Flow Dynamics And Plasma Heating Of Spheromaks In SSX

We report several new experimental results related to flow dynamics and heating from single dipole-trapped spheromaks and spheromak merging studies at SSX. Single spheromaks (stabilized with a pair of external coils, see Brown, Phys. Plasmas 13 102503 (2006)) and merged FRC-like configurations (see Brown, Phys. Plasmas 13, 056503 (2006)) are trapped in our prolate (R = 0.2 m, L = 0.6 m) copper flux conserver. Local spheromak flow is studied with two Mach probes (r(1) = rho(i) ) calibrated by time-of-flight with a fast set of magnetic probes at the edge of the device. Both Mach probes feature six ion collectors housed in a boron nitride sheath. The larger Mach probe will ultimately be used in the MST reversed field pinch. Line averaged flow is measured by ion Doppler spectroscopy (IDS) at the midplane. The SSX IDS instrument measures with 1 mu s or better time resolution the width and Doppler shift of the C-III impurity (H plasma) 229.7 nm line to determine the temperature and line-averaged flow velocity (see Cothran, RSI 77, 063504 (2006)). We find axial flows up to 100 km/s during formation of the dipole trapped spheromak. Flow returns at the wall to form a large vortex. Recent high-resolution IDS velocity measurements during spheromak merging show bi-directional outflow jets at +/- 40 km/s (nearly the Alfven speed). We also measure T-i \u3e= 80 eV and T-e \u3e= 20 eV during spheromak merging events after all plasma facing surfaces are cleaned with helium glow discharge conditioning. Transient electron heating is inferred from bursts on a four-channel soft x-ray array. The spheromaks are also characterized by a suite of magnetic probe arrays for magnetic structure B(r,t), and interferometry for n(e) . Finally, we are designing a new oblate, trapezoidal flux conserver for FRC studies. Equilibrium and dynamical simulations suggest that a tilt-stable, oblate FRC can be formed by spheromak merging in the new flux conserver

Spectroscopic Measurements Of Temperature And Plasma Impurity Concentration During Magnetic Reconnection At The Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment

Electron temperature measurements during counterhelicity spheromak merging studies at the Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment (SSX) [M. R. Brown, Phys. Plasmas 6, 1717 (1999)] are presented. VUV monochromator measurements of impurity emission lines are compared with model spectra produced by the non-LTE excitation kinematics code PRISMSPECT [J. J. MacFarlane et al., in Proceedings of the Third Conference on Inertial Fusion Science and Applications (2004)] to yield the electron temperature in the plasma with 1 mu s time resolution. Average T(e) is seen to increase from 12 to 19 eV during spheromak merging. Average C III ion temperature, measured with a new ion Doppler spectrometer (IDS) [C. D. Cothran et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 77, 063504 (2006)], likewise rises during spheromak merging, peaking at similar to 22 eV, but a similar increase in T(i) is seen during single spheromak discharges with no merging. The VUV emission line measurements are also used to constrain the concentrations of various impurities in the SSX plasma, which are dominated by carbon, but include some oxygen and nitrogen. A burst of soft x-ray emission is seen during reconnection with a new four-channel detector (SXR). There is evidence for spectral changes in the soft x-ray emission as reconnection progresses, although our single-temperature equilibrium spectral models are not able to provide adequate fits to all the SXR data. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3099603

3D Reconnection And Flow Dynamics In The SSX Experiment

Several new experimental results are reported from plasma merging studies at the Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment (SSX) with relevance to collisionless three-dimensional magnetic reconnection in laboratory and space plasmas. First, recent high-resolution velocity measurements of impurity ions using ion Doppler spectroscopy (IDS) show bi-directional outflow jets at 40 km/s (nearly the Alfven speed). The SSX IDS instrument measures with 1 mu s or better time resolution the width and Doppler shift of the C-III impurity (H plasma) 229.7 nm line to determine the temperature and line-averaged flow velocity during spheromak merging events. High flow speeds are corroborated using an in situ Mach probe. Second, ion heating to nearly 10(6) K is observed after reconnection events in a low-density kinetic regime. Transient electron heating is inferred from bursts on a 4-channel soft x-ray array as well as vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy. Third, the out-of-plane magnetic field and the in-plane Lorentz force in a reconnection volume both show a quadrupolar structure at the ion inertial scale (c/omega(pi)). Time resolved vector magnetic field measurements on a 3D lattice B(r, t)) enables this measurement. Earlier work at SSX has shown that fori-nation of three-dimensional structure at the ion inertial scale is temporally and spatially correlated with the observation of superthermal, super-Alfvenic ions accelerated along the X-line normal to the local 2D plane of reconnection. Each of these measurements will be related to and compared with similar observations in a solar or space context

Inhibition of neutrophil apoptosis by PAI-1

Increased circulating and tissue levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) are often present in severe inflammatory states associated with neutrophil activation and accumulation and correlate with poor clinical outcome from many of these conditions. The mechanisms by which PAI-1 contributes to inflammation have not been fully delineated. In the present experiments, we found that addition of PAI-1 to neutrophil cultures diminished the rate of spontaneous and TNFrelated apoptosis-inducing ligand-induced apoptotic cell death. The effects of PAI-1 on cell viability were associated with activation of antiapoptotic signaling pathways, including upregulation of PKB/Akt, Mcl-1, and Bcl-xL. Although urokinase-plasminogen activator receptor, lipoprotein receptor-related protein, and vitronectin are primary ligands for PAI-1, these molecules were not involved in mediating its antiapoptotic properties. In contrast, blocking pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein-coupled receptors and selective inhibition of phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase reversed the ability of PAI-1 to extend neutrophil viability. The antiapoptotic effects of PAI-1 were also evident under in vivo conditions during LPS-induced acute lung injury, where enhanced apoptosis was present among neutrophils accumulating in the lungs of PAI-1-/- compared with PAI-1+/+ mice. These results demonstrate a novel antiapoptotic role for PAI-1 that may contribute to its participation in neutrophil-associated inflammatory responses. © 2011 the American Physiological Society

Are short-term variations in solar oscillation frequencies the signature of a second solar dynamo?

In addition to the well-known 11-year solar cycle, the Sun's magnetic activity also shows significant variation on shorter time scales, e.g. between one and two years. We observe a quasi-biennial (2-year) signal in the solar p-mode oscillation frequencies, which are sensitive probes of the solar interior. The signal is visible in Sun-as-a-star data observed by different instruments and here we describe the results obtained using BiSON, GOLF, and VIRGO data. Our results imply that the 2-year signal is susceptible to the influence of the main 11-year solar cycle. However, the source of the signal appears to be separate from that of the 11-year cycle. We speculate as to whether it might be the signature of a second dynamo, located in the region of near-surface rotational shear.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, proceedings for SOHO-24/GONG 2010 conference, to be published in JPC

Interleukin-1β Promotes Repair of the CNS

Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is a proinflammatory cytokine associated with the pathophysiology of demyelinating disorders such as multiple sclerosis and viral infections of the CNS. However, we demonstrate here that IL-1β appears to promote remyelination in the adult CNS. I