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This paper presents an overview of recent hardware extensions and data analysis developments to the Wendelstein 7-X visible core spectroscopy systems. These include upgrades to prepare the in-vessel components for long-pulse operation, nine additional spectrometers, a new line of sight array for passive spectroscopy, and a coherence imaging charge exchange spectroscopy diagnostic. Progress in data analysis includes ion temperatures and densities from multiple impurity species, a statistical comparison with x-ray crystal spectrometer measurements, neutral density measurements from thermal passive Balmer-alpha emission, and a Bayesian analysis of active hydrogen emission, which is able to infer electron density and main ion temperature profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water pollution due to emerging organic pollutants, such as agrochemicals, has become a topic of growing interest worldwide. The increase of pollutants in aquatic systems stimulated the development of new strategies for water remediation. Plasma technology is an advanced oxidation process which has proved to be an efficient method for organic matter degradation. In this work, a novel design of a trielectrode plasma reactor based on a dielectric barrier discharge extended to a third electrode operated in ambient air is presented. The water to be treated flows through a gutter with low impedance and far from the electrodes connected to the voltage sources. The reactor operates in ambient air, and it does not rely on the use of expensive inert gases. The design of the reactor is easily scalable. The performance of the reactor, in terms of the removal efficiency and the energy yield, was tested in an aqueous solution of the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), one of the most widely used around the world. The reactor presents a good efficiency in the removal of the herbicide 2,4-D and values of energy yield of about 240 mg/kW h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detecting changes in plasmas is compulsory for control and the detection of novelties. Moreover, automated novelty detection allows one to investigate large data sets to substantially enhance the efficiency of data mining approaches. To this end we introduce permutation entropy (PE) for the detection of changes in plasmas. PE is an information-theoretic complexity measure based in fluctuation analysis that quantifies the degree of randomness (resp. disorder, unpredictability) of the ordering of time series data. This method is computationally fast and robust against noise, which allows the evaluation of large data sets in an automated procedure. PE is applied on electron cyclotron emission and soft x-ray measurements in different Wendelstein 7-X low-iota configuration plasmas. A spontaneous transition to high core-electron temperature ( T e ) was detected, as well as a localized low-coherent intermittent oscillation which ceased when T e increased in the transition. The results are validated with spectrogram analysis and provide evidence that a complexity measure such as PE is a method to support in-situ monitoring of plasma parameters and for novelty detection in plasma data. Moreover, the acceleration in processing time offers implementations of plasma-state-detection that provides results fast enough to induce control actions even during the experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimised superconducting stellarator W7-X generates its rotational transform by means of external coils, therefore no toroidal current is necessary for plasma confinement. Electron cyclotron current drive experiments were conducted for strikeline control and safe divertor operation. During current drive experiments periodic and repetitive crashes of the central electron temperature, similar to sawtooth crashes in tokamaks, were detected. Measurements from soft x-ray tomography and electron cyclotron emission show that the crashes are preceded by weak oscillating precursors and a displacement of the plasma core, consistent with a (m, n) = (1, 1) mode. The displacement occurs within , followed by expulsion and redistribution of the core into the external part of the plasma. Two types of crashes, with different frequencies and amplitudes are detected in the experimental program. For these non-stationary parameters a strong dependence on the toroidal current is found. A 1-D heuristic model for current diffusion is proposed as a first step to explain the characteristic crash time. Initial results show that the modelled current diffusion timescale is consistent with the initial crash frequency and that the toroidal current rise shifts the position where the instability is triggered, resulting in larger crash amplitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerical calculations based on nonlinear two-fluid equations have been carried out to understand the sawtooth-like crashes of electron temperature observed in Wendelstein 7-X stellarator experiments with electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD). The application of ECCD leads to non-monotonic radial profiles of the safety factor q with two q = 1 surfaces in the plasma core region. Using input parameters similar to the experiment, numerical calculations show two types of crashes of the central electron temperature depending on the growth of the internal kink mode coupled to double tearing modes. When the distance between two equilibrium q = 1 surfaces is sufficiently large, the internal kink mode leads to a fast radial displacement of the hot core from the center to the region of the q = 1 surfaces. In agreement with experimental observation, this causes a full crash of central electron temperature in about 20–30 microseconds. When the distance between the two q = 1 surfaces is not large enough, partial crashes of the central electron temperature are found. During these crashes the hot core only temporally moves outwards. Then it moves back, because the double tearing mode perturbation leads to an increase of the minimum q value about one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Coronal pulpotomies were recently re-investigated as an alternative to root canal treatment in vital permanent teeth. General dentists may be interested in knowing how to perform full pulpotomy, in particular in face of difficult endodontic cases of vital teeth. Material and methods: A systematic review was undertaken on the PubMed and Cochrane databases in order to determine which procedure should be applied for pulp capping and coronal restoration in routine dental practice. Fifty-three publications were included and allocated to one of two methodological categories: histological and clinical studies. Results and conclusions: There is no evidence to recommend one single procedure for full pulpotomy in vital permanent teeth that can be indicated for different pulpal diagnoses which differ greatly in terms of the inflammation process from healthy teeth to irreversible pulpitis. For each clinical case, all actions aiming to prevent pre-operative contamination, to control per-operative infection and to achieve a complete seal above the radicular pulp sections are unavoidable steps that should be complied with. Reproducing procedures adopted in high quality trials could insure high success rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Notwithstanding decades of efforts to increase the uptake of seasonal influenza (flu) vaccination among European healthcare workers (HCWs), the immunisation rates are still unsatisfactory. In order to understand the reasons for the low adherence to flu vaccination, a study was carried out among HCWs of two healthcare organisations in Liguria, a region in northwest Italy. Methods: A cross-sectional study based on anonymous self-administered web questionnaires was carried out between October 2013 and February 2014. Through univariate and multivariate regression analysis, the study investigated the association between demographic and professional characteristics, knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of the study participants and (i) the seasonal flu vaccination uptake in the 2013/2014 season and (ii) the self-reported number of flu vaccination uptakes in the six consecutive seasons from 2008/2009 to 2013/2014. Results: A total of 830 HCWs completed the survey. Factors statistically associated with flu vaccination uptake in the 2013/2014 season were: being a medical doctor and agreeing with the statements 'flu vaccine is safe', 'HCWs have a higher risk of getting flu' and 'HCWs should receive flu vaccination every year'. A barrier to vaccination was the belief that pharmaceutical companies influence decisions about vaccination strategies. Discussion: All the above-mentioned factors, except the last one, were (significantly) associated with the number of flu vaccination uptakes self-reported by the respondents between season 2008/2009 and season 2013/2014. Other significantly associated factors appeared to be level of education, being affected by at least one chronic disease, and agreeing with mandatory flu vaccination in healthcare settings. Conclusions: This survey allows us to better understand the determinants of adherence to vaccination as a fundamental preventive strategy against flu among Italian HCWs. These findings should be used to improve and customise any future promotion campaigns to overcome identified barriers to immunisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a holistic probabilistic framework to evaluate existing road and railway bridges after an earthquake by means of analytical fragility curves and visual inspections. Although visual inspections are affected by uncertainties, they are usually considered in a deterministic way, while in this work they are taken into account in a probabilistic point manner. Moreover, extra focus is given on retrofitting interventions by means of Fiber Reinforced Polymer materials and their costs. A probabilistic methodology is formed to evaluate possible standardized interventions on existing bridges after a seismic event. The proposed framework, consists of six basic steps and it is applied on a reinforced concrete bridge case study, which is a common structural typology in Italian roadway infrastructural networks. The main aim is to provide useful information to public authorities in order to decide whether or not they should allow traffic over the bridge and whether to repair immediately earthquake-damaged bridges. The outcomes of this framework can be used to improve procedures used for the seismic assessment of the whole road and railway networks to better plan emergency, post-emergency actions and define a general priority for an optimal budget allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To investigate the benefits of pulpotomy (to the level of the floor of the pulp chamber) as an endodontic treatment for teeth with vital pulps. Methodology Seventeen patients, aged 7-54 years (mean of 37.2 year), were treated by pulpotomy and filling with ProRoot MTA® in premolar or molar teeth with vital pulps and without clinical evidence of irreversible pulpitis. The patients were then followed up for 12 to 24 months and the teeth then assessed by clinical and radiographic examination. Statistical analysis was performed with Kaplan-Meier survival probability statistics to estimate the survival of the treated teeth. Results At 24 months, the survival rate without any complementary treatment was estimated to be 82%. Two of the 17 treated teeth required root canal treatment for pain control and one for prosthetic reasons. Conclusions Under the conditions of this study, pulpotomy offered a viable alternative to root canal treatment for teeth with vital pulps in the short term. However, there is insufficient clinical evidence to consider this technique for the treatment of every permanent tooth. Nevertheless, it should be considered as a potential alternative approach to be further developed for future applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PurposeTo evaluate the capacity of a new topographic map analysis to detect abnormal optic discs from healthy ones in a new cohort of subjects.Patients and methodsOnly one eye was chosen randomly from each subject included in the study. In total, 20 normal eyes with a normal visual field, an IOP of <22 mmHg and no history of glaucoma in their family, and 20 glaucomatous eyes with an abnormal visual field and an open angle were selected. All the subjects were examined with the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT, Heidelberg Engineering GMBH, Heidelberg, Germany) and Humphrey Perimeter, program 30-2 (Humphrey Instrument, Inc., San Leandro, CA, USA). Topographic maps analysis was performed to each HRT optic nerve head image. Sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic precision were calculated.ResultsWhen the topographic map analysis was applied to the group, a sensitivity of 80%, a specificity of 75%, and a diagnostic precision of 77.5% were obtained.ConclusionUsing the topographic map analysis, the HRT capacity to differentiate normal optic discs from those with glaucoma was similar to those already published in the literature, but using this technique there is no input from the observer to draw the contourline and reference plane is not necessary.Eye (2007) 21, 609–613. doi:10.1038/sj.eye.6702285; published online 17 February 2006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of 163 strains ofMycobacterium bovisby polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and microbiological tests was carried out on 252 tuberculous-like lesions (TLLs) collected from slaughtered cattle in south-east Brazil. This study compared the usefulness of three genotyping techniques, IS6110-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), polymorphic guanine-cytosine-rich sequence (PGRS)-RFLP and direct repeat (DR)-spoligotyping, as applied toM. bovisisolates. Based on IS6110-RFLP genotyping we selected a group of 23 isolates containing more than one IS6110copy, along with 16 samples containing one IS6110copy from different geographical areas, evenly distributed among dairy (eight) and beef cattle (eight). These selected isolates were analysed by PGRS-RFLP and DR-spoligotyping genotyping. Dairy cattle (17%) display a higher frequency of multiple IS6110copies than beef cattle (10%). A comparison between the genotype data obtained fails to show a correlation between the main clusters found by the three techniques. However, the clustering of each genotyping procedure revealed that the majority of strains are closely related. The RFLP-PGRS patterns showed a sizable group (20.5%) containing a 5.5 kb fragment and the predominant spoligotype is similar to that from the BCG vaccine strain. Unexpectedly, four strains (2.4%) showed drug resistance to 0.2 μg/ml isoniazid and 20 μg/ml ethionamide, but none of them was resistant to rifampicin or other antibiotics tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate the correlation between retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness and optic nerve head (ONH) size in normal white subjects by means of optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods: 54 eyes of 54 healthy subjects aged between 15 and 54 underwent peripapillary RNFL thickness measurement by a series of three circular scans with a 3.4 mm diameter (Stratus OCT, RNFL Thickness 3.4 acquisition protocol). ONH analysis was performed by means of six radial scans centred on the optic disc (Stratus OCT, Fast Optic Disc acquisition protocol). The mean RNFL values were correlated with the data obtained by ONH analysis. Results: The superior, nasal, and inferior quadrant RNFL thickness showed a significant correlation with the optic disc area (R=0.3822, p=0.0043), (R=0.3024, p=0.026), (R=0.4048, p= 0.0024) and the horizontal disc diameter (R=0.2971, p=0.0291), (R=0.2752, p=0.044), (R=0.3970, p=0.003). The superior and inferior quadrant RNFL thickness was also positively correlated with the vertical disc diameter (R = 0.3774, p =0.0049), (R =0.2793, P = 0.0408). A significant correlation was observed between the 360° average RNFL thickness and the optic disc area and the vertical and horizontal disc diameters of the ONH (R=0.4985, p=0.0001), (R=0.4454, p=0.0007), (R=0.4301, p=0.0012). Conclusions: RNFL thickness measurements obtained by Stratus OCT increased significantly with an increase in optic disc size. It is not clear if eyes with large ONHs show a thicker RNFL as a result of an increased amount of nerve fibres or to the shorter distance between the circular scan and the optic disc edge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three hundred and twenty 30-week old White Leghorn cockerels were housed in individual cages and distributed in a completely randomized factorial design of 5 × 3, with five oil sources (sunflower, soybean, canola, linseed and fish/soybean) and three levels of antioxidant (30, 200 and 400 mg of vitamin E/kg). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the ratio of ω6 : ω3 fatty acids by the inclusion of different oil sources and of dietary supplementation with vitamin E on the reproductive performance of cockerels. The use of the fish/soybean combination determined the lowest total antioxidant status of the semen. However, the addition of vitamin E to the fish/soybean-oil-based diet resulted in a linear increase in semen volume, motility and sperm vigour in the 38th week and again in the 52nd week for motility and for sperm vigour and fertility rate in the periods from 50 - 53 and 41 - 53 weeks of age. The use of canola oil in the diet resulted in the highest fertility rate during 50 - 53 and 41 - 53 weeks of life. Animals receiving the soybean oil based diet showed the smallest fertility rate in the range from 50 - 53 weeks of age and concomitantly the highest level of cholesterol in the spermatozoa in the range from 47 - 51 weeks. An interaction between the vitamin E level and soybean oil was verified by the linear increase in motility and sperm vigour at 38 weeks of age. Later, the contrary was shown by a linear reduction in fertility in the periods from 44 - 46, 47 - 49 and 41 - 53 weeks of age. Cockerels that had been fed on the sunflower-oil-based diet showed the highest content of saturated fatty acids in the spermatozoa from 48 - 51 weeks. An interaction effect was observed between the vitamin E level and sunflower oil shown by a linear increase in the content of saturated fatty acids in the spermatozoa and a linear reduction in the C18 : 1ω9, C18 : 2ω6 and PUFA (C18 : 2ω6 + C20 : 4ω6) contents in the spermatozoa at 48 - 51 weeks and in sperm volume at 52 weeks of age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An attempt was made to assess noninvasively the patency of aorto-coronary bypass grafts by two-dimensional echocardiography (2-D echo) in 21 patients who underwent myocardial revascularization. Fifteen patients had one graft while the other six had two grafts. All 21 patients underwent angiography 6-18 months after operation. A day before angiography a 2-D echo was performed with the aim of visualizing the bypass grafts. In 18 patients with 23 grafts (13 with 1 graft and 5 with 2 grafts) it was possible to visualize the tract of the graft by 2-D echo; 16 were judged patent on 2-D echo and confirmed by selective angiography, while 5 grafts were considered occluded both on 2-D echo and angiography. The other 2 grafts were considered to be occluded on 2-D echo but angiographic control displayed their patency. In 3 patients 2-D echo failed to visualize grafts that were patent angiographically. These data must be considered preliminary and need validation in a larger number of patients. However it is reasonable to conclude that 2-D echo has a reliable capacity to predict graft patency. Such an application may be of value in sequential control of patients with aorto-coronary bypass surgery, especially when combined with other clinical and/or technical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Italian Journal of Neurological Sciences is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)