Internal kink instability during off-axis electron cyclotron current drive in the DIII-D tokamak

Experimental evidence is reported of an internal kink instability driven by a new mechanism: barely trapped suprathermal electrons produced by off-axis electron cyclotron heating on the DIII-D tokamak. It occurs in plasmas with an evolving safety factor profile q(r) when q(min) approaches 1. This instability is most active when ECCD is applied on the high field side of the flux surface. It has a bursting behavior with poloidal/toroidal mode number = m/n = 1/1. In positive magnetic shear plasmas, this mode becomes the fishbone instability. This observation can be qualitatively explained by the drift reversal of the barely trapped suprathermal electrons.     

Fourier Transform Spectroscopy of the A'(1)Pi-X(1)Sigma(+) System of CaO

The A'(1)Pi-X(1)Sigma(+) near-infrared system of CaO was observed for the first time at high resolution using a Fourier transform spectrometer. The A'(1)Pi-X(1)Sigma(+) chemiluminescence was excited in a Ca + N(2)O flame produced in a Broida-type oven. More than 3000 rotational lines, classified into 19 bands involving the A'(1)Pi 0 /= 2) levels with the nearby b(3)Sigma(+) (v-2) levels has been detected. An extended set of A'(1)Pi (v = 0-3) data has been obtained which is suitable for use in a future multistate deperturbation analysis of the a(3)Pi approximately A'(1)Pi approximately b(3)Sigma(+) approximately A(1)Sigma(+) complex of excited states. The new near-infrared spectra of the A'(1)Pi-X(1)Sigma(+) transition of CaO also permits the first direct high-resolution linkage between the orange and green systems and the near-infrared bands. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Improved Parameterization for Combined Isotopomer Analysis of Diatomic Spectra and Its Application to HF and DF

A new way of representing vibration-rotation term values for multiple isotopomers of a given electronic state of a diatomic molecule is presented which resolves problems associated with the way the conventional combined isotopomer expansion represents the atomic mass-dependent JWKB and Born-Oppenheimer breakdown correction terms. Its application to infrared and microwave data for HF and DF yields new Dunham expansion coefficients and Born-Oppenheimer breakdown correction terms for this species. This procedure is implemented in a generally available computer program for fitting to various types of data involving one or several electronic states of multiple isotopomers of a diatomic molecule. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.     

Mathematics of the Genome

This work gives a mathematical foundation for bifurcation from a stable equilibrium in the genome. We construct idealized dynamics associated with the genome. For this dynamics, we investigate the two main bifurcations from a stable equilibrium. Finally, we give mathematical proofs of existence and points of bifurcation for the repressilator and the toggle gene circuits.     

Alkenyl-Substituted Ketals as Efficient Precursors to Claisen Rearrangement Substrates

Abstract

Alkenyl-substituted ketals 6 readily afford Claisen rearrangement substrates 7 upon treatment with TESOTf/DIPEA. Thermal rearrangement completes this efficient and general process for generation of functionally rich ?-oxy-γ,δ-enones 8.     

Transferring oxygen isotopes to 1,2,4-benzotriazine 1-oxides forming the corresponding 1,4-dioxides by using the HOF·CH3CN complex

Heterocyclic benzotriazine N-oxides are an interesting class of experimental anticancer and antibacterial agents. Analogs with ¹⁸O incorporated into the N-oxide group may offer useful mechanistic tools. We describe the use of H₂¹⁸OF·CH₃CN in a fast, readily executed and high-yielding preparation of 1,2,4-benzotriazine 1,4-dioxides containing an ¹⁸O-label at the 4-oxide position.     

Anti-Fibrotic and Anti-Angiogenic Activities of Osbeckia octandra Leaf Extracts in Thioacetamide-Induced Experimental Liver Cirrhosis

Chronic liver inflammation has become a major global health concern. In the absence of clinical surrogate markers to diagnose inflammatory liver disease, the intervention with effective drugs in modern medicine tends to be late. In Sri Lanka, traditional medical practitioners prescribe herbal preparations from Osbeckia octandra for the prevention and treatment of liver disorders. To test the efficacy of such treatments, we have administered thioacetamide (TAA) to male Wistar rats to induce chronic liver damage (disease control; DC) and examined how various leaf extracts: crude leaf suspension (CLS), boiled leaf extract (BLE), sonicated leaf extract (SLE), methanol leaf extract (MLE) and hexane leaf extract (HLE) of O. octandra ameliorate TAA-induced liver disease. The CLS, BLE and SLE treatments in cirrhotic rats significantly attenuated disease-related changes, such as liver weight and hepato-enzymes. The mRNA levels of Tnf-α were significantly decreased by 3.6, 10 and 3.9 times in CLS, BLE and SLE compared to DC. The same treatments resulted in significantly lower (19.5, 4.2 and 2.4 times) α-Sma levels compared to DC. In addition, Tgf-β1 and Vegf-R2 mRNA expressions were significantly lower with the treatments. Moreover, BLE expressed a strong anti-angiogenic effect. We conclude that CLS, BLE and SLE from O. octandra have potent hepatic anti-fibrotic effects in TAA-induced liver cirrhosis.