The paper discusses some aspects of the safety analysis currently being performed for a compact high-field tokamak device (IGNITOR). The analysis has shown that the radioactive releases from the last ...containment barrier that could occur during major accidents are negligible when comparing IGNITOR with similar fusion devices. The paper focuses on some of the design solutions, suggested by the analysis, in order to improve the overall plant availability.
Ensuring the radiation hardness of PbWO4 crystals was one of the main priorities during the construction of the electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS experiment at CERN. The production on an ...industrial scale of radiation hard crystals and their certification over a period of several years represented a difficult challenge both for CMS and for the crystal suppliers. The present article reviews the related scientific and technological problems encountered.
Acute fatty liver of pregnancy is a rare disease that affects women in the third trimester of pregnancy. Although infrequent, the disease can cause maternal mortality. The diagnosis is not always ...clear until the pregnancy is terminated, and significant complications, such as acute pancreatitis, can occur. Pancreatic involvement typically only occurs in severe cases after the development of hepatic and renal impairment. To date, little knowledge is available regarding how the disease causes pancreatitis. Treatment involves supportive measures and pregnancy interruption. In this report, we describe a case of a previously healthy 26-year-old woman at a gestational age of 27 wk and 6 d who was admitted with severe abdominal pain and vomiting. This case illustrates the clinical and laboratory overlap between acute fatty liver of pregnancy and pancreatitis, highlighting the difficulties in differentiating each disease. Furthermore, the hypothesis for this overlapping is presented, and the therapeutic options are discussed.
We compare the effects of Nordic walking training (NW) and Free walk (FW) on functional parameters (motor symptoms, balance) and functional mobility (Timed Up and Go at Self‐selected Speed – TUGSS, ...and at forced speed, TUGFS; Self‐selected Walking Speed, SSW; locomotor rehabilitation index, LRI) of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. The study included 33 patients with clinical diagnosis of idiopathic PD, and staging between 1 and 4 in the Hoehn and Yahr scale (H&Y) randomized into two groups: NW (N = 16) and FW (N = 17) for 6 weeks. Baseline characteristics were compared trough a one‐way ANOVA. Outcomes were analyzed using the Generalized Estimation Equations (GEE) with a Bonferroni post‐hoc. Data were analyzed using SPSS v.20.0. Improvements in UPDRS III (P < 0.001), balance scores (P < 0.035), TUGSS distance (P < 0.001), TUGFS distance (P < 0.001), SSW (P < 0.001), and LRI (P < 0.001) were found for both groups. However, the NW group showed significant differences (P < 0.001) when compared to the FW group for the functional mobility. We conclude the NW improves functional parameters and walking mobility demonstrating that NW is as effective as the FW, including benefits for FW on the functional mobility of people with PD.
The nascent crowdfunding literature has highlighted the existence of a self–reinforcing pattern whereby contributions received in the early days of a campaign accelerate its success. After discussing ...what sustains this pattern, we maintain that the internal social capital that proponents may develop inside the crowdfunding community provides crucial assistance in igniting a self–reinforcing mechanism. Results of an econometric analysis of a sample of 669 Kickstarter projects are consistent with this view. Moreover, the effect of internal social capital on the success of a campaign is fully mediated by the capital and backers collected in the campaign's early days.
For the physics program of the CMS experiment at the LHC to be carried out successfully, excellent electromagnetic calorimetry is required. Given the thermal properties of CMS ECAL, keeping the ...constant term of the energy resolution below 0.5% needs its temperature to be stabilized at 18/spl deg/C within 0.05/spl deg/C. A prototype module of ECAL with the final cooling system has been tested at CERN to check its integration with the read-out electronics and verify that it complies with the severe thermal requirements. The thermal performance of the cooling system is reported here.
The paper deals with the study of an in-vessel LOCA caused by a rupture in the first wall/shielding blanket cooling loop in the ITER plant. The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of the expansion ...volume connected to the cooling room and cryopump room in limiting the peak pressure inside the vacuum vessel. The chemical reaction between the coolant and the first wall beryllium layer inside the vacuum vessel has also been considered.
Performance, rumen development, and metabolism of male Holstein calves (n=54) were evaluated according to 1 of 3 liquid feeding strategies: 4 L of milk replacer (MR)/d until 60 d old (4L-60d), 6L of ...MR/d until 29 d old and 4 L/d from 30 to 60 d (6L-29d/4L-60d), or 6L of MR/day until 60 d old (60d-6L). Water and starter were provided ad libitum. Intakes of MR and starter were monitored daily and body weight (BW) weekly. Blood samples for glucose and insulin concentrations and ruminal content samples for volatile fatty acids and ruminal ammonia concentrations were collected at 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90 d of age. Six calves on each treatment were euthanized at 30, 60, and 90 d of age. Empty weights of forestomach and abomasum, papillae length, and mitotic index were measured. Average MR intake/d (expressed as a percent of BW) was greater for calves receiving 6L/d than for those receiving 4 L/d until 30 d of age. Calves on the 6L-29d/4L-60d had the smallest MR intake from 30 to 60 d old, followed by the 4L-60d and 6L-60d treatments. Starter intake (kg of dry matter/day) did not differ between groups. It increased from 0.065kg/d in the first month to 0.386kg/d in the second month, and to 2.065kg/d after weaning. Weight gain was greater for calves fed more MR in the first month, but no difference was observed during the second month. After weaning, 6L-60d calves had greater rate of weight gain than others and were heavier at 30, 60, and 90 d of age. Weight of empty forestomachs, ruminal pH, and ammoniac nitrogen concentration were not different among groups. Propionate concentration was lower for 6L-60d calves, but acetate and butyrate concentrations were not influenced by MR feeding strategy. Calves fed more MR until d 30 had greater ruminal epithelium mitotic index. The different MR feeding strategies did not influence papillae length or ruminal epithelium thickness. Lesions such as ruminal parakeratosis or hyperkeratosis were not observed. The MR feeding strategy did not affect glucose concentration, but insulin was higher in 6L-60d calves than in the other groups. Glucose concentration increased with age, whereas insulin decreased until 45 d old, and then started to increase until 90 d. In conclusion, MR feeding strategy did not influence ruminal development. Feeding calves 6 L of MR/d over 60 d resulted in greater rate of weight gain without negative effects on starter intake or forestomach development. The weight advantage that 6L-60d calves obtained preweaning was maintained until 90 d of age.
Mutations in the progranulin gene (PGRN) were identified as the causal mechanism underlying frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Most of these mutations are predicted to create null alleles ...leading to a 50% loss of progranulin transcript.
Patients underwent clinical and neurologic examination at the Memory Clinic of the IRCCS S. Giovanni di Dio-Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy. We enrolled affected (n = 6) and unaffected at risk members (n = 73) of families carrying the FTLD associated progranulin Leu271LeufsX10 mutation; additionally, we included subjects affected by sporadic/familial FTLD (n = 65), controls (n = 75), and a family carrying the tau P301L mutation. The presence of mutations in PGRN and MAPT genes was investigated by direct sequencing of exonic and flanking intronic regions. Progranulin plasma and CSF levels were measured using ELISA.
We demonstrated that progranulin protein is strongly reduced (up to 3.93-fold) both in plasma and CSF of affected and unaffected subjects carrying mutations in progranulin gene (PGRN Leu271LeufsX10 and Q341X). We established a plasma progranulin protein cutoff level of 74.4 ng/mL that identifies, with specificity and sensitivity of 100%, mutation carriers among unaffected subjects. In FTLD, values <or=110.9 ng/mL give a specificity of 92.8% and a sensitivity of 100% for PGRN mutations.
We propose the dosage of plasma progranulin as a useful tool for a quick and inexpensive large-scale screening of carriers of progranulin mutations and for monitoring future treatments that might boost the level of this protein.
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