The pathogenesis of disease progression in drug-refractory epilepsy is poorly understood. We report the case of a young woman with a four-year history of epilepsy that progressed rapidly as evidenced by the development of progressive focal cortical atrophy. She underwent biopsy that showed perinatal ischemia and a prominent inflammatory response, including T-cell infiltration and microglial activation. There was no consensus reached on the final diagnosis although the hypothesis of dual pathology (adult variant of Rasmussen's encephalitis and perinatal stroke) was considered. The possible role of inflammation in the progression of epilepsy caused by a "static" lesion (perinatal stroke) is discussed.

Recent experiments using DIII-D's capability to vary the injected torque at constant power have focused on developing the physics basis for understanding rotation through the detailed study of momentum sources, sinks and transport. Non-resonant magnetic braking has generally been considered a sink of momentum; however, recent results from DIII-D suggest that it may also act as a source. The torque applied by the field depends on the rotation relative to a non-zero 'offset' rotation. Therefore, at low initial rotation, the application of non-resonant magnetic fields can actually result in a spin-up of the plasma. Direct evidence of the effect of reverse shear Alfvén eigenmodes on plasma rotation has been observed, which has been explained through a redistribution of the fast ions and subsequent modification to the neutral beam torque profile. An effective momentum source has been identified by varying the input torque from neutral beam injection at fixed βN, until the plasma rotation across the entire profile is essentially zero. This torque profile is largest near the edge, but is still non-negligible in the core, qualitatively consistent with models for a so-called 'residual stress'. Perturbative studies of the rotation using combinations of co- and counter-neutral beams have uncovered the existence of a momentum pinch in DIII-D H-mode plasmas, which is quantitatively similar to theoretical predictions resulting from consideration of low-k turbulence. © 2009 IAEA, Vienna.

Recent experiments on DIII-D [J. L. Luxon, Nucl. Fusion 42, 614 (2002)] and National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) [M. Ono, Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 (2000)] have focused on investigating mechanisms of driving rotation in fusion plasmas. The so-called intrinsic rotation is generated by an effective torque, driven by residual stresses in the plasma, which appears to originate in the plasma edge. A clear scaling of this intrinsic drive with the H-mode pressure gradient is observed. Coupled with the experimentally inferred pinch of angular momentum, such an edge source is capable of producing sheared rotation profiles. Intrinsic drive is also possible directly in the core, although the physics mechanisms are much more complex. Another option which is being explored is the use of nonresonant magnetic fields for spinning the plasma. It is found beneficially that the torque from these fields can be enhanced at low rotation, which assists in spinning the plasma from rest, and offers increased resistance against plasma slowing. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.