Stress and Exercise

Age-related immunological and endocrinological changes may have implications for resilience to stress in older adults. We hypothesise that the combination of adrenopause and immunesenescence may leave this population particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of stress on immunity. We propose that exercise may be an effective intervention to limit the impact of stress on immunity in chronically stressed older populations

Marron, more than a meal. Harvey River restoration, Western Australia

The Southwestern Province has the highest proportion of endemic fishes and crayfishes on the continent, and is a globally recognosed endemic hospot. Over the last few decades, there has been a growing body of evidence that has suggested that the inland aquatic fauna of the Southwestern Province of Western Australia is declining. Much of this decline has been driven by large scale modification to habitat quality and quantity. The loss of suitable habitats through stream channelisation, river regulation, land clearing, flood abatement and the impact of introduced species, has resulted in large-scale losses of aquatic fauna. This, coupled with the increasing impact of climate change driven reductions in rainfall and subsequent run-off and aquifer recharge continue to challenge the aquatic fauna and necessitates adaptive management to help with their conservation. Since the turn of the Century, five of the region’s freshwater fish species, four freshwater crayfish species and the sole species of freshwater mussel have been listed as threatened under the Federal Government’s Environment and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act 1999). Other species are variously listed under State legislation. Surprisingly, in 2013, the significant discovery of a previously undetected fish species was made, and since that time, several other species have been discovered in the region, but await formal description. The Marron (Cherax cainii) is recognised as a south-western Australian aquatic icon, not only for the important and unique recreational fishery that it supports, but also for its aquaculture potential and the sheer size to which it attains; while also being considered a delicacy and a biological indicator of ecosystem health. The Marron, More than a Meal Project aims to demonstrate how the restoration of drainage channels can lead to an improvement of the aquatic ecosystems

Estudio de experiencias y buenas prácticas comunitarias vinculadas a sistemas de restauración de paisajes forestales, en dos microrregiones del Departamento De San Marcos, Guatemala, C.A.

El presente trabajo de graduación se desarrolló en el altiplano del departamento de San Marcos, en las microrregiones Esquichá y Ricardo Chávez de la parte alta de la cuenca del río Coatán y del río Suchiate respectivamente. Tuvo la finalidad de apuntalar los esfuerzos regionales de desarrollo humano y conservación de los recursos naturales, coordinados por el Mecanismo de Restauración de Bosques y Paisajes y en la mejora de los medios de vida de las comunidades locales; enfocado a la restauración del paisaje forestal, entiéndase los bienes y servicios ambientales asociados a éste. El objetivo primordial del diagnóstico de las microrregiones, consistió en conocer la coyuntura ambiental y social del paisaje forestal en el área. La determinación de los factores de degradación del paisaje y los componentes sociales y ambientales, permitieron conocer hacia dónde orientar las acciones para la restauración del paisaje forestal, haciendo de éste un proceso sostenible. En tal sentido, la investigación se orientó al estudio y documentación de las buenas prácticas y sistemas tradicionales vinculados a la restauración del paisaje forestal en el altiplano occidental. Se documentaron un total de 18 buenas prácticas, algunas de éstas se implementaron a través del establecimiento de 10 sitios demostrativos, los cuales constituyen parcelas modelo de cómo restaurar el paisaje en diferentes condiciones edafoclimáticas y ecológicas, características de la región. Se realizó una caracterización biofísica detallada de cada uno de éstos sitios, incluyendo un análisis microbiológico del suelo, el cual constituye un pilar fundamental en el estudio de la degradación de los suelos de las tierras forestales. Dentro de los principales ejes de trabajo del mecanismo se encuentran la sensibilización, el fortalecimiento de capacidades y la implementación de sitios demostrativos de prácticas y sistemas de restauración del paisaje forestal; en respuesta a estos tres objetivos generales se desarrollaron los servicios profesionales

The role of ETG modes in JET-ILW pedestals with varying levels of power and fuelling

We present the results of GENE gyrokinetic calculations based on a series of JET-ITER-like-wall (ILW) type I ELMy H-mode discharges operating with similar experimental inputs but at different levels of power and gas fuelling. We show that turbulence due to electron-temperature-gradient (ETGs) modes produces a significant amount of heat flux in four JET-ILW discharges, and, when combined with neoclassical simulations, is able to reproduce the experimental heat flux for the two low gas pulses. The simulations plausibly reproduce the high-gas heat fluxes as well, although power balance analysis is complicated by short ELM cycles. By independently varying the normalised temperature gradients (omega(T)(e)) and normalised density gradients (omega(ne )) around their experimental values, we demonstrate that it is the ratio of these two quantities eta(e) = omega(Te)/omega(ne) that determines the location of the peak in the ETG growth rate and heat flux spectra. The heat flux increases rapidly as eta(e) increases above the experimental point, suggesting that ETGs limit the temperature gradient in these pulses. When quantities are normalised using the minor radius, only increases in omega(Te) produce appreciable increases in the ETG growth rates, as well as the largest increases in turbulent heat flux which follow scalings similar to that of critical balance theory. However, when the heat flux is normalised to the electron gyro-Bohm heat flux using the temperature gradient scale length L-Te, it follows a linear trend in correspondence with previous work by different authors

Spectroscopic camera analysis of the roles of molecularly assisted reaction chains during detachment in JET L-mode plasmas

The roles of the molecularly assisted ionization (MAI), recombination (MAR) and dissociation (MAD) reaction chains with respect to the purely atomic ionization and recombination processes were studied experimentally during detachment in low-confinement mode (L-mode) plasmas in JET with the help of experimentally inferred divertor plasma and neutral conditions, extracted previously from filtered camera observations of deuterium Balmer emission, and the reaction coefficients provided by the ADAS, AMJUEL and H2VIBR atomic and molecular databases. The direct contribution of MAI and MAR in the outer divertor particle balance was found to be inferior to the electron-atom ionization (EAI) and electron-ion recombination (EIR). Near the outer strike point, a strong atom source due to the D+2-driven MAD was, however, observed to correlate with the onset of detachment at outer strike point temperatures of Te,osp = 0.9-2.0 eV via increased plasma-neutral interactions before the increasing dominance of EIR at Te,osp < 0.9 eV, followed by increasing degree of detachment. The analysis was supported by predictions from EDGE2D-EIRENE simulations which were in qualitative agreement with the experimental observations

Shattered pellet injection experiments at JET in support of the ITER disruption mitigation system design

A series of experiments have been executed at JET to assess the efficacy of the newly installed shattered pellet injection (SPI) system in mitigating the effects of disruptions. Issues, important for the ITER disruption mitigation system, such as thermal load mitigation, avoidance of runaway electron (RE) formation, radiation asymmetries during thermal quench mitigation, electromagnetic load control and RE energy dissipation have been addressed over a large parameter range. The efficiency of the mitigation has been examined for the various SPI injection strategies. The paper summarises the results from these JET SPI experiments and discusses their implications for the ITER disruption mitigation scheme

New H-mode regimes with small ELMs and high thermal confinement in the Joint European Torus

New H-mode regimes with high confinement, low core impurity accumulation, and small edge-localized mode perturbations have been obtained in magnetically confined plasmas at the Joint European Torus tokamak. Such regimes are achieved by means of optimized particle fueling conditions at high input power, current, and magnetic field, which lead to a self-organized state with a strong increase in rotation and ion temperature and a decrease in the edge density. An interplay between core and edge plasma regions leads to reduced turbulence levels and outward impurity convection. These results pave the way to an attractive alternative to the standard plasmas considered for fusion energy generation in a tokamak with a metallic wall environment such as the ones expected in ITER.& nbsp;Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing

Overview of JET results for optimising ITER operation

The JET 2019–2020 scientific and technological programme exploited the results of years of concerted scientific and engineering work, including the ITER-like wall (ILW: Be wall and W divertor) installed in 2010, improved diagnostic capabilities now fully available, a major neutral beam injection upgrade providing record power in 2019–2020, and tested the technical and procedural preparation for safe operation with tritium. Research along three complementary axes yielded a wealth of new results. Firstly, the JET plasma programme delivered scenarios suitable for high fusion power and alpha particle (α) physics in the coming D–T campaign (DTE2), with record sustained neutron rates, as well as plasmas for clarifying the impact of isotope mass on plasma core, edge and plasma-wall interactions, and for ITER pre-fusion power operation. The efficacy of the newly installed shattered pellet injector for mitigating disruption forces and runaway electrons was demonstrated. Secondly, research on the consequences of long-term exposure to JET-ILW plasma was completed, with emphasis on wall damage and fuel retention, and with analyses of wall materials and dust particles that will help validate assumptions and codes for design and operation of ITER and DEMO. Thirdly, the nuclear technology programme aiming to deliver maximum technological return from operations in D, T and D–T benefited from the highest D–D neutron yield in years, securing results for validating radiation transport and activation codes, and nuclear data for ITER

Interpretative and predictive modelling of Joint European Torus collisionality scans

Transport modelling of Joint European Torus (JET) dimensionless collisionality scaling experiments in various operational scenarios is presented. Interpretative simulations at a fixed radial position are combined with predictive JETTO simulations of temperatures and densities, using the TGLF transport model. The model includes electromagnetic effects and collisions as well as □(→┬E ) X □(→┬B ) shear in Miller geometry. Focus is on particle transport and the role of the neutral beam injection (NBI) particle source for the density peaking. The experimental 3-point collisionality scans include L-mode, and H-mode (D and H and higher beta D plasma) plasmas in a total of 12 discharges. Experimental results presented in (Tala et al 2017 44th EPS Conf.) indicate that for the H-mode scans, the NBI particle source plays an important role for the density peaking, whereas for the L-mode scan, the influence of the particle source is small. In general, both the interpretative and predictive transport simulations support the experimental conclusions on the role of the NBI particle source for the 12 JET discharges