Recent Progress in Plasma Control Studies on the Improvement of Plasma Performance in Heliotron J

Recent progress in plasma control studies on the improvement of plasma performance in Heliotron J is reviewed. The supersonic molecular beam injection （SMBI） fueling is successfully applied to Heliotron J plasma. A supersonic H2-beam is effectively injected to increase fueling efficiency and generate a peaked density profile. Local fueling with a short-pulsed SMBI can increase the core plasma density and avoid the degradation arising from edge cooling. Second harmonic electron cyclotron current drive （ECCD） experiments were conducted by launching a focused Gaussian beam with a parallel refractive index of -0.05 ≤ Nil 〈 0.6. Results show that the electron cyclotron （EC） driven current is determined not only by Nil but also by local magnetic field （B） structure where the EC power is deposited. Detailed analysis of the observed NI and B dependences is in progress with a ray-tracing simulation using the TRAVIS code. Fast ion velocity distribution was investigated using fast protons generated by ion cyclotron resonant frequency （ICRF） minority heating. For the standard configuration in Heliotron J, charge ex- change neutral particle analysis （CX-NPA） measurements show higher effective temperature of fast minority protons in the on-axis resonance case compared to that in the HFS （high field side） off-axis resonance case. However, the increase in bulk ion temperature in the HFS resonance case is larger than that in the on-axis resonance.

Long-term effects of various types of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors on changes in glomerular filtration rate in Korea

Few long-term follow-up studies have compared the changes in renal function according to the type of statin used in Korea.We compared the long-term effects of statin intensity and type on the changes in the glomerular filtration rate(GFR).We extracted data of patients who took statin for the first time.We analyzed whether or not different statins affect the changes in GFR at 3 months after baseline and 4 years after.We included 3678 patients and analyzed the changes in GFR.The GFR decreased by 3.2%±0.4%on average 4 years after the first statin prescription,indicating statistically significant deterioration(from 83.5±0.4 mL/min/1.73 m2 to 79.9±0.4 mL/min/1.73 m2,P<0.001).When comparing the GFR among different statins,significant differences were observed between atorvastatin and fluvastatin(−5.3%±0.7%vs.1.2%±2.2%,P<0.05)and between atorvastatin and simvastatin(−5.3%±0.7%vs.−0.7%±0.8%,P<0.05).In pitavastatin(odds ratio[OR]=0.64,95%confidence interval[CI]=0.46-0.87,P<0.005)and simvastatin(OR=0.69,95%CI=0.53-0.91,P<0.008),the GFR rate that decreased by<60 mL/min/1.73 m2 was significantly lower than that of atorvastatin.Regarding long-term statin intake,GFR changed with the type of statin.This work is the first in Korea to compare each statin in terms of changes in the GFR after the statin prescription.