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Improved fusion performance in low-q, low triangularity plasmas with negative central magnetic shear
Fusion performance in DIII-D low-q single-null divertor discharges has doubled as a result of improved confinement and stability, achieved through modification of pressure and current density profiles. These discharges extend the regime of neoclassical core confinement associated with negative or weak central magnetic shear to plasmas with the low safety factor (q{sub 95}{approximately}3) and triangularity ({delta}{approximately}0.3) anticipated in future tokamaks such as ITER. Energy confinement times exceed the ITER-89P L- mode scaling law by up to a factor of 4, and are almost twice as large as in previous single-null cases with 3{le}q{sub 95}{le}4. The normalized beta [{beta}(aB/I)] reaches values as high as 4, comparable to the best previous single-null discharges. Although high triangularity allows a larger plasma current, the fusion gain in these low triangularity plasmas is similar to that of high triangularity double-null plasmas at the same plasma current. These results are encouraging for advanced performance operation in ITER and for D-T experiments in JET
Feature Lines for Illustrating Medical Surface Models: Mathematical Background and Survey
This paper provides a tutorial and survey for a specific kind of illustrative
visualization technique: feature lines. We examine different feature line
methods. For this, we provide the differential geometry behind these concepts
and adapt this mathematical field to the discrete differential geometry. All
discrete differential geometry terms are explained for triangulated surface
meshes. These utilities serve as basis for the feature line methods. We provide
the reader with all knowledge to re-implement every feature line method.
Furthermore, we summarize the methods and suggest a guideline for which kind of
surface which feature line algorithm is best suited. Our work is motivated by,
but not restricted to, medical and biological surface models.Comment: 33 page
Direct Instantons in QCD Nucleon Sum Rules
We study the role of direct (i.e. small-scale) instantons in QCD correlation
functions for the nucleon. They generate sizeable, nonperturbative corrections
to the conventional operator product expansion, which improve the quality of
both QCD nucleon sum rules and cure the long-standing stability problem, in
particular, of the chirally odd sum-rule.Comment: 10 pages, UMD PP#93-17
The effects of the bacterial interaction with visible-light responsive titania photocatalyst on the bactericidal performance
Bactericidal activity of traditional titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalyst is effective only upon irradiation by ultraviolet light, which restricts the potential applications of TiO2 for use in our living environments. Recently carbon-containing TiO2 was found to be photoactive at visible-light illumination that affords the potential to overcome this problem; although, the bactericidal activity of these photocatalysts is relatively lower than conventional disinfectants. Evidenced from scanning electron microscopy and confocal Raman spectral mapping analysis, we found the interaction with bacteria was significantly enhanced in these anatase/rutile mixed-phase carbon-containing TiO2. Bacteria-killing experiments indicate that a significantly higher proportion of all tested pathogens including Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella flexneri and Acinetobacter baumannii, were eliminated by the new nanoparticle with higher bacterial interaction property. These findings suggest the created materials with high bacterial interaction ability might be a useful strategy to improve the antimicrobial activity of visible-light-activated TiO2
The recent and rapid spread of Themeda triandra
Tropical savannas cover over 20% of land surface. They sustain a high diversity of mammalian herbivores and promote frequent fires, both of which are dependent on the underlying grass composition. These habitats are typically dominated by relatively few taxa, and the evolutionary origins of the dominant grass species are largely unknown. Here, we trace the origins of the genus Themeda, which contains a number of widespread grass species dominating tropical savannas. Complete chloroplast genomes were assembled for seven samples and supplemented with chloroplast and nuclear ITS markers for 71 samples representing 18 of the 27 Themeda species. Phylogenetic analysis supports a South Asian origin for both the genus and the widespread dominant T. triandra. This species emerged ~1.5Â Ma from a group that had lived in the savannas of Asia for several million years. It migrated to Australia ~1.3Â Ma and to mainland Africa ~0.5Â Ma, where it rapidly spread in pre-existing savannas and displaced other species. Themeda quadrivalvis, the second most widespread Themeda species, is nested within T. triandra based on whole chloroplast genomes, and may represent a recent evolution of an annual growth form that is otherwise almost indistinguishable from T. triandra. The recent spread and modern-day dominance of T. triandra highlight the dynamism of tropical grassy biomes over millennial time-scales that has not been appreciated, with dramatic shifts in species dominance in recent evolutionary times. The ensuing species replacements likely had profound effects on fire and herbivore regimes across tropical savannas
Transverse Fresnel-Fizeau drag effects in strongly dispersive media
A light beam normally incident upon an uniformly moving dielectric medium is
in general subject to bendings due to a transverse Fresnel-Fizeau light drag
effect. In conventional dielectrics, the magnitude of this bending effect is
very small and hard to detect. Yet, it can be dramatically enhanced in strongly
dispersive media where slow group velocities in the m/s range have been
recently observed taking advantage of the electromagnetically induced
transparency (EIT) effect. In addition to the usual downstream drag that takes
place for positive group velocities, we predict a significant anomalous
upstream drag to occur for small and negative group velocities. Furthermore,
for sufficiently fast speeds of the medium, higher order dispersion terms are
found to play an important role and to be responsible for peculiar effects such
as light propagation along curved paths and the restoration of the spatial
coherence of an incident noisy beam. The physics underlying this new class of
slow-light effects is thoroughly discussed
Cancellation of Global Anomalies in Spontaneously Broken Gauge Theories
We discuss the generalization to global gauge anomalies of the familiar
procedure for the cancellation of local gauge anomalies in effective theories
of spontaneously broken symmetries. We illustrate this mechanism in a recently
proposed six-dimensional extension of the standard model.Comment: 5 pages; v2: version to appear in Phys. Rev.
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