to be elusive. Here, we report the synthesis of polymer microrings made from rectangular, flat and rigid-core monomers with anisotropically predisposed alkene groups, which are crosslinked with each other by dithiol linkers using thiol-ene photopolymerization. The resulting hollow toroidal structures are shape-persistent and mechanically robust in solution. In addition, their size can be tuned by controlling the initial monomer concentrations, an observation that is supported by a theoretical analysis. These hollow microrings can encapsulate guest molecules in the intratoroidal nanospace, and their peripheries can act as templates for circular arrays of metal nanoparticles.

Modeling and control of plasma rotation for NSTX using neoclassical toroidal viscosity and neutral beam injection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goumiri, I. R.; Rowley, C. W.; Sabbagh, S. A.

2016-02-19

A model-based feedback system is presented to control plasma rotation in a magnetically confined toroidal fusion device, to maintain plasma stability for long-pulse operation. This research uses experimental measurements from the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) and is aimed at controlling plasma rotation using two different types of actuation: momentum from injected neutral beams and neoclassical toroidal viscosity generated by three-dimensional applied magnetic fields. Based on the data-driven model obtained, a feedback controller is designed, and predictive simulations using the TRANSP plasma transport code show that the controller is able to attain desired plasma rotation profiles given practical constraints onmore » the actuators and the available measurements of rotation.« less

Genetics Home Reference: hereditary hypophosphatemic rickets

MedlinePlus

... noticeable of these abnormalities are bowed legs or knock knees (a condition in which the lower legs ... Information & Resources MedlinePlus (4 links) Encyclopedia: Bowlegs Encyclopedia: Knock Knees Encyclopedia: Rickets Health Topic: Rickets Genetic and ...

Flight Investigation of the Knock-Limited Performance of a Triptane Blend, a Toluene Blend, and 28-R Fuel in an R-1830-75 Engine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blackman, Calvin C.

1946-01-01

Knock-limited performance data were obtained for three fuels on an R-1830-75 engine in a B-24D airplane at engine speeds of 1800, 2250, and 2600 rpm, a spark advance of 25 degrees B.T.C., and carburetor-air temperatures of 85 F for 1800 and 2250 rpm and 100 F for 2600 rpm. The test fuels were a blend of 80 percent 28-R plus 20 percent triptane (leaded to 4.5 ml TEL/gal), a blend of 80 percent 28-R plus 15 percent toluene (leaded to 4.5 ml TEL / gal), and 28-R fuel. The knock-limited manifold pressure of the toluene blend depreciated more in the lean region than the triptane blend or 28-R fuel. The knock-limited brake horsepower for the triptane blend varied from 16 to 25 percent higher than 28-R in the lean region and 18 to 30 percent higher in the rich region. The knock-limited brake horsepower of the toluene blend was approximately 15 percent higher than that of 28-R in the rich region and varied from 2 to 10 percent higher in the lean region. Knock limits of the triptane blend and 28-R fuel tested in the R-1830-75 engine agreed with limits for the same fuels determined with the R-1830-94 engine for engine speeds of 1800 and 2250 rpm.

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knock-in of an optimized TetO repeat for live cell imaging of endogenous loci.

PubMed

Tasan, Ipek; Sustackova, Gabriela; Zhang, Liguo; Kim, Jiah; Sivaguru, Mayandi; HamediRad, Mohammad; Wang, Yuchuan; Genova, Justin; Ma, Jian; Belmont, Andrew S; Zhao, Huimin

2018-06-15

Nuclear organization has an important role in determining genome function; however, it is not clear how spatiotemporal organization of the genome relates to functionality. To elucidate this relationship, a method for tracking any locus of interest is desirable. Recently clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) or transcription activator-like effectors were adapted for imaging endogenous loci; however, they are mostly limited to visualization of repetitive regions. Here, we report an efficient and scalable method named SHACKTeR (Short Homology and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Knock-in of a TetO Repeat) for live cell imaging of specific chromosomal regions without the need for a pre-existing repetitive sequence. SHACKTeR requires only two modifications to the genome: CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knock-in of an optimized TetO repeat and its visualization by TetR-EGFP expression. Our simplified knock-in protocol, utilizing short homology arms integrated by polymerase chain reaction, was successful at labeling 10 different loci in HCT116 cells. We also showed the feasibility of knock-in into lamina-associated, heterochromatin regions, demonstrating that these regions prefer non-homologous end joining for knock-in. Using SHACKTeR, we were able to observe DNA replication at a specific locus by long-term live cell imaging. We anticipate the general applicability and scalability of our method will enhance causative analyses between gene function and compartmentalization in a high-throughput manner.

Characterization of a knock-in mouse model of the homozygous p.V37I variant in Gjb2.

PubMed

Chen, Ying; Hu, Lingxiang; Wang, Xueling; Sun, Changling; Lin, Xin; Li, Lei; Mei, Ling; Huang, Zhiwu; Yang, Tao; Wu, Hao

2016-09-13

The homozygous p.V37I variant in GJB2 is prevalent in East and Southeast Asians and may lead to mild-to-moderate hearing loss with reduced penetrance. To investigate the pathogenic mechanism underlying this variant, we generated a knock-in mouse model of homozygous p.V37I by an embryonic stem cell gene targeting method. Auditory brainstem response test showed that the knock-in mice developed progressive, mild-to-moderate hearing loss over the first 4-9 months. Overall no significant developmental and morphological abnormality was observed in the knock-in mouse cochlea, while confocal immunostaining and electron microscopic scanning revealed minor loss of the outer hair cells. Gene expression microarray analysis identified 105 up-regulated and 43 down-regulated genes in P5 knock-in mouse cochleae (P < 0.05 adjusted by the Benjamini &Hochberg method), among which four top candidate genes with the highest fold-changes or implication to deafness Fcer1g, Nnmt and Lars2 and Cuedc1 were verified by quantitative real-time PCR. Our study demonstrated that the homozygous p.V37I knock-in mouse modeled the hearing phenotype of the human patients and can serve as a useful animal model for further studies. The differentially expressed genes identified in this study may shed new insights into the understanding of the pathogenic mechanism and the phenotypic modification of homozygous p.V37I.

Development of a one-step gene knock-out and knock-in method for metabolic engineering of Aureobasidium pullulans.

PubMed

Guo, Jian; Wang, Yuanhua; Li, Baozhong; Huang, Siyao; Chen, Yefu; Guo, Xuewu; Xiao, Dongguang

2017-06-10

Aureobasidium pullulans is an increasingly attractive host for bio-production of pullulan, heavy oil, polymalic acid, and a large spectrum of extracellular enzymes. To date, genetic manipulation of A. pullulans mainly relies on time-consuming conventional restriction enzyme digestion and ligation methods. In this study, we present a one-step homologous recombination-based method for rapid genetic manipulation in A. pullulans. Overlaps measuring >40bp length and 10μg DNA segments for homologous recombination provided maximum benefits to transformation of A. pullulans. This optimized method was successfully applied to PKSIII gene (encodes polyketide synthase) knock-out and gltP gene (encodes glycolipid transfer protein) knock-in. After disruption of PKSIII gene, secretion of melanin decreased slightly. The melanin purified from disruptant showed lower reducing capacity compared with that of the parent strain, leading to a decrease in exopolysaccharide production. Knock-in of gltP gene resulted in at least 4.68-fold increase in heavy oil production depending on the carbon source used, indicating that gltP can regulate heavy oil synthesis in A. pullulans. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Recapitulating X-Linked Juvenile Retinoschisis in Mouse Model by Knock-In Patient-Specific Novel Mutation.

PubMed

Chen, Ding; Xu, Tao; Tu, Mengjun; Xu, Jinlin; Zhou, Chenchen; Cheng, Lulu; Yang, Ruqing; Yang, Tanchu; Zheng, Weiwei; He, Xiubin; Deng, Ruzhi; Ge, Xianglian; Li, Jin; Song, Zongming; Zhao, Junzhao; Gu, Feng

2017-01-01

X-linked juvenile retinoschisis (XLRS) is a retinal disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding retinoschisin (RS1), which leads to a significant proportion of visual impairment and blindness. To develop personalized genome editing based gene therapy, knock-in animal disease models that have the exact mutation identified in the patients is extremely crucial, and that the way which genome editing in knock-in animals could be easily transferred to the patients. Here we recruited a family diagnosed with XLRS and identified the causative mutation ( RS1 , p.Y65X), then a knock-in mouse model harboring this disease-causative mutation was generated via TALEN (transcription activator-like effector nucleases). We found that the b-wave amplitude of the ERG of the RS1 -KI mice was significantly decreased. Moreover, we observed that the structure of retina in RS1 -KI mice has become disordered, including the disarray of inner nuclear layer and outer nuclear layer, chaos of outer plexiform layer, decreased inner segments of photoreceptor and the loss of outer segments. The novel knock-in mice ( RS1 -KI) harboring patient-specific mutation will be valuable for development of treatment via genome editing mediated gene correction.

Measurement of scrape-off-layer current dynamics during MHD activity and disruptions in HBT-EP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levesque, J. P.; Brooks, J. W.; Abler, M. C.; Bialek, J.; Byrne, P. J.; Hansen, C. J.; Hughes, P. E.; Mauel, M. E.; Navratil, G. A.; Rhodes, D. J.

2017-08-01

We report scrape-off layer (SOL) current measurements during magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) mode activity, resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs), and disruptions in the High Beta Tokamak—Extended Pulse (HBT-EP) device. Currents are measured via segmented plasma current Rogowski coils, jumpers running toroidally between otherwise-isolated vessel sections, and a grounded electrode in the scrape-off layer. These currents strongly depend on the plasma’s major radius, and amplitude and phase of non-axisymmetric field components. SOL currents connecting through the vessel are seen to reach  ∼0.2{--}0.5 % of the plasma current during typical kink activity and RMPs. Plasma current asymmetries and scrape-off-layer currents generated during disruptions, which are commonly called halo currents, reach  ∼4 % of I p. Asymmetric toroidal currents between vessel sections rotate at tens of kHz through most of the current quench, then symmetrize once I p reaches  ∼30 % of its pre-disruptive value. Toroidal jumper currents oscillate between co- and counter-I p, with co-I p being dominant on average during disruptions. A relative increase in local plasma current measured by a segmented I p Rogowski coil correlates with counter-I p current in the nearest toroidal jumper. Measurements are interpreted in the context of two models that produce contrary predictions for the toroidal vessel current polarity during disruptions. Plasma current asymmetry measurements are consistent with both models, and SOL currents scale with plasma displacement toward the vessel wall. The design of an upcoming SOL current diagnostic and control upgrade is also briefly presented.

40 CFR 91.6 - Reference materials.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Appendix A to Subpart D. ASTM D2699-92: Standard Test Method for Knock Characteristics of Motor Fuels by the Research Method Appendix A to Subpart D. ASTM D2700-92: Standard Test Method for Knock...

29 CFR 1926.350 - Gas welding and cutting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... from being knocked over while in use. (8) When work is finished, when cylinders are empty, or when..., or gangways. Assigned storage places shall be located where cylinders will not be knocked over or...

40 CFR 91.6 - Reference materials.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Appendix A to Subpart D. ASTM D2699-92: Standard Test Method for Knock Characteristics of Motor Fuels by the Research Method Appendix A to Subpart D. ASTM D2700-92: Standard Test Method for Knock...

40 CFR 90.7 - Reference materials.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Appendix A to subpart D, Table 3. ASTM D2699-92: Standard Test Method for Knock Characteristics of Motor... Knock Characteristics of Motor and Aviation Fuels by the Motor Method Appendix A to subpart D, Table 3...

40 CFR 90.7 - Reference materials.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Appendix A to subpart D, Table 3. ASTM D2699-92: Standard Test Method for Knock Characteristics of Motor... Knock Characteristics of Motor and Aviation Fuels by the Motor Method Appendix A to subpart D, Table 3...

Thermal and mechanical stress analysis for a Bitter-type toroidal field magnet for Zephyr

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brossmann, U.B.; Mukherjee, S.; Soell, M.

1981-09-01

ZEPHYR, a high-density, high-magnetic-field tokamak concept, has been worked out. The aim of this experiment is to achieved ignition of a D-T plasma. A maximum magnetic induction value of about 17 T is proposed. As an alternative to a tape-wound magnet a Bitter-type toroidal field magnet is investigated. 9 refs.

Development of a high capacity toroidal Ni/Cd cell

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holleck, G. L.; Foos, J. S.; Avery, J. W.; Feiman, V.

1981-01-01

A nickel cadmium battery design which can offer better thermal management, higher energy density and much lower cost than the state-of-the-art is emphasized. A toroidal Ni/Cd cell concept is described. It was critically reviewed and used to develop two cell designs for practical implementation. One is a double swaged and the other a swaged welded configuration.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schnack, D.D.; Lottati, I.; Mikic, Z.

The authors describe TRIM, a MHD code which uses finite volume discretization of the MHD equations on an unstructured adaptive grid of triangles in the poloidal plane. They apply it to problems related to modeling tokamak toroidal plasmas. The toroidal direction is treated by a pseudospectral method. Care was taken to center variables appropriately on the mesh and to construct a self adjoint diffusion operator for cell centered variables.

Numerical exploration of non-axisymmetric divertor closure in the small angle slot (SAS) divertor at DIII-D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frerichs, Heinke; Schmitz, Oliver; Covele, Brent; Guo, Houyang; Hill, David; Feng, Yuhe

2017-10-01

In the Small Angle Slot (SAS) divertor in DIII-D, the combination of misaligned slot structure and non-axisymmetric perturbations to the magnetic field causes the strike point to vary radially along the divertor slot and even leave it at some toroidal locations. This effect essentially introduces an opening in the divertor slot from where recycling neutrals can easily escape, and thereby degrade performance of the slot divertor. This effect has been approximated by a finite gap in the divertor baffle. Simulations with EMC3-EIRENE show that a toroidally localized loss of divertor closure can result in non-axisymmetric divertor densities and temperatures. This introduces a density window of 10-15% on top of the nominal threshold separatrix density during which a non-axisymmetric onset of local detachment occurs, initially leaving the gap and up to 60 deg beyond that still attached. Conversely, the impact of such toroidally localized divertor perturbations on the toroidal symmetry of midplane separatrix conditions is small. This work has been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy under Early Career Award Grant DE-SC0013911, and Grant DE-FC02-04ER54698.

Coaxial ion trap mass spectrometer: concentric toroidal and quadrupolar trapping regions.

PubMed

Peng, Ying; Hansen, Brett J; Quist, Hannah; Zhang, Zhiping; Wang, Miao; Hawkins, Aaron R; Austin, Daniel E

2011-07-15

We present the design and results for a new radio-frequency ion trap mass analyzer, the coaxial ion trap, in which both toroidal and quadrupolar trapping regions are created simultaneously. The device is composed of two parallel ceramic plates, the facing surfaces of which are lithographically patterned with concentric metal rings and covered with a thin film of germanium. Experiments demonstrate that ions can be trapped in either region, transferred from the toroidal to the quadrupolar region, and mass-selectively ejected from the quadrupolar region to a detector. Ions trapped in the toroidal region can be transferred to the quadrupole region using an applied ac signal in the radial direction, although it appears that the mechanism of this transfer does not involve resonance with the ion secular frequency, and the process is not mass selective. Ions in the quadrupole trapping region are mass analyzed using dipole resonant ejection. Multiple transfer steps and mass analysis scans are possible on a single population of ions, as from a single ionization/trapping event. The device demonstrates better mass resolving power than the radially ejecting halo ion trap and better sensitivity than the planar quadrupole ion trap.

Impact of perturbative, non-axisymmetric impurity fueling on Alcator C-Mod H-modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reinke, M. L.; Lore, J. D.; Terry, J.; Brunner, D.; LaBombard, B.; Lipschultz, B.; Hubbard, A.; Hughes, J. W.; Mumgaard, R.; Pitts, R. A.

2017-12-01

Experiments on Alcator C-Mod have been performed to investigate the impact of toroidally localized impurity injection on H-mode exhaust scenarios. Results help to inform sub-divertor gas injector designs, in particular that of the ITER machine, for which this work was primarily undertaken. In repeated EDA H-modes, the amount of N2 injected into the private flux region was scanned up to levels which strongly impacted normalized energy confinement, H98, and led to an H/L back-transition. Repeated scans increased the toroidal peaking of the gas injection, reducing from five equally spaced locations to a single toroidal and poloidal injector. Results show the impact on the pedestal and core plasma is similar between all cases as long as the total gas injection rate is held constant. An influence on toroidally localized impurity spectroscopy is shown, demonstrating a complication in using such data in interpreting experiments and supporting boundary modeling in cases where there are localized extrinsic or intrinsic impurity sources. These results, along with prior work in this area on Alcator C-Mod, form a comprehensive set of L-mode and H-mode data to be used for validation of 3D boundary physics codes.

A new solar cycle model including meridional circulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Y.-M.; Sheeley, N. R., Jr.; Nash, A. G.

1991-01-01

A kinematic model is presented for the solar cycle which includes not only the transport of magnetic flux by supergranular diffusion and a poleward bulk flow at the sun's surface, but also the effects of turbulent diffusion and an equatorward 'return flow' beneath the surface. As in the earlier models of Babcock and Leighton, the rotational shearing of a subsurface poloidal field generates toroidal flux that erupts at the surface in the form of bipolar magnetic regions. However, such eruptions do not result in any net loss of toroidal flux from the sun (as assumed by Babcock and Leighton); instead, the large-scale toroidal field is destroyed both by 'unwinding' as the local poloidal field reverses its polarity, and by diffusion as the toroidal flux is transported equatorward by the subsurface flow and merged with its opposite hemisphere counterpart. The inclusion of meridional circulation allows stable oscillations of the magnetic field, accompanied by the equatorward progression of flux eruptions, to be achieved even in the absence of a radial gradient in the angular velocity. An illustrative case in which a subsurface flow speed of order 1 m/s and subsurface diffusion rate of order 10 sq km/s yield 22-yr oscillations in qualitative agreement with observations.

Current Drive

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Faulconer, D.W

2004-03-15

Certain devices aimed at magnetic confinement of thermonuclear plasma rely on the steady flow of an electric current in the plasma. In view of the dominant place it occupies in both the world magnetic-confinement fusion effort and the author's own activity, the tokamak toroidal configuration is selected as prototype for discussing the question of how such a current can be maintained. Tokamaks require a stationary toroidal plasma current, this being traditionally provided by a pulsed magnetic induction which drives the plasma ring as the secondary of a transformer. Since this mechanism is essentially transient, and steady-state fusion reactor operation hasmore » manifold advantages, significant effort is now devoted to developing alternate steady-state means of generating toroidal current. These methods are classed under the global heading of 'noninductive current drive' or simply 'current drive', generally, though not exclusively, employing the injection of waves and/or toroidally directed particle beams. In what follows we highlight the physical mechanisms underlying surprisingly various approaches to driving current in a tokamak, downplaying a number of practical and technical issues. When a significant data base exists for a given method, its experimental current drive efficiency and future prospects are detailed.« less

Response of plasma rotation to resonant magnetic perturbations in J-TEXT tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, W.; Chen, Z. Y.; Huang, D. W.; Hu, Q. M.; Shi, Y. J.; Ding, Y. H.; Cheng, Z. F.; Yang, Z. J.; Pan, X. M.; Lee, S. G.; Tong, R. H.; Wei, Y. N.; Dong, Y. B.; J-TEXT Team

2018-03-01

The response of plasma toroidal rotation to the external resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP) has been investigated in Joint Texas Experimental Tokamak (J-TEXT) ohmic heating plasmas. For the J-TEXT’s plasmas without the application of RMP, the core toroidal rotation is in the counter-current direction while the edge rotation is near zero or slightly in the co-current direction. Both static RMP experiments and rotating RMP experiments have been applied to investigate the plasma toroidal rotation. The core toroidal rotation decreases to lower level with static RMP. At the same time, the edge rotation can spin to more than 20 km s-1 in co-current direction. On the other hand, the core plasma rotation can be slowed down or be accelerated with the rotating RMP. When the rotating RMP frequency is higher than mode frequency, the plasma rotation can be accelerated to the rotating RMP frequency. The plasma confinement is improved with high frequency rotating RMP. The plasma rotation is decelerated to the rotating RMP frequency when the rotating RMP frequency is lower than the mode frequency. The plasma confinement also degrades with low frequency rotating RMP.

Toroidal gyro-Landau fluid model turbulence simulations in a nonlinear ballooning mode representation with radial modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waltz, R. E.; Kerbel, G. D.; Milovich, J.

1994-07-01

The method of Hammett and Perkins [Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 3019 (1990)] to model Landau damping has been recently applied to the moments of the gyrokinetic equation with curvature drift by Waltz, Dominguez, and Hammett [Phys. Fluids B 4, 3138 (1992)]. The higher moments are truncated in terms of the lower moments (density, parallel velocity, and parallel and perpendicular pressure) by modeling the deviation from a perturbed Maxwellian to fit the kinetic response function at all values of the kinetic parameters: k∥vth/ω, b=(k⊥ρ)2/2, and ωD/ω. Here the resulting gyro-Landau fluid equations are applied to the simulation of ion temperature gradient (ITG) mode turbulence in toroidal geometry using a novel three-dimensional (3-D) nonlinear ballooning mode representation. The representation is a Fourier transform of a field line following basis (ky',kx',z') with periodicity in toroidal and poloidal angles. Particular emphasis is given to the role of nonlinearly generated n=0 (ky' = 0, kx' ≠ 0) ``radial modes'' in stabilizing the transport from the finite-n ITG ballooning modes. Detailing the parametric dependence of toroidal ITG turbulence is a key result.

The role of MHD in 3D aspects of massive gas injection

DOE PAGES

Izzo, Valerie A.; Parks, P. B.; Eidietis, Nicholas W.; ...

2015-06-26

Simulations of massive gas injection (MGI) for disruption mitigation in DIII-D are carried out to compare the toroidal peaking of radiated power for the cases of one and two gas jets. The radiation toroidal peaking factor (TPF) results from a combination of the distribution of impurities and the distribution of heat flux associated with then =1 mode. The injected impurities are found to spread helically along field lines preferentially toward the high-field-side, which is explained in terms of a nozzle equation. In light of this mechanism, reversing the current direction also reverses the toroidal direction of impurity spreading. During themore » pre-thermal quench phase of the disruption, the toroidal peaking of radiated power is reduced in the straightforward manner by increasing from one to two gas jets. However, during the thermal quench phase, reduction in the TPF is achieved only for a particular arrangement of the two gas valves with respect to the field line pitch. In particular, the relationship between the two valve locations and the 1/1 mode phase is critical, where gas valve spacing that is coherent with 1/1 symmetry effectively reduces TPF.« less

Induced synthesis of toroid-like lead sulfide nanocomposites in ethanol solution through a protein templating route

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Li; Qin, Dezhi; Yang, Guangrui; Du, Xian; Zhang, Qiuxia; Li, Feng

2015-09-01

The toroid-like PbS nanocrystals have been prepared in zein ethanol solution based on self-assembly template of protein molecules. From transmission electron microscopy observation, the obtained samples were monodispersed with an average size of about 47 nm. The chemical composition and crystal structure of nanocomposites were determined by X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrum measurements. The interaction between PbS and zein was investigated through Fourier transform infrared, photoluminescence, circular dichroism (CD) spectra, and thermogravimetric analysis. The PbS nanocrystals could react with nitrogen and oxygen atoms of zein molecules through coordination and electrostatic force. The CD spectra results suggested that PbS nanocrystals induced the conformational transition of protein from α-helix to β-sheet and then self-assembled into ring or toroid nanostructure. The quenching of zein fluorescence induced by PbS nanocrystals also showed the change in the chemical microenvironments of the fluorescent amino acid residues in the protein structure. The key step of this facile, biomimetic route was the formation of self-assembly nanostructure of zein, which could regulate the nucleation and growth of toroid-like PbS nanocrystals.

Do Structural Missense Variants in the ATM Gene Found in Women With Breast Cancer Cause Breast Cancer in Knock-in Mouse Strains?

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-04-01

W81XWH-05-1-0282 TITLE: Do Structural Missense Variants in the ATM Gene Found in Women with Breast Cancer Cause Breast Cancer in "Knock-in...5a. CONTRACT NUMBER Do Structural Missense Variants in the ATM Gene Found in Women with Breast Cancer Cause Breast Cancer in "Knock-in" Mouse...human cohort-specific missense mutations will develop breast cancer with dominant inheritance in a subset of animals. It also is hypothesized that

Proton Knock-Out in Hall A

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kees de Jager

Proton knock-out is studied in a broad program in Hall A at Jefferson Lab. The first experiment performed in Hall A studied the {sup 16}O(e,e'p) reaction. Since then proton knock-out experiments have studied a variety of aspects of that reaction, from single-nucleon properties to its mechanism, such as final-state interactions and two-body currents, in nuclei from {sup 2}H to {sup 16}O. In this review the results of this program will be summarized and an outlook given of future accomplishments.

Knocking in the Otto-cycle Engine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weinhart, H

1939-01-01

Engine knock is, as is known, preceded by normal burning of the first part of the charge, and only the part burned last (residual charge), knocks. The aim of the present measurements was, first, to reexamine the combustion form in this residual charge, because of the absence of uniform and frequently contradictory results in the very extensive literature on the subject. On top of that, an attempt was to be made to gain a deeper insight into the mechanism accompanying the combustion process, by means of the electrical test equipment perfected in recent years.

Expression of inactive glutathione peroxidase 4 leads to embryonic lethality, and inactivation of the Alox15 gene does not rescue such knock-in mice.

PubMed

Brütsch, Simone Hanna; Wang, Chi Chiu; Li, Lu; Stender, Hannelore; Neziroglu, Nilgün; Richter, Constanze; Kuhn, Hartmut; Borchert, Astrid

2015-02-01

Glutathione peroxidases (Gpx) and lipoxygenases (Alox) are functional counterplayers in the metabolism of hydroperoxy lipids that regulate cellular redox homeostasis. Gpx4 is a moonlighting protein that has been implicated not only as an enzyme in anti-oxidative defense, gene expression regulation, and programmed cell death, but also as a structural protein in spermatogenesis. Homozygous Gpx4 knock-out mice are not viable, but molecular reasons for intrauterine lethality are not completely understood. This study was aimed at investigating whether the lack of catalytic activity or the impaired function as structural protein is the dominant reason for embryonic lethality. We further explored whether the pro-oxidative enzyme mouse 12/15 lipoxygenase (Alox15) plays a major role in embryonic lethality of Gpx4-deficient mice. To achieve these goals, we first created knock-in mice, which express a catalytically inactive Gpx4 mutant (Sec46Ala). As homozygous Gpx4-knock-out mice Sec46Ala-Gpx4(+/+) knock-in animals are not viable but undergo intrauterine resorption between embryonic day 6 and 7 (E6-7). In contrast, heterozygous knock-in mice (Sec46Ala-Gpx4(-/+)) are viable, fertile and do not show major phenotypic alterations. Interestingly, homozygous Alox15 deficiency did not rescue the U46A-Gpx4(+/+) mice from embryonic lethality. In fact, when heterozygous U46A-Gpx4(-/+) mice were stepwise crossed into an Alox15-deficent background, no viable U46A-Gpx4(+/+)+Alox15(-/-) individuals were obtained. However, we were able to identify U46A-Gpx4(+/+)+Alox15(-/-) embryos in the state of resorption around E7. These data suggest that the lack of catalytic activity is the major reason for the embryonic lethality of Gpx4(-/-) mice and that systemic inactivation of the Alox15 gene does not rescue homozygous knock-in mice expressing catalytically silent Gpx4.

Synaptic function is modulated by LRRK2 and glutamate release is increased in cortical neurons of G2019S LRRK2 knock-in mice.

PubMed

Beccano-Kelly, Dayne A; Kuhlmann, Naila; Tatarnikov, Igor; Volta, Mattia; Munsie, Lise N; Chou, Patrick; Cao, Li-Ping; Han, Heather; Tapia, Lucia; Farrer, Matthew J; Milnerwood, Austen J

2014-01-01

Mutations in Leucine-Rich Repeat Kinase-2 (LRRK2) result in familial Parkinson's disease and the G2019S mutation alone accounts for up to 30% in some ethnicities. Despite this, the function of LRRK2 is largely undetermined although evidence suggests roles in phosphorylation, protein interactions, autophagy and endocytosis. Emerging reports link loss of LRRK2 to altered synaptic transmission, but the effects of the G2019S mutation upon synaptic release in mammalian neurons are unknown. To assess wild type and mutant LRRK2 in established neuronal networks, we conducted immunocytochemical, electrophysiological and biochemical characterization of >3 week old cortical cultures of LRRK2 knock-out, wild-type overexpressing and G2019S knock-in mice. Synaptic release and synapse numbers were grossly normal in LRRK2 knock-out cells, but discretely reduced glutamatergic activity and reduced synaptic protein levels were observed. Conversely, synapse density was modestly but significantly increased in wild-type LRRK2 overexpressing cultures although event frequency was not. In knock-in cultures, glutamate release was markedly elevated, in the absence of any change to synapse density, indicating that physiological levels of G2019S LRRK2 elevate probability of release. Several pre-synaptic regulatory proteins shown by others to interact with LRRK2 were expressed at normal levels in knock-in cultures; however, synapsin 1 phosphorylation was significantly reduced. Thus, perturbations to the pre-synaptic release machinery and elevated synaptic transmission are early neuronal effects of LRRK2 G2019S. Furthermore, the comparison of knock-in and overexpressing cultures suggests that one copy of the G2019S mutation has a more pronounced effect than an ~3-fold increase in LRRK2 protein. Mutant-induced increases in transmission may convey additional stressors to neuronal physiology that may eventually contribute to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease.

Elevated progranulin contributes to synaptic and learning deficit due to loss of fragile X mental retardation protein.

PubMed

Zhang, Kun; Li, Yu-Jiao; Guo, Yanyan; Zheng, Kai-Yin; Yang, Qi; Yang, Le; Wang, Xin-Shang; Song, Qian; Chen, Tao; Zhuo, Min; Zhao, Ming-Gao

2017-12-01

Fragile X syndrome is an inheritable form of intellectual disability caused by loss of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP, encoded by the FMR1 gene). Absence of FMRP caused overexpression of progranulin (PGRN, encoded by GRN), a putative tumour necrosis factor receptor ligand. In the present study, we found that progranulin mRNA and protein were upregulated in the medial prefrontal cortex of Fmr1 knock-out mice. In Fmr1 knock-out mice, elevated progranulin caused insufficient dendritic spine pruning and late-phase long-term potentiation in the medial prefrontal cortex of Fmr1 knock-out mice. Partial progranulin knock-down restored spine morphology and reversed behavioural deficits, including impaired fear memory, hyperactivity, and motor inflexibility in Fmr1 knock-out mice. Progranulin increased levels of phosphorylated glutamate ionotropic receptor GluA1 and nuclear factor kappa B in cultured wild-type neurons. Tumour necrosis factor receptor 2 antibody perfusion blocked the effects of progranulin on GluA1 phosphorylation; this result indicates that tumour necrosis factor receptor 2 is required for progranulin-mediated GluA1 phosphorylation and late-phase long-term potentiation expression. However, high basal level of progranulin in Fmr1 knock-out mice prevented further facilitation of synaptic plasticity by exogenous progranulin. Partial downregulation of progranulin or tumour necrosis factor receptor 2/nuclear factor kappa B signalling restored synaptic plasticity and memory deficits in Fmr1 knock-out mice. These findings suggest that elevated PGRN is linked to cognitive deficits of fragile X syndrome, and the progranulin/tumour necrosis factor receptor 2 signalling pathway may be a putative therapeutic target for improving cognitive deficits in fragile X syndrome. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Spheroidal and Toroidal Modes for Tidal Kinetic Energy in Spherical Elastic Bodies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Getino, Juan; Escapa, Alberto; Garcia, Amelia

In this work, the total expression of the perturbation of the kinetic energy of rotation, when an elastic spherical solid is deformed due to the gravitational attraction of external bodies, is studied. We do not limit this study to any order in the expansion of the perturbing potential in spherical harmonics, and we consider in the expression of the displacement vector the complete solution, composed by spheroidal and toroidal modes. We show in a very simple way, by using the properties of the Legendre polynomials, that the toroidal modes have no contribution at all under the hypothesis of spherical body, and, among the spheroidal modes, only the term n=2 acts, therefore the perturbation produced by the spheroidal component for n=2 gathers the total perturbation.

Dimensionless size scaling of intrinsic rotation in DIII-D

DOE PAGES

deGrassie, John S.; Solomon, Wayne M.; Rice, J. E.; ...

2016-08-01

A dimensionless empirical scaling for intrinsic toroidal rotation is given; M A ~β Nρ*, where M A is the toroidal velocity divided by the Alfvén velocity, β N the usual normalized β value, and ρ* is the ion gyroradius divided by the minor radius. This scaling describes well experimental data from DIII-D, and also some published data from C-Mod and JET. The velocity used in this scaling is in an outer location in minor radius, outside of the interior core and inside of the large gradient edge region in H-mode conditions. Furthermore, this scaling establishes the basic magnitude of themore » intrinsic toroidal rotation and its relation to the rich variety of rotation profiles that can be realized for intrinsic conditions is discussed.« less

Charge-Induced Saffman-Taylor Instabilities in Toroidal Droplets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fragkopoulos, A. A.; Aizenman, A.; Fernández-Nieves, A.

2017-06-01

We show that charged toroidal droplets can develop fingerlike structures as they expand due to Saffman-Taylor instabilities. While these are commonly observed in quasi-two-dimensional geometries when a fluid displaces another fluid of higher viscosity, we show that the toroidal confinement breaks the symmetry of the problem, effectively making it quasi-two-dimensional and enabling the instability to develop in this three-dimensional situation. We control the expansion speed of the torus with the imposed electric stress and show that fingers are observed provided the characteristic time scale associated with this instability is smaller than the characteristic time scale associated with Rayleigh-Plateau break-up. We confirm our interpretation of the results by showing that the number of fingers is consistent with expectations from linear stability analysis in radial Hele-Shaw cells.

Toroidal Interaction and Propeller Chirality of Hexaarylbenzenes. Dynamic Domino Inversion Revealed by Combined Experimental and Theoretical Circular Dichroism Studies.

PubMed

Kosaka, Tomoyo; Inoue, Yoshihisa; Mori, Tadashi

2016-03-03

Hexaarylbenzenes (HABs) have greatly attracted much attention due to their unique propeller-shaped structure and potential application in materials science, such as liquid crystals, molecular capsules/rotors, redox materials, nonlinear optical materials, as well as molecular wires. Less attention has however been paid to their propeller chirality. By introducing small point-chiral group(s) at the periphery of HABs, propeller chirality was effectively induced, provoking strong Cotton effects in the circular dichroism (CD) spectrum. Temperature and solvent polarity manipulate the dynamics of propeller inversion in solution. As such, whizzing toroids become more substantial in polar solvents and at an elevated temperature, where radial aromatic rings (propeller blades) prefer orthogonal alignment against the central benzene ring (C6 core), maximizing toroidal interactions.

Review and perspectives of electrostatic turbulence and transport studies in the basic plasma physics device TORPEX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avino, Fabio; Bovet, Alexandre; Fasoli, Ambrogio; Furno, Ivo; Gustafson, Kyle; Loizu, Joaquim; Ricci, Paolo; Theiler, Christian

2012-10-01

TORPEX is a basic plasma physics toroidal device located at the CRPP-EPFL in Lausanne. In TORPEX, a vertical magnetic field superposed on a toroidal field creates helicoidal field lines with both ends terminating on the torus vessel. We review recent advances in the understanding and control of electrostatic interchange turbulence, associated structures and their effect on suprathermal ions. These advances are obtained using high-resolution diagnostics of plasma parameters and wave fields throughout the whole device cross-section, fluid models and numerical simulations. Furthermore, we discuss future developments including the possibility of generating closed field line configurations with rotational transform using an internal toroidal wire carrying a current. This system will also allow the study of innovative fusion-relevant configurations, such as the snowflake divertor.

Reduced critical rotation for resistive-wall mode stabilization in a near-axisymmetric configuration.

PubMed

Reimerdes, H; Garofalo, A M; Jackson, G L; Okabayashi, M; Strait, E J; Chu, M S; In, Y; La Haye, R J; Lanctot, M J; Liu, Y Q; Navratil, G A; Solomon, W M; Takahashi, H; Groebner, R J

2007-02-02

Recent DIII-D experiments with reduced neutral beam torque and minimum nonaxisymmetric perturbations of the magnetic field show a significant reduction of the toroidal plasma rotation required for the stabilization of the resistive-wall mode (RWM) below the threshold values observed in experiments that apply nonaxisymmetric magnetic fields to slow the plasma rotation. A toroidal rotation frequency of less than 10 krad/s at the q=2 surface (measured with charge exchange recombination spectroscopy using C VI) corresponding to 0.3% of the inverse of the toroidal Alfvén time is sufficient to sustain the plasma pressure above the ideal MHD no-wall stability limit. The low-rotation threshold is found to be consistent with predictions by a kinetic model of RWM damping.

Outer satellite atmospheres: Their nature and planetary interactions. [atmospheric models for Amalthea, Ganymede, Callisto, and Titan are presented

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smyth, W. H.

1978-01-01

Results show that Amalthea is likely to form a tightly-bound partial toroidal-shaped hydrogen cloud about its planet, while Ganymede, Callisto and Titan may have rather large, complete and nearly symmetric toroidal-shaped clouds. The toroidal cloud for Amalthea compares favorably with spacecraft data of Pioneer 10 for a satellite escape flux of order 10 to the 11th power atoms/sq cm/sec. Model results for Ganymede, Callisto and Titan suggest that these extended hydrogen atmospheres are likely to be detected by the Voyager spacecrafts and that Titan's cloud might also be detected by the Pioneer 11 spacecraft. Ions created because of atoms lost through ionization processes from these four extended hydrogen atmospheres and from the sodium cloud of Io are discussed.

Inflatable nested toroid structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Christopher J. (Inventor); Raboin, Jasen L. (Inventor); Spexarth, Gary R. (Inventor)

2011-01-01

An inflatable structure comprises at least two generally toroidal, inflatable modules. When in a deployed mode, the first, inner module has a major diameter less than that of a second, outer module and is positioned within the inner circumference of the outer module such that the first module is nested circumferentially alongside the second module. The inflatable structure, in a non-deployed, non-inflated mode, is of compact configuration and adapted to be transported to a site of deployment. When deployed, the inflatable structure is of substantially increased interior volume. In one embodiment, access between the interior of the first module and the second module is provided by at least one port or structural pass-through. In another embodiment, the inflatable structure includes at least one additional generally toroidal module external of and circumferentially surrounding the second module.

DNA condensation and size effects of DNA condensation agent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yan-Hui; Jiang, Chong-Ming; Guo, Xin-Miao; Tang, Yan-Lin; Hu, Lin

2013-08-01

Based on the model of the strong correlation of counterions condensed on DNA molecule, by tailoring interaction potential, interduplex spacing and correlation spacing between condensed counterions on DNA molecule and interduplex spacing fluctuation strength, toroidal configuration, rod-like configuration and two-hole configurations are possible. The size effects of counterion structure on the toroidal structure can be detected by this model. The autocorrelation function of the tangent vectors is found as an effective way to detect the structure of toroidal conformations and the generic pathway of the process of DNA condensation. The generic pathway of all of the configurations involves an initial nucleation loop, and the next part of the DNA chain is folded on the top of the initial nucleation loop with different manners, in agreement with the recent experimental results.

Interpretation of rotation and momentum transport in the DIII-D edge plasma and comparison with neoclassical theory

DOE PAGES

Stacey, Weston M.; Grierson, Brian A.

2014-05-08

Here, a low-confinement mode discharge which optimizes the capability of the new main-ion chargeexchange-recombination spectroscopy system on DIII-D to measure deuterium toroidal velocity is interpretted in comparison with the predictions of neoclassical theory, with an emphasis on the plasma edge region. The observed peaking in the deuterium toroidal velocity near the separatrix is shown to be consistent with intrinsic co-rotation due to ion orbit loss. In general, the standard neoclassical toroidal and poloidal momentum transport rates are found to be smaller than those inferred from experiment, but a comparison has not yet been made with the more recent extended neoclassicalmore » theory that calculates the effects of poloidal asymmetries using an elongated flux surface representation.« less

Impurity mixing and radiation asymmetry in massive gas injection simulations of DIII-D

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Izzo, V. A.

Simulations of neon massive gas injection into DIII-D are performed with the 3D MHD code NIMROD. The poloidal and toroidal distribution of the impurity source is varied. This report will focus on the effects of the source variation on impurity mixing and radiated power asymmetry. Even toroidally symmetric impurity injection is found to produce asymmetric radiated power due to asymmetric convective heat flux produced by the 1/1 mode. When the gas source is toroidally localized, the phase relationship between the mode and the source location is important, affecting both radiation peaking and impurity mixing. Under certain circumstances, a single, localizedmore » gas jet could produce better radiation symmetry during the disruption thermal quench than evenly distributed impurities.« less

Rotation and kinetic modifications of the tokamak ideal-wall pressure limit.

PubMed

Menard, J E; Wang, Z; Liu, Y; Bell, R E; Kaye, S M; Park, J-K; Tritz, K

2014-12-19

The impact of toroidal rotation, energetic ions, and drift-kinetic effects on the tokamak ideal wall mode stability limit is considered theoretically and compared to experiment for the first time. It is shown that high toroidal rotation can be an important destabilizing mechanism primarily through the angular velocity shear; non-Maxwellian fast ions can also be destabilizing, and drift-kinetic damping can potentially offset these destabilization mechanisms. These results are obtained using the unique parameter regime accessible in the spherical torus NSTX of high toroidal rotation speed relative to the thermal and Alfvén speeds and high kinetic pressure relative to the magnetic pressure. Inclusion of rotation and kinetic effects significantly improves agreement between measured and predicted ideal stability characteristics and may provide new insight into tearing mode triggering.

Knock-Outs, Stick-Outs, Cut-Outs: Clipping Paths Separate Objects from Background.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Bradley

1998-01-01

Outlines a six-step process that allows computer operators, using Photoshop software, to create "knock-outs" to precisely define the path that will serve to separate the object from the background. (SR)

Long noncoding RNA lnc-sox5 modulates CRC tumorigenesis by unbalancing tumor microenvironment.

PubMed

Wu, Kaiming; Zhao, Zhenxian; Liu, Kuanzhi; Zhang, Jian; Li, Guanghua; Wang, Liang

2017-07-03

Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) have been recently regarded as systemic regulators in multiple biologic processes including tumorigenesis. In this study, we observed the expression of lncRNA lnc-sox5 was significantly increased in colorectal cancer (CRC). Despite the CRC cell growth, cell cycle and cell apoptosis was not affected by lnc-sox5 knock-down, lnc-sox5 knock-down suppressed CRC cell migration and invasion. In addition, xenograft animal model suggested that lnc-sox5 knock-down significantly suppressed the CRC tumorigenesis. Our results also showed that the expression of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) was significantly reduced by lnc-sox5 knock-down and therefore modulated the infiltration and cytotoxicity of CD3 + CD8 + T cells. Taken together, these results suggested that lnc-sox5 unbalances tumor microenvironment to regulate colorectal cancer progression.

A High-Speed Motion-Picture Study of Normal Combustion, Knock and Preignition in a Spark-Ignition Engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rothrock, A M; Spencer, R C; Miller, Cearcy D

1941-01-01

Combustion in a spark-ignition engine was investigated by means of the NACA high-speed motion-picture cameras. This camera is operated at a speed of 40,000 photographs a second and therefore makes possible the study of changes that take place in the intervals as short as 0.000025 second. When the motion pictures are projected at the normal speed of 16 frames a second, any rate of movement shown is slowed down 2500 times. Photographs are presented of normal combustion, of combustion from preignitions, and of knock both with and without preignition. The photographs of combustion show that knock may be preceded by a period of exothermic reaction in the end zone that persists for a time interval of as much as 0.0006 second. The knock takes place in 0.00005 second or less.

Age- and region-specific imbalances of basal amino acids and monoamine metabolism in limbic regions of female Fmr1 knock-out mice.

PubMed

Gruss, Michael; Braun, Katharina

2004-07-01

The Fragile X syndrome, a common form of mental retardation in humans, originates from the loss of expression of the Fragile X mental retardation gene leading to the absence of the encoded Fragile X mental retardation protein 1 (FMRP). A broad pattern of morphological and behavioral abnormalities is well described for affected humans as well as Fmr1 knock-out mice, a transgenic animal model for the human Fragile X syndrome. In the present study, we examined neurochemical differences between female Fmr1 knock-out and wildtype mice with particular focus on neurotransmission. Significant age- and region-specific differences of basal tissue neurotransmitter and metabolite levels measured by high performance liquid chromatography were found. Those differences were more numerous in juvenile animals (postnatal day (PND) 28-31) compared to adults (postnatal day 209-221). In juvenile female knock-out mice, especially aspartate and taurine were increased in cortical regions, striatum, cerebellum, and brainstem. Furthermore, compared to the wildtype animals, the juvenile knock-out mice displayed an increased level of neuronal inhibition in the hippocampus and brainstem reflected by decreased ratios of (aspartate + glutamate)/(taurine + GABA), as well as an increased dopamine (DA) turnover in cortical regions, striatum, and hippocampus. These results provide the first evidence that the lack of FMRP expression in female Fmr1 knock-out mice is accompanied by age-dependent, region-specific alterations in brain amino acids, and monoamine turnover, which might be related to the reported synaptical and behavioural alterations in these animals.

Starch Binding Domain-containing Protein 1 Plays a Dominant Role in Glycogen Transport to Lysosomes in Liver*

PubMed Central

Sun, Tao; Yi, Haiqing; Yang, Chunyu; Kishnani, Priya S.; Sun, Baodong

2016-01-01

A small portion of cellular glycogen is transported to and degraded in lysosomes by acid α-glucosidase (GAA) in mammals, but it is unclear why and how glycogen is transported to the lysosomes. Stbd1 has recently been proposed to participate in glycogen trafficking to lysosomes. However, our previous study demonstrated that knockdown of Stbd1 in GAA knock-out mice did not alter lysosomal glycogen storage in skeletal muscles. To further determine whether Stbd1 participates in glycogen transport to lysosomes, we generated GAA/Stbd1 double knock-out mice. In fasted double knock-out mice, glycogen accumulation in skeletal and cardiac muscles was not affected, but glycogen content in liver was reduced by nearly 73% at 3 months of age and by 60% at 13 months as compared with GAA knock-out mice, indicating that the transport of glycogen to lysosomes was suppressed in liver by the loss of Stbd1. Exogenous expression of human Stbd1 in double knock-out mice restored the liver lysosomal glycogen content to the level of GAA knock-out mice, as did a mutant lacking the Atg8 family interacting motif (AIM) and another mutant that contains only the N-terminal 24 hydrophobic segment and the C-terminal starch binding domain (CBM20) interlinked by an HA tag. Our results demonstrate that Stbd1 plays a dominant role in glycogen transport to lysosomes in liver and that the N-terminal transmembrane region and the C-terminal CBM20 domain are critical for this function. PMID:27358407

40 CFR 745.65 - Lead-based paint hazards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... caused by impact from a related building component (such as a door knob that knocks into a wall or a door that knocks against its door frame. (3) Any chewable lead-based painted surface on which there is...

40 CFR 745.65 - Lead-based paint hazards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... caused by impact from a related building component (such as a door knob that knocks into a wall or a door that knocks against its door frame. (3) Any chewable lead-based painted surface on which there is...

Functional characterization of three MicroRNAs of the Asian Tiger Mosquito, Aedes albopictus

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Temporal and stage specific expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) in embryos, larvae, pupae and adults of Aedes albopictus showed differential expression levels across the four developmental stages, indicating their potential regulatory roles in mosquito development. The functional characterization of these miRNAs was not known. Accordingly our study evaluated the functional characterization of three miRNAs, which are temporally up-regulated in the various developmental stages of Ae. albopictus mosquitoes. Methods miRNA mimics, inhibitors and negative controls were designed and their knock-in and knock-down efficiency were analyzed by qRT-PCR after transfecting the mosquito cell lines C6/36, and also by injecting in their specific developmental stages. The functional role of each individual miRNA was analyzed with various parameters of development such as, hatching rate and hatching time in embryos, eclosion rate in larvae, longevity and fecundity in the adult mosquitoes. Results The knock-in with the specifically designed miRNA mimics showed increased levels of expression of miRNA compared with their normal controls. We confirmed these findings using qRT-PCR, both by in vitro expression in C6/36 mosquito cell lines after transfection as well as in in vivo expression in developmental stages of mosquitoes by microinjection. The knock-down of expression with the corresponding inhibitors showed a considerable decrease in the expression levels of these miRNAs and obvious functional effects in Ae. albopictus development, detected by a decrease in the hatching rate of embryos and eclosion rate in larvae and a marked reduction in longevity and fecundity in adults. Conclusion This study carried out by knock-in and knock-down of specifically and temporally expressed miRNAs in Ae. albopictus by microinjection is a novel study to delineate the importance of the miRNA expression in regulating mosquito development. The knock-down and loss of function of endogenously expressed miRNAs by the miRNA inhibitors in specific developmental stages had considerable effects on development, but enhancement of their gain of function was not observed on knock-in of these specific miRNAs. Hence, our study indicates that an optimal level of endogenous expression of miRNA is indispensable for the normal development and maintenance of the vectorial population density and pathogen transmissibility of this mosquito vector. PMID:23924583

An Inexpensive Toroidal Solenoid for an Investigative Student Lab

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferstl, Andrew; Broberg, John

2008-09-01

Magnetism and Ampère's law is a common subject in most calculus-based introductory physics courses. Many textbooks offer examples to calculate the magnetic field produced by a symmetric current by using Ampère's law. These examples include the solenoid and the toroidal solenoid (sometimes called a torus; see Fig. 1), which are used in many applications, including the study of plasmas.

Erratum: “Multi-point, high-speed passive ion velocity distribution diagnostic on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment” [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 83, 10D516 (2012)

DOE PAGES

Burke, Marcus G.; Fonck, Raymond J.; Bongard, Michael W.; ...

2016-07-18

This article corrects an error in M.G. Burke et al., 'Multi-point, high-speed passive ion velocity distribution diagnostic on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment,' Rev. Sci. Instrum. 83, 10D516 (2012) pertaining to ion temperature. The conclusions of this paper are not altered by the revised ion temperature measurements.

Generation of plate tectonics with two-phase grain-damage and pinning: Source-sink model and toroidal flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bercovici, David; Ricard, Yanick

2013-03-01

The grain-damage and pinning mechanism of Bercovici and Ricard (2012) for lithospheric shear-localization is employed in two-dimensional flow calculations to test its ability to generate toroidal (strike-slip) motion and influence plate evolution. This mechanism posits that damage to the interface between phases in a polycrystalline material like peridotite (composed primarily of olivine and pyroxene) increases the number of small Zener pinning surfaces, which then constrain mineral grains to ever smaller sizes, regardless of creep mechanism. This effect allows a self-softening feedback in which damage and grain-reduction can co-exist with a grain-size dependent diffusion creep rheology; moreover, grain growth and weak-zone healing are greatly impeded by Zener pinning thereby leading to long-lived relic weak zones. The fluid dynamical calculations employ source-sink driven flow as a proxy for convective poloidal flow (upwelling/downwelling and divergent/convergent motion), and the coupling of this flow with non-linear rheological mechanisms excites toroidal or strike-slip motion. The numerical experiments show that pure dislocation-creep rheology, and grain-damage without Zener pinning (as occurs in a single-phase assemblages) permit only weak localization and toroidal flow; however, the full grain-damage with pinning readily allows focussed localization and intense, plate-like toroidal motion and strike-slip deformation. Rapid plate motion changes are also tested with abrupt rotations of the source-sink field after a plate-like configuration is developed; the post-rotation flow and material property fields retain memory of the original configuration for extensive periods, leading to suboptimally aligned plate boundaries (e.g., strike-slip margins non-parallel to plate motion), oblique subduction, and highly localized, weak and long lived acute plate-boundary junctions such as at what is observed at the Aleutian-Kurile intersection. The grain-damage and pinning theory therefore readily satisfies key plate-tectonic metrics of localized toroidal motion and plate-boundary inheritance, and thus provides a predictive theory for the generation of plate tectonics on Earth and other planets.

Toroidal plasma response based ELM control coil design for EU DEMO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Lina; Liu, Yueqiang; Wenninger, Ronald; Liu, Yue; Wang, Shuo; Yang, Xu

2018-07-01

Magnetic coil design study is carried out, for the purpose of mitigating or suppressing the edge localized modes (ELMs) in a EU DEMO reference scenario. The coil design, including both the coil geometry and the coil current requirement, is based on criteria derived from the linear, full toroidal plasma response computed by the MARS-F code (Liu et al 2000 Phys. Plasma 7 3681). With a single midplane row of coils, a coil size covering about 30°–50° poloidal angle of the torus is found to be optimal for ELM control using the n  >  2 resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) field (n is the toroidal mode number). For off-midplane coils, the coils’ poloidal location, as well as the relative toroidal phase (coil phasing) between the upper and lower rows of coils, also sensitively affects the ELM control according to the specified criteria. Assuming that the optimal coil phasing can always be straightforwardly implemented, following a simple analytic model derived from toroidal computations, it is better to place the two off-midplane rows of coils near the midplane, in order to maximize the resonant field amplitude and to have larger effects on ELMs. With the same coil current, the ex-vessel coils can be made as effective as the in-vessel coils, at the expense of increasing the ex-vessel coils’ size. This is however possible only for low-n (n  =  1–3) RMP fields. With these low-n fields, and assuming 300 kAt maximal coil current, the computed plasma displacement near the X-point can meet the 10 mm level, which we use as the conservative indicator for achieving ELM mitigation in EU DEMO. The risk of partial control coil failure in EU DEMO is also assessed based on toroidal modeling, indicating that the large n  =  1 sideband due to coil failure may need to be corrected, if the nominal n  >  1 coil configurations are used for ELM control in EU DEMO.

Local properties of magnetic reconnection in nonlinear resistive- and extended-magnetohydrodynamic toroidal simulations of the sawtooth crash

DOE PAGES

Beidler, M. T.; Cassak, P. A.; Jardin, S. C.; ...

2016-12-15

We diagnose local properties of magnetic reconnection during a sawtooth crash employing the three-dimensional toroidal, extended-magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code M3D-C 1. To do so, we sample simulation data in the plane in which reconnection occurs, the plane perpendicular to the helical (m, n) = (1, 1) mode at the q = 1 surface, where m and n are the poloidal and toroidal mode numbers and q is the safety factor. We study the nonlinear evolution of a particular test equilibrium in a non-reduced field representation using both resistive-MHD and extended-MHD models. We find growth rates for the extended-MHD reconnection process exhibitmore » a nonlinear acceleration and greatly exceed that of the resistive-MHD model, as is expected from previous experimental, theoretical, and computational work. We compare the properties of reconnection in the two simulations, revealing the reconnecting current sheets are locally different in the two models and we present the first observation of the quadrupole out-of-plane Hall magnetic field that appears during extended-MHD reconnection in a 3D toroidal simulation (but not in resistive-MHD). We also explore the dependence on toroidal angle of the properties of reconnection as viewed in the plane perpendicular to the helical magnetic field, finding qualitative and quantitative effects due to changes in the symmetry of the reconnection process. Furthermore, this study is potentially important for a wide range of magnetically confined fusion applications, from confirming simulations with extended-MHD effects are sufficiently resolved to describe reconnection, to quantifying local reconnection rates for purposes of understanding and predicting transport, not only at the q = 1 rational surface for sawteeth, but also at higher order rational surfaces that play a role in disruptions and edge-confinement degradation.« less

Geometries in Soft Matter From Geometric Frustration, Liquid Droplets to Electrostatics in Solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Zhenwei

This thesis explores geometric aspects of soft matter systems. The topics covered fall into three categories: (i) geometric frustrations, including the interplay of geometry and topological defects in two dimensional systems, and the frustration of a planar sheet attached to a curved surface; (ii) geometries of liquid droplets, including the curvature driven instabilities of toroidal liquid droplets and the self-propulsion of droplets on a spatially varying surface topography; (iii) the study of the electric double layer structure around charged spherical interfaces by a geometric method. In (i), we study the crystalline order on capillary bridges with varying Gaussian curvature. Energy requires the appearance of topological defects on the surface, which are natural spots for biological activity and chemical functionalization. We further study how liquid crystalline order deforms flexible structured vesicles. In particular we find faceted tetrahedral vesicle as the ground state, which may lead to the design of supra-molecular structures with tetrahedral symmetry and new classes of nano-carriers. Furthermore, by a simple paper model we explore the geometric frustration on a planar sheet when brought to a negative curvature surface in a designed elasto-capillary system. In (ii), motivated by the idea of realizing crystalline order on a stable toroidal droplet and a beautiful experiment on toroidal droplets, we study the Rayleigh instability and the shrinking instability of thin and fat toroidal droplets, where the toroidal geometry plays an essential role. In (iii), by a geometric mapping we construct an approximate analytic spherical solution to the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation, and identify the applicability regime of the solution. The derived geometric solution enables further analytical study of spherical electrostatic systems such as colloidal suspensions.

Prolateness of the Solar Tachocline Inferred from Latitudinal Force Balance in a Magnetohydrodynamic Shallow-Water Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dikpati, Mausumi; Gilman, Peter A.

2001-05-01

Motivated by recent helioseismic observations concerning solar tachocline shape and thickness and by the theoretical development of MHD shallow-water equations for the tachocline, we compute the prolateness of the tachocline using an MHD shallow-water model, in which the shape and thickness are determined from the latitudinal force balance equation. We show that a strong toroidal magnetic field stored at or below the overshoot part of the tachocline leads to a pileup of fluid at high latitude, owing to the poleward magnetic curvature stress which has to be balanced by an equatorward latitudinal hydrostatic pressure gradient. For toroidal fields of solar amplitude (~100 kG), results for differentially rotating and uniformly rotating tachoclines are almost the same. In contrast, the unmagnetized differentially rotating tachocline would always be weakly oblate. We propose that a strong toroidal field in the overshoot part of the tachocline should tend to suppress the overshooting, thereby increasing the magnetic storage capacity of the layer since the stratification there should become more subadiabatic. We illustrate the effect of this process on the shape and thickness of the layer by assuming its effective gravity is a function of field strength. If toroidal fields are concentrated in relatively narrow bands which migrate toward the equator with the advance of the sunspot cycle, then they should be accompanied by a ``thickness front'' advancing at the same rate. Applying our model to the prolateness estimate of Charbonneau et al. yields toroidal fields of 60-150 kG in the overshoot layer, consistent with other considerations. Their prolateness in the radiative part of the tachocline would require ~600 kG fields to be present.

Hard Religious Questions in "Knee-Knock Rise" and "Tuck Everlasting."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milner, Joseph O.

1995-01-01

Discusses the way Natalie Babbitt brings up issues of religious conflict and questions about religious certainty and skepticism in her young adult novels. Pays particular attention to two of her novels: "Knee-Knock Rise" and "Tuck Everlasting." (HB)

When Your Back Hurts: Don't Let Back Pain Knock You Flat

MedlinePlus

... Your Back Hurts Don’t Let Back Pain Knock You Flat En español Send us your comments ... Complementary Health Approaches Halt the Hurt! References The SPORT Value Compass: Do the Extra Costs of Undergoing ...

[Synapse maturation and autism: learning from neuroligin model mice].

PubMed

Tabuchi, Katsuhiko; Chang, WenHsin; Hang, WenHsin; Asgar, Nur Farehan; Asgar, Nur Farehan Mohamed; Pramanik, Gopal

2014-02-01

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior. Synaptic defects have been implicated in autism; nevertheless, the cause is still largely unknown. A mutation that substitutes cysteine for arginine at residue 451 of Neuroligin-3 (R451C) is the first monogenic mutation identified in idiopathic autism patients. To study the relationship between this mutation and autism, we generated knock-in mice that recapitulated this mutation. The knock-in mice were born and grew up normally without showing any major physical phenotypes, but showed a deficit in social interaction. We studied synaptic function in the layer II/III pyramidal neurons in the somatosensory cortex and found inhibitory synaptic transmission was enhanced in the knock-in mice. The administration of GABA blocker rescued social interaction, suggesting that this caused autistic behavior in these mice. We also found, by Morris water maze test, that spatial learning and memory were significantly enhanced in the knock-in mice. Electrophysiology in the CA1 region of the hippocampus revealed that LTP, the NMDA/AMPA ratio, and NR2B function were enhanced, indicating that synaptic maturation was impaired in the knock-in mice. This may cause the deficit in social behavior and extraordinary memory ability occasionally seen in autistic patients.

True-breeding targeted gene knock-out in barley using designer TALE-nuclease in haploid cells.

PubMed

Gurushidze, Maia; Hensel, Goetz; Hiekel, Stefan; Schedel, Sindy; Valkov, Vladimir; Kumlehn, Jochen

2014-01-01

Transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) are customizable fusion proteins able to cleave virtually any genomic DNA sequence of choice, and thereby to generate site-directed genetic modifications in a wide range of cells and organisms. In the present study, we expressed TALENs in pollen-derived, regenerable cells to establish the generation of instantly true-breeding mutant plants. A gfp-specific TALEN pair was expressed via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in embryogenic pollen of transgenic barley harboring a functional copy of gfp. Thanks to the haploid nature of the target cells, knock-out mutations were readily detected, and homozygous primary mutant plants obtained following genome duplication. In all, 22% of the TALEN transgenics proved knocked out with respect to gfp, and the loss of function could be ascribed to the deletions of between four and 36 nucleotides in length. The altered gfp alleles were transmitted normally through meiosis, and the knock-out phenotype was consistently shown by the offspring of two independent mutants. Thus, here we describe the efficient production of TALEN-mediated gene knock-outs in barley that are instantaneously homozygous and non-chimeric in regard to the site-directed mutations induced. This TALEN approach has broad applicability for both elucidating gene function and tailoring the phenotype of barley and other crop species.

Fluorescent protein tagging of endogenous protein in brain neurons using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knock-in and in utero electroporation techniques

PubMed Central

Uemura, Takeshi; Mori, Takuma; Kurihara, Taiga; Kawase, Shiori; Koike, Rie; Satoga, Michiru; Cao, Xueshan; Li, Xue; Yanagawa, Toru; Sakurai, Takayuki; Shindo, Takayuki; Tabuchi, Katsuhiko

2016-01-01

Genome editing is a powerful technique for studying gene functions. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene knock-in has recently been applied to various cells and organisms. Here, we successfully knocked in an EGFP coding sequence at the site immediately after the first ATG codon of the β-actin gene in neurons in the brain by the combined use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system and in utero electroporation technique, resulting in the expression of the EGFP-tagged β-actin protein in cortical layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons. We detected EGFP fluorescence signals in the soma and neurites of EGFP knock-in neurons. These signals were particularly abundant in the head of dendritic spines, corresponding to the localization of the endogenous β-actin protein. EGFP knock-in neurons showed no detectable changes in spine density and basic electrophysiological properties. In contrast, exogenously overexpressed EGFP-β-actin showed increased spine density and EPSC frequency, and changed resting membrane potential. Thus, our technique provides a potential tool to elucidate the localization of various endogenous proteins in neurons by epitope tagging without altering neuronal and synaptic functions. This technique can be also useful for introducing a specific mutation into genes to study the function of proteins and genomic elements in brain neurons. PMID:27782168

Intracellular generation of single-strand template increases the knock-in efficiency by combining CRISPR/Cas9 with AAV.

PubMed

Xiao, Qing; Min, Taishan; Ma, Shuangping; Hu, Lingna; Chen, Hongyan; Lu, Daru

2018-04-18

Targeted integration of transgenes facilitates functional genomic research and holds prospect for gene therapy. The established microhomology-mediated end-joining (MMEJ)-based strategy leads to the precise gene knock-in with easily constructed donor, yet the limited efficiency remains to be further improved. Here, we show that single-strand DNA (ssDNA) donor contributes to efficient increase of knock-in efficiency and establishes a method to achieve the intracellular linearization of long ssDNA donor. We identified that the CRISPR/Cas9 system is responsible for breaking double-strand DNA (dsDNA) of palindromic structure in inverted terminal repeats (ITRs) region of recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV), leading to the inhibition of viral second-strand DNA synthesis. Combing Cas9 plasmids targeting genome and ITR with AAV donor delivery, the precise knock-in of gene cassette was achieved, with 13-14% of the donor insertion events being mediated by MMEJ in HEK 293T cells. This study describes a novel method to integrate large single-strand transgene cassettes into the genomes, increasing knock-in efficiency by 13.6-19.5-fold relative to conventional AAV-mediated method. It also provides a comprehensive solution to the challenges of complicated production and difficult delivery with large exogenous fragments.

Fluorescent protein tagging of endogenous protein in brain neurons using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knock-in and in utero electroporation techniques.

PubMed

Uemura, Takeshi; Mori, Takuma; Kurihara, Taiga; Kawase, Shiori; Koike, Rie; Satoga, Michiru; Cao, Xueshan; Li, Xue; Yanagawa, Toru; Sakurai, Takayuki; Shindo, Takayuki; Tabuchi, Katsuhiko

2016-10-26

Genome editing is a powerful technique for studying gene functions. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene knock-in has recently been applied to various cells and organisms. Here, we successfully knocked in an EGFP coding sequence at the site immediately after the first ATG codon of the β-actin gene in neurons in the brain by the combined use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system and in utero electroporation technique, resulting in the expression of the EGFP-tagged β-actin protein in cortical layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons. We detected EGFP fluorescence signals in the soma and neurites of EGFP knock-in neurons. These signals were particularly abundant in the head of dendritic spines, corresponding to the localization of the endogenous β-actin protein. EGFP knock-in neurons showed no detectable changes in spine density and basic electrophysiological properties. In contrast, exogenously overexpressed EGFP-β-actin showed increased spine density and EPSC frequency, and changed resting membrane potential. Thus, our technique provides a potential tool to elucidate the localization of various endogenous proteins in neurons by epitope tagging without altering neuronal and synaptic functions. This technique can be also useful for introducing a specific mutation into genes to study the function of proteins and genomic elements in brain neurons.

Optimization of a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Knock-in Strategy at the Porcine Rosa26 Locus in Porcine Foetal Fibroblasts.

PubMed

Xie, Zicong; Pang, Daxin; Wang, Kankan; Li, Mengjing; Guo, Nannan; Yuan, Hongming; Li, Jianing; Zou, Xiaodong; Jiao, Huping; Ouyang, Hongsheng; Li, Zhanjun; Tang, Xiaochun

2017-06-08

Genetically modified pigs have important roles in agriculture and biomedicine. However, genome-specific knock-in techniques in pigs are still in their infancy and optimal strategies have not been extensively investigated. In this study, we performed electroporation to introduce a targeting donor vector (a non-linearized vector that did not contain a promoter or selectable marker) into Porcine Foetal Fibroblasts (PFFs) along with a CRISPR/Cas9 vector. After optimization, the efficiency of the EGFP site-specific knock-in could reach up to 29.6% at the pRosa26 locus in PFFs. Next, we used the EGFP reporter PFFs to address two key conditions in the process of achieving transgenic pigs, the limiting dilution method and the strategy to evaluate the safety and feasibility of the knock-in locus. This study demonstrates that we establish an efficient procedures for the exogenous gene knock-in technique and creates a platform to efficiently generate promoter-less and selectable marker-free transgenic PFFs through the CRISPR/Cas9 system. This study should contribute to the generation of promoter-less and selectable marker-free transgenic pigs and it may provide insights into sophisticated site-specific genome engineering techniques for additional species.

Homologous Recombination-Independent Large Gene Cassette Knock-in in CHO Cells Using TALEN and MMEJ-Directed Donor Plasmids

PubMed Central

Sakuma, Tetsushi; Takenaga, Mitsumasa; Kawabe, Yoshinori; Nakamura, Takahiro; Kamihira, Masamichi; Yamamoto, Takashi

2015-01-01

Gene knock-in techniques have rapidly evolved in recent years, along with the development and maturation of genome editing technology using programmable nucleases. We recently reported a novel strategy for microhomology-mediated end-joining-dependent integration of donor DNA by using TALEN or CRISPR/Cas9 and optimized targeting vectors, named PITCh (Precise Integration into Target Chromosome) vectors. Here we describe TALEN and PITCh vector-mediated integration of long gene cassettes, including a single-chain Fv-Fc (scFv-Fc) gene, in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, with comparison of targeting and cloning efficiency among several donor design and culture conditions. We achieved 9.6-kb whole plasmid integration and 7.6-kb backbone-free integration into a defined genomic locus in CHO cells. Furthermore, we confirmed the reasonable productivity of recombinant scFv-Fc protein of the knock-in cells. Using our protocol, the knock-in cell clones could be obtained by a single transfection and a single limiting dilution using a 96-well plate, without constructing targeting vectors containing long homology arms. Thus, the study described herein provides a highly practical strategy for gene knock-in of large DNA in CHO cells, which accelerates high-throughput generation of cell lines stably producing any desired biopharmaceuticals, including huge antibody proteins. PMID:26473830

Homologous Recombination-Independent Large Gene Cassette Knock-in in CHO Cells Using TALEN and MMEJ-Directed Donor Plasmids.

PubMed

Sakuma, Tetsushi; Takenaga, Mitsumasa; Kawabe, Yoshinori; Nakamura, Takahiro; Kamihira, Masamichi; Yamamoto, Takashi

2015-10-09

Gene knock-in techniques have rapidly evolved in recent years, along with the development and maturation of genome editing technology using programmable nucleases. We recently reported a novel strategy for microhomology-mediated end-joining-dependent integration of donor DNA by using TALEN or CRISPR/Cas9 and optimized targeting vectors, named PITCh (Precise Integration into Target Chromosome) vectors. Here we describe TALEN and PITCh vector-mediated integration of long gene cassettes, including a single-chain Fv-Fc (scFv-Fc) gene, in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, with comparison of targeting and cloning efficiency among several donor design and culture conditions. We achieved 9.6-kb whole plasmid integration and 7.6-kb backbone-free integration into a defined genomic locus in CHO cells. Furthermore, we confirmed the reasonable productivity of recombinant scFv-Fc protein of the knock-in cells. Using our protocol, the knock-in cell clones could be obtained by a single transfection and a single limiting dilution using a 96-well plate, without constructing targeting vectors containing long homology arms. Thus, the study described herein provides a highly practical strategy for gene knock-in of large DNA in CHO cells, which accelerates high-throughput generation of cell lines stably producing any desired biopharmaceuticals, including huge antibody proteins.

An integral equation-based numerical solver for Taylor states in toroidal geometries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Neil, Michael; Cerfon, Antoine J.

2018-04-01

We present an algorithm for the numerical calculation of Taylor states in toroidal and toroidal-shell geometries using an analytical framework developed for the solution to the time-harmonic Maxwell equations. Taylor states are a special case of what are known as Beltrami fields, or linear force-free fields. The scheme of this work relies on the generalized Debye source representation of Maxwell fields and an integral representation of Beltrami fields which immediately yields a well-conditioned second-kind integral equation. This integral equation has a unique solution whenever the Beltrami parameter λ is not a member of a discrete, countable set of resonances which physically correspond to spontaneous symmetry breaking. Several numerical examples relevant to magnetohydrodynamic equilibria calculations are provided. Lastly, our approach easily generalizes to arbitrary geometries, both bounded and unbounded, and of varying genus.

Focusing experiments in plasma coaxial railguns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Driga, M. D.; Cook, R. W.; Thelen, R. F.

1986-11-01

Results are reported from experiments on focusing of plasma fired from a coaxial electromagnetic gun (CEMG). The plasma used, obtained by exploding a metallic fuse at the gun breech, comprised metal vapor, metallic liquid droplets and small chunks of solid metal. An azimuthal current, and thereby an axial field, was introduced at the breech of the CEMG by a solenoid. Previous studies indicated that the field would cause vaporized metal to form into a self-stabilizing toroidal plasma. Test shots instrumented with Languir probes and pick-up coils did not reveal the presence of toroidal plasma rings. However, post-mortem of the 30 cm rail showed that only one-third of the 3 mg Al fuse metal remained in the bore. Further, a toroidal hole was punched in a diagnostic screen at the bore exit after one shot.

Interplay between intrinsic plasma rotation and magnetic island evolution in disruptive discharges

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ronchi, G.; Severo, J. H. F.; Salzedas, F.

The behavior of the intrinsic toroidal rotation of the plasma column during the growth and eventual saturation of m/n = 2/1 magnetic islands, triggered by programmed density rise, has been carefully investigated in disruptive discharges in TCABR. The results show that, as the island starts to grow and rotate at a speed larger than that of the plasma column, the angular frequency of the intrinsic toroidal rotation increases and that of the island decreases, following the expectation of synchronization. As the island saturates at a large size, just before a major disruption, the angular speed of the intrinsic rotation decreasesmore » quite rapidly, even though the island keeps still rotating at a reduced speed. This decrease of the toroidal rotation is quite reproducible and can be considered as an indicative of disruption.« less

Fatigue life analysis for traction drives with application to a toroidal type geometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coy, J. J.; Loewenthal, S. H.; Zaretsky, E. V.

1976-01-01

A contact fatigue life analysis for traction drives was developed which was based on a modified Lundberg-Palmgren theory. The analysis was used to predict life for a cone-roller toroidal traction drive. A 90-percent probability of survival was assumed for the calculated life. Parametric results were presented for life and Hertz contact stress as a function of load, drive ratio, and size. A design study was also performed. The results were compared to previously published work for the dual cavity toroidal drive as applied to a typical compact passenger vehicle drive train. For a representative duty cycle condition wherein the engine delivers 29 horsepower at 2000 rpm with the vehicle moving at 48.3 km/hr (30 mph) the drive life was calculated to be 19,200 km (11 900 miles).

Evaluation of fluid behavior in spinning toroidal tanks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, J. E.; Fester, D. A.; Dugan, D. W.

1976-01-01

An experimental study was conducted to evaluate propellant behavior in spinning toroidal tanks that could be used in a retro-propulsion system of an advanced outer-planet Pioneer orbiter. Information on propellant slosh and settling and on ullage orientation and stability was obtained. The effects of axial acceleration, spin rate, spin rate change, and spacecraft wobble, both singly and in combination, were evaluated using a 1/8-scale transparent tank in one-g and low-g environments. Liquid loadings ranged from 5% to 96% full. The impact of a surface tension acquisition device was assessed. Testing simulated the behavior of F2/N2H4 and N2O4/MMH propellants. Results are presented which indicate no major fluid behavior problems would be encountered with any of the four propellants in the toroidal tanks of a spin-stabilized orbiter spacecraft.

Electrically insulated MLI and thermal anchor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kamiya, Koji; Furukawa, Masato; Murakami, Haruyuki

2014-01-29

The thermal shield of JT-60SA is kept at 80 K and will use the multilayer insulation (MLI) to reduce radiation heat load to the superconducting coils at 4.4 K from the cryostat at 300 K. Due to plasma pulse operation, the MLI is affected by eddy current in toroidal direction. The MLI is designed to suppress the current by electrically insulating every 20 degree in the toroidal direction by covering the MLI with polyimide films. In this paper, two kinds of designs for the MLI system are proposed, focusing on a way to overlap the layers. A boil-off calorimeter methodmore » and temperature measurement has been performed to determine the thermal performance of the MLI system. The design of the electrical insulated thermal anchor between the toroidal field (TF) coil and the thermal shield is also explained.« less

Measurement of toroidal vessel eddy current during plasma disruption on J-TEXT.

PubMed

Liu, L J; Yu, K X; Zhang, M; Zhuang, G; Li, X; Yuan, T; Rao, B; Zhao, Q

2016-01-01

In this paper, we have employed a thin, printed circuit board eddy current array in order to determine the radial distribution of the azimuthal component of the eddy current density at the surface of a steel plate. The eddy current in the steel plate can be calculated by analytical methods under the simplifying assumptions that the steel plate is infinitely large and the exciting current is of uniform distribution. The measurement on the steel plate shows that this method has high spatial resolution. Then, we extended this methodology to a toroidal geometry with the objective of determining the poloidal distribution of the toroidal component of the eddy current density associated with plasma disruption in a fusion reactor called J-TEXT. The preliminary measured result is consistent with the analysis and calculation results on the J-TEXT vacuum vessel.

Coactosin accelerates cell dynamism by promoting actin polymerization.

PubMed

Hou, Xubin; Katahira, Tatsuya; Ohashi, Kazumasa; Mizuno, Kensaku; Sugiyama, Sayaka; Nakamura, Harukazu

2013-07-01

During development, cells dynamically move or extend their processes, which are achieved by actin dynamics. In the present study, we paid attention to Coactosin, an actin binding protein, and studied its role in actin dynamics. Coactosin was associated with actin and Capping protein in neural crest cells and N1E-115 neuroblastoma cells. Accumulation of Coactosin to cellular processes and its association with actin filaments prompted us to reveal the effect of Coactosin on cell migration. Coactosin overexpression induced cellular processes in cultured neural crest cells. In contrast, knock-down of Coactosin resulted in disruption of actin polymerization and of neural crest cell migration. Importantly, Coactosin was recruited to lamellipodia and filopodia in response to Rac signaling, and mutated Coactosin that cannot bind to F-actin did not react to Rac signaling, nor support neural crest cell migration. It was also shown that deprivation of Rac signaling from neural crest cells by dominant negative Rac1 (DN-Rac1) interfered with neural crest cell migration, and that co-transfection of DN-Rac1 and Coactosin restored neural crest cell migration. From these results we have concluded that Coactosin functions downstream of Rac signaling and that it is involved in neurite extension and neural crest cell migration by actively participating in actin polymerization. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Public Data Set: Erratum: "Multi-point, high-speed passive ion velocity distribution diagnostic on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment" [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 83, 10D516 (2012)

DOE Data Explorer

Burke, Marcus G. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000176193724); Fonck, Raymond J. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000294386762); Bongard, Michael W. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000231609746); Schlossberg, David J. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000287139448); Winz, Gregory R. [University of Wisconsin-Madison] (ORCID:0000000177627184)

2016-07-18

This data set contains openly-documented, machine readable digital research data corresponding to figures published in M.G. Burke et al., 'Erratum: "Multi-point, high-speed passive ion velocity distribution diagnostic on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment" [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 83, 10D516 (2012)],' Rev. Sci. Instrum. 87, 079902 (2016).

Toroidal high-spin isomers in light nuclei with N ≠ Z

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Staszczak, A.; Wong, Cheuk-Yin

2015-11-01

The combined considerations of both the bulk liquid-drop-type behavior and the quantized aligned rotation with cranked Skyrme-Hartree-Fock approach revealed previously (Staszczak and Wong 2014 Phys. Lett. B 738 401) that even-even, N = Z, toroidal high-spin isomeric states have general occurrences for light nuclei with 28≤slant A≤slant 52. We find that in this mass region there are in addition N\

MHD work related to a self-cooled Pb-17Li blanket with poloidal-radial-toroidal ducts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reimann, J.; Barleon, L.; Buehler, L.

1994-12-31

For self cooled liquid metal blankets MHD pressure drop and velocity distributions are considered as critical issues. This paper summarizes MHD work performed for a DEMO-relevant Pb-17Li blanket which uses essential characteristics of a previous ANL design: The coolant flows downwards in the rear poloidal ducts, turns by 180{degrees} at the blanket bottom and is distributed from the ascending poloidal ducts into short radial channels which feed the toroidal First Wall coolant ducts (aligned with the main magnetic field direction). The flow through the subsequent radial channels is collected again in poloidal channels and the coolant leaves the blanket segmentmore » at the top. The blanket design is based on the use of flow channel inserts (FCIs) (which means electrically thin conducting walls for MHD) for all ducts except for the toroidal FW coolant channels. MHD related issues were defined and estimations of corresponding pressure drops were performed. Previous experimental work included a proof of principle of FCIs and a detailed experiment with a single {open_quotes}poloidal{sm_bullet}toroidal{sm_bullet}poloidal{close_quotes} duct (cooperation with ANL). In parallel, a numerical code based on the Core Flow Approximation (CFA) was developed to predict pressure drop and velocity distributions for arbitrary single duct geometries.« less

Impact of toroidal and poloidal mode spectra on the control of non-axisymmetric fields in tokamaks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lanctot, Matthew J.; Park, J. -K.; Piovesan, Paolo

In several tokamaks, non-axisymmetric magnetic field studies show that applied magnetic fields with a toroidal harmonic n = 2 can lead to disruptive n = 1 locked modes. In Ohmic plasmas, n = 2 magnetic reconnection thresholds in otherwise stable discharges are readily accessed at edge safety factors q ~ 3, low density, and low rotation. Similar to previous studies with n = 1 fields, the thresholds are correlated with the “overlap” field computed with the IPEC code. The overlap field quantifies the plasma-mediated coupling of the external field to the resonant field. Remarkably, the “critical overlap fields” at whichmore » magnetic islands form are similar for applied n =1 and 2 fields. The critical overlap field increases with plasma density and edge safety factor but is independent of the toroidal field. Poloidal harmonics m > nq dominate the drive for resonant fields while m < nq harmonics have a negligible impact. This contrasts with previous results in H-mode discharges at high plasma pressure in which the toroidal angular momentum is sensitive to low poloidal harmonics. Altogether, these results highlight unique requirements for n > 1 field control including the need for multiple rows of coils to control selected plasma parameters for specific functions (e.g., rotation control or ELM suppression).« less

Investigation of diocotron modes in toroidally trapped electron plasmas using non-destructive method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lachhvani, Lavkesh; Pahari, Sambaran; Sengupta, Sudip; Yeole, Yogesh G.; Bajpai, Manu; Chattopadhyay, P. K.

2017-10-01

Experiments with trapped electron plasmas in a SMall Aspect Ratio Toroidal device (SMARTEX-C) have demonstrated a flute-like mode represented by oscillations on capacitive (wall) probes. Although analogous to diocotron mode observed in linear electron traps, the mode evolution in toroids can have interesting consequences due to the presence of in-homogeneous magnetic field. In SMARTEX-C, the probe signals are observed to undergo transition from small, near-sinusoidal oscillations to large amplitude, non-linear "double-peaked" oscillations. To interpret the wall probe signal and bring forth the dynamics, an expression for the induced current on the probe for an oscillating charge is derived, utilizing Green's Reciprocation Theorem. Equilibrium position, poloidal velocity of the charge cloud, and charge content of the cloud, required to compute the induced current, are estimated from the experiments. Signal through capacitive probes is thereby computed numerically for possible charge cloud trajectories. In order to correlate with experiments, starting with an intuitive guess of the trajectory, the model is evolved and tweaked to arrive at a signal consistent with experimentally observed probe signals. A possible vortex like dynamics is predicted, hitherto unexplored in toroidal geometries, for a limited set of experimental observations from SMARTEX-C. Though heuristic, a useful interpretation of capacitive probe data in terms of charge cloud dynamics is obtained.

Bifurcation physics of magnetic islands and stochasticity explored by heat pulse propagation studies in toroidal plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ida, K.; Kobayashi, T.; Yoshinuma, M.

Bifurcation physics of the magnetic island was investigated using the heat pulse propagation technique produced by the modulation of electron cyclotron heating. There are two types of bifurcation phenomena observed in LHD and DIII-D. One is a bifurcation of the magnetic topology between nested and stochastic fields. The nested state is characterized by the bi-directional (inward and outward) propagation of the heat pulse with slow propagation speed. The stochastic state is characterized by the fast propagation of the heat pulse with electron temperature flattening. The other bifurcation is between magnetic island with larger thermal diffusivity and that with smaller thermalmore » diffusivity. The damping of toroidal flow is observed at the O-point of the magnetic island both in helical plasmas and in tokamak plasmas during a mode locking phase with strong flow shears at the boundary of the magnetic island. Associated with the stochastization of the magnetic field, the abrupt damping of toroidal flow is observed in LHD. The toroidal flow shear shows a linear decay, while the ion temperature gradient shows an exponential decay. Lastly, this observation suggests that this flow damping is due to the change in the non-diffusive term of momentum transport.« less

The linear tearing instability in three dimensional, toroidal gyro-kinetic simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hornsby, W. A., E-mail: william.hornsby@ipp.mpg.de; Migliano, P.; Buchholz, R.

2015-02-15

Linear gyro-kinetic simulations of the classical tearing mode in three-dimensional toroidal geometry were performed using the global gyro-kinetic turbulence code, GKW. The results were benchmarked against a cylindrical ideal MHD and analytical theory calculations. The stability, growth rate, and frequency of the mode were investigated by varying the current profile, collisionality, and the pressure gradients. Both collisionless and semi-collisional tearing modes were found with a smooth transition between the two. A residual, finite, rotation frequency of the mode even in the absence of a pressure gradient is observed, which is attributed to toroidal finite Larmor-radius effects. When a pressure gradientmore » is present at low collisionality, the mode rotates at the expected electron diamagnetic frequency. However, the island rotation reverses direction at high collisionality. The growth rate is found to follow a η{sup 1∕7} scaling with collisional resistivity in the semi-collisional regime, closely following the semi-collisional scaling found by Fitzpatrick. The stability of the mode closely follows the stability analysis as performed by Hastie et al. using the same current and safety factor profiles but for cylindrical geometry, however, here a modification due to toroidal coupling and pressure effects is seen.« less

Neoclassical toroidal plasma viscosity in the vicinity of the magnetic axis in tokamaks with broken symmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaing, K. C.; Lee, H.; Seol, J.; Aydemir, A. Y.

2015-08-01

Theory for neoclassical toroidal plasma viscosity in the low collisionality regime is extended to the vicinity of the magnetic axis in tokamaks with broken symmetry. The toroidal viscosity is induced by particles drifting off the perturbed magnetic surface under the influence of the symmetry breaking magnetic field. In the region away from the magnetic axis, the drift orbit dynamics is governed by the bounce averaged drift kinetic equation in the low collisionality regimes. In the vicinity of the magnetic axis, it is the drift kinetic equation, averaged over the trapped particle orbits, i.e., potato orbits, that governs the drift dynamics. The orbit averaged drift kinetic equation is derived when collision frequency is low enough for trapped particles to complete their potato trajectories. The resultant equation is solved in the 1 /ν regime to obtain transport fluxes and, thus, toroidal plasma viscosity through flux-force relation. Here, ν is the collision frequency. The viscosity does not vanish on the magnetic axis, and has the same scalings as that in the region away from magnetic axis, except that the fraction of bananas is replaced by the fraction of potatoes. It also has a weak radial dependence. Modeling of plasma flow velocity V for the case where the magnetic surfaces are broken is also discussed.

One-dimensional MHD simulations of MTF systems with compact toroid targets and spherical liners

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khalzov, Ivan; Zindler, Ryan; Barsky, Sandra; Delage, Michael; Laberge, Michel

2017-10-01

One-dimensional (1D) MHD code is developed in General Fusion (GF) for coupled plasma-liner simulations in magnetized target fusion (MTF) systems. The main goal of these simulations is to search for optimal parameters of MTF reactor, in which spherical liquid metal liner compresses compact toroid plasma. The code uses Lagrangian description for both liner and plasma. The liner is represented as a set of spherical shells with fixed masses while plasma is discretized as a set of nested tori with circular cross sections and fixed number of particles between them. All physical fields are 1D functions of either spherical (liner) or small toroidal (plasma) radius. Motion of liner and plasma shells is calculated self-consistently based on applied forces and equations of state. Magnetic field is determined by 1D profiles of poloidal and toroidal fluxes - they are advected with shells and diffuse according to local resistivity, this also accounts for flux leakage into the liner. Different plasma transport models are implemented, this allows for comparison with ongoing GF experiments. Fusion power calculation is included into the code. We performed a series of parameter scans in order to establish the underlying dependencies of the MTF system and find the optimal reactor design point.

Local measurement of error field using naturally rotating tearing mode dynamics in EXTRAP T2R

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sweeney, R. M.; Frassinetti, L.; Brunsell, P.; Fridström, R.; Volpe, F. A.

2016-12-01

An error field (EF) detection technique using the amplitude modulation of a naturally rotating tearing mode (TM) is developed and validated in the EXTRAP T2R reversed field pinch. The technique was used to identify intrinsic EFs of m/n  =  1/-12, where m and n are the poloidal and toroidal mode numbers. The effect of the EF and of a resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) on the TM, in particular on amplitude modulation, is modeled with a first-order solution of the modified Rutherford equation. In the experiment, the TM amplitude is measured as a function of the toroidal angle as the TM rotates rapidly in the presence of an unknown EF and a known, deliberately applied RMP. The RMP amplitude is fixed while the toroidal phase is varied from one discharge to the other, completing a full toroidal scan. Using three such scans with different RMP amplitudes, the EF amplitude and phase are inferred from the phases at which the TM amplitude maximizes. The estimated EF amplitude is consistent with other estimates (e.g. based on the best EF-cancelling RMP, resulting in the fastest TM rotation). A passive variant of this technique is also presented, where no RMPs are applied, and the EF phase is deduced.

Role of poloidal flows on the particle confinement time in a simple toroidal device : an experimental study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Umesh; Ganesh, R.; Saxena, Y. C.; Thatipamula, Shekar G.; Sathyanarayana, K.; Raju, Daniel

2017-10-01

In magnetized toroidal devices without rotational transform also known as Simple Magnetized Torus (SMT). The device BETA at the IPR is one such SMT with a major radius of 45 cm, minor radius of 15 cm and a maximum toroidal field of 0.1 Tesla. Understanding confinement in such helical configurations is an important problem both for fundamental plasma physics and for Tokamak edge physics. In a recent series of experiments it was demonstrated experimentally that the mean plasma profiles, fluctuation, flow and turbulence depend crucially on the parallel connection length, which was controlled by external vertical field. In the present work, we report our experimental findings, wherein we measure the particle confinement time for hot cathode discharge and ECRH discharge, with variation in parallel connection length. As ECRH plasma don't have mean electric field and hence the poloidal rotation of plasma is absent. However, in hot cathode discharge, there exist strong poloidal flows due to mean electric field. An experimental comparison of these along with theoretical model with variation in connection length will be presented. We also present experimental measurements of variation of plasma confinement time with mass as well as the ratio of vertical field to toroidal magnetic field.

Bifurcation physics of magnetic islands and stochasticity explored by heat pulse propagation studies in toroidal plasmas

DOE PAGES

Ida, K.; Kobayashi, T.; Yoshinuma, M.; ...

2016-07-29

Bifurcation physics of the magnetic island was investigated using the heat pulse propagation technique produced by the modulation of electron cyclotron heating. There are two types of bifurcation phenomena observed in LHD and DIII-D. One is a bifurcation of the magnetic topology between nested and stochastic fields. The nested state is characterized by the bi-directional (inward and outward) propagation of the heat pulse with slow propagation speed. The stochastic state is characterized by the fast propagation of the heat pulse with electron temperature flattening. The other bifurcation is between magnetic island with larger thermal diffusivity and that with smaller thermalmore » diffusivity. The damping of toroidal flow is observed at the O-point of the magnetic island both in helical plasmas and in tokamak plasmas during a mode locking phase with strong flow shears at the boundary of the magnetic island. Associated with the stochastization of the magnetic field, the abrupt damping of toroidal flow is observed in LHD. The toroidal flow shear shows a linear decay, while the ion temperature gradient shows an exponential decay. Lastly, this observation suggests that this flow damping is due to the change in the non-diffusive term of momentum transport.« less

3D Monte-Carlo study of toroidally discontinuous limiter SOL configurations of Aditya tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahoo, Bibhu Prasad; Sharma, Devendra; Jha, Ratneshwar; Feng, Yühe

2017-08-01

The plasma-neutral transport in the scrape-off layer (SOL) region formed by toroidally discontinuous limiters deviates from usual uniform SOL approximations when 3D effects caused by limiter discreteness begin to dominate. In an upgrade version of the Aditya tokamak, originally having a toroidally localized poloidal ring-like limiter, the newer outboard block and inboard belt limiters are expected to have smaller connection lengths and a multiple fold toroidal periodicity. The characteristics of plasma discharges may accordingly vary from the original observations of large diffusivity, and a net improvement and the stability of the discharges are desired. The estimations related to 3D effects in the ring limiter plasma transport are also expected to be modified and are updated by predictive simulations of transport in the new block limiter configuration. A comparison between the ring limiter results and those from new simulations with block limiter SOL shows that for the grids produced using same core plasma equilibrium, the modified SOL plasma flows and flux components have enhanced poloidal periodicity in the block limiter case. These SOL modifications result in a reduced net recycling for the equivalent edge density values. Predictions are also made about the relative level of the diffusive transport and its impact on the factors limiting the operational regime.

Impact of toroidal and poloidal mode spectra on the control of non-axisymmetric fields in tokamaks

DOE PAGES

Lanctot, Matthew J.; Park, J. -K.; Piovesan, Paolo; ...

2017-05-18

In several tokamaks, non-axisymmetric magnetic field studies show that applied magnetic fields with a toroidal harmonic n = 2 can lead to disruptive n = 1 locked modes. In Ohmic plasmas, n = 2 magnetic reconnection thresholds in otherwise stable discharges are readily accessed at edge safety factors q ~ 3, low density, and low rotation. Similar to previous studies with n = 1 fields, the thresholds are correlated with the “overlap” field computed with the IPEC code. The overlap field quantifies the plasma-mediated coupling of the external field to the resonant field. Remarkably, the “critical overlap fields” at whichmore » magnetic islands form are similar for applied n =1 and 2 fields. The critical overlap field increases with plasma density and edge safety factor but is independent of the toroidal field. Poloidal harmonics m > nq dominate the drive for resonant fields while m < nq harmonics have a negligible impact. This contrasts with previous results in H-mode discharges at high plasma pressure in which the toroidal angular momentum is sensitive to low poloidal harmonics. Altogether, these results highlight unique requirements for n > 1 field control including the need for multiple rows of coils to control selected plasma parameters for specific functions (e.g., rotation control or ELM suppression).« less

System and method for generating steady state confining current for a toroidal plasma fusion reactor

DOEpatents

Fisch, Nathaniel J.

1981-01-01

A system for generating steady state confining current for a toroidal plasma fusion reactor providing steady-state generation of the thermonuclear power. A dense, hot toroidal plasma is initially prepared with a confining magnetic field with toroidal and poloidal components. Continuous wave RF energy is injected into said plasma to establish a spectrum of traveling waves in the plasma, where the traveling waves have momentum components substantially either all parallel, or all anti-parallel to the confining magnetic field. The injected RF energy is phased to couple to said traveling waves with both a phase velocity component and a wave momentum component in the direction of the plasma traveling wave components. The injected RF energy has a predetermined spectrum selected so that said traveling waves couple to plasma electrons having velocities in a predetermined range .DELTA.. The velocities in the range are substantially greater than the thermal electron velocity of the plasma. In addition, the range is sufficiently broad to produce a raised plateau having width .DELTA. in the plasma electron velocity distribution so that the plateau electrons provide steady-state current to generate a poloidal magnetic field component sufficient for confining the plasma. In steady state operation of the fusion reactor, the fusion power density in the plasma exceeds the power dissipated in the plasma.

System and method for generating steady state confining current for a toroidal plasma fusion reactor

DOEpatents

Bers, Abraham

1981-01-01

A system for generating steady state confining current for a toroidal plasma fusion reactor providing steady-state generation of the thermonuclear power. A dense, hot toroidal plasma is initially prepared with a confining magnetic field with toroidal and poloidal components. Continuous wave RF energy is injected into said plasma to estalish a spectrum of traveling waves in the plasma, where the traveling waves have momentum components substantially either all parallel, or all anti-parallel to the confining magnetic field. The injected RF energy is phased to couple to said traveling waves with both a phase velocity component and a wave momentum component in the direction of the plasma traveling wave components. The injected RF energy has a predetermined spectrum selected so that said traveling waves couple to plasma electrons having velocities in a predetermined range .DELTA.. The velocities in the range are substantially greater than the thermal electron velocity of the plasma. In addition, the range is sufficiently broad to produce a raised plateau having width .DELTA. in the plasma electron velocity distribution so that the plateau electrons provide steady-state current to generate a poloidal magnetic field component sufficient for confining the plasma. In steady state operation of the fusion reactor, the fusion power density in the plasma exceeds the power dissipated inthe plasma.

Effects of Equilibrium Toroidal Flow on Locked Mode and Plasma Response in a Tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Ping; Huang, Wenlong; Yan, Xingting

2016-10-01

It is widely believed that plasma flow plays significant roles in regulating the processes of mode locking and plasma response in a tokamak in presence of external resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs). Recently a common analytic relation for both locked mode and plasma response has been developed based on the steady-state solution to the coupled dynamic system of magnetic island evolution and torque balance. The analytic relation predicts the size of the magnetic island of a locked mode or a static nonlinear plasma response for a given RMP amplitude, and rigorously proves a screening effect of the equilibrium toroidal flow. To test the theory, we solve for the locked mode and the nonlinear plasma response in presence of RMP for a circular-shaped limiter tokamak equilibrium with constant toroidal flow, using the initial-value, full MHD simulation code NIMROD. The comparison between the simulation results and the theory prediction, in terms of the quantitative screening effects of equilibrium toroidal flow, will be reported and discussed. Supported by National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Science Program of China Grants 2014GB124002 and 2015GB101004, the 100 Talent Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and U.S. Department of Energy Grants DE-FG02-86ER53218 and DE-FC02-08ER54975.

Conditional Sox9 ablation improves locomotor recovery after spinal cord injury by increasing reactive sprouting.

PubMed

McKillop, William M; York, Elisa M; Rubinger, Luc; Liu, Tony; Ossowski, Natalie M; Xu, Kathy; Hryciw, Todd; Brown, Arthur

2016-09-01

The absence of axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury (SCI) has been attributed to the up-regulation of axon-repelling molecules, such as chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) present in the glial scar that forms post-SCI. We previously identified the transcription factor SOX9 as a key up-regulator of CSPG production and also demonstrated that conditional Sox9 ablation leads to decreased CSPG levels and improved recovery of hind limb function after SCI. We herein demonstrate increased neural input onto spinal neurons caudal to the lesion in spinal cord injured Sox9 conditional knock out mice as indicated by increased levels of the presynaptic markers synaptophysin and vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (VGLUT1) compared to controls. Axonal sparing, long-range axonal regeneration and reactive sprouting were investigated as possible explanations for the increase in neural inputs caudal to the lesion and for the improved locomotor outcomes in spinal cord-injured Sox9 conditional knock out mice. Whereas retrograde tract-tracing studies failed to reveal any evidence for increased axonal sparing or for long-range regeneration in the Sox9 conditional knock out mice, anterograde tract-tracing experiments demonstrated increased reactive sprouting caudal to the lesion after SCI. Finally we demonstrate that application of a broad spectrum MMP inhibitor to reduce CSPG degradation in Sox9 conditional knock out mice prevents the improvements in locomotor recovery observed in untreated Sox9 conditional knock out mice. These results suggest that improved recovery of locomotor function in Sox9 conditional knock out mice after SCI is due to increased reactive sprouting secondary to reduced CSPG levels distal to the lesion. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Protein arginine methyltransferase 1 modulates innate immune responses through regulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ-dependent macrophage differentiation.

PubMed

Tikhanovich, Irina; Zhao, Jie; Olson, Jody; Adams, Abby; Taylor, Ryan; Bridges, Brian; Marshall, Laurie; Roberts, Benjamin; Weinman, Steven A

2017-04-28

Arginine methylation is a common posttranslational modification that has been shown to regulate both gene expression and extranuclear signaling events. We recently reported defects in protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) activity and arginine methylation in the livers of cirrhosis patients with a history of recurrent infections. To examine the role of PRMT1 in innate immune responses in vivo , we created a cell type-specific knock-out mouse model. We showed that myeloid-specific PRMT1 knock-out mice demonstrate higher proinflammatory cytokine production and a lower survival rate after cecal ligation and puncture. We found that this defect is because of defective peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ)-dependent M2 macrophage differentiation. PPARγ is one of the key transcription factors regulating macrophage polarization toward a more anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving phenotype. We found that PRMT1 knock-out macrophages failed to up-regulate PPARγ expression in response to IL4 treatment resulting in 4-fold lower PPARγ expression in knock-out cells than in wild-type cells. Detailed study of the mechanism revealed that PRMT1 regulates PPARγ gene expression through histone H4R3me2a methylation at the PPARγ promoter. Supplementing with PPARγ agonists rosiglitazone and GW1929 was sufficient to restore M2 differentiation in vivo and in vitro and abrogated the difference in survival between wild-type and PRMT1 knock-out mice. Taken together these data suggest that PRMT1-dependent regulation of macrophage PPARγ expression contributes to the infection susceptibility in PRMT1 knock-out mice. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Starch Binding Domain-containing Protein 1 Plays a Dominant Role in Glycogen Transport to Lysosomes in Liver.

PubMed

Sun, Tao; Yi, Haiqing; Yang, Chunyu; Kishnani, Priya S; Sun, Baodong

2016-08-05

A small portion of cellular glycogen is transported to and degraded in lysosomes by acid α-glucosidase (GAA) in mammals, but it is unclear why and how glycogen is transported to the lysosomes. Stbd1 has recently been proposed to participate in glycogen trafficking to lysosomes. However, our previous study demonstrated that knockdown of Stbd1 in GAA knock-out mice did not alter lysosomal glycogen storage in skeletal muscles. To further determine whether Stbd1 participates in glycogen transport to lysosomes, we generated GAA/Stbd1 double knock-out mice. In fasted double knock-out mice, glycogen accumulation in skeletal and cardiac muscles was not affected, but glycogen content in liver was reduced by nearly 73% at 3 months of age and by 60% at 13 months as compared with GAA knock-out mice, indicating that the transport of glycogen to lysosomes was suppressed in liver by the loss of Stbd1. Exogenous expression of human Stbd1 in double knock-out mice restored the liver lysosomal glycogen content to the level of GAA knock-out mice, as did a mutant lacking the Atg8 family interacting motif (AIM) and another mutant that contains only the N-terminal 24 hydrophobic segment and the C-terminal starch binding domain (CBM20) interlinked by an HA tag. Our results demonstrate that Stbd1 plays a dominant role in glycogen transport to lysosomes in liver and that the N-terminal transmembrane region and the C-terminal CBM20 domain are critical for this function. © 2016 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Protein phosphatase 2ACα gene knock-out results in cortical atrophy through activating hippo cascade in neuronal progenitor cells.

PubMed

Liu, Bo; Sun, Li-Hua; Huang, Yan-Fei; Guo, Li-Jun; Luo, Li-Shu

2018-02-01

Protein phosphatase 2ACα (PP2ACα), a vital member of the protein phosphatase family, has been studied primarily as a regulator for the development, growth and protein synthesis of a lot of cell types. Dysfunction of PP2ACα protein results in neurodegenerative disease; however, this finding has not been directly confirmed in the mouse model with PP2ACα gene knock-out. Therefore, in this study presented here, we generated the PP2ACα gene knock-out mouse model by the Cre-loxP targeting gene system, with the purpose to directly observe the regulatory role of PP2ACα gene in the development of mouse's cerebral cortex. We observe that knocking-out PP2ACα gene in the central nervous system (CNS) results in cortical neuronal shrinkage, synaptic plasticity impairments, and learning/memory deficits. Further study reveals that PP2ACα gene knock-out initiates Hippo cascade in cortical neuroprogenitor cells (NPCs), which blocks YAP translocation into the nuclei of NPCs. Notably, p73, directly targeted by Hippo cascade, can bind to the promoter of glutaminase2 (GLS2) that plays a dominant role in the enzymatic regulation of glutamate/glutamine cycle. Finally, we find that PP2ACα gene knock-out inhibits the glutamine synthesis through up-regulating the activity of phosphorylated-p73 in cortical NPCs. Taken together, it concludes that PP2ACα critically supports cortical neuronal growth and cognitive function via regulating the signaling transduction of Hippo-p73 cascade. And PP2ACα indirectly modulates the glutamine synthesis of cortical NPCs through targeting p73 that plays a direct transcriptional regulatory role in the gene expression of GLS2. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Novel Mgp-Cre Knock-In Mouse Reveals an Anticalcification/Antistiffness Candidate Gene in the Trabecular Meshwork and Peripapillary Scleral Region.

PubMed

Borrás, Teresa; Smith, Matthew H; Buie, LaKisha K

2015-04-01

Soft tissue calcification is a pathological condition. Matrix Gla (MGP) is a potent mineralization inhibitor secreted by cartilage chondrocytes and arteries' vascular smooth muscle cells. Mgp knock-out mice die at 6 weeks due to massive arterial calcification. Arterial calcification results in arterial stiffness and higher systolic blood pressure. Intriguingly, MGP was highly abundant in trabecular meshwork (TM). Because tissue stiffness is relevant to glaucoma, we investigated which additional eye tissues use Mgp's function using knock-in mice. An Mgp-Cre-recombinase coding sequence (Cre) knock-in mouse, containing Mgp DNA plus an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES)-Cre-cassette was generated by homologous recombination. Founders were crossed with Cre-mediated reporter mouse R26R-lacZ. Their offspring expresses lacZ where Mgp is transcribed. Eyes from MgpCre/+;R26RlacZ/+ (Mgp-lacZ knock-in) and controls, 1 to 8 months were assayed for β-gal enzyme histochemistry. As expected, Mgp-lacZ knock-in's TM was intensely blue. In addition, this mouse revealed high specific expression in the sclera, particularly in the peripapillary scleral region (ppSC). Ciliary muscle and sclera above the TM were also positive. Scleral staining was located immediately underneath the choroid (chondrocyte layer), began midsclera and was remarkably high in the ppSC. Cornea, iris, lens, ciliary body, and retina were negative. All mice exhibited similar staining patterns. All controls were negative. Matrix Gla's restricted expression to glaucoma-associated tissues from anterior and posterior segments suggests its involvement in the development of the disease. Matrix Gla's anticalcification/antistiffness properties in the vascular tissue, together with its high TM and ppCS expression, place this gene as a strong candidate for TM's softness and sclera's stiffness regulation in glaucoma.

The kick-in system: a novel rapid knock-in strategy.

PubMed

Tomonoh, Yuko; Deshimaru, Masanobu; Araki, Kimi; Miyazaki, Yasuhiro; Arasaki, Tomoko; Tanaka, Yasuyoshi; Kitamura, Haruna; Mori, Fumiaki; Wakabayashi, Koichi; Yamashita, Sayaka; Saito, Ryo; Itoh, Masayuki; Uchida, Taku; Yamada, Junko; Migita, Keisuke; Ueno, Shinya; Kitaura, Hiroki; Kakita, Akiyoshi; Lossin, Christoph; Takano, Yukio; Hirose, Shinichi

2014-01-01

Knock-in mouse models have contributed tremendously to our understanding of human disorders. However, generation of knock-in animals requires a significant investment of time and effort. We addressed this problem by developing a novel knock-in system that circumvents several traditional challenges by establishing stem cells with acceptor elements enveloping a particular genomic target. Once established, these acceptor embryonic stem (ES) cells are efficient at directionally incorporating mutated target DNA using modified Cre/lox technology. This is advantageous, because knock-ins are not restricted to one a priori selected variation. Rather, it is possible to generate several mutant animal lines harboring desired alterations in the targeted area. Acceptor ES cell generation is the rate-limiting step, lasting approximately 2 months. Subsequent manipulations toward animal production require an additional 8 weeks, but this delimits the full period from conception of the genetic alteration to its animal incorporation. We call this system a "kick-in" to emphasize its unique characteristics of speed and convenience. To demonstrate the functionality of the kick-in methodology, we generated two mouse lines with separate mutant versions of the voltage-dependent potassium channel Kv7.2 (Kcnq2): p.Tyr284Cys (Y284C) and p.Ala306Thr (A306T); both variations have been associated with benign familial neonatal epilepsy. Adult mice homozygous for Y284C, heretofore unexamined in animals, presented with spontaneous seizures, whereas A306T homozygotes died early. Heterozygous mice of both lines showed increased sensitivity to pentylenetetrazole, possibly due to a reduction in M-current in CA1 hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Our observations for the A306T animals match those obtained with traditional knock-in technology, demonstrating that the kick-in system can readily generate mice bearing various mutations, making it a suitable feeder technology toward streamlined phenotyping.

Vapb/Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis 8 knock-in mice display slowly progressive motor behavior defects accompanying ER stress and autophagic response.

PubMed

Larroquette, Frédérique; Seto, Lesley; Gaub, Perrine L; Kamal, Brishna; Wallis, Deeann; Larivière, Roxanne; Vallée, Joanne; Robitaille, Richard; Tsuda, Hiroshi

2015-11-15

Missense mutations (P56S) in Vapb are associated with autosomal dominant motor neuron diseases: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and lower motor neuron disease. Although transgenic mice overexpressing the mutant vesicle-associated membrane protein-associated protein B (VAPB) protein with neuron-specific promoters have provided some insight into the toxic properties of the mutant proteins, their role in pathogenesis remains unclear. To identify pathological defects in animals expressing the P56S mutant VAPB protein at physiological levels in the appropriate tissues, we have generated Vapb knock-in mice replacing wild-type Vapb gene with P56S mutant Vapb gene and analyzed the resulting pathological phenotypes. Heterozygous P56S Vapb knock-in mice show mild age-dependent defects in motor behaviors as characteristic features of the disease. The homozygous P56S Vapb knock-in mice show more severe defects compared with heterozygous mice reflecting the dominant and dose-dependent effects of P56S mutation. Significantly, the knock-in mice demonstrate accumulation of P56S VAPB protein and ubiquitinated proteins in cytoplasmic inclusions, selectively in motor neurons. The mutant mice demonstrate induction of ER stress and autophagic response in motor neurons before obvious onset of behavioral defects, suggesting that these cellular biological defects might contribute to the initiation of the disease. The P56S Vapb knock-in mice could be a valuable tool to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms by which the disease arises. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Generation of α-1,3-galactosyltransferase knocked-out transgenic cloned pigs with knocked-in five human genes.

PubMed

Kwon, Dae-Jin; Kim, Dong-Hwan; Hwang, In-Sul; Kim, Dong-Ern; Kim, Hyung-Joo; Kim, Jang-Seong; Lee, Kichoon; Im, Gi-Sun; Lee, Jeong-Woong; Hwang, Seongsoo

2017-02-01

Recent progress in genetic manipulation of pigs designated for xenotransplantation ha6s shown considerable promise on xenograft survival in primates. However, genetic modification of multiple genes in donor pigs by knock-out and knock-in technologies, aiming to enhance immunological tolerance against transplanted organs in the recipients, has not been evaluated for health issues of donor pigs. We produced transgenic Massachusetts General Hospital piglets by knocking-out the α-1,3-galactosyltransferase (GT) gene and by simultaneously knocking-in an expression cassette containing five different human genes including, DAF, CD39, TFPI, C1 inhibitor (C1-INH), and TNFAIP3 (A20) [GT -(DAF/CD39/TFPI/C1-INH/TNFAIP3)/+ ] that are connected by 2A peptide cleavage sequences to release individual proteins from a single translational product. All five individual protein products were successfully produced as determined by western blotting of umbilical cords from the newborn transgenic pigs. Although gross observation and histological examination revealed no significant pathological abnormality in transgenic piglets, hematological examination found that the transgenic piglets had abnormally low numbers of platelets and WBCs, including neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, and lymphocytes. However, transgenic piglets had similar numbers of RBC and values of parameters related to RBC compared to the control littermate piglets. These data suggest that transgenic expression of those human genes in pigs impaired hematopoiesis except for erythropoiesis. In conclusion, our data suggest that transgenic expression of up to five different genes can be efficiently achieved and provide the basis for determining optimal dosages of transgene expression and combinations of the transgenes to warrant production of transgenic donor pigs without health issues.

Characterisation of a C1qtnf5 Ser163Arg Knock-In Mouse Model of Late-Onset Retinal Macular Degeneration

PubMed Central

Shu, Xinhua; Luhmann, Ulrich F. O.; Aleman, Tomas S.; Barker, Susan E.; Lennon, Alan; Tulloch, Brian; Chen, Mei; Xu, Heping; Jacobson, Samuel G.; Ali, Robin; Wright, Alan F.

2011-01-01

A single founder mutation resulting in a Ser163Arg substitution in the C1QTNF5 gene product causes autosomal dominant late-onset retinal macular degeneration (L-ORMD) in humans, which has clinical and pathological features resembling age-related macular degeneration. We generated and characterised a mouse “knock-in” model carrying the Ser163Arg mutation in the orthologous murine C1qtnf5 gene by site-directed mutagenesis and homologous recombination into mouse embryonic stem cells. Biochemical, immunological, electron microscopic, fundus autofluorescence, electroretinography and laser photocoagulation analyses were used to characterise the mouse model. Heterozygous and homozygous knock-in mice showed no significant abnormality in any of the above measures at time points up to 2 years. This result contrasts with another C1qtnf5 Ser163Arg knock-in mouse which showed most of the features of L-ORMD but differed in genetic background and targeting construct. PMID:22110650

A Study by High-Speed Photography of Combustion and Knock in a Spark-Ignition Engine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Cearcy D

1942-01-01

The study of combustion in a spark-ignition engine given in Technical Report no. 704 has been continued. The investigation was made with the NACA high-speed motion-picture camera and the NACA optical engine indicator. The camera operates at the rate of 40,000 photographs a second and makes possible the study of phenomena occurring in time intervals as short as 0.000025 second. Photographs are presented of combustion without knock and with both light and heavy knocks, the end zone of combustion being within the field of view. Time-pressure records covering the same conditions as the photographs are presented and their relations to the photographs are studied. Photographs with ignition at various advance angles are compared with a view to observing any possible relationship between pressure and flame depth. A tentative explanation of knock is suggested, which is designed to agree with the indications of the high-speed photographs and the time-pressure records.

Impaired fear extinction learning in adult heterozygous BDNF knock-out mice.

PubMed

Psotta, Laura; Lessmann, Volkmar; Endres, Thomas

2013-07-01

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a crucial regulator of neuroplasticity, which underlies learning and memory processes in different brain areas. To investigate the role of BDNF in the extinction of amygdala-dependent cued fear memories, we analyzed fear extinction learning in heterozygous BDNF knock-out mice, which possess a reduction of endogenous BDNF protein levels to ~50% of wild-type animals. Since BDNF expression has been shown to decline with aging of animals, we tested the performance in extinction learning of these mice at 2 months (young adults) and 7 months (older adults) of age. The present study shows that older adult heterozygous BDNF knock-out mice, which have a chronic 50% lack of BDNF, also possess a deficit in the acquisition of extinction memory, while extinction learning remains unaffected in young adult heterozygous BDNF knock-out mice. This deficit in extinction learning is accompanied by a reduction of BDNF protein in the hippocampus, amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sealing intersecting vane machines

DOEpatents

Martin, Jedd N.; Chomyszak, Stephen M.

2005-06-07

The invention provides a toroidal intersecting vane machine incorporating intersecting rotors to form primary and secondary chambers whose porting configurations minimize friction and maximize efficiency. Specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a toroidal intersecting vane machine that greatly reduces the frictional losses through intersecting surfaces without the need for external gearing by modifying the width of one or both tracks at the point of intermeshing. The inventions described herein relate to these improvements.

Sealing intersecting vane machines

DOEpatents

Martin, Jedd N [Providence, RI; Chomyszak, Stephen M [Attleboro, MA

2007-06-05

The invention provides a toroidal intersecting vane machine incorporating intersecting rotors to form primary and secondary chambers whose porting configurations minimize friction and maximize efficiency. Specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a toroidal intersecting vane machine that greatly reduces the frictional losses through intersecting surfaces without the need for external gearing by modifying the width of one or both tracks at the point of intermeshing. The inventions described herein relate to these improvements.

Advanced Tokamak Stability Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Linjin

2015-03-01

The intention of this book is to introduce advanced tokamak stability theory. We start with the derivation of the Grad-Shafranov equation and the construction of various toroidal flux coordinates. An analytical tokamak equilibrium theory is presented to demonstrate the Shafranov shift and how the toroidal hoop force can be balanced by the application of a vertical magnetic field in tokamaks. In addition to advanced theories, this book also discusses the intuitive physics pictures for various experimentally observed phenomena.

Toroidal magnetized iron neutrino detector for a neutrino factory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bross, A.; Wands, R.; Bayes, R.

2013-08-01

A neutrino factory has unparalleled physics reach for the discovery and measurement of CP violation in the neutrino sector. A far detector for a neutrino factory must have good charge identification with excellent background rejection and a large mass. An elegant solution is to construct a magnetized iron neutrino detector (MIND) along the lines of MINOS, where iron plates provide a toroidal magnetic field and scintillator planes provide 3D space points. In this report, the current status of a simulation of a toroidal MIND for a neutrino factory is discussed in light of the recent measurements of largemore » $$\\theta_{13}$$. The response and performance using the 10 GeV neutrino factory configuration are presented. It is shown that this setup has equivalent $$\\delta_{CP}$$ reach to a MIND with a dipole field and is sensitive to the discovery of CP violation over 85% of the values of $$\\delta_{CP}$$.« less

Kinetic shear Alfvén instability in the presence of impurity ions in tokamak plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lu, Gaimin; Shen, Y.; Xie, T.

2013-10-15

The effects of impurity ions on the kinetic shear Alfvén (KSA) instability in tokamak plasmas are investigated by numerically solving the integral equations for the KSA eigenmode in the toroidal geometry. The kinetic effects of hydrogen and impurity ions, including transit motion, finite ion Larmor radius, and finite-orbit-width, are taken into account. Toroidicity induced linear mode coupling is included through the ballooning-mode representation. Here, the effects of carbon, oxygen, and tungsten ions on the KSA instability in toroidal plasmas are investigated. It is found that, depending on the concentration and density profile of the impurity ions, the latter can bemore » either stabilizing or destabilizing for the KSA modes. The results here confirm the importance of impurity ions in tokamak experiments and should be useful for analyzing experimental data as well as for understanding anomalous transport and control of tokamak plasmas.« less

Fast Wave Transmission Measurements on Alcator C-Mod

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reardon, J.; Bonoli, P. T.; Porkolab, M.; Takase, Y.; Wukitch, S. J.

1997-11-01

Data are presented from an array of single-turn loop probes newly installed on the inner wall of C-Mod, directly opposite one of the two fast-wave antennas. The 8-loop array extends 32^circ in the toroidal direction at the midplane and can distinguish electromagnetic from electrostatic modes. Data are acquired by 1GHz digitizer, spectrum analyzer, and RF detector circuit. Phase measurements during different heating scenarios show evidence of both standing and travelling waves. The measurement of toroidal mode number N_tor (conserved under the assumption of axisymmetry) is used to guide the toroidal full-wave code TORIC(Brambilla, M., IPP Report 5/66, February 1996). Amplitude measurements show modulation both by Type III ELMs and sawteeth; the observed sawtooth modulation may be interpreted as due to changes in central absorption. The amplitude of tildeB_tor measured at the inner wall is compared to the prediction of TORIC.

Solenoid-free plasma startup in NSTX using transient CHI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raman, R.; Jarboe, T. R.; Mueller, D.; Nelson, B. A.; Bell, M. G.; Bell, R.; Gates, D.; Gerhardt, S.; Hosea, J.; Kaita, R.; Kugel, H.; LeBlanc, B.; Maingi, R.; Maqueda, R.; Menard, J.; Nagata, M.; Ono, M.; Paul, S.; Roquemore, L.; Sabbagh, S.; Soukhanovskii, V.; Taylor, G.

2009-06-01

Experiments in NSTX have now demonstrated the coupling of toroidal plasmas produced by the technique of coaxial helicity injection (CHI) to inductive sustainment and ramp-up of the toroidal plasma current. In these discharges, the central Ohmic transformer was used to apply an inductive loop voltage to discharges with a toroidal current of about 100 kA created by CHI. The coupled discharges have ramped up to >700 kA and transitioned into an H-mode demonstrating compatibility of this startup method with conventional operation. The electron temperature in the coupled discharges reached over 800 eV and the resulting plasma had low inductance, which is preferred for long-pulse high-performance discharges. These results from NSTX in combination with the previously obtained record 160 kA non-inductively generated startup currents in an ST or tokamak in NSTX demonstrate that CHI is a viable solenoid-free plasma startup method for future STs and tokamaks.

Passing particle toroidal precession induced by electric field in a tokamak

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Andreev, V. V.; Ilgisonis, V. I.; Sorokina, E. A.

2013-12-15

Characteristics of a rotation of passing particles in a tokamak with radial electric field are calculated. The expression for time-averaged toroidal velocity of the passing particle induced by the electric field is derived. The electric-field-induced additive to the toroidal velocity of the passing particle appears to be much smaller than the velocity of the electric drift calculated for the poloidal magnetic field typical for the trapped particle. This quantity can even have the different sign depending on the azimuthal position of the particle starting point. The unified approach for the calculation of the bounce period and of the time-averaged toroidalmore » velocity of both trapped and passing particles in the whole volume of plasma column is presented. The results are obtained analytically and are confirmed by 3D numerical calculations of the trajectories of charged particles.« less

Combined effects of trapped energetic ions and resistive layer damping on the stability of the resistive wall mode

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

He, Yuling; Liu, Yue, E-mail: Yueqiang.Liu@ccfe.ac.uk, E-mail: liuyue@dlut.edu.cn; Liu, Chao

2016-01-15

A dispersion relation is derived for the stability of the resistive wall mode (RWM), which includes both the resistive layer damping physics and the toroidal precession drift resonance damping from energetic ions in tokamak plasmas. The dispersion relation is numerically solved for a model plasma, for the purpose of systematic investigation of the RWM stability in multi-dimensional plasma parameter space including the plasma resistivity, the radial location of the resistive wall, as well as the toroidal flow velocity. It is found that the toroidal favorable average curvature in the resistive layer contributes a significant stabilization of the RWM. This stabilizationmore » is further enhanced by adding the drift kinetic contribution from energetic ions. Furthermore, two traditionally assumed inner layer models are considered and compared in the dispersion relation, resulting in different predictions for the stability of the RWM.« less

Novel solution-phase structures of gallium-containing pyrogallol[4]arene scaffolds**

PubMed Central

Kumari, Harshita; Kline, Steven R.; Wycoff, Wei G.; Paul, Rick L.; Mossine, Andrew V.; Deakyne, Carol A.; Atwood, Jerry L.

2012-01-01

The variations in architecture of gallium-seamed (PgC4Ga) and gallium-zinc-seamed (PgC4GaZn) C-butylpyrogallol[4]arene nanoassemblies in solution (SANS/NMR) versus the solid state (XRD) have been investigated. Rearrangement from the solid-state spheroidal to the solution-phase toroidal shape differentiates the gallium-containing pyrogallol[4]arene nanoassemblies from all other PgCnM nanocapsules studied thus far. Different structural arrangements of the metals and arenes of PgC4Ga versus PgC4GaZn have been deduced from the different toroidal dimensions, C–H proton environments and guest encapsulation of the two toroids. PGAA of mixed-metal hexamers reveals a decrease in gallium-to-metal ratio as the second metal varies from cobalt to zinc. Overall, the combined study demonstrates the versatility of gallium in directing the self-assembly of pyrogallol[4]arenes into novel nanoarchitectures. PMID:22511521

ELM-free and inter-ELM divertor heat flux broadening induced by edge harmonics oscillation in NSTX

DOE PAGES

Gan, K. F.; Ahn, J. -W.; Gray, T. K.; ...

2017-10-26

A new n =1 dominated edge harmonic oscillation (EHO) has been found in NSTX. The new EHO, rotating toroidally in the counter-current direction and the opposite direction of the neutral beam, was observed during certain inter-ELM and ELM-free periods of H-mode operation. This EHO is associated with a significant broadening of the integral heat flux width (more » $${{\\lambda}_{\\operatorname{int}}}$$ ) by up to 150%, and a decrease in the divertor peak heat flux by >60%. An EHO induced filament was also observed by the gas puff imaging diagnostic. The toroidal rotating filaments could change the edge magnetic topology resulting in toroidal rotating strike point splitting and heat flux broadening. Finally, experimental result of the counter current rotation of strike points splitting is consistent with the counter-current EHO.« less

Slow Magnetic Relaxation and Single-Molecule Toroidal Behaviour in a Family of Heptanuclear {CrIII LnIII6 } (Ln=Tb, Ho, Er) Complexes.

PubMed

Vignesh, Kuduva R; Langley, Stuart K; Swain, Abinash; Moubaraki, Boujemaa; Damjanović, Marko; Wernsdorfer, Wolfgang; Rajaraman, Gopalan; Murray, Keith S

2018-01-15

The synthesis, magnetic properties, and theoretical studies of three heterometallic {Cr III Ln III 6 } (Ln=Tb, Ho, Er) complexes, each containing a metal topology consisting of two Ln 3 triangles connected via a Cr III linker, are reported. The {CrTb 6 } and {CrEr 6 } analogues display slow relaxation of magnetization in a 3000 Oe static magnetic field. Single-crystal measurements reveal opening up of the hysteresis loop for {CrTb 6 } and {CrHo 6 } molecules at low temperatures. Ab initio calculations predict toroidal magnetic moments in the two Ln 3 triangles, which are found to couple, stabilizing a con-rotating ferrotoroidal ground state in Tb and Ho examples and extend the possibility of observing toroidal behaviour in non Dy III complexes for the first time. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Looped star polymers show conformational transition from spherical to flat toroidal shapes.

PubMed

Reiss, Pascal; Fritsche, Miriam; Heermann, Dieter W

2011-11-01

Inspired by the topological organization of the circular Escherichia coli chromosome, which is compacted by separate domains, we study a polymer architecture consisting of a central ring to which either looped or linear side chains are grafted. A shape change from a spherical to a toroidal organization takes place as soon as the inner ring becomes large enough for the attached arms to fit within its circumference. Building up a torus, the system flattens, depending on the effective bending rigidity of the chain induced by entropic repulsion of the attached loops and, to a lesser extent, linear arms. Our results suggest that the natural formation of a toroidal structure with a decreased amount of writhe induced by a specific underlying topology could be one driving force, among others, that nature exploits to ensure proper packaging of the genetic material within a rod-shaped, bacterial envelope.

Measurement of toroidal vessel eddy current during plasma disruption on J-TEXT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, L. J.; Yu, K. X.; Zhang, M., E-mail: zhangming@hust.edu.cn

2016-01-15

In this paper, we have employed a thin, printed circuit board eddy current array in order to determine the radial distribution of the azimuthal component of the eddy current density at the surface of a steel plate. The eddy current in the steel plate can be calculated by analytical methods under the simplifying assumptions that the steel plate is infinitely large and the exciting current is of uniform distribution. The measurement on the steel plate shows that this method has high spatial resolution. Then, we extended this methodology to a toroidal geometry with the objective of determining the poloidal distributionmore » of the toroidal component of the eddy current density associated with plasma disruption in a fusion reactor called J-TEXT. The preliminary measured result is consistent with the analysis and calculation results on the J-TEXT vacuum vessel.« less

Tracking formulas and strategies for a receiver oriented dual-axis tracking toroidal heliostat

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guo, Minghuan; Wang, Zhifeng; Liang, Wenfeng

2010-06-15

A 4 m x 4 m toroidal heliostat with receiver oriented dual-axis tracking, also called spinning-elevation tracking, was developed as an auxiliary heat source for a hydrogen production system. A series of spinning-elevation tracking formulas have been derived for this heliostat. This included basic tracking formulas, a formula for the elevation angle for heliostat with a mirror-pivot offset, and a more general formula for the biased elevation angle. This paper presents the new tracking formulas in detail and analyzes the accuracy of applying a simplifying approximation. The numerical results show these receiver oriented dual-axis tracking formula approximations are accurate tomore » within 2.5 x 10{sup -6} m in image plane. Some practical tracking strategies are discussed briefly. Solar images from the toroidal heliostat at selected times are also presented. (author)« less

Genetic Contributors to Intergenerational CAG Repeat Instability in Huntington’s Disease Knock-In Mice

PubMed Central

Neto, João Luís; Lee, Jong-Min; Afridi, Ali; Gillis, Tammy; Guide, Jolene R.; Dempsey, Stephani; Lager, Brenda; Alonso, Isabel; Wheeler, Vanessa C.; Pinto, Ricardo Mouro

2017-01-01

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of a CAG trinucleotide repeat in exon 1 of the HTT gene. Longer repeat sizes are associated with increased disease penetrance and earlier ages of onset. Intergenerationally unstable transmissions are common in HD families, partly underlying the genetic anticipation seen in this disorder. HD CAG knock-in mouse models also exhibit a propensity for intergenerational repeat size changes. In this work, we examine intergenerational instability of the CAG repeat in over 20,000 transmissions in the largest HD knock-in mouse model breeding datasets reported to date. We confirmed previous observations that parental sex drives the relative ratio of expansions and contractions. The large datasets further allowed us to distinguish effects of paternal CAG repeat length on the magnitude and frequency of expansions and contractions, as well as the identification of large repeat size jumps in the knock-in models. Distinct degrees of intergenerational instability were observed between knock-in mice of six background strains, indicating the occurrence of trans-acting genetic modifiers. We also found that lines harboring a neomycin resistance cassette upstream of Htt showed reduced expansion frequency, indicative of a contributing role for sequences in cis, with the expanded repeat as modifiers of intergenerational instability. These results provide a basis for further understanding of the mechanisms underlying intergenerational repeat instability. PMID:27913616

PDE5 Inhibitors Enhance Celecoxib Killing in Multiple Tumor Types

PubMed Central

BOOTH, LAURENCE; ROBERTS, JANE L.; CRUICKSHANKS, NICHOLA; TAVALLAI, SEYEDMEHRAD; WEBB, TIMOTHY; SAMUEL, PETER; CONLEY, ADAM; BINION, BRITTANY; YOUNG, HAROLD F.; POKLEPOVIC, ANDREW; SPIEGEL, SARAH; DENT, PAUL

2015-01-01

The present studies determined whether clinically relevant phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) inhibitors interacted with a clinically relevant NSAID, celecoxib, to kill tumor cells. Celecoxib and PDE5 inhibitors interacted in a greater than additive fashion to kill multiple tumor cell types. Celecoxib and sildenafil killed ex vivo primary human glioma cells as well as their associated activated microglia. Knock down of PDE5 recapitulated the effects of PDE5 inhibitor treatment; the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor L-NAME suppressed drug combination toxicity. The effects of celecoxib were COX2 independent. Over-expression of c-FLIP-s or knock down of CD95/FADD significantly reduced killing by the drug combination. CD95 activation was dependent on nitric oxide and ceramide signaling. CD95 signaling activated the JNK pathway and inhibition of JNK suppressed cell killing. The drug combination inactivated mTOR and increased the levels of autophagy and knock down of Beclin1 or ATG5 strongly suppressed killing by the drug combination. The drug combination caused an ER stress response; knock down of IRE1α/XBP1 enhanced killing whereas knock down of eIF2α/ATF4/CHOP suppressed killing. Sildenafil and celecoxib treatment suppressed the growth of mammary tumors in vivo. Collectively our data demonstrate that clinically achievable concentrations of celecoxib and sildenafil have the potential to be a new therapeutic approach for cancer. PMID:25303541

The Brain Proteome of the Ubiquitin Ligase Peli1 Knock-Out Mouse during Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis.

PubMed

Lereim, Ragnhild Reehorst; Oveland, Eystein; Xiao, Yichuan; Torkildsen, Øivind; Wergeland, Stig; Myhr, Kjell-Morten; Sun, Shao-Cong; Berven, Frode S

2016-09-01

The ubiquitin ligase Peli1 has previously been suggested as a potential treatment target in multiple sclerosis. In the multiple sclerosis disease model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, Peli1 knock-out led to less activated microglia and less inflammation in the central nervous system. Despite being important in microglia, Peli1 expression has also been detected in glial and neuronal cells. In the present study the overall brain proteomes of Peli1 knock-out mice and wild-type mice were compared prior to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis induction, at onset of the disease and at disease peak. Brain samples from the frontal hemisphere, peripheral from the extensive inflammatory foci, were analyzed using TMT-labeling of sample pools, and the discovered proteins were verified in individual mice using label-free proteomics. The greatest proteomic differences between Peli1 knock-out and wild-type mice were observed at the disease peak. In Peli1 knock-out a higher degree of antigen presentation, increased activity of adaptive and innate immune cells and alterations to proteins involved in iron metabolism were observed during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. These results unravel global effects to the brain proteome when abrogating Peli1 expression, underlining the importance of Peli1 as a regulator of the immune response also peripheral to inflammatory foci during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. The proteomics data is available in PRIDE with accession PXD003710.

Knock-out of a mitochondrial sirtuin protects neurons from degeneration in Caenorhabditis elegans.

PubMed

Sangaletti, Rachele; D'Amico, Massimo; Grant, Jeff; Della-Morte, David; Bianchi, Laura

2017-08-01

Sirtuins are NAD⁺-dependent deacetylases, lipoamidases, and ADP-ribosyltransferases that link cellular metabolism to multiple intracellular pathways that influence processes as diverse as cell survival, longevity, and cancer growth. Sirtuins influence the extent of neuronal death in stroke. However, different sirtuins appear to have opposite roles in neuronal protection. In Caenorhabditis elegans, we found that knock-out of mitochondrial sirtuin sir-2.3, homologous to mammalian SIRT4, is protective in both chemical ischemia and hyperactive channel induced necrosis. Furthermore, the protective effect of sir-2.3 knock-out is enhanced by block of glycolysis and eliminated by a null mutation in daf-16/FOXO transcription factor, supporting the involvement of the insulin/IGF pathway. However, data in Caenorhabditis elegans cell culture suggest that the effects of sir-2.3 knock-out act downstream of the DAF-2/IGF-1 receptor. Analysis of ROS in sir-2.3 knock-out reveals that ROS become elevated in this mutant under ischemic conditions in dietary deprivation (DD), but to a lesser extent than in wild type, suggesting more robust activation of a ROS scavenging system in this mutant in the absence of food. This work suggests a deleterious role of SIRT4 during ischemic processes in mammals that must be further investigated and reveals a novel pathway that can be targeted for the design of therapies aimed at protecting neurons from death in ischemic conditions.

Genetic Contributors to Intergenerational CAG Repeat Instability in Huntington's Disease Knock-In Mice.

PubMed

Neto, João Luís; Lee, Jong-Min; Afridi, Ali; Gillis, Tammy; Guide, Jolene R; Dempsey, Stephani; Lager, Brenda; Alonso, Isabel; Wheeler, Vanessa C; Pinto, Ricardo Mouro

2017-02-01

Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of a CAG trinucleotide repeat in exon 1 of the HTT gene. Longer repeat sizes are associated with increased disease penetrance and earlier ages of onset. Intergenerationally unstable transmissions are common in HD families, partly underlying the genetic anticipation seen in this disorder. HD CAG knock-in mouse models also exhibit a propensity for intergenerational repeat size changes. In this work, we examine intergenerational instability of the CAG repeat in over 20,000 transmissions in the largest HD knock-in mouse model breeding datasets reported to date. We confirmed previous observations that parental sex drives the relative ratio of expansions and contractions. The large datasets further allowed us to distinguish effects of paternal CAG repeat length on the magnitude and frequency of expansions and contractions, as well as the identification of large repeat size jumps in the knock-in models. Distinct degrees of intergenerational instability were observed between knock-in mice of six background strains, indicating the occurrence of trans-acting genetic modifiers. We also found that lines harboring a neomycin resistance cassette upstream of Htt showed reduced expansion frequency, indicative of a contributing role for sequences in cis, with the expanded repeat as modifiers of intergenerational instability. These results provide a basis for further understanding of the mechanisms underlying intergenerational repeat instability. Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.

Genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9-based knock-in approaches in zebrafish.

PubMed

Albadri, Shahad; Del Bene, Filippo; Revenu, Céline

2017-05-15

With its variety of applications, the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology has been rapidly evolving in the last few years. In the zebrafish community, knock-out reports are constantly increasing but insertion studies have been so far more challenging. With this review, we aim at giving an overview of the homologous directed repair (HDR)-based knock-in generation in zebrafish. We address the critical points and limitations of the procedure such as cutting efficiency of the chosen single guide RNA, use of cas9 mRNA or Cas9 protein, homology arm size etc. but also ways to circumvent encountered issues with HDR insertions by the development of non-homologous dependent strategies. While imprecise, these homology-independent mechanisms based on non-homologous-end-joining (NHEJ) repair have been employed in zebrafish to generate reporter lines or to accurately edit an open reading frame by the use of intron-targeting modifications. Therefore, with higher efficiency and insertion rate, NHEJ-based knock-in seems to be a promising approach to target endogenous loci and to circumvent the limitations of HDR whenever it is possible and appropriate. In this perspective, we propose new strategies to generate cDNA edited or tagged insertions, which once established will constitute a new and versatile toolbox for CRISPR/Cas9-based knock-ins in zebrafish. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

40 CFR 745.227 - Work practice standards for conducting lead-based paint activities: target housing and child...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... impact surface that is cause by impact from a related building component (such as a door knob that knocks into a wall or a door that knocks against its door frame; and (iv) If there is any other deteriorated...

40 CFR 745.227 - Work practice standards for conducting lead-based paint activities: target housing and child...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... impact surface that is cause by impact from a related building component (such as a door knob that knocks into a wall or a door that knocks against its door frame; and (iv) If there is any other deteriorated...

Opportunity Knocks! A Student Employment Preparation Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Golden, Cynthia

2000-01-01

Describes the Opportunity Knocks student employment preparation program at Duquesne University (Pennsylvania) in which students receive one week of training prior to fall semester and then work to meet escalating demands for information technology support on campus. Notes special features of the program, program costs, and program impact. A…

Dual Telecentric Lens System For Projection Onto Tilted Toroidal Screen

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gold, Ronald S.; Hudyma, Russell M.

1995-01-01

System of two optical assemblies for projecting image onto tilted toroidal screen. One projection lens optimized for red and green spectral region; other for blue. Dual-channel approach offers several advantages which include: simplified color filtering, simplified chromatic aberration corrections, less complex polarizing prism arrangement, and increased throughput of blue light energy. Used in conjunction with any source of imagery, designed especially to project images formed by reflection of light from liquid-crystal light valve (LCLV).

The study of the transition regime between slab and mixed slab-toroidal electron temperature gradient modes in a basic experiment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Balbaky, Abed; Sokolov, Vladimir; Sen, Amiya K.

2015-05-15

Electron temperature gradient (ETG) modes are suspected sources of anomalous electron thermal transport in magnetically confined plasmas as in tokamaks. Prior work in the Columbia Linear Machine (CLM) has been able to produce and identify slab ETG modes in a slab geometry [Wei et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 042108 (2010)]. Now by modifying CLM to introduce curvature to the confining axial magnetic field, we have excited mixed slab-toroidal modes. Linear theory predicts a transition between slab and toroidal ETG modes when (k{sub ∥}R{sub c})/(k{sub y}ρ) ∼1 [J. Kim and W. Horton, Phys. Fluids B 3, 1167 (1991)]. We observe changesmore » in the mode amplitude for levels of curvature R{sub c}{sup −1}≪(k{sub ∥,slab})/(k{sub ⊥}ρ) , which may be explained by reductions in k{sub ∥} in the transition from slab to mixed slab-toroidal modes, as also predicted by theory. We present mode amplitude scaling as a function of magnetic field curvature. Over the range of curvature available in CLM experimentally we find a modest increase in saturated ETG potential fluctuations (∼1.5×), and a substantial increase in the power density of individual mode peaks (∼4–5×)« less

Experimental studies of toroidal correlations of plasma density fluctuations along the magnetic field lines in the T-10 tokamak and first results of numerical modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buldakov, M. A.; Vershkov, V. A.; Isaev, M. Yu; Shelukhin, D. A.

2017-10-01

The antenna system of reflectometry diagnostics at the T-10 tokamak allows to study long-range toroidal correlations of plasma density fluctuations along the magnetic field lines. The antenna systems are installed in two poloidal cross-sections of the vacuum chamber separated by a 90° angle in the toroidal direction. The experiments, which were conducted at the low field side, showed that the high level of toroidal correlations is observed only for quasi-coherent fluctuations. However, broadband and stochastic low frequency fluctuations are not correlated. Numerical modeling of the plasma turbulence structure in the T-10 tokamak was conducted to interpret the experimental results and take into account non-locality of reflectometry measurements. In the model used, it was assumed that the magnitudes of density fluctuations are constant along the magnetic field lines. The 2D full-wave Tamic-RTH code was used to model the reflectometry signals. High level of correlations for quasi-coherent fluctuations was obtained during the modeling, which agrees with the experimental observations. However, the performed modeling also predicts high level of correlations for broadband fluctuations, which contradicts the experimental data. The modeling showed that the effective reflection radius, from which the information on quasi-coherent plasma turbulence is obtained, is shifted outwards from the reflection radius by approximately 7 mm.

Spectroscopic Measurement of Ion Flow During Merging Start-up of Field-Reversed Configuration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oka, Hirotaka; Inomoto, Michiaki; Tanabe, Hiroshi; Annoura, Masanobu; Ono, Yasushi; Nemoto, Koshichi

2012-10-01

The counter-helicity merging method [1] of field-reversed configuration (FRC) formation involves generation of bidirectional toroidal flow, known as a ``sling-shot.'' In two fluids regime, reconnection process is strongly affected by the Hall effect [2]. In this study, we have investigated the behavior of toroidal bidirectional flow generated by the counter-helicity merging in two-fluids regime. We use 2D Ion Doppler Spectroscopy to mesure toroidal ion flow during merging start-up of FRC from Ar gas. We defined two cases: one case with a radially pushed-in X line (case I) and the other case with a radially pushed-out X line(case O). The flow during the plasma merging shows radial asymmetry, as expected from the magnetic measurement, but finally relaxes to a unidirectional flow in plasma current direction in both cases. We observed larger toroidal flow in the plasma current direction in case I after FRC is formed, though the FRC in case O has larger magnetic flux. These results suggest that more ions are lost during merging start-up in case I. This selective ion loss might account for stability and confinement of FRCs probably maintained by high energy ions.[4pt] [1] Y. Ono, et al., Nucl. Fusion 39, pp. 2001-2008 (1999).[0pt] [2] M. Inomoto, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 97, 135002, (2006)

Phase locking of multi-helicity neoclassical tearing modes in tokamak plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fitzpatrick, Richard

2015-04-15

The attractive “hybrid” tokamak scenario combines comparatively high q{sub 95} operation with improved confinement compared with the conventional H{sub 98,y2} scaling law. Somewhat unusually, hybrid discharges often exhibit multiple neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) possessing different mode numbers. The various NTMs are eventually observed to phase lock to one another, giving rise to a significant flattening, or even an inversion, of the core toroidal plasma rotation profile. This behavior is highly undesirable because the loss of core plasma rotation is known to have a deleterious effect on plasma stability. This paper presents a simple, single-fluid, cylindrical model of the phase lockingmore » of two NTMs with different poloidal and toroidal mode numbers in a tokamak plasma. Such locking takes place via a combination of nonlinear three-wave coupling and conventional toroidal coupling. In accordance with experimental observations, the model predicts that there is a bifurcation to a phase-locked state when the frequency mismatch between the modes is reduced to one half of its original value. In further accordance, the phase-locked state is characterized by the permanent alignment of one of the X-points of NTM island chains on the outboard mid-plane of the plasma, and a modified toroidal angular velocity profile, interior to the outermost coupled rational surface, which is such that the core rotation is flattened, or even inverted.« less

3D toroidal physics: Testing the boundaries of symmetry breakinga)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spong, Donald A.

2015-05-01

Toroidal symmetry is an important concept for plasma confinement; it allows the existence of nested flux surface MHD equilibria and conserved invariants for particle motion. However, perfect symmetry is unachievable in realistic toroidal plasma devices. For example, tokamaks have toroidal ripple due to discrete field coils, optimized stellarators do not achieve exact quasi-symmetry, the plasma itself continually seeks lower energy states through helical 3D deformations, and reactors will likely have non-uniform distributions of ferritic steel near the plasma. Also, some level of designed-in 3D magnetic field structure is now anticipated for most concepts in order to provide the plasma control needed for a stable, steady-state fusion reactor. Such planned 3D field structures can take many forms, ranging from tokamaks with weak 3D edge localized mode suppression fields to stellarators with more dominant 3D field structures. This motivates the development of physics models that are applicable across the full range of 3D devices. Ultimately, the questions of how much symmetry breaking can be tolerated and how to optimize its design must be addressed for all fusion concepts. A closely coupled program of simulation, experimental validation, and design optimization is required to determine what forms and amplitudes of 3D shaping and symmetry breaking will be compatible with the requirements of future fusion reactors.

MHD simulation of relaxation transition to a flipped relaxed state in spherical torus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanki, Takashi; Nagata, Masayoshi; Kagei, Yasuhiro

2008-11-01

Recently, it has been demonstrated in the HIST device that in spite of the violation of the Kruskal-Shafranov stability condition, a normal spherical torus (ST) plasma has relaxed to a flipped ST state through a transient reversed-field pinch-like state when the vacuum toroidal field is decreased and its direction is reversed [1]. It has been also observed during this relaxation transition process that not only the toroidal field but also the poloidal field reverses polarity spontaneously and that the ion flow velocity is strongly fluctuated and abruptly increased up to > 50 km/s. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the plasma flows and the relevant MHD relaxation phenomena to elucidate this transition mechanism by using three-dimensional MHD simulations [2]. It is found from the numerical results that the magnetic reconnection between the open and closed field lines occurs due to the non-linear growth of the n=1 kink instability of the central open flux, generating the toroidal flow ˜ 60 km/s in the direction of the toroidal current. The n=1 kink instability and the plasma flows driven by the magnetic reconnection are consider to be responsible for the self-reversal of the magnetic fields. [1] M. Nagata el al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 225001 (2003). [2] Y. Kagei el al., Plasma. Phys. Control. Fusion 45, L17 (2003).

Ion flow measurements during the MHD relaxation processes in the HIST spherical torus device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishioka, T.; Hashimoto, S.; Ando, K.; Kikuchi, Y.; Fukumoto, N.; Nagata, M.

2008-11-01

Plasma flow is one of the key roles in self-organization and magnetic reconnection processes of helicity-driven spherical torus (ST) and spheromak. The HIST spherical torus can form the standard ST and the flipped ST plasmas by utilizing the variation of the external toroidal field coil current. The flipped ST plasma can be generated by changing the polarity of the toroidal magnetic field during the standard ST discharge [1]. We have developed an ion Doppler spectrometer (IDS) system using a compact 16 channel photomultiplier tube (PMT) in order to measure the spatial profile of ion temperature and rotation velocity in the HIST device. The IDS system consists of a light collection system including optical fibers, 1 m-spectrometer and the PMT detector. As the results, it was observed that ion velocity was about 10 km/s in the same direction as the toroidal current and ExB direction in the standard ST discharge. The observed ion velocity agrees with Mach probe measurements. During the transition from the standard ST to the flipped ST state, the ion temperature was fluctuated and increased. The result implies an ion heating during magnetic reconnections. In addition, the toroidal direction of the ion flow was reversed. The detail physics of the observed phenomenon will be shown. [1] M. Nagata et al., Phys Rev. Lett. 90, pp. 225001-225004 (2003).

Three-dimensional simulation of H-mode plasmas with localized divertor impurity injection on Alcator C-Mod using the edge transport code EMC3-EIRENE

DOE PAGES

Lore, Jeremy D.; Reinke, M. L.; Brunner, D.; ...

2015-04-28

We study experiments in Alcator C-Mod to assess the level of toroidal asymmetry in divertor conditions resulting from poloidally and toroidally localized extrinsic impurity gas seeding show a weak toroidal peaking (~1.1) in divertor electron temperatures for high-power enhanced D-alpha H-modeplasmas. This is in contrast to similar experiments in Ohmically heated L-modeplasmas, which showed a clear toroidal modulation in the divertor electron temperature. Modeling of these experiments using the 3D edge transport code EMC3-EIRENE [Y. Feng et al., J. Nucl. Mater. 241, 930 (1997)] qualitatively reproduces these trends, and indicates that the different response in the simulations is due tomore » the ionization location of the injected nitrogen. Low electron temperatures in the private flux region (PFR) in L-mode result in a PFR plasma that is nearly transparent to neutral nitrogen, while in H-mode the impurities are ionized in close proximity to the injection location, with this latter case yielding a largely axisymmetric radiation pattern in the scrape-off-layer. In conclusion, the consequences for the ITER gas injection system are discussed. Quantitative agreement with the experiment is lacking in some areas, suggesting potential areas for improving the physics model in EMC3-EIRENE.« less

Burden of hospitalized childhood community-acquired pneumonia: A retrospective cross-sectional study in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Republic of Korea

PubMed Central

Tan, Kah Kee; Dang, Duc Anh; Kim, Ki Hwan; Kartasasmita, Cissy; Zhang, Xu-Hao; Shafi, Fakrudeen; Yu, Ta-Wen; Ledesma, Emilio; Meyer, Nadia

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: Few studies describe the community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) burden in children in Asia. We estimated the proportion of all CAP hospitalizations in children from nine hospitals across the Republic of Korea (high-income), Indonesia, Malaysia (middle-income), and Vietnam (low/middle-income). Methods: Over a one or two-year period, children <5 years hospitalized with CAP were identified using ICD-10 discharge codes. Cases were matched to standardized definitions of suspected (S-CAP), confirmed (C-CAP), or bacterial CAP (B-CAP) used in a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine efficacy study (COMPAS). Median total direct medical costs of CAP-related hospitalizations were calculated. Results: Vietnam (three centers): 7591 CAP episodes were identified with 4.3% (95% confidence interval 4.2;4.4) S-CAP, 3.3% (3.2;3.4) C-CAP and 1.4% (1.3;1.4) B-CAP episodes of all-cause hospitalization in children aged <5 years. The B-CAP case fatality rate (CFR) was 1.3%. Malaysia (two centers): 1027 CAP episodes were identified with 2.7% (2.6;2.9); 2.6% (2.4;2.8); 0.04% (0.04;0.1) due to S-CAP, C-CAP, and B-CAP, respectively. One child with B-CAP died. Indonesia (one center): 960 CAP episodes identified with 18.0% (17.0;19.1); 16.8% (15.8;17.9); 0.3% (0.2;0.4) due to S-CAP, C-CAP, and B-CAP, respectively. The B-CAP CFR was 20%. Korea (three centers): 3151 CAP episodes were identified with 21.1% (20.4;21.7); 11.8% (11.2;12.3); 2.4% (2.1;2.7) due to S-CAP, C-CAP, and B-CAP, respectively. There were no deaths. Costs: CAP-related hospitalization costs were highest for B-CAP episodes: 145.00 (Vietnam) to 1013.3 USD (Korea) per episode. Conclusion: CAP hospitalization causes an important health and cost burden in all four countries studied (NMRR-12-50-10793). PMID:29125809

Evaluation of cimi-shield knock-out bed bug eliminator against house fly (Musca domestica) adults

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cimi-Shield Knock-Out (CSKO) Bed Bug Eliminator is a green treatment labeled for use against bed bugs, carpet beetles, ants, roaches, fleas, ticks, silverfish, millipedes and centipedes. The active ingredient is soybean oil. If CSKO is formulated according to label instructions and sprayed directly ...

"When Do I Knock on the Hotel Room Door?": The MLA Conference Job Interview.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emmerson, Richard K.

1995-01-01

Offers advice to potential interviewees attending an MLA conference. Cautions the interviewee to arrive for the appointment early, but not to knock until the time of the appointment. Advises interviewees to answer questions briefly and to let the committee set the pace of the interview. (PA)

Evaluation of cimi-shield knock-out bed bug eliminator against house fly (Musca domestica) adults.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cimi-Shield Knock-Out (CSKO) Bed Bug Eliminator is a green treatment labeled for use against bed bugs, carpet beetles, ants, roaches, fleas, ticks, silverfish, millipedes and centipedes. The active ingredient is soybean oil. If CSKO is formulated according to label instructions and sprayed directly ...

The Science of Hard Knocks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vance, Erik

2007-01-01

Head injuries in sports are nothing new, but in recent years, college athletes have reported a steady rise in concussions. Football players still get the most knocks to the head. Women have managed to keep up with, and often surpass, men in sports-related concussions in the last few years. In basketball, women reported 24 percent more concussions…

Performance of lignin derived compounds as octane boosters

DOE PAGES

Tian, Miao; McCormick, Robert L.; Ratcliff, Matthew A.; ...

2016-11-01

The performance of spark ignition engines is highly dependent on fuel anti-knock quality, which in turn is governed by autoignition chemistry. In this study, we explore this chemistry for various aromatic oxygenates (i.e., anisole, 4-methyl anisole, 4-propyl anisole, guaiacol, 4-methyl guaiacol, 4-ethyl guaiacol) that can be produced from lignin, a low value residual biomass stream that is generated in paper pulping and cellulosic ethanol plants. All compounds share the same benzene ring, but have distinct oxygen functionalities and degrees of alkylation. The objective of this study is to ascertain what the impact is of said side groups on anti-knock qualitymore » and, by proxy, on fuel economy in a modern Volvo T5 spark ignition engine. To better comprehend the variation in behavior amongst the fuels, further experiments have been conducted in a constant volume autoignition device. In conclusion, the results demonstrate that alkylation has a negligible impact on anti-knock quality, while the addition of functional oxygen groups manifests as a deterioration in anti-knock quality.« less

Monte Carlo analysis of the oxygen knock-on effects induced by synchrotron x-ray radiation in the B i2S r2CaC u2O8 +δ superconductor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torsello, Daniele; Mino, Lorenzo; Bonino, Valentina; Agostino, Angelo; Operti, Lorenza; Borfecchia, Elisa; Vittone, Ettore; Lamberti, Carlo; Truccato, Marco

2018-01-01

We investigate the microscopic mechanism responsible for the change of macroscopic electrical properties of the B i2S r2CaC u2O8 +δ high-temperature superconductor induced by intense synchrotron hard x-ray beams. The possible effects of secondary electrons on the oxygen content via the knock-on interaction are studied by Monte Carlo simulations. The change in the oxygen content expected from the knock-on model is computed convoluting the fluence of photogenerated electrons in the material with the Seitz-Koehler cross section. This approach has been adopted to analyze several experimental irradiation sessions with increasing x-ray fluences. A close comparison between the expected variations in oxygen content and the experimental results allows determining the irradiation regime in which the knock-on mechanism can satisfactorily explain the observed changes. Finally, we estimate the threshold displacement energy of loosely bound oxygen atoms in this material Td=0 .15-0.01+0.025eV .

A novel luciferase knock-in reporter system for studying transcriptional regulation of the human Sox2 gene.

PubMed

Xiao, Dan; Zhang, Weifeng; Li, Yan; Liu, Kuan; Zhao, Junli; Sun, Xiaohong; Shan, Linlin; Mao, Qinwen; Xia, Haibin

2016-02-10

Sox2 is an important transcriptional factor that has multiple functions in stem cell maintenance and tumorigenesis. To investigate the transcriptional regulation of the Sox2 gene, a luciferase knock-in reporter system was established in HEK293 cells by placing the luciferase gene in the genome under the control of the Sox2 gene promoter using a transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN)-mediated genome editing technique. PCR and Southern blot results confirmed the site-specific integration of a single copy of the exogenous luciferase gene into the genome. To prove the reliability and sensitivity of this novel luciferase knock-in system, a CRISPR/Cas transcription activation system for the Sox2 gene was constructed and applied to the knock-in system. The results indicated that luciferase activity was directly correlated with the activity of the Sox2 endogenous promoter. This novel system will be a useful tool to study the transcriptional regulation of Sox2, and has great potential in medical and industrial applications. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mild deficits in mice lacking pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide receptor type 1 (PAC1) performing on memory tasks.

PubMed

Sauvage, M; Brabet, P; Holsboer, F; Bockaert, J; Steckler, T

2000-12-08

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) and its receptor subtype 1 (PAC1) have been suggested to play a role in the modulation of learning and memory. However, behavioral evidence for altered mnemonic function due to altered PAC1 activity is missing. Therefore, the role of PAC1 in learning and memory was studied in mouse mutants lacking this receptor (PAC1 knock-out mice), tested in water maze two-choice spatial discrimination, one-trial contextual and cued fear conditioning, and multiple-session contextual discrimination. Water maze spatial discrimination was unaffected in PAC1 mutants, while a mild deficit was observed in multiple session contextual discrimination in PAC1 knock-out mice. Furthermore, PAC1 knock-out mice were able to learn the association between context and shock in one-trial contextual conditioning, but showed faster return to baseline than wild-type mice. Thus, the effects of PAC1 knock-out on modulating performance in these tasks were subtle and suggest that PAC1 only plays a limited role in learning and memory.

Als2 mRNA splicing variants detected in KO mice rescue severe motor dysfunction phenotype in Als2 knock-down zebrafish.

PubMed

Gros-Louis, Francois; Kriz, Jasna; Kabashi, Edor; McDearmid, Jonathan; Millecamps, Stéphanie; Urushitani, Makoto; Lin, Li; Dion, Patrick; Zhu, Qinzhang; Drapeau, Pierre; Julien, Jean-Pierre; Rouleau, Guy A

2008-09-01

Recessive ALS2 mutations are linked to three related but slightly different neurodegenerative disorders: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, hereditary spastic paraplegia and primary lateral sclerosis. To investigate the function of the ALS2 encoded protein, we generated Als2 knock-out (KO) mice and zAls2 knock-down zebrafish. The Als2(-/-) mice lacking exon 2 and part of exon 3 developed mild signs of neurodegeneration compatible with axonal transport deficiency. In contrast, zAls2 knock-down zebrafish had severe developmental abnormalities, swimming deficits and motor neuron perturbation. We identified, by RT-PCR, northern and western blotting novel Als2 transcripts in mouse central nervous system. These Als2 transcripts were present in Als2 null mice as well as in wild-type littermates and some rescued the zebrafish phenotype. Thus, we speculate that the newly identified Als2 mRNA species prevent the Als2 KO mice from developing severe neurodegenerative disease and might also regulate the severity of the motor neurons phenotype observed in ALS2 patients.

MONOAMINE OXIDASE: From Genes to Behavior

PubMed Central

Shih, J. C.; Chen, K.; Ridd, M. J.

2010-01-01

Cloning of MAO (monoamine oxidase) A and B has demonstrated unequivocally that these enzymes are made up of different polypeptides, and our understanding of MAO structure, regulation, and function has been significantly advanced by studies using their cDNA. MAO A and B genes are located on the X-chromosome (Xp11.23) and comprise 15 exons with identical intron-exon organization, which suggests that they are derived from the same ancestral gene. MAO A and B knockout mice exhibit distinct differences in neurotransmitter metabolism and behavior. MAO A knock-out mice have elevated brain levels of serotonin, norephinephrine, and dopamine and manifest aggressive behavior similar to human males with a deletion of MAO A. In contrast, MAO B knock-out mice do not exhibit aggression and only levels of phenylethylamine are increased. Mice lacking MAO B are resistant to the Parkinsongenic neurotoxin, 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetra-hydropyridine. Both MAO A and B knock-out mice show increased reactivity to stress. These knock-out mice are valuable models for investigating the role of monoamines in psychoses and neurodegenerative and stress-related disorders. PMID:10202537

Gyrokinetic Particle Simulations of Neoclassical Transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Zhihong

A time varying weighting (delta f) scheme based on the small gyro-radius ordering is developed and applied to a steady state, multi-species gyrokinetic particle simulation of neoclassical transport. Accurate collision operators conserving momentum and energy are developed and implemented. Benchmark simulation results using these operators are found to agree very well with neoclassical theory. For example, it is dynamically demonstrated that like-particle collisions produce no particle flux and that the neoclassical fluxes are ambipolar for an ion -electron plasma. An important physics feature of the present scheme is the introduction of toroidal flow to the simulations. In agreement with the existing analytical neoclassical theory, ion energy flux is enhanced by the toroidal mass flow and the neoclassical viscosity is a Pfirsch-Schluter factor times the classical viscosity in the banana regime. In addition, the poloidal electric field associated with toroidal mass flow is found to enhance density gradient driven electron particle flux and the bootstrap current while reducing temperature gradient driven flux and current. Modifications of the neoclassical transport by the orbit squeezing effects due to the radial electric field associated with sheared toroidal flow are studied. Simulation results indicate a reduction of both ion thermal flux and neoclassical toroidal rotation. Neoclassical theory in the steep gradient profile regime, where conventional neoclassical theory fails, is examined by taking into account finite banana width effects. The relevance of these studies to interesting experimental conditions in tokamaks is discussed. Finally, the present numerical scheme is extended to general geometry equilibrium. This new formulation will be valuable for the development of new capabilities to address complex equilibria such as advanced stellarator configurations and possibly other alternate concepts for the magnetic confinement of plasmas. In general, the present work demonstrates a valuable new capability for studying important aspects of neoclassical transport inaccessible by conventional analytical calculation processes.

Effects of density gradient caused by multi-pulsing CHI on two-fluid flowing equilibria of spherical torus plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanki, T.; Nagata, M.

2014-10-01

Two-fluid dynamo relaxation is examined to understand sustainment mechanism of spherical torus (ST) plasmas by multi-pulsing CHI (M-CHI) in the HIST device. The steeper density gradient between the central open flux column (OFC) and closed flux regions by applying the second CHI pulse is observed to cause not only the E × B drift but also the ion diamagnetic drift, leading the two-fluid dynamo. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the steep change in the density gradient on the ST equilibria by using the two-fluid equilibrium calculations. The toroidal magnetic field becomes from a diamagnetic to a paramagnetic profile in the closed flux region while it remains a diamagnetic profile in the OFC region. The toroidal ion flow velocity is increased from negative to positive values in the closed flux region. Here, the negative ion flow velocity is the opposite direction to the toroidal current. The poloidal ion flow velocity between the OFC and closed flux regions is increased, because the ion diamagnetic drift velocity is changed in the same direction as the E × B drift velocity through the steeper ion pressure gradient. As a result, the strong shear flow and the paramagnetic toroidal field are generated in the closed flux region. Here, the ion flow velocity is the same direction as the poloidal current. The radial electric field shear between the OFC and closed flux regions is enhanced due to the strong dependence on the magnetic force through the interaction of toroidal ion flow velocity and axial magnetic field. The two-fluid effect is significant there due to the ion diamagnetic effect.

Gyrokinetic simulations with external resonant magnetic perturbations: Island torque and nonambipolar transport with plasma rotation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waltz, R. E.; Waelbroeck, F. L.

2012-03-01

Static external resonant magnetic field perturbations (RMPs) have been added to the gyrokinetic code GYRO [J. Candy and R. E. Waltz, J. Comp. Phys. 186, 545 (2003)]. This allows nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations of the nonambipolar radial current flow jr, and the corresponding j→×B→ plasma torque (density) R[jrBp/c], induced by magnetic islands that break the toroidal symmetry of a tokamak. This extends the previous GYRO formulation for the transport of toroidal angular momentum (TAM) [R. E. Waltz, G. M. Staebler, J. Candy, and F. L. Hinton, Phys. Plasmas 14, 122507 (2007); errata 16, 079902 (2009)]. The focus is on electrostatic full torus radial slice simulations of externally induced q =m/n=6/3 islands with widths 5% of the minor radius or about 20 ion gyroradii. Up to moderately strong E ×B rotation, the island torque scales with the radial electric field at the resonant surface Er, the island width w, and the intensity I of the high-n micro-turbulence, as Erw√I . The radial current inside the island is carried (entirely in the n =3 component) and almost entirely by the ion E ×B flux, since the electron E ×B and magnetic flutter particle fluxes are cancelled. The net island torque is null at zero Er rather than at zero toroidal rotation. This means that while the expected magnetic braking of the toroidal plasma rotation occurs at strong co- and counter-current rotation, at null toroidal rotation, there is a small co-directed magnetic acceleration up to the small diamagnetic (ion pressure gradient driven) co-rotation corresponding to the zero Er and null torque. This could be called the residual stress from an externally induced island. At zero Er, the only effect is the expected partial flattening of the electron temperature gradient within the island. Finite-beta GYRO simulations demonstrate almost complete RMP field screening and n =3 mode unlocking at strong Er.

[Expression of matrix metalloproteinase-19 in the human cornea. Wound healing in the MMP-19 knock-out mouse model].

PubMed

Treumer, F; Flöhr, C; Klettner, A; Nölle, B; Roider, J

2010-07-01

At present there are no data in the literature on the expression of matrix metalloprotein-19 in the human cornea. The aim of this study was to analyze the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-19 in the human cornea and to investigate its potential role in corneal wound healing using a MMP-19 knock-out mouse model. A method with Western blotting and immunohistological staining for MMP-19 was performed using paraffin embedded human corneas. Excimer laser keratectomy was performed in wild type (wt) and MMP-19 knock-out (ko) mice and the rate of re-epithelialization was analyzed after 8 h and 18 h. MMP-19 was strongly expressed in the human corneal epithelium mainly in the basal cell layer. MMP-19 was not expressed in the corneal stroma. In the mouse model the size of the corneal lesion after 8 h was 83% (wt) and 89.9% (ko) of the initial area (p=0.09). After 18 h the lesion was 17% (wt) and 13.3% (ko) of the initial area (p=0.01). Laminin-5 was expressed in the migrating epithelial cells with no differences between wild type and knock-out mouse. MMP-19 showed a strong expression in the basal cells of the human corneal epithelium. Corneal re-epithelialization was slightly faster in the MMP-19 knock-out mouse. No differences in the expression of laminin-5 could be detected.

Anti-knock quality of sugar derived levulinic esters and cyclic ethers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tian, Miao; McCormick, Robert L.; Luecke, Jon

Here, the objective of this paper is to investigate the anti-knock quality of sugar-derived levulinic esters (methyl levulinate (ML) and ethyl levulinate (EL)) and cyclic ethers (furfuryl ethyl ether (FEE) and ethyl tetrahydrofurfuryl ether (ETE)). To this end, combustion experiments were carried out in both an engine and a constant volume autoignition device. The results from both apparati demonstrate that ML, EL and FEE have superior anti-knock quality than the reference Euro95 gasoline. ETE, conversely, performed markedly worse than the reference fuel on both setups and might therefore be a more appropriate fuel for compression ignition engines. The main reasonmore » of the distinctions in anti-knock quality can be found in the molecular structure of the neat biofuels. ML and EL are levulinic esters, with a ketone (C=O) functionality and an ester (C(=O)-O) group on the carbon chain. They can readily produce stable intermediates during the auto-ignition process, thereby slowing down the overall reaction rate. The unsaturated cyclic ether (FEE) has very strong ring C-H bonds. However, the saturated cyclic ether (ETE) has weak ring C-H bonds, which facilitate more readily ring opening reactions. Long side chains on the cyclic ethers further accelerate the reaction rate. Importantly for future research, our results suggest that IQT and engine experiments are interchangeable setups with respect to qualitative anti-knock quality evaluation of novel compounds.« less

The Effects of Engine Speed and Mixture Temperature on the Knocking Characteristics of Several Fuels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Dana W

1940-01-01

Six 100-octane and two 87-octane aviation engine fuels were tested in a modified C.F.R. variable-compression engine at 1,500, 2,000 and 2,500 rpm. The mixture temperature was raised from 50 to 300 F in approximately 50 degree steps and, at each temperature, the compression ratio was adjusted to give incipient knock as shown by a cathode ray indicator. The results are presented in tabular form. The results are analyzed on the assumption that the conditions which determine whether a given fuel will knock are the maximum values of density and temperature reached by the burning gases. A maximum permissible density factor, proportional to the maximum density of the burning gases just prior to incipient knock, and the temperature of the burning gases at that time were computed for each of the test conditions. Values of the density factors were plotted against the corresponding end-gas temperatures for the three engine speeds and also against engine speed for several and end-gas temperatures. The maximum permissible density factor varied only slightly with engine speed but decreased rapidly with an increase in the end-gas temperature. The effect of changing the mixture temperature was different for fuels of different types. The results emphasize the desirability of determining the anti knock values of fuels over a wide range of engine and intake-air conditions rather that at a single set of conditions.

CRISPR/Cas9 Mediated GFP Knock-in at the MAP1LC3B Locus in 293FT Cells Is Better for Bona Fide Monitoring Cellular Autophagy.

PubMed

Wu, Zhiqiang; Zhao, Jinlin; Qiu, Minghan; Mi, Zeyun; Meng, Maobin; Guo, Yu; Wang, Hui; Yuan, Zhiyong

2018-04-19

Accurately identifying and quantifying cellular autophagy is very important as the significance of autophagy in physiological and pathological processes becomes increasingly evident. Ectopically expressed fluorescent-tagged microtubule-associated protein light chain 3B (MAP1LC3B, LC3) is the most widely used reporter for monitoring autophagy activity thus far. However, this approach ignores the influence of constitutively overexpressed LC3 on autophagy itself and autophagy-related processes and its accuracy in indicating autophagy is questionable. Here, we generated a knock-in GFP-LC3 reporter via the CRISPR/Cas9 system in 293FT cells to add GFP to the N-terminal of and in frame with endogenous LC3. We proved that this knock-in GFP-LC3 was expressed at biological level driven by the endogenous transcriptional regulatory elements as the wild type alleles. Compared with the ectopically expressed GFP-LC3, the endogenous knock-in reporter exhibited much higher sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio of GFP-LC3 puncta upon the induction or inhibition of autophagy at certain step for monitoring autophagy activity. Thus, according to the previous reported concerning and the results presented here, we suggest that this knock-in GFP-LC3 reporter is better for bona fide monitoring cellular autophagy and should be employed for further study of autophagy in vitro and in vivo. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Knock-out of a mitochondrial sirtuin protects neurons from degeneration in Caenorhabditis elegans

PubMed Central

Sangaletti, Rachele; Grant, Jeff; Della-Morte, David

2017-01-01

Sirtuins are NAD⁺-dependent deacetylases, lipoamidases, and ADP-ribosyltransferases that link cellular metabolism to multiple intracellular pathways that influence processes as diverse as cell survival, longevity, and cancer growth. Sirtuins influence the extent of neuronal death in stroke. However, different sirtuins appear to have opposite roles in neuronal protection. In Caenorhabditis elegans, we found that knock-out of mitochondrial sirtuin sir-2.3, homologous to mammalian SIRT4, is protective in both chemical ischemia and hyperactive channel induced necrosis. Furthermore, the protective effect of sir-2.3 knock-out is enhanced by block of glycolysis and eliminated by a null mutation in daf-16/FOXO transcription factor, supporting the involvement of the insulin/IGF pathway. However, data in Caenorhabditis elegans cell culture suggest that the effects of sir-2.3 knock-out act downstream of the DAF-2/IGF-1 receptor. Analysis of ROS in sir-2.3 knock-out reveals that ROS become elevated in this mutant under ischemic conditions in dietary deprivation (DD), but to a lesser extent than in wild type, suggesting more robust activation of a ROS scavenging system in this mutant in the absence of food. This work suggests a deleterious role of SIRT4 during ischemic processes in mammals that must be further investigated and reveals a novel pathway that can be targeted for the design of therapies aimed at protecting neurons from death in ischemic conditions. PMID:28820880