Special Issue on Plenary and Invited Papers From ICOPS 2010

HE 37th IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science (ICOPS) was held in Norfolk, VA, from June 20 to June 24, 2010. The technical program combined seven technical-related areas of plasma science and a range of diverse topics. A total of 562 abstracts from 37 countries were accepted, and the technical program included four plenary talks. There were 217 oral and 345 poster presentations. The plenary talks were given by Prof. L. Boufendi on Dusty Plasmas, Prof. E. Kunhardt on Non-Equilibrium Plasma Sources, Dr. K. S. Budil on High Energy Density Physics, and Dr. M. Thumm on the use of gyrotrons for ITER and fusion reactors. For the first time, ICOPS had a session on terahertz radiation and applications organized by Dr. B. Levush of NRL and two special sessions on the emerging field of Plasma Medicine, organized by Prof. M. Laroussi and Prof. M. Kong

Finite Element Analysis of Ring-Shaped Emission Profile in Plasma Bullet

Using a one-way coupled model of neutral gas flow and plasma dynamics we report a mechanism to explain the ring-shaped emission pattern that has been observed experimentally in plasma bullets at atmospheric pressure. We solve a fluid model with the local field approximation in one-dimensional cylindrical coordinates, corresponding to a cross-section of a plasma bullet. Pulselike uniform electric field is assumed to be applied perpendicular to the simulation domain. Time and spatially resolved spectroscopic measurements support the simulation results

Genome-wide association study revealed novel loci which aggravate asymptomatic hyperuricaemia into gout

Objective The first ever genome-wide association study (GWAS) of clinically defined gout cases and asymptomatic hyperuricaemia (AHUA) controls was performed to identify novel gout loci that aggravate AHUA into gout. Methods We carried out a GWAS of 945 clinically defined gout cases and 1003 AHUA controls followed by 2 replication studies. In total, 2860 gout cases and 3149 AHUA controls (all Japanese men) were analysed. We also compared the ORs for each locus in the present GWAS (gout vs AHUA) with those in the previous GWAS (gout vs normouricaemia). Results This new approach enabled us to identify two novel gout loci (rs7927466 of CNTN5 and rs9952962 of MIR302F) and one suggestive locus (rs12980365 of ZNF724) at the genome-wide significance level (p<5.0×10– 8). The present study also identified the loci of ABCG2, ALDH2 and SLC2A9. One of them, rs671 of ALDH2, was identified as a gout locus by GWAS for the first time. Comparing ORs for each locus in the present versus the previous GWAS revealed three ‘gout vs AHUA GWAS’-specific loci (CNTN5, MIR302F and ZNF724) to be clearly associated with mechanisms of gout development which distinctly differ from the known gout risk loci that basically elevate serum uric acid level. Conclusions This meta-analysis is the first to reveal the loci associated with crystal-induced inflammation, the last step in gout development that aggravates AHUA into gout. Our findings should help to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of gout development and assist the prevention of gout attacks in high-risk AHUA individuals