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Clinical and radiological features of tuberculosis and sarcoidosis are quite overlapping, and therefore, a diagnostic dilemma often persists. There are no commonly accepted criteria for the diagnosis of sarcoidosis due to the lack of data on the etiology of the disease. The exclusion of tuberculosis in every patient with suspected sarcoidosis is a mandatory stage of diagnosis, especially in countries with a high burden of tuberculosis. A prospective study was conducted with two groups of patients: group I (n = 50)-patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis established according to standard criteria; group II (n = 28)-patients with pulmonary tuberculosis with bacterial excretion. The control group (n = 24) was presented by healthy subjects. The examination complex included x-ray, bacteriological, immunological (Mantoux test with 2 TE, TB.SPOT test), and histological methods. All patients and healthy subjects were assessed for immune complexes with the use of the dynamic light scattering (DLS) method and adding of "healthy lung tissue extract" antigens and specific tuberculosis antigens ESAT-6 and SFP-10 in vitro. Significant differences were found in determining specific immune complexes in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis and pulmonary tuberculosis. Registration of specific immune complex formation with "healthy lung tissue extract" in 100% cases may indicate the autoimmune nature of sarcoidosis. The absence of the immune complex formation in response to ESAT-6/SFP-10 antigens can be used for the differential diagnosis of two diseases. The diagnostic significance of the DLS method was 100% for sarcoidosis and 92.2% for tuberculosis. The data obtained in the study allows not only understanding the etiology of sarcoidosis, but also obtaining new criteria for the differential diagnosis of tuberculosis and pulmonary sarcoidosis.

Sub-THz radiation can be generated by conversion of plasma waves into electromagnetic (EM) radiation in a plasma with strong Langmuir (LT) turbulence produced via a two-stream instability of a high current relativistic electron beam (REB). Nonlinear plasmon-plasmon merging results in the generation of photons nearby the 2nd harmonic of the plasma frequency 2ω p (“2ω p -process”). For plasma densities of 1014 − 1015 cm−3, these frequencies are in the range of sub-THz waves at 370–570 GHz. The specific power density of sub-THz-wave emission from plasmas in the multi-mirror magnetic trap GOL-3 (at BINP) during injection of a 10-μs-REB with a current density of about 1 kA/cm2 at plasma densities n e ≈ 5∙1014 cm−3, electron temperatures T e ≈ 1.5 keV and magnetic induction B ≈ 4 T was measured to be approx. 1 kW/cm3 in the frequency band around 300 GHz. In the case of a weakly relativistic 100-μs-electron beam (90 keV) with 250 A/cm2 the corresponding results are 700 W/cm3 around 90 GHz with an efficiency of 1–2 % at n e ≈ 3∙1013 cm−3 (total power ≈ 30 kW). Theoretical investigations show that at a density of n e ≈ 3∙1015 cm−3 and a turbulence level of 5 % the generated sub-THz power can reach ≈ 1 MW/cm3.

The geometry of the ribbon diode of the U-2 accelerator is optimized to increase both the current density and the total current of the relativistic electron beam for its subsequent injection into the plasma of a multimirror GOL-3 trap. Beam simulation in the diode was performed using the POISSON-2 applied software modified on the basis of the results obtained using the theory of a planar diode in an inclined magnetic field. As a result of the optimization, the diode geometry and the magnetic field configuration were found that should provide a factor of 1.5–2 increase in the current density in experiments with a small angular divergence of electron velocities.

Dynamics of the plasma in open magnetic traps with an electron beam, in particular, in a GOL-3 trap, is studied. The possibility of the formation of a resonant surface of the magnetic field and the development of helical instability caused by the presence of this surface is studied numerically.

An efficient algorithm is proposed enabling numerical simulations of plasma dynamics in a nonuniform magnetic field. The present numerical data are in good agreement with experimental data obtained in a GOL-3 setup and with previous simulations. The experimentally observed effect of fast transfer of energy to ions is confirmed.

An investigation of hot plasma interaction with solid target is carried out at the CASTOR tokamak (IPP Prague) and the GOL-3 multi-mirror magnetic trap faccility (Budker Institute, Novosibirsk) [1], [5]. In both experiments, the Imaging Seya-Namioka Spectrometer based on a spherical dispersion grating has been upraded to monitor the radial profiles of the chord-integrated low-Z impurity line intensities in VUV spectral range. Such spatial resolved intensity monitoring in radial direction together with application of the radiation code simulation allows obtaining a radial distribution of ions of different ionization stages near the target immersed in edge plasma. The energy release from plasma to the target is order of 100 J/m2 in the CASTOR tokamak and 30 MJ/m2 int he GOL-3 magnetic open confinement system.

Using the upgrading of the measuring system of the GOL-3 plasma facility as an example, the structure of hardware and software environment developed for data-acquisition systems of large pulse electrophysical plants is considered. The equipment is built into 3U-size 19-inch subracks. The control computers are connected to the measuring equipment via standard network facilities (Ethernet-10/100 interface and TCP/IP protocol). At present, we have begun making basic diagnostic measurements using the ADC1250/32 multichannel synchronous data-acquisition systems.

A VUV spectrometer for the GOL-3-II plasma facility is described. It is based on the MB-3 vacuum monochromator and equipped with advanced units for spectrum recording, including a digital readout system. The spectrometer can be used either to record the spectrum over an exposure of 1 μs or more and measure the time variations in the radiation intensity at a given wavelength. The operating wavelength range is 50–400 nm.

1. On the basis of the experimental investigation of the effect of the test temperature (153–293°K) on the rate of FCG in steels IP-1, IP-2, and IP-3 with a coefficient of load cycle asymmetry R=−2, −1, 0, and 0.5 it was established that lowering of the test temperature has an ambiguous effect on the rate of fatigue crack growth in the mentioned steels. In most cases the rate of FCG is practically insensitive to the test temperature although we can see a general tendency of the coefficient m of the Paris equation increasing with the test temperature being lowered from 293 to 153°K. 2. A change of the coefficient of load cycle asymmetry in the range −2–0 does not have a substantial effect on the rate of FCG, and in the range 0–0.5 it reduces this rate (in coordinates dl/dN-Kmax) at 213 and 293°K, particularly substantially at 213°K. 3. For the investigated chrome-nickel-molybdenum steels in the temperature range 293-153°K a single dependence was established; it describes the decrease of the coefficient m with rising level of fracture toughness under static loading. 4. With the test temperature rising from 113 to 153°K, the characteristics of fracture toughness of all the investigated steels increase monotonically under static and cyclic loading, and also in the case of stopping of the crack. 5. Cyclic loading reduces substantially (to one half) the fracture toughness of steels IP-1 and IP-2 in the temperature range 113–153°K and does not change the values of K1 fc compared with KIc for steel IP-3. 6. In steels IP-1, IP-2 at temperatures of 113–153°K the fracture toughness under cyclic loading corresponding to final fracture of the specimen practically coincides with the fracture toughness at the instant of stopping of the crack. 7. In the temperature range 100–183°K of the three investigated steels steel IP-1 has the highest resistance to brittle failure under static loading and at the instant of stopping of the crack, steel IP-2 has the lowest resistance.