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The development of reduced models provide efficient methods that can be used to perform short term experimental data analysis or narrow down the parametric range of more sophisticated numerical approaches. Reduced models are derived by simplifying the physics description with the goal of retaining only the essential ingredients required to reproduce the phenomena under study. This is the role of the gyro-fluid code FAR3d, dedicated to analyze the linear and nonlinear stability of Alfvén Eigenmodes (AE), Energetic Particle Modes (EPM) and magnetic-hydrodynamic modes as pressure gradient driven mode (PGDM) and current driven modes (CDM) in nuclear fusion devices. Such analysis is valuable for improving the plasma heating efficiency and confinement; this can enhance the overall device performance. The present review is dedicated to a description of the most important contributions of the FAR3d code in the field of energetic particles (EP) and AE/EPM stability. FAR3d is used to model and characterize the AE/EPM activity measured in fusion devices as LHD, JET, DIII-D, EAST, TJ-II and Heliotron J. In addition, the computational efficiency of FAR3d facilitates performing massive parametric studies leading to the identification of optimization trends with respect to the AE/EPM stability. This can aid in identifying operational regimes where AE/EPM activity is avoided or minimized. This technique is applied to the analysis of optimized configurations with respect to the thermal plasma parameters, magnetic field configuration, external actuators and the effect of multiple EP populations. In addition, the AE/EPM saturation phase is analyzed, taking into account both steady-state phases and bursting activity observed in LHD and DIII-D devices. The nonlinear calculations provide: the induced EP transport, the generation of zonal structures as well as the energy transfer towards the thermal plasma and between different toroidal/helical families. Finally, FAR3d is used to forecast the AE/EPM stability in operational scenarios of future devices as ITER, CFETR, JT60SA and CFQS as well as possible approaches to optimization with respect to variations in the most important plasma parameters.

Tokamak à configuration variable (TCV), recently celebrating 30 years of near-continual operation, continues in its missions to advance outstanding key physics and operational scenario issues for ITER and the design of future power plants such as DEMO. The main machine heating systems and operational changes are first described. Then follow five sections: plasma scenarios. ITER Base-Line (IBL) discharges, triangularity studies together with X3 heating and N2 seeding. Edge localised mode suppression, with a high radiation region near the X-point is reported with N _2 injection with and without divertor baffles in a snowflake configuration. Negative triangularity (NT) discharges attained record, albeit transient, β _N ∼ 3 with lower turbulence, higher low-Z impurity transport, vertical stability and density limits and core transport better than the IBL. Positive triangularity L-Mode linear and saturated ohmic confinement confinement saturation, often-correlated with intrinsic toroidal rotation reversals, was probed for D, H and He working gases. H-mode confinement and pedestal studies were extended to low collisionality with electron cyclotron heating obtaining steady state electron iternal transport barrier with neutral beam heating (NBH), and NBH driven H-mode configurations with off-axis co-electron cyclotron current drive. Fast particle physics. The physics of disruptions, runaway electrons and fast ions (FIs) was developed using near-full current conversion at disruption with recombination thresholds characterised for impurity species (Ne, Ar, Kr). Different flushing gases (D2, H2) and pathways to trigger a benign disruption were explored. The 55 kV NBH II generated a rich Alfvénic spectrum modulating the FI fas ion loss detector signal. NT configurations showed less toroidal Alfvén excitation activity preferentially affecting higher FI pitch angles. Scrape-off layer and edge physics. gas puff imaging systems characterised turbulent plasma ejection for several advanced divertor configurations, including NT. Combined diagnostic array divertor state analysis in detachment conditions was compared to modelling revealing an importance for molecular processes. Divertor physics. Internal gas baffles diversified to include shorter/longer structures on the high and/or low field side to probe compressive efficiency. Divertor studies concentrated upon mitigating target power, facilitating detachment and increasing the radiated power fraction employing alternative divertor geometries, optimised X-point radiator regimes and long-legged configurations. Smaller-than-expected improvements with total flux expansion were better modelled when including parallel flows. Peak outer target heat flux reduction was achieved (>50%) for high flux-expansion geometries, maintaining core performance ( H _98 > 1). A reduction in target heat loads and facilitated detachment access at lower core densities is reported. Real-time control. TCV’s real-time control upgrades employed MIMO gas injector control of stable, robust, partial detachment and plasma β feedback control avoiding neoclassical tearing modes with plasma confinement changes. Machine-learning enhancements include trajectory tracking disruption proximity and avoidance as well as a first-of-its-kind reinforcement learning-based controller for the plasma equilibrium trained entirely on a free-boundary simulator. Finally, a short description of TCV’s immediate future plans will be given.

Experiments on ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) in 2021 and 2022 have addressed a number of critical issues for ITER and EU DEMO. A major objective of the AUG programme is to shed light on the underlying physics of confinement, stability, and plasma exhaust in order to allow reliable extrapolation of results obtained on present day machines to these reactor-grade devices. Concerning pedestal physics, the mitigation of edge localised modes (ELMs) using resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) was found to be consistent with a reduction of the linear peeling-ballooning stability threshold due to the helical deformation of the plasma. Conversely, ELM suppression by RMPs is ascribed to an increased pedestal transport that keeps the plasma away from this boundary. Candidates for this increased transport are locally enhanced turbulence and a locked magnetic island in the pedestal. The enhanced D-alpha (EDA) and quasi-continuous exhaust (QCE) regimes have been established as promising ELM-free scenarios. Here, the pressure gradient at the foot of the H-mode pedestal is reduced by a quasi-coherent mode, consistent with violation of the high-n ballooning mode stability limit there. This is suggestive that the EDA and QCE regimes have a common underlying physics origin. In the area of transport physics, full radius models for both L- and H-modes have been developed. These models predict energy confinement in AUG better than the commonly used global scaling laws, representing a large step towards the goal of predictive capability. A new momentum transport analysis framework has been developed that provides access to the intrinsic torque in the plasma core. In the field of exhaust, the X-Point Radiator (XPR), a cold and dense plasma region on closed flux surfaces close to the X-point, was described by an analytical model that provides an understanding of its formation as well as its stability, i.e., the conditions under which it transitions into a deleterious MARFE with the potential to result in a disruptive termination. With the XPR close to the divertor target, a new detached divertor concept, the compact radiative divertor, was developed. Here, the exhaust power is radiated before reaching the target, allowing close proximity of the X-point to the target. No limitations by the shallow field line angle due to the large flux expansion were observed, and sufficient compression of neutral density was demonstrated. With respect to the pumping of non-recycling impurities, the divertor enrichment was found to mainly depend on the ionisation energy of the impurity under consideration. In the area of MHD physics, analysis of the hot plasma core motion in sawtooth crashes showed good agreement with nonlinear 2-fluid simulations. This indicates that the fast reconnection observed in these events is adequately described including the pressure gradient and the electron inertia in the parallel Ohm’s law. Concerning disruption physics, a shattered pellet injection system was installed in collaboration with the ITER International Organisation. Thanks to the ability to vary the shard size distribution independently of the injection velocity, as well as its impurity admixture, it was possible to tailor the current quench rate, which is an important requirement for future large devices such as ITER. Progress was also made modelling the force reduction of VDEs induced by massive gas injection on AUG. The H-mode density limit was characterised in terms of safe operational space with a newly developed active feedback control method that allowed the stability boundary to be probed several times within a single discharge without inducing a disruptive termination. Regarding integrated operation scenarios, the role of density peaking in the confinement of the ITER baseline scenario (high plasma current) was clarified. The usual energy confinement scaling ITER98( p,y ) does not capture this effect, but the more recent H20 scaling does, highlighting again the importance of developing adequate physics based models. Advanced tokamak scenarios, aiming at large non-inductive current fraction due to non-standard profiles of the safety factor in combination with high normalised plasma pressure were studied with a focus on their access conditions. A method to guide the approach of the targeted safety factor profiles was developed, and the conditions for achieving good confinement were clarified. Based on this, two types of advanced scenarios (‘hybrid’ and ‘elevated’ q -profile) were established on AUG and characterised concerning their plasma performance.

Recently, experiments on basic plasma physics issues for solving future problems in fusion energy have been performed on a Large Helical Device. There are several problems to be solved in future devices for fusion energy. Emerging issues in burning plasma are: alpha-channeling (ion heating by alpha particles), turbulence and transport in electron dominant heating helium ash exhaust, reduction of the divertor heat load. To solve these problems, understanding the basic plasma physics of (1) wave–particle interaction through (inverse) Landau damping, (2) characteristics of electron-scale (high- k ) turbulence, (3) ion mixing and the isotope effect, and (4) turbulence spreading and detachment, is necessary. This overview discusses the experimental studies on these issues and turbulent transport in multi-ion plasma and other issues in the appendix.

The JET hybrid scenario has been developed from low plasma current carbon wall discharges to the record-breaking Deuterium-Tritium plasmas obtained in 2021 with the ITER-like Be/W wall. The development started in pure Deuterium with refinement of the plasma current, and toroidal magnetic field choices and succeeded in solving the heat load challenges arising from 37 MW of injected power in the ITER like wall environment, keeping the radiation in the edge and core controlled, avoiding MHD instabilities and reaching high neutron rates. The Deuterium hybrid plasmas have been re-run in Tritium and methods have been found to keep the radiation controlled but not at high fusion performance probably due to time constraints. For the first time this scenario has been run in Deuterium-Tritium (50:50). These plasmas were re-optimised to have a radiation-stable H-mode entry phase, good impurity control through edge T _i gradient screening and optimised performance with fusion power exceeding 10 MW for longer than three alpha particle slow down times, 8.3 MW averaged over 5 s and fusion energy of 45.8 MJ.

A toroidal Alfvén eigenmode (TAE) has been observed to be driven by alpha particles in a JET deuterium-tritium internal transport barrier plasma. The observation occurred 50 ms after the removal of neutral beam heating (NBI). The mode is observed on magnetics, soft-xray, interferometry and reflectometry measurements. We present detailed stability calculations using a similar tool set validated during deuterium only discharges. These calculations strongly support the conclusion that the observed mode is a TAE, and that this mode was destabilized by alpha particles. Non-ideal effects from the bulk plasma are interpreted as responsible for suppressing the majority of TAEs which were also driven by alpha particles, but the modes that match the observations are predicted to be particularly weak for these non-ideal effects. This mode located far from the core on the outboard midplane is found to be driven by both trapped and passing particles despite alpha particles originating in the core.

In Tokamak á Configuration Variable (TCV), unstable modes excited by resonant interaction between the shear Alfvèn waves in continuum gaps and energetic particles have been observed in scenarios with neutral beam injection (NBI). TCV is a middle-size device ( $R_0/a = 0.88/0.25$ ) equipped with a ${1}\,\mathrm{MW}$ , ${25}\,\mathrm{keV}$ tangential neutral beam injector. In this paper the phenomenology of modes excited with on-axis NBI is presented. The Alfvènic nature of the modes has been confirmed investigating their sensitivity against plasma parameters such as NBI energy, toroidal magnetic field, and cross-checking with the predictions from linear kinetic stability code. The mode radial profile is estimated using electron cyclotron emission measurement and agrees well with modelling results. In addition, the fast particle distribution function has been modelled using TRANSP/NUBEAM code. Even with counter-current NBI (leading to higher losses), the drive from the resonant particles is sufficient for the mode excitation. An ad-hoc additional diffusion model allows to estimate the fast particle transport, modifying the fast particle gradient at the mode location and matching the neutron rates.

Two-phase nozzles, in which the phase transition process takes place, can work in jet superchargers for various purposes, including jet thermal pumps (steam-water injectors) and thermal compressors. In such schemes of thermal transformers, the ejector performs the function of a preliminary compression stage in order to reduce the load on the compression of the working substance in the main compressor. The use of fluxes of boiling liquid as energy-efficient working fluids is inhibited due to the lack of a reliable description of the mechanism of their flow. Finding the dependence of the steam content on the pressure and temperature at the nozzle exit will make it possible to determine the variant of the initial parameters at which the overproduction of steam will be greatest. It is also worth determining the change in the velocity factor, as well as the change in the thrust of the nozzle in the studied range of parameters, in order to find out whether the pressure at the nozzle outlet is a determining factor when choosing the design parameters of the nozzles. The article proposes to investigate the boiling streams in such nozzles by the method of mathematical modeling using a model that takes into account the relaxation nature of vaporization. The study used a compressible two-phase medium model, a kinetic model of evaporation / condensation. The model also takes into account the dynamic and mechanical equilibrium of the process of evaporation-condensation. The calculations were performed using an Ansys CFX commercial CFD product. The value of the mean square relative error of pressure measurement does not exceed 0,119%. The average discrepancy between the obtained data between the mathematical model and the field experiment does not exceed 3%.

One of the promising methods for determining physical and mechanical properties and structure of wood is the method based on the measurement of drilling resistance. Limitations of application of the method of measuring drilling resistance in dendrochronological studies are related to a number of factors that have a significant impact on the accuracy of determining the variation of physical and mechanical properties of wood within annual layers: the depth of drilling, its direction relative to the fibers, and the speed parameters of the drilling process. In order to assess the accuracy of measuring the radial growth of pine wood (Pinus sylvestris L.) with moisture content of 6–8 %, the ResistYX device and standard thin drill bits were used. On the basis of comparative analysis of radial wood growth determined by the optical method and the method of measuring resistance to drilling, it was found that in order to obtain accurate data on growth with a correlation coefficient greater than 0.7, it is recommended to measure no more than 17 annual layers on one sample, which corresponds to an average total width of annual layers of 36.6 mm. The influence of the main reasons for the decrease in the accuracy of radial growth determination by the drilling resistance measurement method was studied: geometrical parameters of the cutting part of a thin drill bit, deviation of the drilling direction from the specified one, impossibility of precise determination of the strictly radial drilling direction, wood flaws, as well as friction of the drill shank when the drilling depth increases. To increase the accuracy of the method of measuring drilling resistance in dendrochronological studies it is proposed to develop a method including the use of a special or newly developed tool for more accurate determination of the core and radial drilling of wood or round timber; to increase the rigidity of the thin drill bit; to provide the required fixation of the thin drill bit during its initial contact with wood and inside the device. Further studies in this direction will be associated with the assessment of measuring accuracy for the radial growth of coniferous wood by the feeding force for drill bit penetration. Acknowledgements: The research was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Grant № 075-15-2021-674/3) and Core Facility Centre «Ecology, biotechnologies and processes for obtaining environmentally friendly energy carriers» of the Volga State University of Technology, Yoshkar-Ola and by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 22-79-00098, https://rscf.ru/project/22-79-00098/. For citation: Chernov V.Yu., Sharapov E.S., Gaisin I.G. Evaluation of the Accuracy of Wood Drilling Resistance Measurement Method in Dendrochronological Studies. Lesnoy Zhurnal = Russian Forestry Journal, 2023, no. 5, pp. 135–150. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.37482/0536-1036-2023-5-135-150

OBJECTIVE. The study considered the rate and clinical features of recurrent intussusception in children. MATERIAL AND METHODS. Retrospective analysis was made in all patients with intussusception at the period from 2006 to 2016. RESULTS. There were observed 45 cases of intussusception recurrence in 39 (14,5 %) children out of 268. Relapse of intussusception was three times more frequent in boys compared with girls (29 (74,4 %) vs 10 (25,5 %) and it was four times more frequent in children older than one year. The majority of patients (28 (71,8 %) have been admitted to hospital at the first 12 hours since onset of disease. Recurrence of intussusception was more frequent after conservative disinvagination compared with surgery (17,8 % vs 2,5 %; p = 0,026). Pathological formation of the intestine (Meckel’s diverticulum, doubling of the small intestine) were detected in 3 (7,7 %) out of 39 patients with relapse intussusception compared with 3 (1,3 %) out of 229 patients without recurrence (p = 0,05). Conservative treatment was conducted in 23 (59 %) patients and 16 (41,0 %) patients underwent surgery. There weren’t noted severe complications of lethal outcomes. CONCLUSIONS. The authors observed the tendency of frequent recurrence of intussusception in children, especially after conservative treatment.

Abstract Poly(arylene ether ketones) with preset molecular weights (reduced viscosity from 0. 2 to 0.82 dL g-1) containing terminal phenolic groups were synthesized by the reactions of 4,4'-difluorobenzophenone with bisphenol A or phenolphthalein in the presence of K2CO3 in N,N-dimethylacetamide. The influence of an excess of bisphenols on the molecular weights of the polymers obtained was studied. The structures of the polymers were confirmed by 1H NMR spectroscopy. The molecular weight distributions of the polymers were determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast ions in fusion plasmas often leave characteristic signatures in the neutron emission from the plasma. In this paper, we show how neutron measurements can be used to study fast ions and give examples of physics results obtained on present day tokamaks. The focus is on measurements with dedicated neutron spectrometers and with compact neutron detectors used in each channel of neutron profile monitors. A measured neutron spectrum can be analyzed in several different ways, depending on the physics scenario under consideration. Gross features of a fast ion energy distribution can be studied by applying suitably chosen thresholds to the measured spectrum, thus probing ions with different energies. With this technique it is possible to study the interaction between fast ions and MHD activity, such as toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes (TAEs) and sawtooth instabilities. Quantitative comparisons with modeling can be performed by a direct computation of the neutron emission expected from a given fast ion distribution. Within this framework it is also possible to determine physics parameters, such as the supra-thermal fraction of the neutron emission, by fitting model parameters to the data. A detailed, model-independent estimate of the fast ion distribution can be obtained by analyzing the data in terms of velocity space weight functions. Using this method, fast ion distributions can be resolved in both energy and pitch by combining neutron and gamma-ray measurements obtained along several different sightlines. Fast ion measurements of the type described in this paper will also be possible at ITER, provided that the spectrometers have the dynamic range required to resolve the fast ion spectral features in the presence of the dominating thermonuclear neutron emission. A dedicated high-resolution neutron spectrometer has been designed for this purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. The adhesion properties and factors influencing the formation of the composition of thermally modified timber (TMT) and cement are investigated. The results were focused on the creation of a new material with improved service properties, which is named thermo-wood concrete (TWC).Materials and methods. Adapted standard methods to assess the adhesion of sand-cement mortar with TMT and compressive strength of sand-cement mortar obtained on waters infused with different types of wood and TMT were applied. The influence of the following factors was considered: the intensity (classes) of wood thermal modification, wood species, mortar formation method, cement binder content, wood surface conditions and moisture content of TMT, the presence of final steam curing of specimens.Results. The sand-cement mortar with a high content of cement binder had the highest adhesion with TMT. PVA-emulsion solution resulted in additional slight improvement of the sand-cement mortar and TMT adhesion. In general, unmodified (natural) wood had higher adhesion in comparison with TMT under the same conditions. Negative factors included premoistening of thermally modified timber surface, cleaning and leveling of its surface and the use of coniferous species for TMT specimens. The strength of sand-cement mortar was the lowest for specimens with addition of PVA-emulsion. Factor of water purification after infusion with TMT and unmodified wood had insignificant effect on strength of sand-cement mortar.Conclusions. TMT-cement composition had a lower adhesive force in comparison with unmodified wood. This is due to the combined effect of low hygroscopicity and wettability of the TMT surface. Water washing of the TMT is inappropriate due to deterioration of adhesion properties of the filler in TWC. To increase the adhesion of the components, it is recommended to use mortars with a high content of cement binder.

Observations made in a JET experiment aimed at accelerating deuterons to the MeV range by third harmonic radio-frequency (RF) heating coupled into a deuterium beam are reported. Measurements are based on a set of advanced neutron and gamma-ray spectrometers that, for the first time, observe the plasma simultaneously along vertical and oblique lines of sight. Parameters of the fast ion energy distribution, such as the high energy cut-off of the deuteron distribution function and the RF coupling constant, are determined from data within a uniform analysis framework for neutron and gamma-ray spectroscopy based on a one-dimensional model and by a consistency check among the individual measurement techniques. A systematic difference is seen between the two lines of sight and is interpreted to originate from the sensitivity of the oblique detectors to the pitch-angle structure of the distribution around the resonance, which is not correctly portrayed within the adopted one dimensional model. A framework to calculate neutron and gamma-ray emission from a spatially resolved, two-dimensional deuteron distribution specified by energy/pitch is thus developed and used for a first comparison with predictions from ab initio models of RF heating at multiple harmonics.The results presented in this paper are of relevance for the development of advanced diagnostic techniques for MeV range ions in high performance fusion plasmas, with applications to the experimental validation of RF heating codes and, more generally, to studies of the energy distribution of ions in the MeV range in high performance deuterium and deuterium-tritium plasmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]