NEDA—NEutron Detector Array Valiente-Dobón, J.J.; Jaworski, G.; Goasduff, A. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
05/2019, Letnik:
927
Journal Article
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Odprti dostop
The NEutron Detector Array, NEDA, will form the next generation neutron detection system that has been designed to be operated in conjunction with γ-ray arrays, such as the tracking-array AGATA, to ...aid nuclear spectroscopy studies. NEDA has been designed to be a versatile device, with high-detection efficiency, excellent neutron-γ discrimination, and high rate capabilities. It will be employed in physics campaigns in order to maximise the scientific output, making use of the different stable and radioactive ion beams available in Europe. The first implementation of the neutron detector array NEDA with AGATA 1π was realised at GANIL. This manuscript reviews the various aspects of NEDA.
Conceptual design of the AGATA 1π array at GANIL Clément, E.; Michelagnoli, C.; de France, G. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
05/2017, Letnik:
855
Journal Article
Recenzirano
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The Advanced GAmma Tracking Array (AGATA) has been installed at the GANIL facility, Caen-France. This set-up exploits the stable and radioactive heavy-ions beams delivered by the cyclotron ...accelerator complex of GANIL. Additionally, it benefits from a large palette of ancillary detectors and spectrometers to address in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy of exotic nuclei. The set-up has been designed to couple AGATA with a magnetic spectrometer, charged-particle and neutron detectors, scintillators for the detection of high-energy γ rays and other devices such as a plunger to measure nuclear lifetimes. In this paper, the design and the mechanical characteristics of the set-up are described. Based on simulations, expected performances of the AGATA 1π array are presented.
The present work investigates the lubricant capabilities at room and hot-forging temperatures (>1400 K) of three types of lubricants with two different graphite concentrations (8% and 12%). These ...lubricants are distinguished by measuring the percentage of chemical elements and average size of graphite particles. Later, two standardized methods, i.e., pin-on disc and ring test, are utilized to assess the main friction differences under laboratory and real industry conditions, respectively. The results exhibit that the friction values at room temperature are lower for lubricant B, no matter which type of graphite concentration is used, whereas at hot-forging temperatures, greater percentage of graphite enhances lower frictional values when higher deformations are assessed. Additionally, the ring tests performed at hot-forging temperatures show significant tribology differences when the degree of deformation reaches 50%. Particularly, the lubricant B shows the lowest values of friction coefficients of 0.22 and 0.21 for 8% and 12% of graphite concentration, respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that the selection of a proper type of lubricant (regarding chemical composition and size of solid suspension) and the graphite concentration are sensitive parameters, when it comes to achieve different bulk deformations combined with extreme temperatures like in hot-forging process.
Abstract
Background
Research efforts to measure the concept of healthy ageing have been diverse and limited to specific populations. This diversity limits the potential to compare healthy ageing ...across countries and/or populations. In this study, we developed a novel measurement scale of healthy ageing using worldwide cohorts.
Methods
In the Ageing Trajectories of Health-Longitudinal Opportunities and Synergies (ATHLOS) project, data from 16 international cohorts were harmonized. Using ATHLOS data, an item response theory (IRT) model was used to develop a scale with 41 items related to health and functioning. Measurement heterogeneity due to intra-dataset specificities was detected, applying differential item functioning via a logistic regression framework. The model accounted for specificities in model parameters by introducing cohort-specific parameters that rescaled scores to the main scale, using an equating procedure. Final scores were estimated for all individuals and converted to T-scores with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10.
Results
A common scale was created for 343 915 individuals above 18 years of age from 16 studies. The scale showed solid evidence of concurrent validity regarding various sociodemographic, life and health factors, and convergent validity with healthy life expectancy (r = 0.81) and gross domestic product (r = 0.58). Survival curves showed that the scale could also be predictive of mortality.
Conclusions
The ATHLOS scale, due to its reliability and global representativeness, has the potential to contribute to worldwide research on healthy ageing.
The present study proposed a rapid method, based on a previous universal compression tests, to estimate the required load capacity to cold forge different specimen quantity in a screw press. ...Accordingly, experimental and theoretical approach are performed to check new adjustable drive motor of the modified forging machine to achieve a gross available energy to deform the specimens preventing damage of the forging machine. During the forging experiments, two screw friction presses (as-received and modified) are used to validate the theoretical approach. The modified press exhibits an increase of 51% of gross energy and 11% of maximum load capacity compare to the as-received press. This method is used to improve the effective of the forging process avoiding excessive loads that could promote machine failure. Therefore, a low-cost and easy to implement methodology is proposed to determine the energy and load capacity of a screw friction press to forge different specimen quantities with symmetry pattern configurations.
Tranexamic acid reduces death due to bleeding after trauma and postpartum haemorrhage.
The aim of the study was to assess if tranexamic acid is safe, reduces haematoma expansion and improves outcomes ...in adults with spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH).
The TICH-2 (Tranexamic acid for hyperacute primary IntraCerebral Haemorrhage) study was a pragmatic, Phase III, prospective, double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled trial.
Acute stroke services at 124 hospitals in 12 countries (Denmark, Georgia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK).
Adult patients (aged ≥ 18 years) with ICH within 8 hours of onset.
Exclusion criteria were ICH secondary to anticoagulation, thrombolysis, trauma or a known underlying structural abnormality; patients for whom tranexamic acid was thought to be contraindicated; prestroke dependence (i.e. patients with a modified Rankin Scale mRS score > 4); life expectancy < 3 months; and a Glasgow Coma Scale score of < 5.
Participants, allocated by randomisation, received 1 g of an intravenous tranexamic acid bolus followed by an 8-hour 1-g infusion or matching placebo (i.e. 0.9% saline).
The primary outcome was functional status (death or dependency) at day 90, which was measured by the shift in the mRS score, using ordinal logistic regression, with adjustment for stratification and minimisation criteria.
A total of 2325 participants (tranexamic acid,
= 1161; placebo,
= 1164) were recruited from 124 hospitals in 12 countries between 2013 and 2017. Treatment groups were well balanced at baseline. The primary outcome was determined for 2307 participants (tranexamic acid,
= 1152; placebo,
= 1155). There was no statistically significant difference between the treatment groups for the primary outcome of functional status at day 90 adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.88, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.76 to 1.03;
= 0.11. Although there were fewer deaths by day 7 in the tranexamic acid group (aOR 0.73, 95% CI 0.53 to 0.99;
= 0.041), there was no difference in case fatality at 90 days (adjusted hazard ratio 0.92, 95% CI 0.77 to 1.10;
= 0.37). Fewer patients experienced serious adverse events (SAEs) after treatment with tranexamic acid than with placebo by days 2 (
= 0.027), 7 (
= 0.020) and 90 (
= 0.039). There was no increase in thromboembolic events or seizures.
Despite attempts to enrol patients rapidly, the majority of participants were enrolled and treated > 4.5 hours after stroke onset. Pragmatic inclusion criteria led to a heterogeneous population of participants, some of whom had very large strokes. Although 12 countries enrolled participants, the majority (82.1%) were from the UK.
Tranexamic acid did not affect a patient's functional status at 90 days after ICH, despite there being significant modest reductions in early death (by 7 days), haematoma expansion and SAEs, which is consistent with an antifibrinolytic effect. Tranexamic acid was safe, with no increase in thromboembolic events.
Future work should focus on enrolling and treating patients early after stroke and identify which participants are most likely to benefit from haemostatic therapy. Large randomised trials are needed.
Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN93732214.
This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in
; Vol. 23, No. 35. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information. The project was also funded by the Pragmatic Trials, UK, funding call and the Swiss Heart Foundation in Switzerland.
A crucial factor in the long-term survival of benthic macrophyte communities under light-reduction stress is how they balance carbon metabolism during photosynthesis and respiration. In turn, the ...dissolved organic carbon (DOC) released by these communities, which can be highly light-dependent, stands as a source of carbon, fuelling marine communities and playing an important role in the ocean carbon sequestration. This is the first study to evaluate light-reduction stress and recovery in the seagrass Zostera noltei and the macroalga Caulerpa prolifera. Light reduction led to a significant decrease in the production of both communities from autotrophic to heterotrophic. Results indicated that most of the DOC released by vegetated coastal communities comes from photosynthetic activity, and that the net DOC fluxes can be greatly affected by shading events. Finally, both communities showed resilience underpinned by high recovery but low resistance capacity, with C. prolifera showing the highest resilience to unfavourable light conditions.
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•Light reduction significantly decreased the NCP, shifting the system to heterotrophic.•DOC released by vegetated coastal communities is highly light-dependent.•Opposite responses in DOC release depending on light reduction intensity were found.•Resilience to low light underpinned by a high recovery but a low resistance capacity•C. prolifera showed a high resilience capacity under unfavourable light conditions.
Preventive healthcare is a crucial pillar of health as it contributes to staying healthy and having immediate treatment when needed. Mining knowledge from longitudinal studies has the potential to ...significantly contribute to the improvement of preventive healthcare. Unfortunately, data originated from such studies are characterized by high complexity, huge volume, and a plethora of missing values. Machine Learning, Data Mining and Data Imputation models are utilized a part of solving these challenges, respectively. Toward this direction, we focus on the development of a complete methodology for the ATHLOS Project - funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program, which aims to achieve a better interpretation of the impact of aging on health.
The inherent complexity of the provided dataset lies in the fact that the project includes 15 independent European and international longitudinal studies of aging. In this work, we mainly focus on the HealthStatus (HS) score, an index that estimates the human status of health, aiming to examine the effect of various data imputation models to the prediction power of classification and regression models. Our results are promising, indicating the critical importance of data imputation in enhancing preventive medicine's crucial role.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract Background We investigated whether negative symptoms, such as poor motivation or anhedonia, were associated with higher body mass index (BMI) in stable patients with schizophrenia ...chronically treated with antipsychotic medication. Methods 62 olanzapine- or clozapine-treated patients with illness duration of at least four years were selected from an international multicenter study on the characterization of negative symptoms. All participants completed the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS) and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Bivariate correlations between BMI and negative symptoms (BNSS) were explored, as well as multiple regression analyses. We further explored the association of two principal component factors of the BNSS and BMI. Subsidiary analyses re-modeled the above using the negative symptoms subscale of the PANSS and the EMSLEY factor for negative symptoms for convergent validity. Results Lower negative symptoms (BNSS score) were associated with higher BMI ( r = − 0.31; p = 0.015). A multiple regression analysis showed that negative symptoms (BNSS score) and age were significant predictors of BMI ( p = 0.037). This was mostly driven by the motivation/pleasure factor of the BNSS. Within this second factor, BMI was negatively associated with anhedonia ( r = − 0.254; p = 0.046) and asociality ( r = − 0.253; p = 0.048), but not avolition ( r = − 0.169; p = 0.188). EMSLEY score was positively associated with BNSS ( r = 0.873, p < 0.001), but negatively associated with BMI ( r = − 0.308; p = 0.015). The association between PANSS and BMI did not reach significance ( r = − 224, p = 0.080). Conclusions We conclude that lower negative symptoms were associated with higher BMI (assessed using both the BNSS and EMSLEY) in chronic stable schizophrenia patients, mostly due to lower anhedonia and asociality levels.
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