Search

Rationale A significant obstacle to an improved understanding of pathological dissociative and psychosis-like states is the lack of readily implemented pharmacological models of these experiences. Ketamine has dissociative and psychotomimetic effects but can be difficult to use outside of medical and clinical-research facilities. Alternatively, nitrous oxide (N2O) — like ketamine, a dissociative anaesthetic and NMDAR antagonist — has numerous properties that make it an attractive alternative for modelling dissociation and psychosis. However, development and testing of such pharmacological models relies on well-characterized measurement instruments. Objectives To examine the factor structures of the Clinician Administered Dissociative States Scale (CADSS) and Psychotomimetic States Inventory (PSI) administered during N2O inhalation in healthy volunteers. Methods Secondary analyses of data pooled from three previous N2O studies with healthy volunteers. Results Effect sizes for N2O-induced dissociation and psychotomimesis were comparable to effects reported in experimental studies with sub-anaesthetic ketamine in healthy volunteers. Although, like ketamine, a three-factor representation of N2O-induced dissociation was confirmed, and a more parsimonious two-factor model might be more appropriate. Bayesian exploratory factor analysis suggested that N2O-induced psychosis-like symptoms were adequately represented by two negative and two positive symptom factors. Hierarchical cluster analysis indicated minimal item overlap between the CADSS and PSI. Conclusion N2O and ketamine produce psychometrically similar dissociative states, although parallels in their psychosis-like effects remain to be determined. The CADSS and PSI tap largely non-overlapping experiences under N2O and we propose the use of both measures (or similar instruments) to comprehensively assess anomalous subjective states produced by dissociative NMDAR antagonists.

Background Multidisciplinary pulmonary embolism (PE) response teams have garnered widespread adoption given the complexities of managing acute PE and provide a platform for assessment of trends in therapy and outcomes. We aimed to describe temporal trends in PE management and outcomes following the deployment of such a team. Methods All consecutive patients managed by our multidisciplinary PE response team activated by the Emergency Department were included over a 5-year calendar period. We examined temporal trends in management and rates of a composite primary endpoint (all-cause-death, major bleeding, recurrent venous thromboembolism, and readmission) at 30 days and 6 months. Results We assessed 425 patients between 2015 and 2019. We observed an increase in PE acuity and use of systemic thrombolysis. The primary endpoint at 30 days decreased from 16.3% in 2015 to 7.1% in 2019 (adjusted rate ratio per period, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.47–0.84), driven by a decrease in the adjusted rate of major bleeding. Among 406 patients with complete follow-up, the adjusted rate ratio per year for the primary outcome at 6 months was 0.37 (95% CI, 0.19–0.71), driven by a decrease in all-cause mortality. Conclusions We observed evidence of temporal changes in clinical presentation therapeutic strategies, and outcomes for acute PE, in parallel to, but not necessarily because of, the implementation of a multidisciplinary response team. Over time, major bleeding, mortality and readmission rates decreased, despite an increase in PE risk category. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.

espanolLa intensificacion de las actividades antropicas produce cambios en los paisajes que pueden producir modificaciones en la distribucion de las especies. En la provincia de Buenos Aires se registraron plantas y animales que extendieron su habitat hacia el sur. Aqui se analizan los casos de Glinus radiatus, Guilleminea densa y Thalia multiflora, halladas actualmente a mas de 250 km del limite sur de su localizacion conocida. Se recolectaron ejemplares en los partidos de Azul, Las Flores y Rojas, y se reviso la bibliografia existente para ubicar registros previos y discutir las causas de su expansion. Entre las hipotesis que explican el avance de estas especies se destaca los cambios registrados en las precipitaciones y temperaturas de la region. Tambien es posible que la restringida localizacion previamente publicada se deba a la insuficiencia de relevamiento, o bien los ejemplares hallados podrian constituir poblaciones relictuales, o haberse expandido favorecidos por corredores antropicos. EnglishHuman activities intensification produces severe variations in natural landscapes that could produce changes in species distribution. In Buenos Aires province, plants and animals that extended their habitat to the south were recorded. Here, we analyzed the expansion of Glinus radiatus, Guilleminea densa and Thalia multiflora, which are actually found more than 250 km far from the southern limit of their known location. Specimens were collected in Azul, Las Flores and Rojas, and then we reviewed the existing bibliography to locate previous records and discuss the causes of their expansion. Among the hypotheses that could explain the progress of these species, regional changes in rainfall and temperature stand out. Its also possible that previously published restricted location is due to insufficient survey, or specimens found could constitute relict populations, or have expanded favored by anthropogenic corridors.

Growth hormone (GH) exerts major actions in cardiac growth and metabolism. Considering the important role of insulin in the heart and the well-established anti-insulin effects of GH, cardiac insulin resistance may play a role in the cardiopathology observed in acromegalic patients. As conditions of prolonged exposure to GH are associated with a concomitant increase of circulating GH, IGF1 and insulin levels, to dissect the direct effects of GH, in this study, we evaluated the activation of insulin signaling in the heart using four different models: (i) transgenic mice overexpressing GH, with chronically elevated GH, IGF1 and insulin circulating levels; (ii) liver IGF1-deficient mice, with chronically elevated GH and insulin but decreased IGF1 circulating levels; (iii) mice treated with GH for a short period of time; (iv) primary culture of rat cardiomyocytes incubated with GH. Despite the differences in the development of cardiomegaly and in the metabolic alterations among the three experimental mouse models analyzed, exposure to GH was consistently associated with a decreased response to acute insulin stimulation in the heart at the receptor level and through the PI3K/AKT pathway. Moreover, a blunted response to insulin stimulation of this signaling pathway was also observed in cultured cardiomyocytes of neonatal rats incubated with GH. Therefore, the key novel finding of this work is that impairment of insulin signaling in the heart is a direct and early event observed as a consequence of exposure to GH, which may play a major role in the development of cardiac pathology.

Published online: 30 May 2021. Background: Previous studies have argued that there are two types of linguistic gender: grammatical gender, which is arbitrarily assigned to nouns, and semantic gender, which depends on the gender of the referent. Aim: We explore the hypothesis that these two types of gender entail distinct cognitive processes by investigating the performance of people with aphasia at the level of sentence processing. Methods and Procedure: Nine people with aphasia (seven with fluent aphasia) and a control group of thirteen age-matched healthy participants took part in a constrained completion choice task. The participants had to complete sentences in a way that made the last word gender congruent. The subjects of the sentences had either Semantic gender (enfermera, nurse; indicating the gender of the referent), Grammatical gender (silla, chair), or Opaque-Grammatical gender (tomate, tomato). Results: People with aphasia performed more poorly in all gender conditions than healthy controls. They also were less accurate in both the Grammatical and Opaque-Grammatical conditions than in the Semantic gender condition. Conclusion: We propose that because semantic gender provides more salient information, it is processed faster than grammatical gender. MC was supported by the postdoctoral Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2013-14013), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI, National Research Agency), and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, European Regional Development Fund) under projects PSI2017-87784-R and RED2018- 102615-T.

A significant obstacle to an improved understanding of pathological dissociative and psychosis-like states is the lack of readily implemented pharmacological models of these experiences. Ketamine has dissociative and psychotomimetic effects but can be difficult to use outside of medical and clinical-research facilities. Alternatively, nitrous oxide (NTo examine the factor structures of the Clinician Administered Dissociative States Scale (CADSS) and Psychotomimetic States Inventory (PSI) administered during NSecondary analyses of data pooled from three previous NEffect sizes for NN

Background Improved prediction of the risk of early major bleeding in pulmonary embolism (PE) is needed to optimize acute management. Methods Using data from a multicenter prospective registry including 2,754 patients, we performed multivariable logistic regression analysis to build a risk score to predict early (up to hospital discharge) major bleeding events. We validated the endpoint model internally using bootstrapping in the derivation dataset by sampling with replacement for 500 iterations. We compared the performance of this novel score to that of the VTE-BLEED and RIETE models. Results Multivariate regression identified three predictors for the occurrence of 82 major bleeds (3.0%): Syncope (+1.5 points), Anemia defined by a hemoglobin level 2.5 points). Cumulative observed bleeding rates increased with increasing risk group, from 0.9% in the low-risk group to 9.0% in the high-risk group. The C-index was 0.744 (95% CI, 0.73–0.76) and Brier score 0.028 in the derivation cohort. Similar values were calculated from internal bootstrapping. Performance of the PE-SARD score was better than that observed with the VTE-BLEED and RIETE scores (figure). Conclusions The PE-SARD bleeding risk score is an original, user-friendly score to estimate the risk of early major bleeding in patients with acute PE. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None. Figure 1

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to compare the short-term outcomes of laparoscopic right hemicolectomy between intracorporeal (IA) and extracorporeal (EA) anastomosis techniques. METHODS A retrospective chart review of 77 consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic right hemicolectomy from January 2016 to June 2018 was performed. The intracorporeal group included 36 patients and the extracorporeal group 41 patients. RESULTS Patient demographics and disease-related characteristics were similar. Mean operative time was 152±38.3 minutes in IA vs. 148±34.8 minutes in EA (p = 0.664). IA was not associated with less overall postoperative complications and decreased rate of surgical site infections. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of postoperative leak, length of stay, mortality in both groups. There was no perioperative difference in median number of lymph node harvested. There was statistically significant difference in the length of larger incision [50 (50-70) mm in IA vs 80 (70-100) mm in EA; p

There are a wide variety of scalp and skull lesions that can affect the pediatric population, many of which are first encountered by primary care physicians. The differential consists of a broad range of more common congenital lesions, sequelae of trauma, and vascular anomalies, to very rare neoplastic processes. It is important to understand signs and symptoms that may indicate whether a lesion may be benign versus life threatening, what imaging studies are appropriate and how to interpret them, and when to seek referrals to specialists.

A growing number of eclipsing binary systems of the "HW Vir" kind (i. e., composed by a subdwarf-B/O primary star and an M dwarf secondary) show variations in their orbital period, also called Eclipse Time Variations (ETVs). Their physical origin is not yet known with certainty: while some ETVs have been claimed to arise from dynamical perturbations due to the presence of circumbinary planetary companions, other authors suggest that the Applegate effect or other unknown stellar mechanisms could be responsible for them. In this work, we present twenty-eight unpublished high-precision light curves of one of the most controversial of these systems, the prototype HW Virginis. We homogeneously analysed the new eclipse timings together with historical data obtained between 1983 and 2012, demonstrating that the planetary models previously claimed do not fit the new photometric data, besides being dynamically unstable. In an effort to find a new model able to fit all the available data, we developed a new approach based on a global-search genetic algorithm and eventually found two new distinct families of solutions that fit the observed timings very well, yet dynamically unstable at the 10^5-year time scale. This serves as a cautionary tale on the existence of formal solutions that apparently explain ETVs but are not physically meaningful, and on the need of carefully testing their stability. On the other hand, our data confirm the presence of an ETV on HW Vir that known stellar mechanisms are unable to explain, pushing towards further observing and modelling efforts., 14 pages, 7 figures, 7 tables in the main text and 1 table in the appendix. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

This paper proposes a 16MB e-NVM macrocell for automotive grade 0 microcontroller based on a PCM cell with a Bipolar Transistor (BJT) selector. The solution is developed in proprietary 28nm FD-SOI CMOS technology, with a Super-STI scheme that has enabled high dense e-NVM with 0.019µm2 cell size [1]. Macrocell organization offers the capability to be configured by application either for Over-The-Air (OTA) mode up to 24MB, or for 16MB extra reliability mode, with two cells per bit, still resulting in an extremely competitive equivalent bit-cell size (0.038µm2). Cell Mode configuration can be dynamically tuned, with a unique set of features for flexible assisted OTA software update. The integration of a 16MB PCM cell array, extensible up to 24MB, in an automotive grade product-like test vehicle chip is presented here as the evolution of the first Embedded PCM macrocell for automotive [2], complementing, the fulfillment of all criteria in the demanding automotive environment [3] [4].

The paper proposes a BEOL PCM-based e-NVM solution integrated in a 28nm FD-SOI CMOS technology, giving excellent performances in terms of area, read and write time and temperature range. The integration of a 6MB PCM in an automotive grade (Tj up to 165C) microcontroller chip is presented here, exhibiting a robust solution satisfying all criteria of the demanding automotive environment. The Ge x Sb y Te z material used for the PCM [1] has been tuned to reach the 165C compliance and 10 years data retention. CMOS 28nm FD-SOI has been determined as the optimal technology to exploit PCM capabilities [2]. Technology also offers full feature 5V devices required for automotive application. Body bias of the FD-SOI allows controlling the quiescent leakage both in circuitry and in the unselected bits inside the memory array, optimizing the functionality.

The transcription factor Sox2 is both necessary and sufficient for the generation of sensory regions of the inner ear. It regulates expression of the Notch ligand Jag1 in prosensory progenitors, which signal to neighboring cells to up-regulate Sox2 and sustain prosensory identity. However, the expression pattern of Sox2 in the early inner ear is very broad, suggesting that Sox2-expressing progenitors form a wide variety of cell types in addition to generating the sensory regions of the ear. We used Sox2-CreER mice to follow the fates of Sox2-expressing cells at different stages in ear development. We find that Sox2-expressing cells in the early otocyst give rise to large numbers of non-sensory structures throughout the inner ear, and that Sox2 only becomes a truly prosensory marker at embryonic day (E)11.5. Our fate map reveals the organ of Corti derives from a central domain on the medial side of the otocyst and shows that a significant amount of the organ of Corti derives from a Sox2-negative population in this region.

Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL)-associated hemangioblastomas (VHL-HB) arise in the central nervous system (CNS), and are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in VHL disease. Currently, surgical resection is the most effective way to manage symptomatic VHL-HBs. Surgically unresectable VHL-HBs or those in frail patients are challenging problems. Therapies targeting oncologic and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathways have failed to demonstrate tumor control. Our experience and previous reports on VHL-HB avidity to somatostatin analogues suggested somatostatin receptor (SSTR) expression in VHL-HBs, offering an alternative therapeutic strategy. We explored this possibility by demonstrating consistent histologic expression of SSTR1, 2a, 4, and 5 in VHL-HBs. We found that somatostatin analogue octreotide induces apoptosis in VHL-HB stromal cells in a dose-dependent fashion by BAX – caspase-3 pathway unrelated to canonical VHL pathway. When administered to a patient with unresectable symptomatic suprasellar hemangioblastoma, octreotide resulted in tumor volume reduction, symptom stabilization, and tumor cytopenia on repeat 68Ga-DOTA-TATE positron emission tomography (PET) within 6 months, suggesting tumor infarction. We conclude that VHL-HBs harbor multiple SSTR subtypes that offer actionable chemo-therapeutic strategy for management of symptomatic, unresectable tumors by somatostatin analogue therapy.

Single/selective-plane illumination, or light-sheet, systems offer several advantages over other fluorescence microscopy methods for live, 3D microscopy. These systems are valuable for studying embryonic development in several animal systems, such as Drosophila, C. elegans and zebrafish. The geometry of the light path in this form of microscopy requires the sample to be accessible from multiple sides and fixed in place so that it can be rotated around a single axis. Popular methods for mounting include hanging the specimen from a pin or embedding it in 1-2% agarose. These methods can be particularly problematic for certain samples, such as post-implantation mouse embryos, that expand significantly in size and are very delicate and sensitive to mounting. To overcome the current limitations and to establish a robust strategy for long-term (24 h) time-lapse imaging of E6.5-8.5 mouse embryos with light-sheet microscopy, we developed and tested a method using hollow agarose cylinders designed to accommodate for embryonic growth, yet provide boundaries to minimize tissue drift and enable imaging in multiple orientations. Here, we report the first 24-h time-lapse sequences of post-implantation mouse embryo development with light-sheet microscopy. We demonstrate that light-sheet imaging can provide both quantitative data for tracking changes in morphogenesis and reveal new insights into mouse embryogenesis. Although we have used this approach for imaging mouse embryos, it can be extended to imaging other types of embryos as well as tissue explants.

We present an analysis of imaging murine embryos at various embryonic developmental stages (embryonic day 9.5, 11.5, and 13.5) by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical projection tomography (OPT). We demonstrate that while OCT was capable of rapid high-resolution live 3D imaging, its limited penetration depth prevented visualization of deeper structures, particularly in later stage embryos. In contrast, OPT was able to image the whole embryos, but could not be used in vivo because the embryos must be fixed and cleared. Moreover, the fixation process significantly altered the embryo morphology, which was quantified by the volume of the eye-globes before and after fixation. All of these factors should be weighed when determining which imaging modality one should use to achieve particular goals of a study.

[EN] Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is a fruit tree cultivated in several countries in the Mediterranean region. A survey of a loquat orchard in Sicily ( Italy) revealed the presence of plants showing dieback symptoms and cankers with wedge-shaped necrotic sectors. Fungi from the genera Diplodia and Neofusicoccum were isolated from symptomatic plants. On the basis of morphological characters and DNA sequence data four species were identified, Neofusicoccum parvum, N. vitifusiforme, Diplodia seriata and a novel Diplodia species, which is here described as D. rosacearum sp. nov. Inoculation trials of loquat plants cv Sanfilipparo showed that N. parvum, D. seriata and D. rosacearum were pathogenic to this host. Although variability was observed between isolates, N. parvum and D. rosacearum were the most aggressive species., This research was supported by Servizio VII Fitosanitario Forestale del Dipartimento Regionale, Azienda Regionale Foreste Demaniali. Artur Alves acknowledges financing by European Funds through COMPETE and by National Funds through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) to the research unit CESAM (UID/AMB/50017/2013 - POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007638) and himself (FCT Investigator Programme - IF/00835/2013), and support by the Contributi avvio e sviluppo collaborazioni internazionali (CORI-2014), Visiting Professor Programme at the University of Palermo, Italy. The authors thank Dr. Giuseppe Lo Giudice for allowing carrying out the surveys in his loquat field.

Blueberries, Vaccinium corymbosum L., are rich in anthocyanins and their antioxidant capacity has been related with anti vascular diseases, anti-cancer and anti age effects. Total content and relative distribution in polyphenols are influenced by many factors, including cultivar and growing area. Thus, the main objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of two different cultivation areas on the levels of anthocyanins in blueberry cultivars ‘Berkeley’, ‘Bluecrop’, ‘Patriot’ and ‘Toro’, picked up in Rome, CRA - Fruit Tree Research Centre, or at Mazowsze, Pomology Department of Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland. Anthocyanin compounds were measured by an HPLC based method with an UV-Visible-Diode Array Detector. The results of the quantitative evaluations of single anthocyanins showed that glycosides of delphinidins and petunidins are more representative in berries of cultivars picked in Rome, while malvidin glycoside content was higher in berries picked in Warsaw area. Our results suggest that the anthocyanin accumulation is mainly related to an interaction between the cultivar and the climate area which affects either the total content or the anthocyanin profile.

Tritium as one of the two fuel components for fusion power plays a special role in any fusion device. Due to its volatile character, radioactivity and easy incorporation as HTO it needs to be contr...

In order to perform a fully integrated material test, JET has launched the ITER-like wall project with the aim of installing a full metal wall during the next major shutdown. The material foreseen for the main chamber wall is bulk Be at the limiters and Be coatings on inconel tiles elsewhere. R&D process comprises global characterization (structure, purity etc) of the evaporated films and testing of their performance under heat loads. The major results are (i) the layers have survived energy loads of 20 MJ m−2 which is significantly above the required level of 5–10 MJ m−2, (ii) melting limit of beryllium coating would be at the energy level of 30 MJ m−2, (iii) cyclic thermal load of 10 MJ m−2 for up to 50 cycles have not induced any noticeable damage such as flaking or detachment.

In the frame of JET's ITER-like wall (ILW) project tungsten coatings on carbon fibre reinforced carbon substrates will be used in the divertor and highly loaded areas in the main chamber. Fourteen different types of samples were produced by physical or chemical vapour deposition and vacuum plasma spray (VPS) with coating thickness of 4, 10 and 200 μm. Similarly, three different VPS W coatings (200 μm) on two different graphite substrates, were produced for use at the strike-point regions of ASDEX Upgrade. All coatings were subjected to thermal screening and thermal cycling tests in the ion beam facility GLADIS. Additionally, the coatings intended for the ILW project were exposed to edge localized mode (ELM)-like thermal loads in the electron beam facility JUDITH. A general failure mode with the CFC substrate is crack formation upon cool-down, whereas the coatings on graphite do not show any crack formation. Additionally, metallographic investigations, x-ray diffraction measurements, adhesion testing as well as measurements on the contents of light impurities were performed.

The murine model is a common model for studying developmental diseases. In this study, we compare the performance of the relatively new method of Optical Projection Tomography (OPT) to the well-established technique of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) to assess murine embryonic development at three stages, 9.5, 11.5, and 13.5 days post conception. While both methods can provide spatial resolution at the micrometer scale, OPT can provide superior imaging depth compared to OCT. However, OPT requires samples to be fixed, placed in an immobilization media such as agar, and cleared before imaging. Because OCT does not require fixing, it can be used to image embryos in vivo and in utero. In this study, we compare the efficacy of OPT and OCT for imaging murine embryonic development. The data demonstrate the superior capability of OPT for imaging fine structures with high resolution in optically-cleared embryos while only OCT can provide structural and functional imaging of live embryos ex vivo and in utero with micrometer scale resolution.

Despite the recent identification of recurrent SETBP1 mutations in atypical chronic myeloid leukemia (aCML), a complete description of the somatic lesions responsible for the onset of this disorder is still lacking. To find additional somatic abnormalities in aCML, we performed whole-exome sequencing on 15 aCML cases. In 2 cases (13.3%), we identified somatic missense mutations in the ETNK1 gene. Targeted resequencing on 515 hematological clonal disorders revealed the presence of ETNK1 variants in 6 (8.8%) of 68 aCML and 2 (2.6%) of 77 chronic myelomonocytic leukemia samples. These mutations clustered in a small region of the kinase domain, encoding for H243Y and N244S (1/8 H243Y; 7/8 N244S). They were all heterozygous and present in the dominant clone. The intracellular phosphoethanolamine/phosphocholine ratio was, on average, 5.2-fold lower in ETNK1-mutated samples ( P < .05). Similar results were obtained using myeloid TF1 cells transduced with ETNK1 wild type, ETNK1-N244S, and ETNK1-H243Y, where the intracellular phosphoethanolamine/phosphocholine ratio was significantly lower in ETNK1-N244S (0.76 ± 0.07) and ETNK1-H243Y (0.37 ± 0.02) than in ETNK1-WT (1.37 ± 0.32; P = .01 and P = .0008, respectively), suggesting that ETNK1 mutations may inhibit the catalytic activity of the enzyme. In summary, our study shows for the first time the evidence of recurrent somatic ETNK1 mutations in the context of myeloproliferative/myelodysplastic disorders. © 2015 by The American Society of Hematology.

Background Our study aims at disclosing epidemiology and most relevant clinical features of esophageal atresia (EA) pointing to a model of multicentre collaboration. Methods A detailed questionnaire was sent to all Italian Units of pediatric surgery in order to collect data of patients born with EA between January and December 2012. The results were crosschecked by matching date and place of birth of the patients with those of diagnosis-related group provided by the Italian Ministry of Health (MOH). Results A total of 146 questionnaires were returned plus a further 32 patients reported in the MOH database. Basing on a total of 178 patients with EA born in Italy in 2012, the incidence of EA was calculated in 3.33 per 10,000 live births. Antenatal diagnosis was suspected in 29.5% patients. 55.5% showed associated anomalies. The most common type of EA was Gross type C (89%). Postoperative complications occurred in 37% of type C EA and 100% of type A EA. A 9.5% mortality rate was reported. Conclusions This is the first Italian cross-sectional nationwide survey on EA. We can now develop shared guidelines and provide more reliable prognostic expectations for our patients.

During the initial operation of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), it is envisaged that activation will be minimized by using hydrogen (H) plasmas where the reference ion ...

For helium cooled pebble bed blankets, the description of the thermal-mechanical interaction between pebble beds and structural material requires the knowledge of the pebble bed thermal conductivity k as a function of temperature T and deformation state (pebble bed strain ɛ). Experimental results for the thermal conductivity of compressed beryllium pebble beds are presented. The pebble beds consisted of 1 mm NGK pebbles and are representative for dense pebble beds (packing factors γ ≈ 63.5%). Measurements were performed in the temperature range between 200 and 650 °C, with maximum pressures of 3.6 MPa and pebble bed deformations up to ɛ ≈ 3.5%. A correlation is proposed which is based primarily on measurements but uses conductivity values for non-deformed pebble beds predicted by the Schlunder Bauer Zehner model. It is argued that the proposed correlation is expected to be applicable also for pebble diameters different from 1 mm and other packing factors than 63.5% as long as densified pebble beds are considered. Finally, a conductivity correlation is presented which is applicable up to the ultimate compaction to a solid body.

Summary Background and aim Metabolic syndrome (MS) carries an increased risk for cardiovascular events and there is a growing awareness that large artery stiffening is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Little is known about the relationship of MS with aortic stiffness. The aim of our study was to analyze, in patients with essential hypertension, the influence of MS, defined according to the criteria proposed by the Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (NCEP-ATP III), on carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), a measure of aortic stiffness. Methods Ninety-three untreated essential hypertensives, aged between 23 and 61 years, without diabetes mellitus, were studied. All subjects underwent routine blood chemistry, oral glucose tolerance test with glucose and insulin determinations, albumin excretion rate (AER) measurement, 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, and measurement of carotid–femoral PWV, by means of a computerized method. Results Patients with MS (n = 28) showed higher age-adjusted carotid–femoral PWV (10.1 ± 1.4 vs 9.3 ± 1.4 m/s; p = 0.01) when compared to subjects without MS. This difference held after controlling for gender and for 24-h mean blood pressure (MBP) (p = 0.02) and lost its statistical significance after further adjustment for AER. In a multiple regression model, excluding the individual components of MS, in which metabolic syndrome was added along with age, gender, smoking habit, LDL cholesterol, HOMA index, 24-h MBP and 24-h heart rate, MS remained independently associated with carotid-femoral PWV (β = 0.29; p = 0.002). The statistical significance of this association disappeared after the inclusion into this model of AER. Conclusions Metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased aortic stiffness. Main explanatory factors of this association are age, systolic blood pressure and albumin excretion rate.

Livia PERSANO ODDOa*, Roberto PIROb with the collaboration of: Etienne BRUNEAU, Christine GUYOT-DECLERCK (Belgium); Tzeko IVANOV (Bulgaria); Ji ina PISKULOVA (Czech Republic); Christian FLAMINI, Joel LHERITIER, Monique MORLOT (France); Harald RUSSMANN, Werner VON DER OHE, Katharine Von der OHE (Germany); Panagiota GOTSIOU, Sophia KARABOURNIOTI, Panagiotis KEFALAS, Maria PASSALOGLOU-KATRALI, Andreas THRASYVOULOU, Angeliki TSIGOURI (Greece); Gian Luigi MARCAZZAN, Maria Lucia PIANA, Maria Gioia PIAZZA, Anna Gloria SABATINI (Italy); Jacob KERKVLIET (Netherlands); Joana GODINHO (Portugal); Antonio BENTABOL, Alberto ORTIZ VALBUENA (Spain), Stefan BOGDANOV, Kaspar RUOFF (Switzerland)

Beryllium in form of pebbles with diameter of about 1 mm is foreseen as neutron multiplier in the European helium cooled pebble bed (HCPB) blanket for fusion power plants. The pebbles are arranged in beds between flat cooling plates. During operation, the pebble beds and the containing structure have different expansions and it has been estimated that beryllium swells under neutron irradiation up to 10 vol.% during the blanket lifetime. Therefore, large compressive stresses could arise causing considerable plastic deformations of the pebbles and relevant changes in the thermal conductivity of the beds. For the proper thermal mechanical design of the blanket, the thermal conductivity of these beds as a function of deformation and temperature must be known. Measurements of thermal conductivity, heat transfer coefficient to the containing wall, and deformation of strongly deformed pebble beds are being performed at the Research Centre of Karlsruhe (FZK) using the test section HECOP. Beryllium pebble beds are heated up and uniaxially compressed, such that it is possible to adjust independently temperature and strain in the pebble beds. In the paper, the experimental device is described and first results are presented.

Beryllium is one of the candidate materials to be used as protection of the first wall and as neutron multiplier in the blanket of a fusion reactor. Both sintered blocks and pebbles have been considered and research and evaluations are underway to characterise tritium release, heat transfer, thermal–mechanical and irradiation behaviour of several material grades. The knowledge of the tritium and helium release kinetics as a function of material microstructure, neutron fluence and temperature is relevant for beryllium fusion applications. In this paper results are presented of out-of-pile annealing tests up to 1000 °C of S-65C beryllium grade produced by Brush Wellman and irradiated in the BR2 material testing reactor in Mol (Belgium). Together with the investigation of both tritium and helium release kinetics from the Brush Wellman beryllium, the effect of crack formation is also discussed, which eventually leads to a concurrent release of tritium and helium.