Polarization of drift-Alfvén waves, defined as the ratio of electrostatic to electromagnetic fluctuations, has remained unmeasurable in fusion plasmas for decades, despite its pivotal role in ...understanding wave dynamics and their impact on plasmas. We report the first measurements of drift-Alfvén wave polarization in a hot, magnetically confined plasma. The breakthrough is enabled by a novel methodology developed from gyrokinetic theory, utilizing fluctuations of electron temperature and density. Analysis of data from the DIII-D tokamak reveals that the waves above the geodesic acoustic mode frequency exhibit dominant electromagnetic polarization, whereas lower-frequency waves show a mix of electromagnetic and electrostatic polarization, indicating a strong coupling between shear Alfvén waves and drift-acoustic waves.
In the United States, 9 to 10 million Americans are estimated to be eligible for computed tomographic lung cancer screening (CTLS). Those meeting criteria for CTLS are at high-risk for numerous ...cardio-pulmonary co-morbidities. The objective of this study was to determine the association between qualitative emphysema identified on screening CTs and risk for hospital admission.
We conducted a retrospective multicenter study from two CTLS cohorts: Lahey Hospital and Medical Center (LHMC) CTLS program, Burlington, MA and Mount Auburn Hospital (MAH) CTLS program, Cambridge, MA. CTLS exams were qualitatively scored by radiologists at time of screening for presence of emphysema. Multivariable Cox regression models were used to evaluate the association between CT qualitative emphysema and all-cause, COPD-related, and pneumonia-related hospital admission.
We included 4673 participants from the LHMC cohort and 915 from the MAH cohort. 57% and 51.9% of the LHMC and MAH cohorts had presence of CT emphysema, respectively. In the LHMC cohort, the presence of emphysema was associated with all-cause hospital admission (HR 1.15, CI 1.07–1.23; p < 0.001) and COPD-related admission (HR 1.64; 95% CI 1.14–2.36; p = 0.007), but not with pneumonia-related admission (HR 1.52; 95% CI 1.27–1.83; p < 0.001). In the MAH cohort, the presence of emphysema was only associated with COPD-related admission (HR 2.05; 95% CI 1.07–3.95; p = 0.031).
Qualitative CT assessment of emphysema is associated with COPD-related hospital admission in a CTLS population. Identification of emphysema on CLTS exams may provide an opportunity for prevention and early intervention to reduce admission risk.
•Qualitative emphysema is associated with risk for COPD hospitalization.•Lung cancer screening represents are an opportunity to screen for COPD.•Lung cancer screening represents an opportunity to improve vaccination rates.•Lung cancer screening represents an opportunity to improve smoking cessation rates.
Abstract Viable magnetic fusion devices necessitate combining good confinement with effective power flux handling. A major concern for ITER, and devices beyond, is the divertor heat load width, which ...sets peak boundary heat loads on the plasma-facing materials. Current estimates of the heat flux width are narrow for future reactors. Here, we demonstrate how pedestal turbulence can expand into, or entrain, the stable scrape-off-layer and so broaden the heat flux width beyond these neoclassical predictions. Employing combined theoretical, computational, and experimental approaches, we focus on quiescent high confinement discharges on the DIII-D tokamak, but the results are of broader significance. Our findings uncover common trends in the edge turbulence intensity flux, the pressure perturbation skewness, and the turbulence mixing length, which together determine the heat flux width. This research demonstrates the physics of scrape-off-layer broadening by turbulence and highlights the promise of a turbulent pedestal for successful core-edge integration in ITER and future fusion devices.
Background
Studies have demonstrated an inverse relationship between body mass index (BMI) and the risk of developing lung cancer. We conducted a retrospective cohort study evaluating baseline ...quantitative computed tomography (CT) measurements of body composition, specifically muscle and fat area in a large CT lung screening cohort (CTLS). We hypothesized that quantitative measurements of baseline body composition may aid in risk stratification for lung cancer.
Methods
Patients who underwent baseline CTLS between January 1st, 2012 and September 30th, 2014 and who had an in-network primary care physician were included. All patients met NCCN Guidelines eligibility criteria for CTLS. Quantitative measurements of pectoralis muscle area (PMA) and subcutaneous fat area (SFA) were performed on a single axial slice of the CT above the aortic arch with the Chest Imaging Platform Workstation software. Cox multivariable proportional hazards model for cancer was adjusted for variables with a univariate
p
< 0.2. Data were dichotomized by sex and then combined to account for baseline differences between sexes.
Results
One thousand six hundred and ninety six patients were included in this study. A total of 79 (4.7%) patients developed lung cancer. There was an association between the 25th percentile of PMA and the development of lung cancer HR 1.71 (1.07, 2.75),
p
< 0.025 after adjusting for age, BMI, qualitative emphysema, qualitative coronary artery calcification, and baseline Lung-RADS® score.
Conclusions
Quantitative assessment of PMA on baseline CTLS was associated with the development of lung cancer. Quantitative PMA has the potential to be incorporated as a variable in future lung cancer risk models.
Maternal infection during pregnancy is common and can cause adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. While systemic administration of bacterial or viral mimetics are widely used models of prenatal ...inflammation, an alternative approach is local inflammation of the uterus, which models chorioamnionitis (inflammation of the fetal membranes). Importantly, this mimics the most common human clinical scenario by which a fetus is exposed to prenatal inflammation. Using CD-1 mice, local inflammation was induced via intrauterine lipopolysaccharide (LPS) infusion at E15 (term = E19). Behavioral, molecular and immune endpoints were evaluated in adult offspring. Males and females demonstrated hyperactivity, as well as an overall decrease in anxiety-like behavior (open field, elevated zero, light-dark box). Operant testing was initiated to examine executive function, however all mice (regardless of prenatal condition) failed to reach criterion performance, which may be due to reduced visual acuity in the albino CD1 strain. Prenatal LPS exposure increased the number of microglia, quantified by flow cytometric analysis of the whole brain. Expression of 30 genes related to immune, epigenetic and neurotransmitter function was measured, both at baseline and in response to an acute immune challenge, and these analyses are ongoing. These data indicate that local inflammation of the uterus, in the absence of a maternal plasma cytokine response, affects offspring brain development, and support additional work in this translationally relevant model of prenatal inflammation.
A path to a new high performance regime has been discovered in tokamaks that could improve the attractiveness of a fusion reactor. Experiments on DIII-D using a quiescent H-mode edge have navigated a ...valley of improved edge peeling-ballooning stability that opens up with strong plasma shaping at high density, leading to a doubling of the edge pressure over the standard H mode with edge localized modes at these parameters. The thermal energy confinement time increases as a result of both the increased pedestal height and improvements in the core transport and reduced low-k turbulence. Calculations of the pedestal height and width as a function of density using constraints imposed by peeling-ballooning and kinetic-ballooning theory are in quantitative agreement with the measurements.
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