Modeling of ion-cyclotron resonant heating in Wendelstein 7-X equilibrium

W7X stellarator 3D equilibrium has been computed with the equilibrium code ANIMEC (Anisotropic Neumann Inverse Moments Equilibrium Code). This equilibrium was used to model ICRH minority heating in 4He(H) plasma with the 3D full-wave code LEMan (Low frequency ElectroMagnetic wave propagation). The coupled power spatial distribution is shown for different resonance positions within the range of frequencies foreseen for the ICRH antenna. It is found that for the high mirror equilibrium examined, the antenna frequency can be chosen to optimise the power deposition in the plasma core while limiting the absorption at the edge

Applications of the SCENIC code package to the minority ion-cyclotron heating in Wendelstein 7-X plasmas

We present SCENIC simulations of a W7X 4He plasma with 1% H minority and with an antenna model close to the design foreseen for the W7X ICRF antenna [1, 2]. A high mirror and a standard equilibrium are considered. The injected wave frequency is fixed at 33.8 MHz and 39.6MHz respectively and only fundamental minority heating is considered. Included in this calculation is a new realistic model of the antenna, where it is found that the localization of the antenna geometry tends to break the five-fold periodicity of the system. We assess the heat transfer through the toroidal periods via Coulomb collisions

Self-consistent ICRF simulations in fully shaped anisotropic plasmas

For self-consistent ICRF heating simulations, four codes have been coupled: VMEC[1] provides a fully shaped, anisotropic 3D MHD equilibrium (bi- Maxwellian distribution function), transferred to Boozer coordinates by TERPSICHORE[2]. The full-wave code LEMan[3,4] provides the IC wave field, power deposition and wave numbers (new anisotropic dielectric tensor and upshifted k). Finally, VENUS[5,6] computes the evolution of the distribution function due to ICRF heating and Coulomb collisions on the background thermal plasma (using Monte Carlo operators for Coulomb collisions and ICRH)

An approximate single fluid 3-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium model with toroidal flow

An approximate model for a single fluid three-dimensional (3D) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium with pure isothermal toroidal flow with imposed nested magnetic flux surfaces is proposed. It recovers the rigorous toroidal rotation equilibrium description in the axisymmetric limit. The approximation is valid under conditions of nearly rigid or vanishing toroidal rotation in regions with significant 3D deformation of the equilibrium flux surfaces. Bifurcated helical core equilibrium simulations of long-lived modes in the MAST device demonstrate that the magnetic structure is only weakly affected by the flow but that the 3D pressure distortion is important. The pressure is displaced away from the major axis and therefore is not as noticeably helically deformed as the toroidal magnetic flux under the subsonic flow conditions measured in the experiment. The model invoked fails to predict any significant screening by toroidal plasma rotation of resonant magnetic perturbations in MAST free boundary computations

Overview of recent TJ-II stellarator results

The main results obtained in the TJ-II stellarator in the last two years are reported. The most important topics investigated have been modelling and validation of impurity transport, validation of gyrokinetic simulations, turbulence characterisation, effect of magnetic configuration on transport, fuelling with pellet injection, fast particles and liquid metal plasma facing components. As regards impurity transport research, a number of working lines exploring several recently discovered effects have been developed: the effect of tangential drifts on stellarator neoclassical transport, the impurity flux driven by electric fields tangent to magnetic surfaces and attempts of experimental validation with Doppler reflectometry of the variation of the radial electric field on the flux surface. Concerning gyrokinetic simulations, two validation activities have been performed, the comparison with measurements of zonal flow relaxation in pellet-induced fast transients and the comparison with experimental poloidal variation of fluctuations amplitude. The impact of radial electric fields on turbulence spreading in the edge and scrape-off layer has been also experimentally characterized using a 2D Langmuir probe array. Another remarkable piece of work has been the investigation of the radial propagation of small temperature perturbations using transfer entropy. Research on the physics and modelling of plasma core fuelling with pellet and tracer-encapsulated solid-pellet injection has produced also relevant results. Neutral beam injection driven Alfvénic activity and its possible control by electron cyclotron current drive has been examined as well in TJ-II. Finally, recent results on alternative plasma facing components based on liquid metals are also presentedThis work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014–2018 under Grant Agreement No. 633053. It has been partially funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Inovación y Universidades of Spain under projects ENE2013-48109-P, ENE2015-70142-P and FIS2017-88892-P. It has also received funds from the Spanish Government via mobility grant PRX17/00425. The authors thankfully acknowledge the computer resources at MareNostrum and the technical support provided by the Barcelona S.C. It has been supported as well by The Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU), Project P-507F

Augmenting endogenous wnt signaling improves skin wound healing

Wnt signaling is required for both the development and homeostasis of the skin, yet its contribution to skin wound repair remains controversial. By employing Axin2(LacZ/+) reporter mice we evaluated the spatial and temporal distribution patterns of Wnt responsive cells, and found that the pattern of Wnt responsiveness varies with the hair cycle, and correlates with wound healing potential. Using Axin2(LacZ/LacZ) mice and an ear wound model, we demonstrate that amplified Wnt signaling leads to improved healing. Utilizing a biochemical approach that mimics the amplified Wnt response of Axin2(LacZ/LacZ) mice, we show that topical application of liposomal Wnt3a to a non-healing wound enhances endogenous Wnt signaling, and results in better skin wound healing. Given the importance of Wnt signaling in the maintenance and repair of skin, liposomal Wnt3a may have widespread application in clinical practice

Parallelization of the LEMan Code with MPI and OpenMP

The low-frequency wave propagation code LEMan has been parallelized. Due to large memory requirement but fast computation with the cold model, the parallelization is limited to a low number of processors. The specific block-tridiagonal structure of the matrix to be solved has been taken into account for the MPI implementation. It has then been compared with the performance of OpenMP in order to determine the optimal method depending on the case studied