Invited Review Article: Gas puff imaging diagnostics of edge plasma turbulence in magnetic fusion devices.

Gas puff imaging (GPI) is a diagnostic of plasma turbulence which uses a puff of neutral gas at the plasma edge to increase the local visible light emission for improved space-time resolution of plasma fluctuations. This paper reviews gas puff imaging diagnostics of edge plasma turbulence in magnetic fusion research, with a focus on the instrumentation, diagnostic cross-checks, and interpretation issues. The gas puff imaging hardware, optics, and detectors are described for about 10 GPI systems implemented over the past ∼15 years. Comparison of GPI results with other edge turbulence diagnostic results is described, and many common features are observed. Several issues in the interpretation of GPI measurements are discussed, and potential improvements in hardware and modeling are suggested.

Diagnostics for the biased electrode experiment on NSTX.

A linear array of four small biased electrodes was installed in NSTX in an attempt to control the width of the scrape-off layer by creating a strong local poloidal electric field. The set of electrodes was separated poloidally by a 1 cm gap between electrodes and were located slightly below the midplane of NSTX, 1 cm behind the rf antenna, and oriented so that each electrode is facing approximately normal to the magnetic field. Each electrode can be independently biased to +/-100 V. Present power supplies limit the current on two electrodes to 30 A and the other two to 10 A each. The effect of local biasing was measured with a set of Langmuir probes placed between the electrodes and another set extending radially outward from the electrodes, and also by the gas puff imaging diagnostic located 1 m away along the magnetic field lines intersecting the electrodes. Two fast cameras were also aimed directly at the electrode array. The hardware and controls of the biasing experiment will be presented and the initial effects on local plasma parameters will be discussed.

Three-dimensional reconstruction of dust particle trajectories in the NSTX.

Highly mobile incandescent dust particles are routinely observed on NSTX using two fast cameras operating in the visible region. An analysis method to reconstruct dust particle trajectories in space using two fast cameras is presented in this paper. Position accuracies of a few millimeters depending on the particle's location have been achieved and particle velocities between 10 and 200 ms have been observed.

Phylogeny and classification of the Grimmiaceae/Ptychomitriaceae complex (Bryophyta) inferred from cpDNA.

Phylogenetic relationships within the Grimmiaceae/Ptychomitriaceae were studied using a plastid tRNA cluster, including four tRNAs (trnS, trnT, trnL, trnF), a fast evolving gene (rps4), four spacers separating the coding regions, as well as one group I intron. Secondary structure analyses of the spacers as well as the trnL intron P8 domain identified several homoplastic inversions. Tracing the structural evolution of P8 we were able to identify lineage specific modifications that are mainly explained by inversions often in combination with large indel events. Phylogenetic analyses using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian methods indicate that Jaffueliobryum and Indusiella are closely related to Ptychomitrium and form the Ptychomitriaceae s. str. As Campylostelium is neither resolved within Ptychomitriaceae s. str. nor Grimmiaceae s. str., we prefer to treat it in its own family, Campylosteliaceae De Not. The systematic position of Glyphomitrium, as also found by other authors, should be considered in a broader analysis of haplolepidous mosses as our analyses indicate that it is not part of Campylosteliaceae, Grimmiaceae, or Ptychomitriaceae. Within Grimmiaceae s. str., Racomitrium is recognized as a monophyletic group sister to a clade including Dryptodon, Grimmia, and Schistidium. Coscinodon species appear disperse in Grimmia s. str. next to species sharing the same gametophyte morphology, and thus the genus is synonymized with Grimmia. Finally, Schistidium is resolved monophyletic with high statistical support, and seems to represent a rapidly evolving group of species. Our results are not fully congruent with recently published treatments splitting Grimmiaceae in a fairly high number of genera, neither with a comprehensive Grimmia including Dryptodon and Grimmia s. str.

Efficient generation of closed magnetic flux surfaces in a large spherical tokamak using coaxial helicity injection.

A method of coaxial helicity injection has successfully produced a closed flux current without the use of the central solenoid in the NSTX device, on a size scale closer to a spherical torus reactor, for a proof-of-principle demonstration of this concept. For the first time, a remarkable 60 times current multiplication factor was achieved. Grad-Shafranov plasma equilibrium reconstructions are used to verify the existence of closed flux current. In some discharges the generated current persists for a surprisingly long time approximately 400 ms.

Characteristics of the first H-mode discharges in the national spherical torus experiment.

We report observations of the first low-to-high ( L-H) confinement mode transitions in the National Spherical Torus Experiment. The H-mode energy confinement time increased over reference discharges transiently by 100-200%, as high as approximately 100 ms. This confinement time is approximately 2 times higher than predicted by a multimachine scaling. Thus the confinement time of spherical tori has been extended to a record high value, leading to an eventual revision of confinement scalings. Finally, the power threshold for H-mode access is >10x higher than predicted by an international scaling from conventional aspect-ratio tokamaks, which could lead to new understanding of H-mode transition dynamics.

Stopped-flow fluorimetric determination of amoxycillin and clavulanic acid by partial least-squares multivariate calibration.

Mixtures of amoxycillin and clavulanic acid were determined by using kinetic data in combination with partial least-squares multivariate calibration. The reaction of oxidation of these compounds with cerium(IV) in sulfuric acid medium has been monitored fluorimetrically. To follow the kinetics of the reaction, the stopped-flow mixing technique was used. Partial least-squares calibration of the kinetic data allowed the resolution of the analytes investigated in the concentration ranges between 0 and 4 mugml(-1). The method was applied satisfactorily to several pharmaceutical formulations, including Clavucid, Augmentine, Pangamox, Eupeclanic and Clamoxyl. The results obtained were validated by using an HPLC method. The percentages of recovery range from 91 to 105% for amoxycillin and from 78 to 117% for clavulanic acid, respectively.

Metástasis ósea, primera manifestación de un hepatocarcinoma / Hepatocellular carcinoma presenting as osseus metastases

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[Negotiations between a general practitioner and the patient after his visit to a private physician]. / La negociación médico de cabecera-paciente tras acudir a un médico privado.

OBJECTIVE: To find what patients request from their general practitioner after they have seen a doctor privately and the type of negotiation which follows. DESIGN: A descriptive observation study of a crossover type. SETTING: Palma-Palmilla Health Centre (Málaga); within the primary care ambit. PATIENTS AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Everyone at the on-demand clinics of five general medical practices, who requested something concrete from their general practitioner after they had seen a doctor privately, in the period from june to october 1993. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: There were 83 patients who attended a clinic after seeing a doctor privately, which was 0.63% of the total consultations during this period. 69 of these patients asked their general practitioner to give them the same prescriptions that they had been prescribed privately. In 77% of the cases there was negotiation with the patient, a mutual promise being the most common result. There was no negotiation with 19 patients (23%). In 74% of the cases the medication prescribed privately was considered necessary. The wishes of the patients were fulfilled in practice in 65% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: In most cases there was negotiation with patients. doctors agreed to a high degree with patients' requests, which doctors considered sufficient and necessary for the diagnosis and/or treatment of their condition.

Assessment of induced bronchoconstriction in anesthetized cats by the end-inflation occlusion method.

Airway occlusion during constant flow inflation allows rapid determination of frequency-dependence of pulmonary resistance by estimating its extreme values: RL,max (zero frequency) and RL,min (high frequency). RL,max represents the maximum resistance value that can be obtained with the prevailing time constant inequalities and stress relaxation, while RL,min represents the resistance that would be obtained in the absence of time constant inequalities and stress relaxation. In 5 anesthetized, tracheostomized, paralyzed, and artificially ventilated cats, RL,min, RL,max, and static pulmonary elastance (EL,st) have been measured following airway occlusion at the end of constant flow tidal inflations. Measurements were made before and during continuous infusion of increasing doses of serotonin (10-100 micrograms/kg/min IV). The development of intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEPi) was also assessed. Cats varied greatly in their responsiveness to serotonin, but RL,min, RL,max, and EL,st increased and PEEPi developed in all cats. Increases in RL,max did not always parallel increases in RL,min but were similar to those in EL,st, suggesting that altered viscoelastic properties of the lung contributed to the increases in RL,max. We conclude that time-constant inequalities, changes in the lung periphery, and hyperinflation probably all contribute to the observed increases in RL,max and will influence conventional methods of measuring RL. Measuring RL,min potentially provides a better method for assessing the reduction in caliber of the conducting airways in isolation.