A new multi-line cusp magnetic field plasma device (MPD) with variable magnetic field.

A new multi-line cusp magnetic field plasma device consisting of electromagnets with core material has been constructed with a capability to experimentally control the relative volume fractions of magnetized to unmagnetized plasma volume as well as accurate control on the gradient length scales of mean density and temperature profiles. Argon plasma has been produced using a hot tungsten cathode over a wide range of pressures 5 × 10-5 -1 × 10-3 mbar, achieving plasma densities ranging from 109 to 1011 cm-3 and the electron temperature in the range 1-8 eV. The radial profiles of plasma parameters measured along the non-cusp region (in between two consecutive magnets) show a finite region with uniform and quiescent plasma, where the magnetic field is very low such that the ions are unmagnetized. Beyond that region, both plasma species are magnetized and the profiles show gradients both in temperature and density. The electrostatic fluctuation measured using a Langmuir probe radially along the non-cusp region shows less than 1% (δIisat/Iisat < 1%). The plasma thus produced will be used to study new and hitherto unexplored physics parameter space relevant to both laboratory multi-scale plasmas and astrophysical plasmas.

Percutaneous needle aspiration in uncomplicated amebic liver abscess: a randomized trial.

Amoebic liver abscess develops in less than 1% of patients with amoebaisis and metronidazole is the drug of choice for the treatment of amebic liver abscess. Abscesses of less than 5 cm can be treated with metronidazole alone. However, abscesses of more than 10 cm must undergo ultrasound guided percutaneous needle aspiration along with metronidazole. The role of percutaneous needle aspiration in abscesses of 5 to 10 cm is not clear. Fifty-seven patients with a solitary, right lobe, uncomplicated amoebic liver abscess of 5-10 cm were randomized to receive either metronidazole alone (control group; n = 29) or ultrasound guided percutaneous needle aspiration along with metronidazole (intervention group; n = 28). Although the resolution of pain and fever occurred earlier in the intervention group (27 h and 17 h, respectively) than the control group (48 h and 30 h, respectively), the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.16 and 0.48, respectively). There were no deaths during the study period and treatment failure, complications (rupture of abscess), days to normalization of leukocytosis and duration of hospitalization were similar in both groups. Ultrasound guided percutaneous needle aspiration along with metronidazole was no better than metronidazole alone in the management of uncomplicated, solitary, right lobe amoebic liver abscess of 5 to 10 cm.

Larvicidal and repellent potential of Moringa oleifera against malarial vector, Anopheles stephensi Liston (Insecta: Diptera: Culicidae).

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the larvicidal and pupicidal potential of the methanolic extracts from Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera) plant seeds against malarial vector Anopheles stephensi (A. stephensi) mosquitoes at different concentrations (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 ppm). METHODS: M. oleifera was collected from the area of around Bharathiar University, Coimbatore. The dried plant materials were powdered by an electrical blender. From each sample, 100 g of the plant material were extracted with 300 mL of methanol for 8 h in a Soxhlet apparatus. The extracts were evaporated to dryness in rotary vacuum evaporator to yield 122 mg and 110 mg of dark greenish material (residue) from Arcang amara and Ocimum basilicum, respectively. One gram of the each plant residue was dissolved separately in 100 mL of acetone (stock solution) from which different concentrations, i.e., 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 ppm were prepared. RESULTS: Larvicidal activity of M. oleifera exhibited in the first to fourth instar larvae of the A. stephensi, and the LC50 and LC90 values were 57.79 ppm and 125.93 ppm for the first instar, 63.90 ppm and 133.07 ppm for the second instar, 72.45 ppm and 139.82 ppm for the third instar, 78.93 ppm and 143.20 ppm for the fourth instar, respectively. During the pupal stage the methanolic extract of M. oleifera showed that the LC50 and LC90 values were 67.77 ppm and 141.00 ppm, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present study indicates that the phytochemicals derived from M. oleifera seeds extracts are effective mosquito vector control agents and the plant extracts may be used for further integrated pest management programs.

New advanced operational regime on the W7-AS stellarator.

A promising new plasma operational regime on the Wendelstein stellarator W7-AS has been discovered. It is extant above a threshold density and characterized by flat density profiles, high energy and low impurity confinement times, and edge-localized radiation. Impurity accumulation is avoided. Quasistationary discharges with line-averaged densities n(e) to 4 x 10(20) m(-3), radiation levels to 90%, and partial plasma detachment at the divertor target plates can be simultaneously realized. Energy confinement is up to twice that of a standard scaling. At B(t) = 0.9 T, an average beta value of 3.1% is achieved. The high n(e) values allow demonstration of electron Bernstein wave heating using linear mode conversion.