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The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, is designed to assess the potential of the low-aspect-ratio spherical torus concept for magnetic plasma confinement. The plasma has been heated by up to 7 MW of neutral beam injection (NBI) at an injection energy of 100 keV and up to 6 MW of high harmonic fast wave (HHFW) at 30 MHz. NSTX has achieved [[beta].sub.T] of 32%. A variety of MHD phenomena have been observed to limit [beta]. NSTX has now begun addressing [T.sub.E] scaling, [beta] limits, and current drive issues. During the NBI heating experiments, a broad [T.sub.i] profile with [T.sub.i] up to 2 keV, [T.sub.i] > [T.sub.e] and a large toroidal rotation were observed. Transport analysis suggests that the impurity ions have diffusivities approaching neoclassical. For L-Mode plasmas, [T.sub.E] is up to two times the ITER97L H-Mode scaling and exceeds the ITER98pby2 H-Mode scaling in some cases. Transitions to H-Mode have been observed which result in an approximate doubling of [T.sub.E] after the transition in some conditions. During HHFW heating, [T.sub.e] > [T.sub.i] and [T.sub.e] up to 3.5 keV were observed. Current drive has been studied using both coaxial helicity injection with up to 390 kA of toroidal current and HHFW. HHFW has produced H-modes with significant bootstrap current fraction at low [I.sub.p], high q, and high [[beta].sub.p]. Index Terms--Fusion reactors, plasma confinement, tokamaks.

Objective: The effects of acquired obesity on lipid profile and lipoprotein composition in rare BMI-discordant monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs were studied. Design and Methods: Abdominal fat distribution, liver fat (magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy), fasting serum lipid profile (ultracentrifugation, gradient gel-electrophoresis, and colorimetric enzymatic methods), and lifestyle factors (questionnaires and diaries) were assessed in 15 BMI-discordant (within-pair difference [Δ] in BMI >3 kg/m2) and nin concordant (ΔBMI <3 kg/m2) MZ twin pairs, identified from two nationwide cohorts of Finnish twins. Results: Despite a strong similarity of MZ twins in lipid parameters (intra-class correlations 0.42-0.90, P < 0.05), concentrations of apolipoprotein B (ApoB), intermediate-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein 3a% (HDL3a%), and HDL3c% were higher ( P < 0.05) and those of HDL cholesterol, HDL2-C, and HDL2b% were lower ( P < 0.01) in the heavier co-twins of BMI-discordant pairs. The composition of lipoprotein particles was similar in the co-twins. When BMI-discordant pairs were further divided into liver fat-discordant and concordant (based on median for Δliver fat, 2.6%), the adverse lipid profile was only seen in those heavy co-twins who also had high liver fat. Conversely, BMI-discordant pairs concordant for liver fat did not differ significantly in lipid parameters. In multivariate analyses controlling for Δsubcutaneous, Δintra-abdominal fat, sex, Δsmoking and Δphysical activity, Δliver fat was the only independent variable explaining the variation in ΔApoB, Δtotal cholesterol, and ΔLDL-C concentration. Conclusions: Several pro-atherogenic changes in the amounts of lipids but not in the composition of lipoprotein particles were observed in acquired obesity. In particular, accumulation of liver fat was associated with lipid disturbances, independent of genetic effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]