Feedback suppression of resistive wall modes in a tokamak

The possibility of feedback suppression of the external kink modes in a tokamak with a resistive wall is studied theoretically, assuming that the stabilizing conductors are located at a certain distance from the wall and without making any assumptions regarding the locations of the magnetic sensors that close the feedback circuit and the parameters (i.e., the particular components of the perturbed magnetic field or magnetic fluxes) measured by the sensors. It is shown that the efficiency of the stabilizing system can generally be analyzed within a two-parameter model. The parameters of the problem are the jump in the logarithmic derivative of the radial magnetic field in the region where the stabilizing conductors are positioned and the ratio of the minor radius of the torus on which the conductors are wound to the radius of the wall. However, specific calculations should be carried out with at least a three-parameter model: the final results should depend on the currents in the conductors and the locations of the conductors and magnetic sensors. The relation between the magnetic parameter in the criterion for the suppression of the resistive wall modes and the currents in the stabilizing conductors is clarified, and the current magnitudes required for the suppression are estimated.     

Modeling of the feedback stabilization of the resistive wall modes in a tokamak

The problem of feedback stabilization of the resistive wall modes (RWMs) in a tokamak is discussed. An equilibrium configuration with the parameters accepted for the stationary ITER scenario 4A is considered as the main scenario. The effect of the vacuum chamber's shape on the plasma stability is studied. Ideal MHD stability is analyzed numerically by using the KINX code. It is shown that, in a tokamak with the parameters of the designed T-15M tokamak, RWMs can be stabilized by a conventional stabilizing system made of framelike coils. However, the maximum possible gain in β in such a tokamak is found to be smaller than that in ITER. It is shown that, in this case, a reduction in the plasma—wall gap width by 10 cm allows one to substantially increase the β limit, provided that RWMs are stabilized by active feedback.     

Chest wall distortion during resistive inspiratory loading

We studied six (1 naive and 5 experienced) subjects breathing with added inspiratory resistive loads while we recorded chest wall motion (anteroposterior rib cage, anteroposterior abdomen, and lateral rib cage) and tidal volumes. In the five experienced subjects, transdiaphragmatic and pleural pressures, and electromyographs of the sternocleidomastoid and abdominal muscles were also measured. Subjects inspired against the resistor spontaneously and then with specific instructions to reach a target pleural or transdiaphragmatic pressure or to maximize selected electromyographic activities. Depending on the instructions, a wide variety of patterns of inspiratory motion resulted. Although the forces leading to a more elliptical or circular configuration of the chest wall can be identified, it is difficult to analyze or predict the configurational results based on insertional and pressure-related contributions of a few individual respiratory muscles. Although overall chest wall respiratory motion cannot be readily inferred from the electromyographic and pressure data we recorded, it is clear that responses to loading can vary substantially within and between individuals. Undoubtedly, the underlying mechanism for the distortional changes with loading are complex and perhaps many are behavioral rather than automatic and/or compensatory.     

A unified approach to description of the fast and slow resistive wall modes in tokamaks

The formulation of the boundary conditions is considered in the problem of the resistive wall mode (RWM) stability in tokamaks. The mode-wall interaction, usually modeled in the thin-wall approximation, is described here with account of the finite thickness of the wall and skin effect. It allows one to step beyond the standard restrictions into the area of faster RWMs than the usual ??slow?? RWMs near the stability threshold. The analysis is carried out with the energy balance equations incorporating the dissipation in the wall. The approach is equally applicable to the modes of any kind and allows natural matching of the exterior problem with the models for the inner region. For example, it allows one to connect the outer task to the classical energy principle for the inner area. It is shown how to calculate the RWM growth rates within this model. A general algorithm with equations applicable to arbitrary toroidal systems and its full realization in the conventional cylindrical model are described. In the latter case, it is shown that the growth rate of the ??fast?? RWMs essentially differs from the estimates of the standard theory of slow RWMs. The analysis proves that the RWM theory has to be complemented by the additional block of calculations for more correct formulation of the boundary conditions on the inner side of the wall than that in the theory with an ideal or thin resistive wall.     

Reconciling strong stabilizing selection with the maintenance of genetic variation in a natural population of black field crickets (Teleogryllus commodus)

Genetic variation in single traits, including those closely related to fitness, is pervasive and generally high. By contrast, theory predicts that several forms of selection, including stabilizing selection, will eliminate genetic variation. Stabilizing selection in natural populations tends to be stronger than that assumed in theoretical models of the maintenance of genetic variation. The widespread presence of genetic variation in the presence of strong stabilizing selection is a persistent problem in evolutionary genetics that currently has no compelling explanation. The recent insight that stabilizing selection often acts most strongly on trait combinations via correlational selection may reconcile this problem. Here we show that for a set of male call properties in the cricket Teleogryllus commodus, the pattern of multivariate stabilizing sexual selection is closely associated with the degree of additive genetic variance. The multivariate trait combinations experiencing the strongest stabilizing selection harbored very little genetic variation while combinations under weak selection contained most of the genetic variation. Our experiment provides empirical support for the prediction that a small number of trait combinations experiencing strong stabilizing selection will have reduced genetic variance and that genetically independent trait combinations experiencing weak selection can simultaneously harbor much higher levels of genetic variance.     

Stabilizing Control for a Pulsatile Cardiovascular Mathematical Model

In this paper, we develop a pulsatile model for the cardiovascular system which describes the reaction of this system to a submaximal constant workload imposed on a person at a bicycle ergometer test after a period of rest. Furthermore, the model should allow to use measurements for the pulsatile pressure in fingertips which provide information on the diastolic and the systolic pressure for parameter estimation. Based on the assumption that the baroreceptor loop is the essential control loop in this case, we design a stabilizing feedback control for the pulsatile model which is obtained by solving a linear-quadratic regulator problem for the linearization of a non-pulsatile counterpart of the pulsatile model. We also investigate the behavior of the model with respect to changes in the weight of the term in the cost functional for the linear-quadratic regulator problem which penalizes the deviation of the momentary pressure in the aorta from the pressure at the stationary situation which should be obtained.     

Stabilizing PID controllers for a single-link biomechanical model with position, velocity, and force feedback

In this paper we address the problem of PID stabilization of a single-link inverted pendulum-based biomechanical model with force feedback, two levels of position and velocity feedback, and with delays in all the feedback loops. The novelty of the proposed model lies in its physiological relevance, whereby both small and medium latency sensory feedbacks from muscle spindle (MS), and force feedback from Golgi tendon organ (GTO) are included in the formulation. The biomechanical model also includes active and passive viscoelastic feedback from Hill-type muscle model and a second-order low-pass function for muscle activation. The central nervous system (CNS) regulation of postural movement is represented by a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. Padé approximation of delay terms is employed to arrive at an overall rational transfer function of the biomechanical model. The Hermite-Biehler theorem is then used to derive stability results, leading to the existence of stabilizing PID controllers. An algorithm for selection of stabilizing feedback gains is developed using the linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach.     

Cytokines and resistive breathing

The results of recent experimental studies indicating the involvement of the immune system in the control of breathing are analyzed and summarized. The hypothesis on the role of cytokines in the mechanisms of respiratory muscle fatigue and a decrease in the ventilatory sensitivity to hypercapnia during respiration with the added resistive load is justified. Possible ways of implementation of the respiratory cytokine effects are discussed.     

Cytokines and resistive breathing

This review summarizes and analyzes the results of the present experimental studies indicating immune system involvement in control of breathing. The hypothesis about the role of cytokines in the mechanisms of respiratory muscle fatigue and reduced ventilatory sensitivity to hypercapnia during respiration with the added resistive loading is justified. The possible ways of implementing of respiratory cytokine effects are discussed.     

Energy approach to stability analysis of the locked and rotating resistive wall modes in tokamaks

A method is proposed for stability analysis of the locked and rotating resistive wall modes (RWMs) in tokamaks. The method is based on the relations describing the balance of energy permeating through the vessel wall. This is a natural extension of the traditional energy approach to the plasma stability tasks which allows incorporation of the energy outflow (absent in the classical energy principle) and its dissipation in the wall. The proposed method covers the locked and rotating modes with a complex growth rate. Its efficiency is proved by derivation of a general dispersion relation for such modes with further reduction to particular consequences for slow and fast RWMs. It is shown that in the latter case, when the skin depth becomes smaller than the wall thickness, the mode rotation essentially amplifies its damping, weakening and even suppressing the instability. This effect was earlier found in the frame of the slab model [V. D. Pustovitov, Phys. Plasmas 19, 062503 (2012)]. Here, it is confirmed with equations valid for toroidal geometry, which are obtained as a supplement to the standard energy principle. The presented results predict strong rotational stabilization of the fast RWMs, which occurs at the mode rotation frequency above a critical level. The estimates are given to allow comparison of these predictions with experimental results.     

Drift-Alfvén turbulence in a tokamak wall plasma

The behavior of turbulent fluxes in the vicinity of a resonant point m/n=q(x _res) in a plane wall plasma layer in a tokamak is studied by numerically analyzing the nonlinear MHD equations in a four-field electromagnetic model. Simulations show that, as the electron temperature at the plasma edge increases, the intensity of turbulent particle flux decreases, reaching its minimum value, and then increases. Such behavior is found to be due to the stabilizing effect of the electron drift velocity (V _y0∼dT _e0/dx) in the equation for the longitudinal component of the magnetic potential. It is shown that, at a strong toroidal magnetic field, turbulent transport processes conform to the gyro-Bohm scaling, which gradually passes over to the Bohm scaling as the field decreases. __________ Translated from Fizika Plazmy, Vol. 30, No. 5, 2004, pp. 387–397. Original Russian Text Copyright ￠ 2004 by Shurygin.     

Cyclic control in ecosystems

The theory of feedback control as a possible stabilizing mechanism has already been introduced into ecosystem analysis. One problem in the theory is the identification of the informational links by which such controls operate. Cyclic controls—for example, zero- mean sine functions added to certain exchange flows in the system—might also contribute to system stability. Their advantage is that they operate without need for information from the rest of the system. The theory of ecosystem cyclic control is presented and applied to data from an oyster reef ecosystem.     

Stability analysis of a continuum-based constrained mixture model for vascular growth and remodeling

A stabilizing criterion is derived for equations governing vascular growth and remodeling. We start from the integral state equations of the continuum-based constrained mixture theory of vascular growth and remodeling and obtain a system of time-delayed differential equations describing vascular growth. By employing an exponential form of the constituent survival function, the delayed differential equations can be reduced to a nonlinear ODE system. We demonstrate the degeneracy of the linearized system about the homeostatic state, which is a fundamental cause of the neutral stability observations reported in prior studies. Due to this degeneracy, stability conclusions for the original nonlinear system cannot be directly inferred. To resolve this problem, a sub-system is constructed by recognizing a linear relation between two states. Subsequently, Lyapunov’s indirect method is used to connect stability properties between the linearized system and the original nonlinear system, to rigorously establish the neutral stability properties of the original system. In particular, this analysis leads to a stability criterion for vascular expansion in terms of growth and remodeling kinetic parameters, geometric quantities and material properties. Numerical simulations were conducted to evaluate the theoretical stability criterion under broader conditions, as well as study the influence of key parameters and physical factors on growth properties. The theoretical results are also compared with prior numerical and experimental findings in the literature.     

The mechanical unfolding of ubiquitin through all-atom Monte Carlo simulation with a Go-type potential

The mechanical unfolding of proteins under a stretching force has an important role in living systems and is a logical extension of the more general protein folding problem. Recent advances in experimental methodology have allowed the stretching of single molecules, thus rendering this process ripe for computational study. We use all-atom Monte Carlo simulation with a Gō-type potential to study the mechanical unfolding pathway of ubiquitin. A detailed, robust, well-defined pathway is found, confirming existing results in this vein though using a different model. Additionally, we identify the protein's fundamental stabilizing secondary structure interactions in the presence of a stretching force and show that this fundamental stabilizing role does not persist in the absence of mechanical stress. The apparent success of simulation methods in studying ubiquitin's mechanical unfolding pathway indicates their potential usefulness for future study of the stretching of other proteins and the relationship between protein structure and the response to mechanical deformation.     

Stabilization of cortical microtubules by the cell wall in cultured tobacco cells

Cortical microtubules (MTs) in protoplasts prepared from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) BY-2 cells were found to be sensitive to cold. However, as the protoplasts regenerated cell walls they became resistant to cold, indicating that the cell wall stabilizes cortical MTs against the effects of cold. Since poly-l-lysine was found to stabilize MTs in protoplasts, we examined extensin, an important polycationic component of the cell wall, and found it also to be effective in stabilizing the MTs of protoplasts. Both extensin isolated from culture filtrates of tobacco BY-2 cells and extensin isolated in a similar way from cultures of tobacco XD-6S cells rendered the cortical MTs in protoplasts resistant to cold. Extensin at 0.1 mg·ml⁻¹ was as effective as the cell wall in this respect. It is probable that extensin in the cell wall plays an important role in stabilizing cortical MTs in tobacco BY-2 cells.     

Oxygen cost of inspiratory loading: resistive vs. elastic

We measured the O2 cost of breathing (VO2resp) against external inspiratory elastic (E) and resistive loads (R) when end-expiratory lung volume, tidal volume, breathing frequency, work rate, and pressure-time product were matched in each of six pairs of runs in six subjects. During E, peak inspiratory mouth pressure was 65.7 +/- 1.8% (SD) of the maximum at functional residual capacity. However, during resistive runs, peak inspiratory mouth pressure was 41.1 +/- 2.8% of the maximum at functional residual capacity. In 36 paired runs, where both work rate and pressure-time product were within 10%, VO2resp for E was less than for R (81 and 96 ml/min, respectively; P less than 0.01). During loaded and unloaded breathing with the same tidal volume, we measured the changes in anteroposterior diameter of the lower rib cage in five subjects. In four subjects we also recorded the electromyograms of several fixator and stabilizing muscles. During E and R, the change in anteroposterior diameter of the lower rib cage was -116 +/- 5 and -45 +/- 4% (SE), respectively, of the unloaded value (P less than 0.01), indicating greater deformation during E. Although the peak electromyographic activity was 72 +/- 16% greater during E (P less than 0.01), there was no difference between the loads for area under the electromyogram time curve (P greater than 0.05). However, the time to 50% peak activity was less during R (P less than 0.02). We conclude that, even when work rate and pressure-time product are matched, VO2resp during R is greater than that during E. This difference may be due to preferential recruitment of faster and less efficient muscle fibers.     

Monitoring bacterial growth using tunable resistive pulse sensing with a pore-based technique

A novel bacterial growth monitoring method using a tunable resistive pulse sensor (TRPS) system is introduced in this study for accurate and sensitive measurement of cell size and cell concentration simultaneously. Two model bacterial strains, Bacillus subtilis str.168 (BSU168) and Escherichia coli str.DH5α (DH5α), were chosen for benchmarking the growth-monitoring performance of the system. Results showed that the technique of TRPS is sensitive and accurate relative to widely used methods, with a lower detection limit of cell concentration measurement of 5?×?10⁵ cells/ml; at the same time, the mean coefficient of variation from TRPS was within 2 %. The growth of BSU168 and DH5α in liquid cultures was studied by TRPS, optical density (OD), and colony plating. Compared to OD measurement, TRPS-measured concentration correlates better with colony plating (R?=?0.85 vs. R?=?0.72), which is often regarded as the gold standard of cell concentration determination. General agreement was also observed by comparing TRPS-derived cell volume measurements and those determined from microscopy. We have demonstrated that TRPS is a reliable method for bacterial growth monitoring, where the study of both cell volume and cell concentration are needed to provide further details about the physical aspects of cell dynamics in real time.     

On the possibility for computing the transmembrane potential in the heart with a one shot method: an inverse problem

We analyze the possibility for using body surface potential maps (BSPMs), a priori information about the voltage distribution in the heart and the bidomain equations to compute the transmembrane potential throughout the myocardium. Our approach is defined in terms of an inverse problem for elliptic partial differential equations (PDEs). More precisely, we formulate it in terms of an output least squares framework in which a goal functional is minimized subject to suitable PDE constraints. The problem is highly unstable and, even under optimal recording conditions, it does not have a unique solution. We propose a methodology for stabilizing and enforcing uniqueness for this inverse problem. Moreover, a fully implicit method for solving the involved minimization problem is presented. In other words, we show how one may solve it in terms of a system consisting of three linear elliptic PDEs, i.e. we derive a so-called one shot method (also commonly referred to as an all-at-once method). Finally, our theoretical findings are illuminated by a series of numerical experiments. These examples indicate that, in the presence of regional ischemia, it might be possible to approximately recover the transmembrane potential during the resting and plateau phases of the heart cycle. This is probably due to the fact that rather accurate a priori information is available during these time intervals. The problem of computing the transmembrane potential at an arbitrary time instance during a heart beat is still an open problem.     

Stabilization of "A" particles of coxsackievirus B3 by a HeLa cell plasma membrane extract.

Previous studies in our laboratory showed that HeLa cell plasma membranes were recovered from sucrose gradients in two major bands and that the heavier band possessed a putative inhibitor of uncoating of coxsackievirus B3. It has now been found that the mechanism of inhibition is the stabilization of "A" particles against inactivation at 37 degrees C. [3H]uridine-labeled virions converted to A particles by band 4, the heavier band, were four times more stable at 37 degrees C than those produced by band 3. Partially purified A particles from both bands were equally unstable. It was found that the stabilizing factor was extractable by saline from band 4 and remained soluble after centrifugation (109,000 X g for 2 h). Addition to A particles of this soluble factor isolated from either band 4 or band 3 stabilized the A particles. The stabilizing factor could not be replaced by an extract from band 3 or by bovine serum albumin. Thus, the finding that the membrane factor inhibits virus uncoating by stabilizing A particles against spontaneous disruption at 37 degrees C focuses attention on an inherent problem associated with defining receptor-mediated virus uncoating.