Stability of the low-temperature states of high-pressure microwave discharges

Symmetric (planar, cylindrical, and spherical) models of microwave discharges in air are considered assuming that the deposited energy is removed via heat conduction. The characteristic features of spherical discharges are analyzed in detail, and the conditions for discharge stability are examined. It is shown that discharges in the low-temperature (unstable) state can be stabilized by varying the power of a feedback-controlled microwave source.     

Application of high-voltage electrical discharges and high-pressure homogenization for recovery of intracellular compounds from microalgae Parachlorella kessleri

Treatments with high-voltage electrical discharges (HVED) and high-pressure homogenization (HPH) were studied and compared for the release of ionic components, carbohydrates, proteins, and pigments from microalgae Parachlorella kessleri (P. kessleri). Suspensions (1% w/w) of microalgae were treated by HVED (40 kV/cm, 1–8 ms) or by HPH (400–1200 bar, 1–10 passes). Particle-size distribution (PSD) and microscopic analyses were used to detect the disruption and damage of cells. HVED were very effective for the extraction of ionic cell components and carbohydrates (421 mg/L after 8 ms of the treatment). However, HVED were ineffective for pigments and protein extraction. The concentration of proteins extracted by HVED was just 750 mg/L and did not exceed 15% of the total quantity of proteins. HPH permitted an effective release overall of intracellular compounds from P. kessleri microalgae including a large quantity of proteins, whose release (at 1200 bar) was 4.9 times higher than that obtained by HVED. Consequently, HVED can be used at the first step of the overall extraction process for the selective recovery of low-molecular-weight components. HPH can be then used at the second step for the recovery of remaining cell compounds.

     

Low-voltage underwater electric discharges: Physical properties and application possibilities

Electrical discharges that burn inside an electrolyte bulk and have challenging practical applications are presented. The data on electrophysical and spectral properties of an underwater end-face discharge allowed suggesting the scenario of the discharge origination and development. It includes three stages: bubble growth, a quiet discharge, and an active discharge stage.     

Study of the optical properties of a pulse-periodic high-pressure cesium discharge

Results of theoretical and experimental studies of the optical spectrum of a pulse-periodic high-pressure cesium discharge are presented. The results of calculations are in good agreement with experimental data. The possibility of creating an efficient light source based on recombination emission from the discharge plasma is demonstrated. The formation mechanisms of the continuous spectrum of discharge radiation are considered.     

Analysis of lectin properties with membrane ultrafiltration and high-pressure liquid chromatography.

A convenient method for the analysis of the binding properties of lectin with fluorogenic sugar chains is described. A lectin (concanavalin A or Datura stramonium agglutinin) was mixed with pyridylaminated sugar chains in buffer and the free chains obtained were isolated by membrane ultrafiltration. The amount of free sugar chains in the filtrate was measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography. The binding constants with the sugar chains, reaction kinetics, and other properties of these lectins were easily investigated. The method is simple and could be used to study the characteristics of any lectin in native form.     

Numerical simulations of a high-current plasma lens

The dynamic processes by which an electrostatic plasma lens with a wide-aperture ion beam and electrons produced from the secondary ion-electron emission relaxes to a steady state is investigated for the first time by the particle-in-cell method. The parameters of a two-dimensional mathematical model were chosen to correspond to those of actual plasma lenses used in experimental studies on the focusing of high-current heavy-ion beams at the Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kiev, Ukraine) and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley, USA). It is revealed that the ion background plays a fundamental role in the formation of a high potential relief in the cross section of a plasma lens. It is established that, in the volume of the plasma lens, a stratified electron structure appears that is governed by the nonuniform distribution of the external potential over the fixing electrodes and the insulating magnetic field. The stratification is very pronounced because of the finite sizes of the cylindrical fixing electrodes of the lens. It is shown that the presence of such a structure limits the maximum compression ratio for an ion beam to values that agree with those observed experimentally.     

The use of a high-current electron beam in plasma relativistic microwave oscillators

Relativistic microwave electronics faces the problem of using high currents of relativistic electron beams; i.e., it is possible to use beams the current of which is lower than that of actually existing high-current accelerators. We show the possibility of increasing the power of radiation generated in a plasma relativistic microwave oscillator (PRMO) due to an increase in the absolute value of current. For the beam currents close to the value of limiting vacuum current, the efficiency of microwave generation decreases; therefore, we study PRMO schemes with a high value of limiting vacuum current, i.e., schemes with a small gap between a hollow relativistic electron beam and the waveguide wall. The results of the experiment and numerical simulation are discussed.     

The cortico-thalamic theory for generalised spike-wave discharges

The origin of generalized absence epilepsy is still not known. In the last century, four theories have dominated the debate about the origin of the bilateral synchronous generalized spike-wave discharges associated with absence seizures: the "centrencephalic" theory [Penfield and Jasper], the "cortical" [Bancaud, Niedermeyer, Luders], the "cortico-reticular" theory [Gloor, Kostop[oulos, Avoli] and the "thalamic clock" theory [Buzsaki]. There is now some evidence that absence epilepsy, as studied in the WAG/Rij model, is a corticothalamic type of epilepsy. A new hypothesis is proposed which suggests that a cortical focus in the somatosensory cortex is driving the widespread corticothalamic networks during spontaneous absence seizures. This modern theory was given the name "hot spot' theory" [Meeren et al., 2002]. According to the present view three brain structures are critically involved and their integrity seems a minimal and sufficient condition for the occurrence of spike-wave discharges. Firstly, the reticular thalamic nucleus is involved and most likely its rostral pole. Secondly, the thalamocortical relay cells in the ventrobasal complex play a role and, thirdly and most importantly, the cerebral cortex with its epileptic zone. The zone in which the epileptic focus seems to be localised is located on the somato-sensory cortex, and more precisely in the area on which the peri-oral region including the upper lip, projects.     

Effect of a pulsed high-current discharge on hydrogen-air mixtures

A self-consistent model describing the influence of a pulsed discharge on H₂-air mixtures is developed. The model includes the processes of ionization, dissociation, and excitation of the gas molecules by electron impacts; a set of ion-molecular reactions determining the time evolution of the charged particle densities; the processes involving electronically excited atoms and molecules; and a set of reactions describing the ignition of hydrogen-oxygen mixtures. Results are presented from simulations of the oxidation dynamics of hydrogen molecules in a stoichiometric H₂-air mixture and the ignition of such a mixture under the action of a pulsed high-current discharge. The simulation results are compared with available experimental data and calculations performed by other authors.     

Phenomenology of a high-current negative point-to-plane corona in nitrogen

Results are presented from experimental studies of a steady-state negative point-to-plane corona in atmospheric-pressure nitrogen at anomalously high (milliampere) currents. The evolution of the corona glow with increasing discharge current is traced up to the corona conversion into a spark. It was found that the structure and current-voltage characteristic of the corona change significantly when the working gas is slowly blown trough the discharge cell. It is shown that, starting from a current of I≥0.5 mA, a negative corona in a nitrogen flow acts as a streamer corona, whereas there are no streamers in the absence of gas blowing. In contrast to the quadratic dependence of the current versus voltage in a low-current corona, the current-voltage characteristic of a high-current corona is linear. The time evolution of the radial profile of the current density at the anode is studied under different experimental conditions.     

Vortex electron dynamics in a high-current plasma lens

An analytic study is made of the following problems: the instability of a plasma against the excitation of vortex turbulence, the turbulence saturation amplitude, the types and spatial structures of the nascent vortices, and their nonlinear growth rates in an electrostatic plasma lens for focusing high-current ion beams.     

Volumetric properties underlying ligand binding in a monomeric hemoglobin: A high-pressure NMR study

The 2/2 hemoglobin of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002, GlbN, coordinates the heme iron with two histidines and exists either with a b heme or with a covalently attached heme. The binding of exogenous ligands displaces the distal histidine and induces a conformational rearrangement involving the reorganization of internal void volumes. The formation of passageways within the resulting conformation is thought to facilitate ligand exchange and play a functional role. Here we monitored the perturbation induced by pressure on the ferric bis-histidine and cyanide-bound states of GlbN using ¹H–¹⁵N HSQC NMR spectroscopy. We inspected the outcome with a statistical analysis of 170 homologous 2/2 hemoglobin sequences. We found that the compression landscape of GlbN, as represented by the variation of an average chemical shift parameter, was highly sensitive to ligand swapping and heme covalent attachment. Stabilization of rare conformers was observed at high pressures and consistent with cavity redistribution upon ligand binding. In all states, the EF loop was found to be exceptionally labile to pressure, suggesting a functional role as a semi-flexible hinge between the adjacent helices. Finally, coevolved clusters presented a common pattern of compensating pressure responses. The high-pressure dissection combined with protein sequence analysis established locations with volumetric signatures relevant to residual communication of 2/2 hemoglobins. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Oxygen Binding and Sensing Proteins.     

Parametric turbulence-sustained gas discharges

A brief review is given of papers on the RF production of a plasma whose electrons are heated due to the parametric turbulence driven by an alternating electric pump field and maintain the discharge by ionizing the working gas atoms. Results are summarized from studies of low-frequency parametric turbulence, specifically, ion-acoustic plasma turbulence in a magnetic field, ion-cyclotron turbulence associated with the excitation of ion Bernstein modes, and lower hybrid turbulence in a plasma with ions of one or two species. The turbulence level and the rate of turbulent heating of the electrons and ions are presented, and the results of modeling of these phenomena are described. Attention is focused on experiments in which low-frequency parametric turbulence may be observed.     

Sterilization by electrohydraulic discharges

High voltage electric discharges between two electrodes immersed in a liquid (“electrohydraulic discharges”) inactivate microorganisms suspended in the liquid. The intense pulse of UV radiation emitted from the plasma formed between the electrodes causes most of the bactericidal effects, rather than shock waves, or free radicals or other chemical species formed in the liquid medium. A method of sterilizing materials without contamination from electrode debris is described. Possible applications and limitations of the technique are outlined.     

Nonthermal decomposition of nitrous oxide in a high-current pulsed discharge

The kinetics of the nonthermal decomposition of nitrous oxide (N₂O) in a nonequilibrium plasma is investigated experimentally. A numerical model of the process is constructed and used to simulate the decomposition of N₂O in a high-current pulsed discharge. The most important channels for decomposition are revealed by analyzing the results obtained. The role of the charged, electronically excited, and vibrationally excited components is examined. It is shown that the mechanism for the thermally nonequilibrium decomposition of N₂O in a high-current pulsed discharge is governed by the reactions involving ions and electronically excited molecules.     

Collective ion acceleration during the decay of a high-current Z-pinch

A study is made of the Z-pinch plasma expansion after the current is switched off. Measurements were carried out in experiments on the implosion of tungsten wire arrays in the Angara-5-1 facility. It is found experimentally that, at a distance of 2 m from the pinch, the ion velocity in the expanding Z-pinch plasma is about (2.5–4.0) × 10⁷ cm/s, which substantially exceeds the thermal velocity of tungsten ions. A model describing the plasma expansion process is proposed that is based on the ambipolar acceleration mechanism. The results of numerical simulations are compared with the experimental data.     

Focusing of heavy ion beams by a high-current plasma lens

Results are presented from studies of the focusing of wide-aperture low-energy (100–400 eV) and moderate-energy (5–25 keV) beams of heavy-metal ions by a high-current electrostatic plasma lens. It is found experimentally that, because of the significant electron losses, the efficient focusing of such beams can be achieved only if the external potentials at the plasma-lens electrodes are maintained constant. Static and dynamic characteristics of the lens are studied under these conditions. It is shown that, as the beam current and the electrode voltage increase, the maximum electrostatic field in the lens tends to a certain limiting value because of the increase in the spatial potential near the lens axis. The role of spherical and moment aberrations in the focusing of wide-aperture low-divergence ion beams is revealed. It is shown that, even when spherical aberrations are minimized, unremovable moment aberrations decrease the maximum compression ratio of a low-energy heavy-ion beam because of the charge separation of multiply charged ions in the focal region. At the same time, as the ion energy increases, the role of the moment aberrations decreases and the focusing of high-current heavy-ion beams by a plasma lens becomes more efficient than the focusing of light-ion (hydrogen) beams. This opens up the possibility of using electrostatic plasma lenses to control ion beams in high-dose ion implanters and high-current accelerators of heavy ions.