  Nonlinear tranlational symmetric equilibria with up to quartic flux terms in
the free functions, reversed magnetic shear and sheared flow are constructed in
two ways: i) quasianalytically by an ansatz which reduces the pertinent
generalized Grad-Shafranov equation to a set of ordinary differential equations
and algebraic constraints which is then solved numerically, and ii) completely
numerically by prescribing analytically a boundary having an X-point. The
equilibrium characteristics are then examined by means of the pressure, safety
factor, current density and electric field. For flows parallel to the magnetic
field the stability of the equilibria constructed is also examined by applying
a sufficient condition. It turns out that the equilibrium nonlinearity has a
stabilizing impact which is slightly enhanced by the sheared flow. In addition,
the results indicate that the stability is affected by the up-down asymmetry.

Plasma Physics