Optimization of a fast deuterium diagnostic method based on visible energetic 3He spectroscopy for high electron density plasmas

0000-0003-3198-042XFast ions play a crucial role in plasma heating, and their behavior in the plasma must be accurately understood. A diagnostics method based on charge exchange emission from the n = 4 − 3 transition (λ0 = 468.6 nm) of energetic 3He produced by the deuteron–deuteron reaction has been proposed as a for fast deuterons with energies in the order of MeV. The proposed method has the following advantages: No beam emission interferes with the spectra, the direction of the measuring line of sight, and the injection angle of the diagnostic beam can be freely determined. In previous studies, due to competing bremsstrahlung, it was expected that the proposed method will not be practical in the case of high electron density operation. This paper makes the proposed method available for measurement even at high electron densities by optimizing the measurement line of sight direction and the diagnostic beam incidence angle. This allows an electron density five times larger than the range of applications shown in previous studies. This result will contribute to measure of DT alpha in ITER.journal articl

LHD 重水素プラズマにおける核弾性散乱効果の観測実験

0000-0002-7498-4191高温プラズマの散乱過程としてはCoulomb 散乱が支配的であるが，イオンのエネルギーが高まると散乱過程に核力の影響（核弾性散乱）が現れる．核弾性散乱が核燃焼プラズマに及ぼす影響については，古くより数値解析による予測がなされてきたが，実験による検証は十分とは言い難い．近年，著者等はLHD（Large Helical Device）重水素プラズマを対象に核弾性散乱効果の検証実験に取り組んだ．核融合研究は，MeV オーダーのイオンによって核燃焼を維持する核融合プラズマの実現に挑戦する段階にあり，核弾性散乱の影響はその大小はあるにせよ計測値に様々な形で現れる可能性がある．本稿では，最近のLHD 実験における，核弾性散乱効果を対象とした研究の現状を紹介する．journal articl

核融合科学研究所 核融合工学研究プロジェクト 全体報告書

On the basis of the outstanding progress in high-density and high-temperature plasma experiments in the Large Helical Device (LHD) at National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS), the conceptual design studies on the LHD-type helical fusion reactor, the FFHR series, have been conducted since 1993. In order to strongly promote this research activity in parallel with the acceleration of the related technological R&D for reactor components, the Fusion Engineering Research Project (FERP) was launched at NIFS in FY2010. The FERP consists of 13 tasks and 44 sub-tasks, each strongly assisted by domestic and international collaborations. The reactor design studies have focused on FFHR-d1, the demo-class reactor having a major radius of 15.6 m, which is four times larger than that of LHD. The similar heliotron magnetic configuration is employed to ensure steady-state operation with 3 GW self-ignited fusion power generation. The design activity has proceeded with the staged program, named “round,” that defines iterative working. The first round is to determine the basic core plasma parameters, the second is to compose all of the three-dimensional designs, the third focuses on construction and maintenance schemes, and the fourth is dedicated to passive safety. Since 2015, a multi-path strategy has been taken to include various options in the design, with FFHR-d1A as the base option. As a remarkable achievement of the reactor design, the Direct Profile Extrapolation (DPE) method is included in the helical systems code, HELIOSCOPE, in order to predict the confinement capability. The radial-build was successfully fixed and the neutronics calculation was carried out for the determined three-dimensional structure. The cost evaluation is also being conducted using these outcomes. The related R&D works in FERP are categorized into five key subjects: (1) large-scale superconducting (SC) magnet, (2) long-life liquid blanket, (3) low-activation structural materials, (4) high heat & particle-flux control, and (5) tritium and safety. Using the remarkable achievements of the related R&D works, the engineering design of FFHR-d1 defines the basic option and challenging option. While the basic option is an extension of the ITER technology, the challenging option includes innovative ideas from the following three purposes: (1) to overcome the difficulties related with the construction and maintenance of three-dimensionally complicated large structures, (2) to enhance the passive safety, and (3) to improve plant efficiency. For the superconducting magnet, the high-temperature superconductor (HTS) using ReBCO tapes is considered as an alternative (challenging) option to the cable-in-conduit conductor using low-temperature superconducting Nb3Sn strands. One of the purposes for selecting the HTS is to facilitate the three-dimensional winding of the helical coils by connecting prefabricated segmented conductors. A mechanical lap joint technique with low joint resistance has been developed and a 3 m-long short-sample conductor has successfully achieved 100 kA- current at a magnetic field of 5 T and temperature of 20 K. Further tests will be carried out in the world-largest 13 T, 700-mm bore superconducting magnet facility. For the tritium breeding blanket, we have chosen, as a challenging option, the liquid blanket with molten salt FLiNaBe from the viewpoint of passive safety. To increase the hydrogen solubility, an innovative idea to include powders of titanium was also proposed. An increase of hydrogen solubility over five orders of magnitude has been confirmed in an experiment, which makes the tritium permeation barrier less necessary for the coating on the walls of cooling pipes. The “Oroshhi-2” testing facility was constructed as a platform for international collaborations, having a twin-loop for testing both molten-salt (FLiNaK) and liquid metal (LiPb) under the perpendicular magnetic field of 3 T, the world’s largest for this purpose. For the structural material of blankets, a dissimilar bonding technique has been developed to join the vanadium alloy, NIFS-HEAT2, and a nickel alloy. For the helical built-in divertor, the diverter tiles could be placed at the backside of the blankets where the incident neutron flux is sufficiently reduced by an order of magnitude. It is thus expected that a copper-alloy could be used for cooling pipes under the bonded tungsten tile, since the maximum neutron fluence is limited to be lower than the allowable limit of ~1 dpa for copper within the operation period. We note that the peak heat flux on the helical divertor is expected to reach or exceed ~20 MW/m² because of the non-uniform strike point distributions, and effective removal of this heat flux is a concern. The maintenance scheme for the full-helical divertor is also a critical issue. To solve these problems, a new concept of liquid divertor has been proposed as a unique idea. Ten units of molten-tin shower jets (falls) are proposed to be installed on the inboard side of the torus to intersect the ergodic layer. It is considered that the vertical flow of tin jets could be stabilized using an internal flow resistance such as wires, chains, and tapes imbedded. In case the liquid divertor actually works, the full-helical divertor would become less necessary, though it should still be situated at the rear. Neutral particles are expected to be efficiently evacuated through the gaps between liquid metal showers. The mission of the NIFS FERP is to establish the scientific and technological basis that demonstrates the engineering feasibility of the helical fusion reactor and to promote the entire fusion engineering research toward the realization of fusion reactors in the mid-21st century. The progress of the NIFS FERP during the second six-year mid-term period in Japan for FY2010-2015 is overviewed in this full report. The numerical targets for the major components, which are the SC magnet, the in-vessel components, and the blanket, were compiled in FY2016,and its summary is also added in this report.research repor

On the Introduction of a Trifluoromethyl Substituent in the Epothilone Setting: Chemical Issues Related to Ring Forming Olefin Metathesis and Earliest Biological Findings

The disclosure herein describes the synthesis of 10,11-dehydro-13,14-desoxy-27-trifluoro-[17]epothilone B via a stereoselective ring-closing metathesis and provides early biological evaluation data pertinent to this compound

Total Syntheses of [17]- and [18]Dehydrodesoxyepothilones B via a Concise Ring-Closing Metathesis-Based Strategy: Correlation of Ring Size with Biological Activity in the Epothilone Series

A convergent ring-closing metathesis strategy has been employed for the highly concise syntheses of 10,11-dehydro-13,14-[17]desoxyepothilone B ([17]ddEpoB) and 10,11-dehydro-14,15-[18]desoxyepothilone B ([18]ddEpoB), which are 17- and 18-membered ring homologues of 10,11-dehydro-12,13-desoxyepothilone B ([16]ddEpoB or epothilone 490). We have demonstrated that the ring-closing metathesis (RCM) provides [17]ddEpoB or [18]ddEpoB with a high level of stereocontrol in the generation of the desired olefin in the products. These analogues were evaluated for antitumor activity. The results from the in vitro assays revealed that the [17]ddEpoB analogue is highly active against various tumor cell lines with a potency comparable to that of [16]ddEpoB. This is the first example of a 17-membered ring macrolactone epothilone that has retained its antitumor activity. In contrast, the biological data revealed that [18]ddEpoB is significantly less active than either [17]ddEpoB or the parent [16]ddEpoB

Estimates of foil thickness, signal, noise, and nuclear heating of imaging bolometers for ITER

Imaging bolometers have been studied for ITER to serve as a complementary diagnostic to the resistive bolometers for the measurement of radiated power. Two tangentially viewing InfraRed imaging Video Bolometers (IRVB) could be proposed for an ITER equatorial port, one having a view of the entire plasma cross-section (core viewing) and one tilted down 43 degrees from the horizontal to view the divertor (divertor viewing). The IRVBs have 7 cm (horizontal) by 9 cm (vertical) Pt sensor foils, 6 mm × 6 mm apertures, 15 × 20 pixels and focal lengths of 7.8 cm and 21 cm, respectively. Using SANCO and SOLPS models for a 840 m3 plasma radiating 67.3 MW, synthetic images from the IRVBs are calculated to estimate the maximum signal strengths to be 246 W/m2 and 62 W/m2, respectively. We propagate the X-ray energy spectra from the models through the synthetic diagnostics to give the photon energy spectrum for each IRVB pixel, which are used to calculate the fraction of the power absorbed by the foil as a function of foil thickness. Using a criteria of >95% absorbed power fraction, we selected foil thicknesses of 30 μm and 10 μm, respectively. We used these thicknesses and assumed IR systems having 105 fps, 1024×1280 pixels and sensitivities of 15 mK, to calculate the IRVB sensitivities of 3.19 W/m2 and 1.05 W/m2, and signal to noise ratios of 77 and 59, respectively. Using the Monte Carlo Nuclear Particle code we calculated for the core viewing IRVB the foil heating by neutrons to be 1.0 W/m2 and by gammas to be 117 W/m2. This indicates that countermeasures may be needed to remove the nuclear heating signal

Enhanced Hydrolytic Stability and Water Solubility of an Aromatic Nitrogen Mustard by Conjugation with Molecular Umbrellas

Chlorambucil, an aromatic nitrogen mustard, has been conjugated to putrescine- and spermidine-based scaffolds bearing one, two, and four persulfated cholic acid units. Those conjugates bearing two or four sterols show improved hydrolytic stability and water solubility relative to chlorambucil. A similar conjugate that contained only one sterol unit shows negligible improvement in hydrolytic stability but a significant increase in water solubility. Qualitatively, the hydrolytic stability within this series of conjugates parallels the shielding effects that have previously been found for related conjugates bearing a pendant, hydrophobic fluorescent probe. In vitro studies indicate that these conjugates possess modest to moderate activity against certain human lymphoblastic leukemia and human colon carcinoma cells

PXD101 induces apoptosis in BHP7-13, WRO82-1 and 8505C.

<p>A, apoptosis was analyzed by measurements of DNA content using flow cytometry at 48 and 72 hours. Increasing doses of PXD101 induced higher proportion of sub-G1 cells in all cell lines. B, immunoblot showed PXD101 degraded executioner caspase-3 in three cell lines.</p

Dinaciclib decreases the levels of CDK1, cyclin B1 and Aurora A in thyroid cancer cell lines.

(A) The expression of these cell-cycle associated proteins was evaluated by Western blotting in BHP7-13, WRO82-1 and 8505C cells treated with dinaciclib (25 nM) or placebo for the indicated periods. (B) Cells were treated with dinaciclib (25 nM) or placebo for 24 h and stained with fluorescent antibodies against DAPI (blue), cyclin B1 (red) and α-tubulin (green). Cyclin B1 level was significantly reduced after treatment of dinaciclib in prophase cells of BHP7-13, WRO82-1 and 8505C. (C) Cells were treated with dinaciclib (25 nM) or placebo for 24 h and stained with fluorescent antibodies against DAPI (blue), Aurora A (red) and α-tubulin (green). Aurora A level was significantly reduced after treatment of dinaciclib in BHP7-13, WRO82-1 and 8505C cells in prophase. Scale bar, 10 μm.</p

A cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, dinaciclib in preclinical treatment models of thyroid cancer

<div><p>Background</p><p>We explored the therapeutic effects of dinaciclib, a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor, in the treatment of thyroid cancer.</p><p>Materials and methods</p><p>Seven cell lines originating from three pathologic types of thyroid cancer (papillary, follicular and anaplastic) were studied. The cytotoxicity of dinaciclib was measured using a lactate dehydrogenase assay. The expression of proteins associated with cell cycle and apoptosis was assessed using Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence microscopy. Cell cycle distribution was measured by flow cytometry and immunofluorescence microscopy. Apoptosis and caspase-3 activity were measured by flow cytometry and fluorometric assay. Mice bearing flank anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) were treated with intraperitoneal injections of dinaciclib.</p><p>Results</p><p>Dinaciclib inhibited thyroid cancer cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. Dinaciclib had a low median-effect dose (≤ 16.0 nM) to inhibit cell proliferation in seven thyroid cancer cell lines. Dinaciclib decreased CDK1, cyclin B1, and Aurora A expression, induced cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase, and induced accumulation of prophase mitotic cells. Dinaciclib decreased Mcl-1, Bcl-x_L and survivin expression, activated caspase-3 and induced apoptosis. <i>In vivo</i>, the growth of ATC xenograft tumors was retarded in a dose-dependent fashion with daily dinaciclib treatment. Higher-dose dinaciclib (50 mg/kg) caused slight, but significant weight loss, which was absent with lower-dose dinaciclib (40 mg/kg) treatment.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Dinaciclib inhibited thyroid cancer proliferation both <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i>. These findings support dinaciclib as a potential drug for further studies in clinical trials for the treatment of patients with refractory thyroid cancer.</p></div