The SORGENTINA-RF project is presented in terms of general structure and description of the main tasks and activities to be carried out. It is devoted to the design and development of a medium power ...14 MeV fusion neutron source relying on a rotating target and a deuterium/tritium ion accelerator. The main focus of the neutron facility is the production of radiopharmaceutical precursors, in particular 99Mo as precursor of 99mTc, a radio-tracer used in single photon emission computed tomography. The nuclear reaction involved in the production of 99Mo is the inelastic reaction 100Mo(n,2n)99Mo. The facility will assess the chain that starts with the irradiation of the natural molybdenum (where 100Mo has an isotopic abundance of about 10%) up to the production of the so-called mother solution, a liquid solution named sodium molybdate. The facility will also make available fast and thermal neutrons beams for studies on innovative medical radioisotopes as well as materials.
The SORGENTINA-RF project is presented in terms of general structure and description of the main tasks and activities to be carried out. It is devoted to the design and development of a medium power ...14 MeV fusion neutron source relying on a rotating target and a deuterium/tritium ion accelerator. The main focus of the neutron facility is the production of radiopharmaceutical precursors, in particular
99
Mo as precursor of
99
m
Tc, a radio-tracer used in single photon emission computed tomography. The nuclear reaction involved in the production of
99
Mo is the inelastic reaction
100
Mo(n,2n)
99
Mo. The facility will assess the chain that starts with the irradiation of the natural molybdenum (where
100
Mo has an isotopic abundance of about 10%) up to the production of the so-called mother solution, a liquid solution named sodium molybdate. The facility will also make available fast and thermal neutrons beams for studies on innovative medical radioisotopes as well as materials.
•Engineering design of the target assembly.•Erosion, corrosion phenomena promoted by the lithium are studied.•Purification system implemented in the LiFus6 loop.•Study of the remote handling ...maintenance for the IFMIF TA.
The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) is an accelerator-driven intense neutron source where candidate materials for fusion reactors will be tested and validated. The high energy neutron flux is produced by means of two deuteron beams (total current of 250mA, energy of 40MeV) that strikes a liquid lithium target circulating in a lithium loop of IFMIF plant. The European (EU) contribution to the development of the lithium facility comprises five procurement packages, as follow: (1) participation to the experimental activities of the EVEDA lithium test loop in Oarai (Japan); (2) study aimed at evaluating the corrosion and erosion phenomena, promoted by lithium, for structural fusion reference materials like AISI 316L and Eurofer; (3) design and validation of the lithium purification method with the aim to provide input data for the design of the purification system of IFIMF lithium loop; (4) design and validation of the remote handling (RH) procedures for the refurbishment/replacement of the EU concept of IFMIF target assembly including the design of the remote handling tools; (5) the engineering design of the European target assembly for IFMIF and the safety and RAMI analyses for the entire IFMIF lithium facility.
The paper gives an overview of the status of the activities and of the main outcomes achieved so far.
Decay heat plays an important role in fusion plant safety. To validate the codes, data and calculation procedures used in decay heat prediction, an international benchmark exercise was launched. The ...calculated results have been compared with experimental ones, obtained from a series of experiments performed using the Fusion Neutronics Source (FNS) at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI), Tokai, Japan. This paper presents the decay heat results for two of the most relevant fusion-related materials, the AISI 316 steel and the copper samples, obtained using the ENEA activation code ANITA-4/F and discuss their comparison with the experimental ones.
The ANITA-4/F is a code package for the activation characterisation of materials exposed to neutrons in fusion machines. The package has been intensively used by ENEA for safety assessment of the ...International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor ITER to evaluate the activated corrosion product source terms. This paper presents a summary description of the package and gives the details of its capabilities. The main component of the package is an updated version of the activation code ANITA that computes the radioactive inventory of a material subject to neutron irradiation, continuous or stepwise. It provides activity, atomic density, decay heat, biological hazard and gamma-ray source of each nuclide; total activity, decay heat, contact dose equivalent, gamma-ray spectra and other relevant parameters, for the irradiated material, versus cooling time. As an option, those parameters may be plotted by the GRANITA module, as a function of the cooling time. The code is provided with a complete data base that includes: 1) the FENDL/A-2 neutron activation data libraries (both for the standard 100 GAM-II and 175 VITAMIN-J groups structure), 2) the FENDL/D-2 decay data library, 3) the ICRP dose coefficients for ingestion and inhalation of radionuclides. Arbitrary structure can be used for the neutron irradiation spectrum. It is internally converted to one of the standard structures. Continuous or multi-steps (up to 2000 burn-dwell intervals) can be considered for the operational scenario. A different level of the irradiation flux can be used for each one of the exposure time step. The paper presents also, as an example, an application to the neutron exposure characterisation for the AISI 316 LN of the first wall, with reference to the basic performance phase of ITER.
Abstract Background Low amyloid β42 (Aβ42 ) and high total tau and phosphorylated tau (p-tau) concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), reflecting ...brain deposition of amyloid plaques and tangles. Age and apolipoprotein E allele E4 are two strong risk factors for AD, but few data are still available on their effect on CSF markers in normal aging. Objective To study the effect of age on CSF Aβ42 , total tau, and p-tau levels in a well-characterized group of cognitively normal subjects. Methods CSF Aβ42 levels of 81 subjects (27% female, 53 ± 15.3 years, range: 21–88) were determined with sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; of these, total tau and p-tau levels were measured in 61 (75%) and 42 (52%) cases, respectively. A linear regression analysis between age and CSF markers was carried out on the whole sample and separately in apolipoprotein E allele ε4 carriers and noncarriers. Results The median levels of all markers were significantly different between young (<65 years) and old (≥65 years) subjects (Aβ42 : P = .03; tau: P = .02; p-tau: P = .002; tau/Aβ42 : P = .004; p-tau/Aβ42 : P = .03). The association of marker levels with age was confirmed in linear regression models, where a positive relationship with age was observed for total tau (B = 2.3; 95% confidence interval CI: 0.89 to 3.7; P = .002), p-tau (B = 0.5; 95% CI: 0.1 to 0.9; P = .02), and tau/Aβ42 ratio (B = 0.006; 95% CI: 0.002 to 0.01; P = .002). No subjects showed abnormal tau, whereas 19% showed abnormal CSF Aβ42 concentrations. Conclusion In cognitively normal subjects, the concentrations of CSF biomarkers of AD are associated with age. Further longitudinal studies could clarify whether Aβ42 low levels represent a preclinical AD biomarker.
Multi-element interventions for first-episode psychosis (FEP) are promising, but have mostly been conducted in non-epidemiologically representative samples, thereby raising the risk of ...underestimating the complexities involved in treating FEP in 'real-world' services.
The Psychosis early Intervention and Assessment of Needs and Outcome (PIANO) trial is part of a larger research program (Genetics, Endophenotypes and Treatment: Understanding early Psychosis - GET UP) which aims to compare, at 9 months, the effectiveness of a multi-component psychosocial intervention versus treatment as usual (TAU) in a large epidemiologically based cohort of patients with FEP and their family members recruited from all public community mental health centers (CMHCs) located in two entire regions of Italy (Veneto and Emilia Romagna), and in the cities of Florence, Milan and Bolzano. The GET UP PIANO trial has a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled design. The randomized units (clusters) are the CMHCs, and the units of observation are the centers' patients and their family members. Patients in the experimental group will receive TAU plus: 1) cognitive behavioral therapy sessions, 2) psycho-educational sessions for family members, and 3) case management. Patient enrollment will take place over a 1-year period. Several psychopathological, psychological, functioning, and service use variables will be assessed at baseline and follow-up. The primary outcomes are: 1) change from baseline to follow-up in positive and negative symptoms' severity and subjective appraisal; 2) relapse occurrences between baseline and follow-up, that is, episodes resulting in admission and/or any case-note records of re-emergence of positive psychotic symptoms. The expected number of recruited patients is about 400, and that of relatives about 300. Owing to the implementation of the intervention at the CMHC level, the blinding of patients, clinicians, and raters is not possible, but every effort will be made to preserve the independency of the raters. We expect that this study will generate evidence on the best treatments for FEP, and will identify barriers that may hinder its feasibility in 'real-world' clinical settings, patient/family conditions that may render this intervention ineffective or inappropriate, and clinical, psychological, environmental, and service organization predictors of treatment effectiveness, compliance, and service satisfaction.
The objective of this paper is the description of design results in the application fields of Human Factors Engineering through an innovative model based systems engineering approach.
Human Factors ...analyze the system with a human‐based approach, looking at the system by the users' perspective, designing interaction with the system according to operator profiles. Operator's interaction with the system is performed through the use of Human Machine Interface mechanism by inserting information to setup system capabilities and checking operational results to monitor system behavior.
The Model Based System Engineering approach allows to build a design structure of system logics through functional and operational chains, focusing on exchanges among system modules. Human Factors studies include also the operator as active part of the functional chains and can therefore be considered as a “module” of the System Model, where all data catalogue is codified in SysML.
This Papers also shows the applications of this concepts in design and modeling of Naval Combat System.
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