| 1. |
- Abel, I, et al.
(författare)
-
Overview of the JET results with the ITER-like wall
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 1741-4326 .- 0029-5515. ; 53:10, s. 104002-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Following the completion in May 2011 of the shutdown for the installation of the beryllium wall and the tungsten divertor, the first set of JET campaigns have addressed the investigation of the retention properties and the development of operational scenarios with the new plasma-facing materials. The large reduction in the carbon content (more than a factor ten) led to a much lower Z(eff) (1.2-1.4) during L- and H-mode plasmas, and radiation during the burn-through phase of the plasma initiation with the consequence that breakdown failures are almost absent. Gas balance experiments have shown that the fuel retention rate with the new wall is substantially reduced with respect to the C wall. The re-establishment of the baseline H-mode and hybrid scenarios compatible with the new wall has required an optimization of the control of metallic impurity sources and heat loads. Stable type-I ELMy H-mode regimes with H-98,H-y2 close to 1 and beta(N) similar to 1.6 have been achieved using gas injection. ELM frequency is a key factor for the control of the metallic impurity accumulation. Pedestal temperatures tend to be lower with the new wall, leading to reduced confinement, but nitrogen seeding restores high pedestal temperatures and confinement. Compared with the carbon wall, major disruptions with the new wall show a lower radiated power and a slower current quench. The higher heat loads on Be wall plasma-facing components due to lower radiation made the routine use of massive gas injection for disruption mitigation essential.
|
|
| 2. |
- Romanelli, F, et al.
(författare)
-
Overview of the JET results
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 1741-4326 .- 0029-5515. ; 51:9
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Since the last IAEA Conference JET has been in operation for one year with a programmatic focus on the qualification of ITER operating scenarios, the consolidation of ITER design choices and preparation for plasma operation with the ITER-like wall presently being installed in JET. Good progress has been achieved, including stationary ELMy H-mode operation at 4.5 MA. The high confinement hybrid scenario has been extended to high triangularity, lower ρ*and to pulse lengths comparable to the resistive time. The steady-state scenario has also been extended to lower ρ*and ν*and optimized to simultaneously achieve, under stationary conditions, ITER-like values of all other relevant normalized parameters. A dedicated helium campaign has allowed key aspects of plasma control and H-mode operation for the ITER non-activated phase to be evaluated. Effective sawtooth control by fast ions has been demonstrated with3He minority ICRH, a scenario with negligible minority current drive. Edge localized mode (ELM) control studies using external n = 1 and n = 2 perturbation fields have found a resonance effect in ELM frequency for specific q95values. Complete ELM suppression has, however, not been observed, even with an edge Chirikov parameter larger than 1. Pellet ELM pacing has been demonstrated and the minimum pellet size needed to trigger an ELM has been estimated. For both natural and mitigated ELMs a broadening of the divertor ELM-wetted area with increasing ELM size has been found. In disruption studies with massive gas injection up to 50% of the thermal energy could be radiated before, and 20% during, the thermal quench. Halo currents could be reduced by 60% and, using argon/deuterium and neon/deuterium gas mixtures, runaway electron generation could be avoided. Most objectives of the ITER-like ICRH antenna have been demonstrated; matching with closely packed straps, ELM resilience, scattering matrix arc detection and operation at high power density (6.2 MW m-2) and antenna strap voltages (42 kV). Coupling measurements are in very good agreement with TOPICA modelling. © 2011 IAEA, Vienna.
|
|
| 3. |
- Carr, Andrew J., et al.
(författare)
-
Knee replacement
- 2012
-
Ingår i: The Lancet. - 1474-547X. ; 379:9823, s. 1331-1340
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Knee-replacement surgery is frequently done and highly successful. It relieves pain and improves knee function in people with advanced arthritis of the joint. The most common indication for the procedure is osteoarthritis. We review the epidemiology of and risk factors for knee replacement. Because replacement is increasingly considered for patients younger than 55 years, improved decision making about whether a patient should undergo the procedure is needed. We discuss assessment of surgery outcomes based on data for revision surgery from national joint-replacement registries and on patient-reported outcome measures. Widespread surveillance of existing implants is urgently needed alongside the carefully monitored introduction of new implant designs. Developments for the future are improved delivery of care and training for surgeons and clinical teams. In an increasingly ageing society, the demand for knee-replacement surgery will probably rise further, and we predict future trends. We also emphasise the need for new strategies to treat early-stage osteoarthritis, which will ultimately reduce the demand for joint-replacement surgery.
|
|
| 4. |
- Chapman, I. T., et al.
(författare)
-
Power requirements for electron cyclotron current drive and ion cyclotron resonance heating for sawtooth control in ITER
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 53:6, s. 066001-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 13MW of electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) power deposited inside the q = 1 surface is likely to reduce the sawtooth period in ITER baseline scenario below the level empirically predicted to trigger neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs). However, since the ECCD control scheme is solely predicated upon changing the local magnetic shear, it is prudent to plan to use a complementary scheme which directly decreases the potential energy of the kink mode in order to reduce the sawtooth period. In the event that the natural sawtooth period is longer than expected, due to enhanced a particle stabilization for instance, this ancillary sawtooth control can be provided from >10MW of ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) power with a resonance just inside the q = 1 surface. Both ECCD and ICRH control schemes would benefit greatly from active feedback of the deposition with respect to the rational surface. If the q = 1 surface can be maintained closer to the magnetic axis, the efficacy of ECCD and ICRH schemes significantly increases, the negative effect on the fusion gain is reduced, and off-axis negative-ion neutral beam injection (NNBI) can also be considered for sawtooth control. Consequently, schemes to reduce the q = 1 radius are highly desirable, such as early heating to delay the current penetration and, of course, active sawtooth destabilization to mediate small frequent sawteeth and retain a small q = 1 radius. Finally, there remains a residual risk that the ECCD + ICRH control actuators cannot keep the sawtooth period below the threshold for triggering NTMs (since this is derived only from empirical scaling and the control modelling has numerous caveats). If this is the case, a secondary control scheme of sawtooth stabilization via ECCD + ICRH + NNBI, interspersed with deliberate triggering of a crash through auxiliary power reduction and simultaneous pre-emptive NTM control by off-axis ECCD has been considered, permitting long transient periods with high fusion gain. The power requirements for the necessary degree of sawtooth control using either destabilization or stabilization schemes are expected to be within the specification of anticipated ICRH and ECRH heating in ITER, provided the requisite power can be dedicated to sawtooth control.
|
|
| 5. |
- Graves, J. P., et al.
(författare)
-
RECENT ADVANCES IN SAWTOOTH CONTROL
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Fusion science and technology. - 1536-1055 .- 1943-7641. ; 59:3, s. 539-548
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Important advances have been made recently in the invention and application of experimental methods to control the sawtooth instability in tokamak plasmas. The primary means of control involves the application of either ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH), or electron cyclotron heating, with resonance very close to the q = 1 radius in the plasma core. Reported here are experiments that have successfully applied these methods to either shorten or lengthen the sawteeth deliberately, in a variety of plasma conditions, in three tokamaks: Joint European Torus (JET), TCV, and Tore Supra. It is shown that despite the sensitivity of the sawtooth period to the resonance position, sawteeth can be controlled using either real-time control of the electron cyclotron deposition, or in the case of ion cyclotron heating, very careful adjustment of the magnetic field strength and minority ion concentration. The latter technique has been guided by theoretical advances that have enabled the control of sawteeth in JET with ITER-relevant ICRH scenarios.
|
|
| 6. |
- Rolf, Marijn P, et al.
(författare)
-
Sequence optimization to reduce velocity offsets in cardiovascular magnetic resonance volume flow quantification - A multi-vendor study
- 2011
-
Ingår i: JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE. - : Taylor and Francis / BioMed Central. - 1097-6647. ; 13
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Eddy current induced velocity offsets are of concern for accuracy in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) volume flow quantification. However, currently known theoretical aspects of eddy current behavior have not led to effective guidelines for the optimization of flow quantification sequences. This study is aimed at identifying correlations between protocol parameters and the resulting velocity error in clinical CMR flow measurements in a multi-vendor study. Methods: Nine 1.5T scanners of three different types/vendors were studied. Measurements were performed on a large stationary phantom. Starting from a clinical breath-hold flow protocol, several protocol parameters were varied. Acquisitions were made in three clinically relevant orientations. Additionally, a time delay between the bipolar gradient and read-out, asymmetric versus symmetric velocity encoding, and gradient amplitude and slew rate were studied in adapted sequences as exploratory measurements beyond the protocol. Image analysis determined the worst-case offset for a typical great-vessel flow measurement. Results: The results showed a great variation in offset behavior among scanners (standard deviation among samples of 0.3, 0.4, and 0.9 cm/s for the three different scanner types), even for small changes in the protocol. Considering the absolute values, none of the tested protocol settings consistently reduced the velocity offsets below the critical level of 0.6 cm/s neither for all three orientations nor for all three scanner types. Using multilevel linear model analysis, oblique aortic and pulmonary slices showed systematic higher offsets than the transverse aortic slices (oblique aortic 0.6 cm/s, and pulmonary 1.8 cm/s higher than transverse aortic). The exploratory measurements beyond the protocol yielded some new leads for further sequence development towards reduction of velocity offsets; however those protocols were not always compatible with the time-constraints of breath-hold imaging and flow-related artefacts. Conclusions: This study showed that with current systems there was no generic protocol which resulted into acceptable flow offset values. Protocol optimization would have to be performed on a per scanner and per protocol basis. Proper optimization might make accurate (transverse) aortic flow quantification possible for most scanners. Pulmonary flow quantification would still need further (offline) correction.
|
|
| 7. |
- Blois, Jessica L., et al.
(författare)
-
A framework for evaluating the influence of climate, dispersal limitation, and biotic interactions using fossil pollen associations across the late Quaternary
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Ecography. - : Wiley. - 1600-0587 .- 0906-7590. ; 37:11, s. 1095-1108
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Environmental conditions, dispersal lags, and interactions among species are major factors structuring communities through time and across space. Ecologists have emphasized the importance of biotic interactions in determining local patterns of species association. In contrast, abiotic limits, dispersal limitation, and historical factors have commonly been invoked to explain community structure patterns at larger spatiotemporal scales, such as the appearance of late Pleistocene no-analog communities or latitudinal gradients of species richness in both modern and fossil assemblages. Quantifying the relative influence of these processes on species co-occurrence patterns is not straightforward. We provide a framework for assessing causes of species associations by combining a null-model analysis of co-occurrence with additional analyses of climatic differences and spatial pattern for pairs of pollen taxa that are significantly associated across geographic space. We tested this framework with data on associations among 106 fossil pollen taxa and paleoclimate simulations from eastern North America across the late Quaternary. The number and proportion of significantly associated taxon pairs increased over time, but only 449 of 56 194 taxon pairs were significantly different from random. Within this significant subset of pollen taxa, biotic interactions were rarely the exclusive cause of associations. Instead, climatic or spatial differences among sites were most frequently associated with significant patterns of taxon association. Most taxon pairs that exhibited co-occurrence patterns indicative of biotic interactions at one time did not exhibit significant associations at other times. Evidence for environmental filtering and dispersal limitation was weakest for aggregated pairs between 16 and 11 kyr BP, suggesting enhanced importance of positive species interactions during this interval. The framework can thus be used to identify species associations that may reflect biotic interactions because these associations are not tied to environmental or spatial differences. Furthermore, temporally repeated analyses of spatial associations can reveal whether such associations persist through time.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Gatehouse, Peter D., et al.
(författare)
-
A multi-center inter-manufacturer study of the temporal stability of phase-contrast velocity mapping background offset errors
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. - 1097-6647. ; 14:72
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Phase-contrast velocity images often contain a background or baseline offset error, which adds an unknown offset to the measured velocities. For accurate flow measurements, this offset must be shown negligible or corrected. Some correction techniques depend on replicating the clinical flow acquisition using a uniform stationary phantom, in order to measure the baseline offset at the region of interest and subtract it from the clinical study. Such techniques assume that the background offset is stable over the time of a patient scan, or even longer if the phantom scans are acquired later, or derived from pre-stored background correction images. There is no published evidence regarding temporal stability of the background offset. Methods: This study assessed the temporal stability of the background offset on 3 different manufacturers' scanners over 8 weeks, using a retrospectively-gated phase-contrast cine acquisition with fixed parameters and at a fixed location, repeated 5 times in rapid succession each week. A significant offset was defined as 0.6 cm/s within 50 mm of isocenter, based upon an accuracy of 10% in a typical cardiac shunt measurement. Results: Over the 5 repeated cine acquisitions, temporal drift in the baseline offset was insignificant on two machines (0.3 cm/s, 0.2 cm/s), and marginally insignificant on the third machine (0.5 cm/s) due to an apparent heating effect. Over a longer timescale of 8 weeks, insignificant drift (0.4 cm/s) occurred on one, with larger drifts (0.9 cm/s, 0.6 cm/s) on the other machines. Conclusions: During a typical patient study, background drift was insignificant. Extended high gradient power scanning with work requires care to avoid drift on some machines. Over the longer term of 8 weeks, significant drift is likely, preventing accurate correction by delayed phantom corrections or derivation from pre-stored background offset data.
|
|
| 10. |
- Graves, J. P., et al.
(författare)
-
A new sawtooth control mechanism relying on toroidally propagating ion cyclotron resonance frequency waves : Theory and Joint European Torus tokamak experimental evidence
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Physics of Plasmas. - : AIP Publishing. - 1070-664X .- 1089-7674. ; 17:5, s. 056118-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The sawtooth control mechanism in plasmas employing toroidally propagating ion cyclotron resonance waves is extended. The asymmetrically distributed energetic passing ions are shown to modify the ideal internal kink mode when the position of the minority ion cyclotron resonance resides within a narrow region close to the q=1 surface. An analytical treatment of the internal kink mode in the presence of model distribution function with parallel velocity asymmetry is developed. The fast ion mechanism explains the strong sensitivity of sawteeth to resonance position, and moreover is consistent with dedicated Joint European Torus [F. Romanelli, Nucl. Fusion 49, 104006 (2009)] experiments which controlled sawteeth despite negligible current drive. [doi:10.1063/1.3363201]
|
|
