Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

Co-learning in the collaborative mathematics classroom

Co-learning agreements between researchers and practitioners have been suggested as a way of generating research findings that are useful to improving schools and informing classroom practice. In this chapter we describe how a co-learning agreement was developed as a basis for researching aspects of the learning of mathematics in the classroom of a teacher whose pedagogy emphasised collaborative problem-solving as a major vehicle for learning mathematics. A study of co-operative group work in mathematics found that the perceptions of high achieving students (in terms of the purpose and benefits of group work) were more in line with those of their teacher than those of low achieving students. In contrast, the research reported in this chapter of a collaborative mathematics classroom revealed no such differences between students. In using a co-learning approach both authors felt that they learnt more about the processes of collaborating in researching and learning mathematics than they would have done with either a more traditional ‘data gathering’ approach led by the researcher or as a piece of action research by the teacher. The chapter suggests that co-learning can be a useful way of collaborating and describes the benefits such an approach can offer when researching classroom processes

Immune complexes inhibit differentiation, maturation, and function of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells

9nonenoneLABORDE EA; VANZULLI S; BEIGIER-BOMPADRE M; ISTURIZ MA; RUGGIERO RA; FOURCADE MG; CATALAN PELLET AC; S. SOZZANI; VULCANO MLaborde, Ea; Vanzulli, S; BEIGIER BOMPADRE, M; Isturiz, Ma; Ruggiero, Ra; Fourcade, Mg; CATALAN PELLET, Ac; Sozzani, Silvano; Vulcano, M