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Turbulence is a state of fluids and plasma where nonlinear interactions including cascades to finer scales take place to generate chaotic structure and dynamics. However, turbulence could generate global structures, such as dynamo magnetic field, zonal flows, transport barriers, enhanced transport and quenching transport. Therefore, in turbulence, multiscale phenomena coevolve in space and time, and the character of plasma turbulence has been investigated in the laboratory as a modern and historical scientific mystery. Here, we report anatomical features of the plasma turbulence in the wavenumber–frequency domain by using nonlinear spectral analysis including the bi-spectrum. First, the formation of the plasma turbulence can be regarded as a result of nonlinear interaction of a small number of irreducible parent modes that satisfy the linear dispersion relation. Second, the highlighted finding here, is the first identification of a streamer (state of bunching of drift waves) that should degrade the quality of plasmas for magnetic confinement fusion. The streamer is a poloidally localized, radially elongated global structure that lives longer than the characteristic turbulence correlation time, and our results reveal that the streamer is produced as the result of the nonlinear condensation, or nonlinear phase locking of the major triplet modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The differential phase (DP) method was applied to microwave interferometry for the first time. Its advantage over standard interferometry is that the greatly reduced phase shift enables the unique determination of phase. Such a system was implemented on the Tokyo Spherical Tokamak-2 (TST-2), and demonstrated that the correct phase shift can be obtained even when the probing frequency is close to the cutoff density, and that very fast time evolutions of the line-integrated density can be measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses a study that described the developmental roles of a novel negative regulator of Ras signaling, EDL/MAE, a protein with an Ets-specific Pointed domain in Drosophila. Result of a loss of EDL/MAE function in the number of photoreceptor neurons and chordotonal organs; Information on homeogenetic induction; Results of the study.

We investigated the mass dependency of the high-wavenumber turbulence, which occurs at scales smaller than the ion effective Larmor radius, in a partially magnetized plasma column. In this system, two different types of fluctuations were observed: one exhibiting a coherent discrete spectrum, while the other displaying a broadband continuous spectrum. The phase velocities of both types showed a similar mass dependency, approximately matching the ion sound velocity or electron diamagnetic drift velocity. Additionally, we found that the discrete spectrum has a peak interval frequency comparable to the ion cyclotron frequency, which is consistent with ion cyclotron ranges of fluctuations, including ion Bernstein waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mutual interaction of drift wave-type modes and zonal flows causes the formation of higher-order nonlinear structures. This study focuses on the spatio-temporal behavior of these higher-order structures in a linear magnetized plasma. The structures include a solitary vortex, a long-lived circumnavigating motion localized both radially and azimuthally, and a short-lived packet of finer-scale fluctuations excited at the position of the solitary vortex. Observing the time evolution of the two-dimensional cross-sectional structures revealed that the packet of finer-scale fluctuations is trapped in the solitary vortex. The trapping times found are consistent with the theoretical evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spectral transition between continuous and discrete spectra has been observed in high-wavenumber turbulence excitation experiments. The transition appeared in neutral gas scanning, which shows that continuous spectra dominate at low gas pressures and discrete spectra dominate at high gas pressures. Both spectra have well smaller spatial scale than the ion effective Larmor radius. The discrete spectra have 6–11 peaks and maximum peak values at 4th or 5th peak. Correlation length analysis reveals that the continuous component is turbulent and the discrete component is coherent. The bicoherence analysis shows that the turbulent spectra have finite nonlinear coupling, whereas the discrete spectra have no corresponding coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-spatial resolution observation of high-wavenumber broadband turbulence is achieved by controlling the magnetic field to be relatively low and measuring with a azimuthally arranged multi-channel Langmuir array in a basic laboratory plasma. The observed turbulence consists of narrowband low-frequency fluctuations and broadband high-frequency turbulent fluctuations. The low-frequency fluctuations have a frequency of about 0.7 times the ion cyclotron frequency and a spatial scale of 1/10 of the ion inertial scale. In comparison, high-frequency fluctuations have a higher frequency than the ion cyclotron frequency and spatial scales of 1/10–1/40 of the ion inertial scale. Two-dimensional correlation analysis evaluates the spatial and temporal correlation lengths and reveals that the high-wavenumber broadband fluctuations have turbulent characteristics. The measurements give us further understanding of small scale turbulence in space and fusion plasmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tomography system is installed as one of the diagnostics of new age to examine the three-dimensional characteristics of structure and dynamics including fluctuations of a linear magnetized helicon plasma. The system is composed of three sets of tomography components located at different axial positions. Each tomography component can measure the two-dimensional emission profile over the entire cross-section of plasma at different axial positions in a sufficient temporal scale to detect the fluctuations. The four-dimensional measurement including time and space successfully obtains the following three results that have never been found without three-dimensional measurement: (1) in the production phase, the plasma front propagates from the antenna toward the end plate with an ion acoustic velocity. (2) In the steady state, the plasma emission profile is inhomogeneous, and decreases along the axial direction in the presence of the azimuthal asymmetry. Furthermore, (3) in the steady state, the fluctuations should originate from a particular axial position located downward from the helicon antenna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although infection and inflammation within the genital tract during pregnancy is considered a major risk factor for spontaneous preterm birth (PTB), there are few studies on association between vaginal microorganisms in the early stage of pregnancy and PTB. The aim of this study was to investigate relationship between vaginal Group B streptococcus (GBS) colonization, a leading cause of infection during pregnancy, in the early stage of pregnancy and PTB.Methods: This single-center, retrospective cohort study utilized data from 2009 to 2017 obtained at TOYOTA Memorial Hospital. Women with singleton pregnancies who underwent vaginal culture around 14 weeks of gestation during their routine prenatal check-up were included. Vaginal sampling for Gram staining and culture was performed regardless of symptoms. GBS colonization was defined as positive for GBS latex agglutination assay. Statistical analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with PTB.Results: Overall 1079 singleton pregnancies were included. GBS (5.7%) and Candida albicans (5.5%) were the most frequently observed microorganisms. The incidence of PTB (before 34 and before 37 weeks of gestation) were significantly higher in the GBS-positive group than in the GBS-negative group (6.6% vs 0.5%, p = 0.001 and 9.8% vs 4.3%, p = 0.047). Our multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that GBS colonization was a factor associated with PTB before 34 and before 37 weeks of gestation (Odds ratio [OR] 15.17; 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.73-61.74), and OR 2.42; 95%CI 1.01-5.91, respectively).Conclusions: The present study found that vaginal GBS colonization in the early stage of pregnancy was associated with PTB. Our study indicates that patients at a high risk for PTB can be extracted by a simple method using conventional culture method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A laser‐induced fluorescence spectroscopy system was developed in a linear magnetized helicon plasma at Kyushu University. The thermal Doppler broadening on velocity distribution function follows the Maxwell distribution, and the averaged central ion temperature was evaluated to be ∼0.36 eV. The effect of Zeeman splitting was observed for a more accurate assessment of the measurement and is consistent with the calculation. The temperature ratio of electrons and ions, Ti/Te, was evaluated to be ∼0.1. The result is valuable for evaluating the nonlinear processes of the plasma turbulence. © 2019 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We successfully generated two spherical tokamaks (ST) at two null points by using ex-vessel poloidal field (PF) coils only and succeeded in merging them. This scheme is called a double null merging (DNM) scheme. First, two pairs of ex-vessel PF coils generate two null points where the poloidal field is zero at the upper and lower regions inside the vacuum vessel. Then a poloidal flux swing generates two STs at two null points, because the distance to the wall along the magnetic field is long at the null points. Finally, the coil currents push two STs toward the mid-plane and merge them into a single ST. Since a magnetic reconnection during merging transforms magnetic energy into thermal energy, this merged ST plasma is expected to have a high beta. It must be noted that the DNM scheme generates an ST without a center solenoid coil. The DNM scheme was demonstrated on the TS-3/4 (Japan) and MAST (UKAEA). However, these devices have all PF coils inside the vacuum vessels, and the initial plasmas were generated around the PF coils, not the null points. Since internal coils are not feasible in a fusion reactor due to high neutron flux, it is important to demonstrate the DNM scheme by using ex-vessel PF coils. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 179(4): 18-24, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library (). DOI 10.1002/eej.21254 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UTST (University of Tokyo Spherical Tokamak) device was constructed for the purpose of exploring the formation of ultrahigh-beta ST (spherical tokamak) plasma using the double null plasma merging method. When two plasmas merge together to form a single plasma, magnetic field lines reconnect, and magnetic field energy is converted to plasma kinetic energy, increasing the plasma beta. Merging start-up has been demonstrated in the TS-3/4, START, and MAST devices using coils inside the vacuum vessel, and the TS-3 plasma obtained a 50% beta. In order to demonstrate start-up in a more reactor-relevant situation, UTST has all poloidal field (PF) coils outside the vacuum vessel. The first plasma experiment on the UTST was begun in December 2007. In the results, the plasma obtained 10 kA by using only the outer PF coils and a single ST was generated in the lower area ( z = -0.3 to -1.0 m) close to a washer gun. This result suggests that another washer gun on the top of the UTST can allow the generation of ST in the upper area and merging start-up by using outer PF coils. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 179(2): 20-26, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library (). DOI 10.1002/eej.21216 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-Gaussian statistical properties of the azimuthally averaged momentum and particle fluxes driven by turbulence have been simultaneously observed in inhomogeneous magnetized plasmas for the first time. We identified the stretched Gaussian distribution of the both fluxes and the transition from the point-wise distribution to averaged ones was confirmed. The change of the particle flux precedes that of the momentum flux, demonstrating that the momentum flux is induced by the relaxation of density gradient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new radially movable multichannel azimuthal probe system has been developed for measuring azimuthal and radial profiles of electrostatic Reynolds stress (RS) per mass density of microscale fluctuations for a cylindrical laboratory plasma. The system is composed of 16 probe units arranged azimuthally. Each probe unit has six electrodes to simultaneously measure azimuthal and radial electric fields for obtaining RS. The advantage of the system is that each probe unit is radially movable to measure azimuthal RS profiles at arbitrary radial locations as well as two-dimensional structures of fluctuations. The first result from temporal observation of fluctuation azimuthal profile presents that a low-frequency fluctuation (1-2 kHz) synchronizes oscillating Reynolds stress. In addition, radial scanning of the probe system simultaneously demonstrates two-dimensional patterns of mode structure and nonlinear forces with frequency f = 1.5 kHz and azimuthal mode number m = 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observation of the parametric-modulational interaction between the drift-wave fluctuation (7–8 kHz) and azimuthally symmetric sheared radial electric field structure (∼0.4 kHz) in a cylindrical laboratory plasma is presented. Oscillation of the sheared radial electric field is synchronized at modulations of the radial wave number and Reynolds stress per mass density of the drift-wave spectrum. Bispectral analysis at the location where the sheared radial electric field has finite radial wave numbers shows that nonlinear energy transfers from the drift wave to the sheared radial electric field occur. Nonlocal energy transfers of fluctuations via “channel of the azimuthally symmetric sheared radial electric field” in spectral space as well as real space are discovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]