Objectives
The Iseult MRI is an actively shielded whole-body magnet providing a homogeneous and stable magnetic field of 11.7 T. After nearly 20 years of research and development, the magnet ...successfully reached its target field strength for the first time in 2019. This article reviews its commissioning status, the gradient–magnet interaction test results and first imaging experience.
Materials and methods
Vibration, acoustics, power deposition in the He bath, and field monitoring measurements were carried out. Magnet safety system was tested against outer magnetic perturbations, and calibrated to define a safe operation of the gradient coil. First measurements using parallel transmission were also performed on an ex-vivo brain to mitigate the RF field inhomogeneity effect.
Results
Acoustics measurements show promising results with sound pressure levels slightly above the enforced limits only at certain frequency intervals. Vibrations of the gradient coil revealed a linear trend with the B
0
field only in the worst case. Field monitoring revealed some resonances at some frequencies that are still under investigation.
Discussion
Gradient-magnet interaction tests at up to 11.7 T are concluded. The scanner is now kept permanently at field and the final calibrations are on-going to pave the road towards the first acquisitions on volunteers.
Objective
To compare different antibiotic prophylaxis administered after preterm premature rupture of membranes to determine whether any were associated with differences in obstetric and/or neonatal ...outcomes and/or neurodevelopmental outcomes at 2 years of corrected age.
Design
Prospective, nationwide, population‐based EPIPAGE‐2 cohort study of preterm infants.
Setting
France, 2011.
Sample
We included 492 women with a singleton pregnancy and a diagnosis of preterm premature rupture of membranes at 24–31 weeks. Exclusion criteria were contraindication to expectant management or indication for antibiotic therapy other than preterm premature rupture of membranes. Antibiotic prophylaxis was categorised as amoxicillin (n = 345), macrolide (n = 30), third‐generation cephalosporin (n = 45) or any combinations covering Streptococcus agalactiae and >90% of Escherichia coli (n = 72), initiated within 24 hours after preterm premature rupture of membranes.
Methods
Population‐averaged robust Poisson models.
Main Outcome Measures
Survival at discharge without severe neonatal morbidity, 2‐year neurodevelopment.
Results
With amoxicillin, macrolide, third‐generation cephalosporin and combinations, 78.5%, 83.9%, 93.6% and 86.0% of neonates were discharged alive without severe morbidity. The administration of third‐generation cephalosporin or any E. coli‐targeting combinations was associated with improved survival without severe morbidity (adjusted risk ratio 1.25 95% confidence interval 1.08–1.45 and 1.10 95 % confidence interval 1.01–1.20, respectively) compared with amoxicillin. We evidenced no increase in neonatal sepsis related to third‐generation cephalosporin‐resistant pathogen.
Conclusion
In preterm premature rupture of membranes at 24–31 weeks, antibiotic prophylaxis based on third‐generation cephalosporin may be associated with improved survival without severe neonatal morbidity when compared with amoxicillin, with no evidence of increase in neonatal sepsis related to third‐generation cephalosporin‐resistant pathogen.
Tweetable
Antibiotic prophylaxis after PPROM at 24–31 weeks: 3rd‐generation cephalosporins associated with improved neonatal outcomes.
Tweetable
Antibiotic prophylaxis after PPROM at 24–31 weeks: 3rd‐generation cephalosporins associated with improved neonatal outcomes.
Because “metformin-associated lactic acidosis” refers to metformin and concurrent pathologies as co-precipitating factors, the respective impact in the outcome of metformin therapy, metformin ...accumulation, and general diseases should be determined. We therefore constructed a model of sepsis in mice treated with metformin at a dose corresponding to clinical practice, or to accumulation.
460 mice were separated in 3 groups: no metformin therapy, a 7-day metformin therapy at 50 mg.kg
−1.day
−1 (MET50) or 500 mg.kg
−1.day
1 (MET500). Blood was drawn on day 7 in 40 met-formin-treated animals for determining metformin concentrations. The 420 other mice were divided in 14 subgroups according to the amount of an intra-peritoneal inoculum of E. coli ranging from 5.10
3 to 10
10 CFU/ml in order to construct a lethal dose curve. The survival rate was assessed at 7,13, 24, 36,60 and 120 hours thereafter.
Plasma metformin concentrations were 0.26 ± 0.13 mg/l in MET50, and 4.63 ± 1.92 mg/l in MET500. The comparative analysis of the survival rates at 120 hours showed no difference of mortality, always occurring for an inoculum amount > 10
8 CFU/ml. Comparing the survival rates from time 0 to 120 hours using Kaplan-Meyer curves and the Logrank test, there was no difference between the different groups.
Metformin, even at a dose mimicking accumulation, does not aggravate the mortality rate in this model of sepsis. Consequently, metformin can not be considered as toxic in such a condition.
Effet de la metformine sur la survie dans un modèle expèrimental de sepsis
Parce que la dénomination «acidose lactique associée à la metformine» implique la metformine autant que des pathologies associées dans les facteurs précipitants, la part respective dans le pronostic du traitement par metformine, de I'accumulation de metformine, et des affections générates doit être déterminée. Nous avons ainsi construit un modèle de sepsis chez la souris traitée par metformine à une dose correspondant soit à la clinique, soit à une accumulation.
460 souris ont été réparties en 3 groupes: pas de traitement, un traitement par metformine de 7 jours à la dose de 50 mg.kg
−1 .jour
−1 (MET50) ou de 500 mg.kg
−1 .jour
−1 (MET500). Du sang a été prélevé au septième jour chez 40 animaux traités pour mesurer la metforminémie. Les 420 autres animaux ont été divisés en 14 sous-groupes en fonction du taux d'un inoculum intra-péritonéal de E. coli variant de 5.10
3 to 10
10 CFU/ml afin de construire une courbe dose-léthale. Le taux de survie a été apprécié à 7,13, 24, 36, 60 et 120 heures après cette injection.
Les metforminémies étaient à 0,26±0,13 mg/l pour MET50, et 4,63 ± 1,92 mg/l pour MET500. L'analyse comparative du taux de survie à 120 heures n'a pas montré de différence de mortalité, survenant dans chaque groupe pour un taux d'inoculum > 10
8 CFU/ml. La comparaison des taux de survie des temps 0 à 120 heures avec les courbes de Kaplan-Meyer et le test de Logrank n'a pas fait apparaître de différence entre les différents groupes.
La metformine, même à une dose simulant une accumulation, n'aggrave pas la mortalité dans ce modèle de sepsis. En conséquence, la metformine ne peut pas être considérée comme toxique dans une telle situation.
Integration of CoWP self-aligned barriers in hybrid stack with SiCN liner in a standard 65
nm technology node integration scheme faces several issues. For example, bowing of upper metal level occurs ...due to the interaction between CoWP and etch plasma during SiCN opening step leading to lower line resistance compared to SiCN reference. Furthermore, wet cleaning after patterning step must be carefully processed in order to remove residues while keeping CoWP integrity. Electrical and reliability performance show that a clean recipe can be efficient to remove residues leading to low via resistance but in the same time, no electromigration improvement compared to SiCN reference is observed due to CoWP degradation and vice versa. To overcome integration issues, a new integration scheme called hybrid punch through (HPT) approach is proposed. In this approach, the patterning step is modified by SiCN open removal and it is followed by an adapted punch through process during metallization to open the via. HPT approach allows avoiding contact between CoWP and etch plasma or cleaning chemistry and leads to better electrical performance in terms of via and line resistances compared to standard scheme without degrading CoWP.
We report on the development of thermal detectors based on large-size
tellurium dioxide crystals (45x45x45 mm), containing tellurium enriched in
$^{130}$Te to ~91%, for the CROSS double-beta decay ...experiment. A powder used
for the crystals growth was additionally purified by the directional
solidification method, resulting in the reduction of the concentration of
impurities by a factor 10, to a few ppm of the total concentration of residual
elements (the main impurity is Fe). The purest part of the ingot (the first
~200 mm, ~80% of the total length of the cylindrical part of the ingot) was
determined by scanning segregation profiles of impurities (both on the surface
and in center of the ingot) and used for the $^{130}$TeO$_2$ powder production
with no evidence of re-contamination. The crystal growth was verified with
precursors produced from powder with natural Te isotopic composition, and two
small-size (20x20x10 mm) samples were tested at a sea-level laboratory showing
high bolometric and spectrometric performance together with acceptable
$^{210}$Po content (below 10 mBq/kg). This growth method was then applied for
the production of six large cubic $^{130}$TeO$_2$ crystals for the CROSS
experiment and 4 of them were taken randomly to be characterized at the
Canfranc underground laboratory, in the CROSS-dedicated low-background
cryogenic facility. Two $^{130}$TeO$_2$ samples were coated with a thin metal
film in form of Al layer (on 4 sides) or AlPd grid (on a single side) to
investigate the possibility to tag surface events by pulse-shape
discrimination. Similarly to the small natural precursors, large-volume
$^{130}$TeO$_2$ bolometers show high performance and even better internal
purity ($^{210}$Po activity ~ 1 mBq/kg, while activities of $^{228}$Th and
$^{226}$Ra are below 0.01 mBq/kg), satisfying requirements for the CROSS and,
potentially, next-generation experiments.
The CROSS experiment will search for neutrinoless double-beta decay using a
specific mechanical structure to hold thermal detectors. The design of the
structure was tuned to minimize the background ...contribution, keeping an optimal
detector performance. A single module of the structure holds two scintillating
bolometers (with a crystal size of 45x45x45 mm and a Ge slab facing the
crystal's upper side) in the Cu frame, allowing for a modular construction of a
large-scale array. Two designs are released: the initial Thick version contains
around 15% of Cu over the crystal mass (lithium molybdate, LMO), while this
ratio is reduced to ~6% in a finer (Slim) design. Both designs were tested
extensively at aboveground (IJCLab, France) and underground (LSC, Spain)
laboratories. In particular, at LSC we used a pulse-tube-based CROSS facility
to operate a 6-crystal array of LMOs enriched/depleted in $^{100}$Mo. The
tested LMOs show high spectrometric performance in both designs; notably, the
measured energy resolution is 5--7 keV FWHM at 2615 keV $\gamma$s, nearby the
Q-value of $^{100}$Mo (3034 keV). Due to the absence of a reflective cavity
around LMOs, a low scintillation signal is detected by Ge bolometers: ~0.3 keV
(~150 photons) for 1-MeV $\gamma$($\beta$) LMO-event. Despite that, an
acceptable separation between $\alpha$ and $\gamma$($\beta$) events is achieved
with most devices. The highest efficiency is reached with light detectors in
the Thick design thanks to a lower baseline noise width (0.05--0.09 keV RMS)
when compared to that obtained in the Slim version (0.10--0.35 keV RMS). Given
the pivotal role of bolometric photodetectors for particle identification and
random coincidences rejection, we will use the structure here described with
upgraded light detectors, featuring thermal signal amplification via the
Neganov-Trofimov-Luke effect, as also demonstrated in the present work.
We studied the effects of radiation (electrons of 6.2 MeV) at different temperatures with respect to the inactivation of the human immunodeficiency virus to determine the radiosensitivity of the ...virus. Using a mathematical model describing the dependence on radiation dose of the proportion of sterile items in a population of bone allografts contaminated by HIV, and subjected to irradiation, we have commented on and explained the calculation of the sterility assurance level in bone transplantation according to different doses of irradiation at different temperatures. Simultaneous application of heat and radiation increases inactivation of HIV. Given the relative imprecision of viral sensitivity curves and the impossibility of knowing the number of viral particles in a patient at a given moment of the disease, irradiation does not authorize bone transplantation without screening. However, irradiation can be considered as a serious adjuvent to decrease the risk of contamination after screening.
This essay deals with Dutch theater history of the second half of the 19th century (1860-1916). It statistically tests, whether the dominant opinion in Dutch theater writing, that after 1870 the ...stage recovered from a half century of decline, due to a renewed interest in it by the city elite, occupying the first ranks with a taste for civilized modern drama, and that, hence, a sharp cleft became visible between lower-rank tastes and upper-rank tastes. We test the tenability of this position on the basis of the Rotterdam Grand Theater archives, which contain ticket sales per rank per performance from 1776 till 1916, and the play bills of the performances. We analyze aggregated behavior of an anonymous theater consumers subdivided into price classes, hypothesizing that differences in attendance to high and low quality plays (as the critics judged them) over the different ranks, might reveal class-based divisions of taste. A long-memory time series analysis confirms that there is a significant gradual change of quality in the theater during the period 1860-1881, but this change is hardly rank- (and by implication likely class-) based. A second time series analysis, analyzing the impact of the repertoire and companies controlled for season and dynamics of the time series over the years 1860-1887 and 1887-1916, hardly sustains the narrative of recovery for most products as related to ranks. Only in a few telling instances, there was a clear opposition between low-rank tastes and upper-rank tastes. Hence, the recovery thesis must on the whole be rejected. This research will be followed-up by a prosopographical analysis of season-ticket and coupon holders in the Rotterdam theaters from 1773-1916, in which more detailed information on the social backgrounds and particularly on social class division of not anonymous theater audiences in 'the long 19th century' is central.
In preparation to the CROSS $2\beta$ decay experiment, we installed a new
detector suspension with magnetic dumping inside a pulse-tube cryostat of a
dedicated low-background facility at the LSC ...(Spain). The suspension was tested
with two scintillating bolometers based on large-volume 116CdWO4 (CWO-enr) and
Li2MoO4 (LMO) crystals. The former, a reference device, was used for testing
new noise conditions and for comparing bolometric performance of an advanced
Li2MoO4 crystal developed in the framework of the CLYMENE project, in view of
next-generation double-beta decay experiments like CUPID. We cooled down
detectors to 15 mK and achieved high performance for all tested devices. In
particular both CWO-enr and LMO bolometers demonstrated the energy resolution
of 6 keV FWHM for the 2.6 MeV gamma quanta, among the best for thermal
detectors based on such compounds. The baseline noise resolution (FWHM) of the
CWO-enr detector was improved by 2 keV, compared to the best previous
measurement of this detector in the CROSS facility, while the noise of the
Ge-based optical bolometer was improved by a factor 2, to 100 eV FWHM. Despite
of the evident progress in the improving of noise conditions of the set-up, we
see high-frequency harmonics of a pulse-tube induced noise, suggesting a noise
pick-up by cabling. Another Ge light detector was assisted with the signal
amplification exploiting the Neganov-Trofimov-Luke effect, which allowed to
reach 20 eV FWHM noise resolution by applying 60 V electrode bias.
Highly-efficient particle identification was achieved with both detectors,
despite a low scintillation efficiency of the LMO material. The radiopurity
level of the LMO crystal is rather high; only traces of 210Po and 226Ra were
detected (0.1 mBq/kg each), while the 228Th activity is expected to be at least
an order of magnitude lower, as well as a 40K activity is found to be < 6
mBq/kg.
An array of twelve 0.28 kg lithium molybdate (LMO) low-temperature bolometers
equipped with 16 bolometric Ge light detectors, aiming at optimization of
detector structure for CROSS and CUPID ...double-beta decay experiments, was
constructed and tested in a low-background pulse-tube-based cryostat at the
Canfranc underground laboratory in Spain. Performance of the scintillating
bolometers was studied depending on the size of phonon NTD-Ge sensors glued to
both LMO and Ge absorbers, shape of the Ge light detectors (circular vs.
square, from two suppliers), in different light collection conditions (with and
without reflector, with aluminum coated LMO crystal surface). The scintillating
bolometer array was operated over 8 months in the low-background conditions
that allowed to probe a very low, $\mu$Bq/kg, level of the LMO crystals
radioactive contamination by $^{228}$Th and $^{226}$Ra.
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