Plot/SurfW: Plotting Utility for EDGE2D Output

This report describes a utility that was developed to display EDGE2D results. The utility is focused on results that relate to impurity density, velocity, and particle fluxes in the SOL and divertor. Due to the complicated nature of 2D impurity sources, the concentration of the thermal force near the separatrix and near the divertor entrance, the impurity flow pattern and impurity densities are not necessarily easy to visualize. Thus, we wanted a utility that allowed simple and quick visualization of the impurity behavior. In order to achieve this we overlaid the divertor hardware for plots inside the divertor and we expanded the appearance of the main chamber SOL by plotting distance along the field lines vs. SOL depth with the density (or velocity or flux or other quantity) the false colour. Also, we allowed for the plotted variable to be a function of the other EDGE2D result variables. _________________________________________________

Deuterium and tritium experiments on TFTR

Three initial campaigns to increase the fusion power in DT plasmas on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor [TFTR] prior to July 1994 are described. The first campaign was dedicated to obtaining >5 MW of fusion power while avoiding MHD events similar to the JET X-event. The second was aimed at producing maximum fusion power irrespective of proximity to MHD limits, and achieved 9 MW limited by a disruption. The third campaign increased the energy confinement time using lithium pellet conditioning with the hope of increasing the ratio of alpha heating to beam heating

Imaginarios juveniles en redes sociales, con estudiantes de tercer ciclo de los centros escolares públicos de San Salvador, 2018

Al realizar las visitas a centros escolares y entrevistas realizadas a estudiantes de tercer ciclo que fueron nuestros informantes claves, durante la investigación realizada. El recorrido se desarrolló en cinco centros escolares públicos del municipio de San Salvador que fue el campo de la investigación, con el fin de conocer la problemática y el objeto de estudio, relacionado con los ejes: “educación y sensibilización”, del Seminario de Investigación de Proceso de grado- 2018; donde se abordaran las temáticas siguientes: El Rol de los padres en el uso de las redes sociales de estudiantes de tercer ciclo, buen uso de internet y las redes sociales, aspectos positivos de las redes sociales, reforzar las buenas practicas sobre los riesgos en redes sociales, toma de decisión en el uso adecuado de las redes sociales y riesgos de las redes sociales. Conociendo con esta investigación las perspectiva en el uso adecuado de las redes sociales y los riesgos que encuentran los estudiantes, al hacer uso de las redes sociales, conociendo que los jóvenes utilizan las redes sociales de forma positiva o negativa: la investigación se realizó en un entorno educativo en cinco centros escolares públicos, así mismo se hace una propuesta para brindar alternativas de solución con la educación pretendiendo de esta forma orientar a estudiantes, padres de familias y maestros en el uso de las redes sociales, con el propósito de aportar como profesionales en trabajo social conocimientos prácticos para tercer ciclo en centros escolare

TRUPATH, an open-source biosensor platform for interrogating the GPCR transducerome

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) remain major drug targets, despite our incomplete understanding of how they signal through 16 non-visual G-protein signal transducers (collectively named the transducerome) to exert their actions. To address this gap, we have developed an open-source suite of 14 optimized bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) Gαβγ biosensors (named TRUPATH) to interrogate the transducerome with single pathway resolution in cells. Generated through exhaustive protein engineering and empirical testing, the TRUPATH suite of Gαβγ biosensors includes the first Gα15 and GαGustducin probes. In head-to-head studies, TRUPATH biosensors outperformed first-generation sensors at multiple GPCRs and in different cell lines. Benchmarking studies with TRUPATH biosensors recapitulated previously documented signaling bias and revealed new coupling preferences for prototypic and understudied GPCRs with potential in vivo relevance. To enable a greater understanding of GPCR molecular pharmacology by the scientific community, we have made TRUPATH biosensors easily accessible as a kit through Addgene

Origins of the Ambient Solar Wind: Implications for Space Weather

The Sun's outer atmosphere is heated to temperatures of millions of degrees, and solar plasma flows out into interplanetary space at supersonic speeds. This paper reviews our current understanding of these interrelated problems: coronal heating and the acceleration of the ambient solar wind. We also discuss where the community stands in its ability to forecast how variations in the solar wind (i.e., fast and slow wind streams) impact the Earth. Although the last few decades have seen significant progress in observations and modeling, we still do not have a complete understanding of the relevant physical processes, nor do we have a quantitatively precise census of which coronal structures contribute to specific types of solar wind. Fast streams are known to be connected to the central regions of large coronal holes. Slow streams, however, appear to come from a wide range of sources, including streamers, pseudostreamers, coronal loops, active regions, and coronal hole boundaries. Complicating our understanding even more is the fact that processes such as turbulence, stream-stream interactions, and Coulomb collisions can make it difficult to unambiguously map a parcel measured at 1 AU back down to its coronal source. We also review recent progress -- in theoretical modeling, observational data analysis, and forecasting techniques that sit at the interface between data and theory -- that gives us hope that the above problems are indeed solvable.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Special issue connected with a 2016 ISSI workshop on "The Scientific Foundations of Space Weather." 44 pages, 9 figure

Structure of the Nanobody-Stabilized Active State of the Kappa Opioid Receptor

The κ-opioid receptor (KOP) mediates the actions of opioids with hallucinogenic, dysphoric, and analgesic activities. The design of KOP analgesics devoid of hallucinatory and dysphoric effects has been hindered by an incomplete structural and mechanistic understanding of KOP agonist actions. Here, we provide a crystal structure of human KOP in complex with the potent epoxymorphinan opioid agonist MP1104 and an active-state-stabilizing nanobody. Comparisons between inactive- and active-state opioid receptor structures reveal substantial conformational changes in the binding pocket and intracellular and extracellular regions. Extensive structural analysis and experimental validation illuminate key residues that propagate larger-scale structural rearrangements and transducer binding that, collectively, elucidate the structural determinants of KOP pharmacology, function, and biased signaling. These molecular insights promise to accelerate the structure-guided design of safer and more effective κ-opioid receptor therapeutics. A crystal structure of the active κ-opioid receptor provides a guide for the development of safe and effective new analgesics. © 2017 Elsevier Inc

Common variants near MC4R are associated with fat mass, weight and risk of obesity.

To identify common variants influencing body mass index (BMI), we analyzed genome-wide association data from 16,876 individuals of European descent. After previously reported variants in FTO, the strongest association signal (rs17782313, P = 2.9 x 10(-6)) mapped 188 kb downstream of MC4R (melanocortin-4 receptor), mutations of which are the leading cause of monogenic severe childhood-onset obesity. We confirmed the BMI association in 60,352 adults (per-allele effect = 0.05 Z-score units; P = 2.8 x 10(-15)) and 5,988 children aged 7-11 (0.13 Z-score units; P = 1.5 x 10(-8)). In case-control analyses (n = 10,583), the odds for severe childhood obesity reached 1.30 (P = 8.0 x 10(-11)). Furthermore, we observed overtransmission of the risk allele to obese offspring in 660 families (P (pedigree disequilibrium test average; PDT-avg) = 2.4 x 10(-4)). The SNP location and patterns of phenotypic associations are consistent with effects mediated through altered MC4R function. Our findings establish that common variants near MC4R influence fat mass, weight and obesity risk at the population level and reinforce the need for large-scale data integration to identify variants influencing continuous biomedical traits