Notes: Experimental test of the radial force balance equation was done in the Compact Helical System Heliotron/Torsatron [S. Okamura et al. Nucl. Fusion 39, 1337 (1999)]. A radial electric field is measured with a heavy ion beam probe, while plasma rotation and drift velocity of fully ionized carbon are measured with charge exchange spectroscopy. The two measurements agree with each other to within 10% of the radial electric field in a wide range of electron densities of 0.3–2.0×1019 m−3. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Since the start of the Large Helical Device (LHD) experiment, various attempts have been made to achieve improved plasma performance in LHD [A. Iiyoshi et al., Nucl. Fusion 39, 1245 (1999)]. Recently, an inward-shifted configuration with a magnetic axis position Rax of 3.6 m has been found to exhibit much better plasma performance than the standard configuration with Rax of 3.75 m. A factor of 1.6 enhancement of energy confinement time was achieved over the International Stellarator Scaling 95. This configuration has been predicted to have unfavorable magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) properties, based on linear theory, even though it has significantly better particle-orbit properties, and hence lower neoclassical transport loss. However, no serious confinement degradation due to the MHD activities was observed, resolving favorably the potential conflict between stability and confinement at least up to the realized volume-averaged beta 〈β〉 of 2.4%. An improved radial profile of electron temperature was also achieved in the configuration with magnetic islands, minimized by an external perturbation coil system for the Local Island Divertor (LID). The LID has been proposed for remarkable improvement of plasma confinement like the high (H) mode in tokamaks, and the LID function was suggested in limiter experiments. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Two-dimensional profiles (32×16 spatial channels) of energy spectra of x-ray emission are measured with an energy resolution of 0.16 keV using the photon counting soft x-ray charge coupled device (CCD) camera by optimizing the intensity of x ray with attenuation Be filter in the compact helical system. The energy spectra measured with the CCD camera agrees with that estimated from electron temperature and density measured with YAG Thomson scattering. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Absolute measurements of poloidal rotation velocity with the accuracy up to 1 km/s (2 pm in wavelength) were done using charge exchange spectroscopy in a large helical device. Radial profiles of the absolute Doppler shift of charge exchange emission with a beam are obtained from spectra measured with four sets of optical fiber arrays that view downward and upward at the poloidal cross section with and without neutral beam injection. By arranging the optical fiber from four arrays close to each other at the entrance slit, the apparent Doppler shift due to aberrations of the spectrometer and due to interference of the cold component (the charge exchange between He-like oxygen and thermal neutrals 8 pm from the charge exchange emission with a beam) can be eliminated from the measurements. The measured poloidal rotation velocity is 1–3 km/s in the electron diamagnetic direction at half of the plasma minor radius. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The aim of glaucoma therapy is to preserve vision by reducing intraocular pressure (IOP). Following recent National Eye Institute sponsored studies, it is becoming increasingly apparent that every mmHg of extra IOP lowering counts.Bimatoprost is the newest and most effective addition to the physician's armamentarium of ocular hypotensive drugs. Direct clinical comparisons have demonstrated that it is more efficacious than the prostaglandin (PG) FP receptor agonist prodrugs, latanoprost and travoprost, as well as a β-adrenoceptor antagonist, timolol, alone or in fixed combination with the carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, dorzolamide. Moreover, patients that are refractory to latanoprost therapy may be successfully treated with bimatoprost. Such evidence provides support, at the clinical level, for the contention that bimatoprost is pharmacologically distinct from PG FP receptor agonist prodrugs.Bimatoprost is a structural analog of PGF2α-ethanolamide (prostamide F2α), which is formed from the endocannabinoid anandamide by a biosynthetic pathway involving cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Their pharmacology is remarkably similar, such that bimatoprost may be regarded as a prostamide mimetic. The target receptor for bimatoprost and the prostamides appears unique and unrelated to PG- and endocannabinoid-sensitive receptors. Extensive ocular distribution/metabolism studies in non-human primates demonstrate that bimatoprost is not a prodrug, it remains essentially intact. Its profound ocular hypotensive effects may, therefore, be attributed to its prostamide-mimetic properties.

Notes: Haplotype associations of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) with psoriasis vulgaris (PV) have been demonstrated in different racial or ethnic populations. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the different haplotype associations of the MHC in Chinese patients with psoriasis according to the type of onset and their sex. One hundred and thirty-eight patients with PV and 149 normal control subjects without psoriasis were typed for HLA-A, -B, -C, -DQA1, -DQB1 and -DRB1 by using the PCR with sequence-specific primers. The results showed: (i) HLA-A*26 (26.1% vs. 12.1%, Pc 〈 1 × 10−5), -B*27 (17.03% vs. 1.01%, Pc 〈 1 × 10−7), -Cw*0602 (15.58% vs. 5.03%, Pc 〈 1 × 10−2), -DQA1*0104 (19.93% vs. 9.40%, Pc 〈 1 × 10−3), -DQA1*0201 (22.40% vs. 10.74%, Pc 〈 1 × 10−3), -DQB1*0303 (18.12% vs. 9.73%, Pc 〈 1 × 10−7), and -DRB1*0701/02 (26.09% vs. 9.73%, Pc 〈 1 × 10−7) were significantly increased in PV patients, while HLA-B*57, -DQB1*0201 were slightly increased in PV patients. HLA-Cw*0304 (5.07% vs. 14.43%, Pc 〈 1 × 10−3), -DQA1*0501 (5.79% vs. 14.09%, Pc 〈 0.05) were found to be negatively associated with PV, but HLA-A*2 (2.54% vs. 6.38%, Pc 〈 0.5) was decreased in PV patients without statistical significance. (ii) HLA-A*26-B*27 [P 〈 0.0001, odds ratio (OR) = 48.38], -A*26-Cw*0602 (P 〈 0.0001, OR = 11.84), -B*27-Cw*0602 (P 〈 0.0001, OR = undefined), -DRB1*0701/02-B*27 (P 〈 0.0001, OR = 22.62), -DRB1*0701/02-DQA1*0104 (P 〈 0.0002, OR = 3.59), -DRB1*0701/02-DQB1*0303 (P 〈 0.0001, OR = 5.63), -DQA1*0201-DQB1*0303 (P 〈 0.0002, OR = 7.77), -A*26-B*27-Cw*0602 (P 〈 0.0004, OR = undefined), -A*26-DRB1*0701/02-DQA1*0201-DQB1*0303 (P 〈 0.01, OR = undefined) were identified as risk haplotypes for patients with PV in China. (iii) HLA-A*26 -B*27 (P 〈 0.0001, OR = 58.47), -DQA1*0201-DQB1*0303 (P 〈 0.0001, OR = 8.62), -DRB1*0701/02 -DQA1*0104 (P 〈 0.0002, OR = 4.13), -DRB1*0701/02-DQB1*0303 (P 〈 0.0001, OR = 6.68) and -A*26-DRB1*0701-DQA1*0201 -DQB1*0303 (P 〈 0.006, OR = undefined) were only significantly associated with type I psoriasis compared with controls, while others showed no differences in either type I or type II psoriasis. (iv) These associated haplotypes with PV were not different by sex, except that the frequency of DRB1*0701/02-DQB1*0303 (P 〈 0.0001, OR = 10.14) was higher in male patients with psoriasis. To summarize, this study demonstrated a differential association of HLA and identified some special risk haplotypes in Chinese patients with PV compared with other ethnic or racial populations.

Notes: A new x-ray imaging technique to measure magnetic axis and two-dimensional soft x-ray energy spectra for a long-pulse discharge has been developed by utilizing a soft x-ray photon-counting charge-coupled-device (CCD) camera. This system consists of pinholes, Be filters, and a 1024×1024 frame-transfer back-illumination CCD detector (the imaging area has 1024×512 pixels). By choosing appropriate combinations of pinholes and Be filters, the x-ray flux is adjusted to the level suited for photon-counting mode and imaging mode, respectively. The Shafranov shift is derived from a two-dimensional soft x-ray intensity map measured in the imaging mode in the compact helical system (CHS) and large helical device. Two-dimensional profiles of electron temperature and two-dimensional profiles of high-Z impurity Kα radiation intensity are derived from two-dimensional energy spectra of x rays measured in photon-counting mode for the CHS hot-electron-mode plasma. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: We have investigated the structural and chemical properties of reconstructed Sr/Si(001) surfaces at different Sr coverages using low energy electron diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy. The results show that upon low temperature oxidation and subsequent UHV annealing of the Sr/Si(001)-(2×1) surface, a crystalline Sr2SiO4 silicate-like layer formed. Using this layer as a template, single-crystal SrO thin films were grown on Si(001) substrates. Our results provide microscopic and spectroscopic evidence of the formation of a uniform, stable, two-dimensional crystalline silicate that can be used for growth of single-crystal oxides on Si(001) substrates. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: We have used photoemission methods to directly measure the valence and conduction band offsets at SrTiO3/Si(001) interfaces, as prepared by molecular-beam epitaxy. Within experimental error, the measured values are the same for growth on n- and p-Si, with the entire band discontinuity occurring at the valence band edge. In addition, band bending is much larger at the p-Si heterojunction than at the n-type heterojunction. Previously published threshold voltage behavior for these interfaces can now be understood in light of the present results. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.