234 research outputs found
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Characteristics of the Scrape-Off Layer in DIII-D High-Performance Negative Central Magnetic Shear Discharges
In this paper the authors present measurements of the global power and particle balance in the high-performance phase of negative central magnetic shear (NCS) discharges and compare with reference VH-mode discharges. The principal differences observed are that NCS has a much lower fraction of the total input power flowing into the boundary, less core radiation, and larger rate of stored energy increase as a fraction of total power. Scrape-off layer (SOL) temperature and divertor heat flux profiles, and radiation profiles at the midplane, are similar to VH-mode. Due to the good core particle confinement and efficient fueling by neutral beam injection (NBI), with little gas puffing, the gas load on the walls and the recycling are very low during the NCS discharges. This results in a rate of density rise relative to beam fueling at the L to H transition time which is 1/3 of the value for VH transitions, which is in turn 1/2 that for L-to-ELMing-H-mode transitions
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Improved system for perpendicular electron-cyclotron emission measurements on TMX-Upgrade
Perpendicular electron-cyclotron emission (PECE) is used on TMX-U to diagnose thermal-barrier hot electrons (T/sub H/ approx. 100 to 400 keV); yielding the time history of the temperature of these relativistic electrons. We describe an improved quasi-optical viewing system for these measurements that uses high sensitivity superheterodyne receivers at fixed frequencies of 60, 98, 130, and 196 GHz. The improved viewing and transport system consists of an off-axis ellipsoidal mirror that images the plasma onto a V-band conical collection horn, an overmoded circular waveguide (7/8'' diam) that transports the radiation outside the vacuum vessel where the polarization is selected, and a high absorptivity Macor beam dump to prevent internal wall reflections from entering the viewing system. A relativistic code is used to calculate optically thin PECE signals from relativistic electrons for various energy and pitch angle distributions. 4 refs., 4 figs
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Optically thin perpendicular electron-cyclotron emission from hot electrons in TMX-U
Perpendicular electron-cyclotron emission (PECE) from relativistic (T/sub H/ approx. 100 to 400 keV) hot electrons within the thermal-barrier region of TMX-U is detected at 35, 60, 94 and 98 GHz. For the operating regime of TMX-U these signals are optically thin (tau<<1) and thus proportional to the radial hot electron line density. A relativistic code is used to calculate the theoretical temperature dependence of the perpendicular emission coefficient, j perpendicular(..omega..,T/sub H/), for each of the detected frequencies. This dependence has been verified experimentally by x-ray measurements of the hot electron temperature, T/sub H/. The observed qualitative agreement demonstrates that optically thin PECE signals can be used to determine the temporal evolution of T/sub H/. An inability to absolutely calibrate the present PECE waveguide system has prevented quantitative agreement
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Target Plate Conditions During Stochastic Boundary Operation on DIII-D
A major concern for large tokamaks like ITER is the presence of edge localized modes (ELMs) that repeatedly send large bursts of particles and heat into the divertor plates. Operation with resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP) at the boundary of DIII=D has suppressed ELMs for values of q95 {approx} 3.7. At the target plate, the conditions during ELM suppressed operation for both high and low collisionality are observed by a set of radially distributed Langmuir probes. At high collisionality (n*{approx}1), the target plate particle flux and temperature drops by > 30% during ELM suppression. At low collisionality (n*{approx}0.1), the core density, target plate density, and target plate particle flux drop but the plate electron temperature increases after the ELMs are suppressed. The ELM-suppressed target plate heat flux is nearly the same as the heat flux between ELMs but the (5X higher) transient heat flux peaks due to ELMs are eliminated
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Correlation of Neutral Beam Injection Parameters and Core B with Anomalous First-Wall Heating During QH-Mode
Anomalous first-wall heating has been observed far from the divertor strike point during QH-mode in DIII-D, with measured heat flux comparable to that at the outer strike point. The data are consistent with deuterium ions of approximately the pedestal energy carrying the anomalous heat flux. Although an instability has not been identified that is correlated with the anomalous heat flux, two classes of behavior have been observed: one in which the anomalous heat flux depends linearly on core {beta}, and another class with no {beta}-dependence. The anomalous heat flux depends strongly on the injected beam energy of the non-tangentially-injected neutral beams but not that of the tangential beams
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Toroidally Asymmetric Distributions of Hydrocarbon (CD) Emission and Chemical Sputtering Sources in DIII-D
Measurements in DIII-D show that the carbon chemical sputtering sources along the inner divertor and center post are toroidally periodic and highest at the upstream tile edge. Imaging with a tangentially viewing camera and visible spectroscopy were used to monitor the emission from molecular hydrocarbons (CH/CD) at 430.8 nm and deuterium neutrals in attached and partially detached divertors of low-confinement mode plasmas. In contrast to the toroidally periodic CD distribution, emission from deuterium neutrals was observed to be toroidally symmetric along the inner strike zone. The toroidal distribution of the measured tile surface temperature in the inner divertor correlates with that of the CD emission, suggesting larger parallel particle and heat fluxes to the upstream tile edge, either due to toroidal tile gaps or height steps between adjacent tiles
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Comparison of upstream Te profiles with downstream heat flux profiles and their implications on parallel heat transport in the SOL in DIII-D
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Experimental Signatures of Homoclinic Tangles in Poloidally Diverted Tokamaks
Including osteoprotegerin and collagen IV in a score-based blood test for liver fibrosis increases diagnostic accuracy
BACKGROUND: Noninvasive methods for liver fibrosis evaluation in chronic liver diseases have been recently developed, i.e. transient elastography (Fibroscan™) and blood tests (Fibrometer®, Fibrotest®, and Hepascore®). In this study, we aimed to design a new score in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) by selecting blood markers in a large panel and we compared its diagnostic performance with those of other noninvasive methods.
METHODS: Sixteen blood tests were performed in 306 untreated CHC patients included in a multicenter prospective study (ANRS HC EP 23 Fibrostar) using METAVIR histological fibrosis stage as reference. The new score was constructed by non linear regression using the most accurate biomarkers.
RESULTS: Five markers (alpha-2-macroglobulin, apolipoprotein-A1, AST, collagen IV and osteoprotegerin) were included in the new function called Coopscore©. Using the Obuchowski Index, Coopscore© shows higher diagnostic performances than for Fibrometer®, Fibrotest®, Hepascore® and Fibroscan™ in CHC. Association between Fibroscan™ and Coopscore© might avoid 68% of liver biopsies for the diagnosis of significant fibrosis.
CONCLUSION: Coopscore© provides higher accuracy than other noninvasive methods for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis in CHC. The association of Coopscore© with Fibroscan™ increases its predictive value
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