Experimental conditions to suppress edge localised modes by magnetic perturbations in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak

Access conditions for full suppression of Edge Localised Modes (ELMs) by Magnetic Perturbations (MP) in low density high confinement mode (H-mode) plasmas are studied in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak. The main empirical requirements for full ELM suppression in our experiments are: 1. The poloidal spectrum of the MP must be aligned for best plasma response from weakly stable kink-modes, which amplify the perturbation, 2. The plasma edge density must be below a critical value, $3.3 \times 10^{19}$~m$^{-3}$. The edge collisionality is in the range $\nu^*_i = 0.15-0.42$ (ions) and $\nu^*_e = 0.15-0.25$ (electrons). However, our data does not show that the edge collisionality is the critical parameter that governs access to ELM suppression. 3. The pedestal pressure must be kept sufficiently low to avoid destabilisation of small ELMs. This requirement implies a systematic reduction of pedestal pressure of typically 30\% compared to unmitigated ELMy H-mode in otherwise similar plasmas. 4. The edge safety factor $q_{95}$ lies within a certain window. Within the range probed so far, $q_{95}=3.5-4.2$, one such window, $q_{95}=3.57-3.95$ has been identified. Within the range of plasma rotation encountered so far, no apparent threshold of plasma rotation for ELM suppression is found. This includes cases with large cross field electron flow in the entire pedestal region, for which two-fluid MHD models predict that the resistive plasma response to the applied MP is shielded

A "cookbook" for vulnerability research

There is a growing need to facilitate the interdisciplinary study of the relationship between the environment and human health and well-being. It is increasingly recognized that vulnerability is a key construct allowing discipline-specific research questions on these topics to be meaningfully contextualized. However, there is little consensus regarding the meaning of the concept of vulnerability or how it can best be utilized in research studies. In this perspective article, we use the metaphor of a "cookbook" to review promising trends in vulnerability research and to make this body of research accessible to a multi-disciplinary audience. Specifically, we discuss a selection of "recipes" (theoretical frameworks), "ingredients" (vulnerability domains), "cooking tools" (qualitative and quantitative methods), and approaches to "meal presentation" (communication of results) drawn from vulnerability studies published in the past 15 years. Our aim is for this short "cookbook" to serve as a jumping-off point for scholars unfamiliar with the vulnerability literature and an inspiration for scholars more familiar with this topic to develop new ways to navigate the tension between locally-specific assessments of vulnerability and attempts at standardization. Our ultimate take-home message is that the specifics theories and methods used in vulnerability research are less important than attention to what we see as the 3 'T's of transparency, triangulation, and transferability, and to efforts to make vulnerability research both "place-based" and comparable

Scientific Performance of the ISDC Quick Look Analysis

The INTEGRAL Science Data Centre (ISDC) routinely monitors the Near Real Time data (NRT) from the INTEGRAL satellite. A first scientific analysis is made in order to check for the detection of new, transient or highly variable sources in the data. Of primary importance for this work is the Interactive Quick Look Analysis (IQLA), which produces JEM-X and ISGRI images and monitors them for interesting astrophysical eventsComment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Proceedings of 5th INTEGRAL Workshop: The INTEGRAL Universe, Munich, 16-20 February 2004. Accepted for publication in European Space Agency Special Publication 552. See paper for institute affiliation

On the minimum transport required to passively suppress runaway electrons in SPARC disruptions

In [V.A. Izzo et al 2022 Nucl. Fusion 62 096029], state-of-the-art modeling of thermal and current quench (CQ) MHD coupled with a self-consistent evolution of runaway electron (RE) generation and transport showed that a non-axisymmetric (n = 1) in-vessel coil could passively prevent RE beam formation during disruptions in SPARC, a compact high-field tokamak projected to achieve a fusion gain Q > 2 in DT plasmas. However, such suppression requires finite transport of REs within magnetic islands and re-healed flux surfaces; conservatively assuming zero transport in these regions leads to an upper bound of RE current ~1 MA compared to ~8.7 MA of pre-disruption plasma current. Further investigation finds that core-localized electrons, within r/a < 0.3 and with kinetic energies 0.2-15 MeV, contribute most to the RE plateau formation. Yet only a relatively small amount of transport, i.e. a diffusion coefficient ~18 $\mathrm{m^2/s}$, is needed in the core to fully mitigate these REs. Properly accounting for (i) the CQ electric field's effect on RE transport in islands and (ii) the contribution of significant RE currents to disruption MHD may help achieve this

Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) screening, case and contact treatment, and condom promotion resulting in STI Reduction two years later in rural Malawi

As part of a longitudinal cohort study in rural Malawi in 2000, 469 men and 758 women were asked to respond to a series of surveys, were tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia, and received their results and treatment, if applicable, for themselves and up to 2 partners if positive for either sexually transmitted infection (STI). Two years later, in 2002, 328 men and 525 women were again asked to respond to survey questions, tested again for gonorrhea and chlamydia, and were also tested for HIV - of these, 247 men and 453 women had also given urine samples in 2000. In 2000, the gonorrhea and chlamydia prevalence was 6.2% and 5.8% among men, and 3.6% and 4.9% among women. Two years later, prevalence of gonorrhea and chlamydia was 0.7% and 1.4% among men, and 1.3% and 1.1% among women. Although we did not test for HIV in the first round, the HIV prevalence in 2002 was 19.2%. The implications of the findings are discussed in the context of interventions for STI prevention and to reduce HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa

Momentum Distribution in the Decay B-->J/psi+X

We combine the NRQCD formalism for the inclusive color singlet and octet production of charmonium states with the parton and the ACCMM model, respectively, and calculate the momentum distribution in the decay B-->J/psi+X. Neglecting the kinematics of soft gluon radiation, we find that the motion of the b quark in the bound state can account, to a large extent, for the observed spectrum. The parton model gives a satisfactory presentation of the data, provided that the heavy quark momentum distribution is taken to be soft. To be explicit, we obtain epsilon_p=O(0.008-0.012) for the parameter of the Peterson et al. distribution function. The ACCMM model can account for the data more accurately. The preferred Fermi momentum p_F=O(0.57 GeV) is in good agreement with recent studies of the heavy quark's kinetic energy.Comment: revised version to be published in Phys. Rev. D; 27 pages, LaTeX, 7 eps figures, uses a4wide.sty, epsfig.sty and amssymb.st

Family Planning Decisions, Perceptions and Gender Dynamics among Couples in Mwanza, Tanzania: A Qualitative Study.

Contraceptive use is low in developing countries which are still largely driven by male dominated culture and patriarchal values. This study explored family planning (FP) decisions, perceptions and gender dynamics among couples in Mwanza region of Tanzania. Twelve focus group discussions and six in-depth interviews were used to collect information from married or cohabiting males and females aged 18-49. The participants were purposively selected. Qualitative methods were used to explore family planning decisions, perceptions and gender dynamics among couples. A guide with questions related to family planning perceptions, decisions and gender dynamics was used. The discussions and interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed manually and subjected to content analysis. Four themes emerged during the study. First, "risks and costs" which refer to the side effects of FP methods and the treatment of side -effects as well as the costs inherit in being labeled as an unfaithful spouse. Second, "male involvement" as men showed little interest in participating in family planning issues. However, the same men were mentioned as key decision-makers even on the number of children a couple should have and the child spacing of these children. Third, "gender relations and communication" as participants indicated that few women participated in decision-making on family planning and the number of children to have. Fourth, "urban-rural differences", life in rural favoring having more children than urban areas therefore, the value of children depended on the place of residence. Family Planning programs should adapt the promotion of communication as well as joint decision-making on FP among couples as a strategy aimed at enhancing FP use

MHD stability and disruptions in the SPARC tokamak

SPARC is being designed to operate with a normalized beta of beta(N) = 1.0, a normalized density of n(G) = 0.37 and a safety factor of q(95) approximate to 3.4, providing a comfortable margin to their respective disruption limits. Further, a low beta poloidal beta(p) = 0.19 at the safety factor q = 2 surface reduces the drive for neoclassical tearing modes, which together with a frozen-in classically stable current profile might allow access to a robustly tearing-free operating space. Although the inherent stability is expected to reduce the frequency of disruptions, the disruption loading is comparable to and in some cases higher than that of ITER. The machine is being designed to withstand the predicted unmitigated axisymmetric halo current forces up to 50 MN and similarly large loads from eddy currents forced to flow poloidally in the vacuum vessel. Runaway electron (RE) simulations using GO+CODE show high flattop-to-RE current conversions in the absence of seed losses, although NIMROD modelling predicts losses of similar to 80 %; self-consistent modelling is ongoing. A passive RE mitigation coil designed to drive stochastic RE losses is being considered and COMSOL modelling predicts peak normalized fields at the plasma of order 10(-2) that rises linearly with a change in the plasma current. Massive material injection is planned to reduce the disruption loading. A data-driven approach to predict an oncoming disruption and trigger mitigation is discussed

Prevalence of human papillomavirus antibodies in young female subjects in England

Sera from 1483 female subjects in England aged 10–29 years were tested. The age-standardised seroprevalence was 10.7% (95% confidence intervals 9.0–12.3) for human papillomavirus (HPV) 6, 2.7% (1.8–3.6) for HPV 11, 11.9% (10.2–13.6) for HPV 16, 4.7% (3.5–5.8) for HPV 18, and 20.7% (18.6–22.7) for any of the four types