364 research outputs found
Effectiveness of the Chebyshev Approximation in Magnetic Field Line Tracking
The tracking of magnetic field lines can be very expensive, in terms of computational burden, when the field sources are numerous and have complex geometries, especially when accuracy is a priority, because an evaluation of the field is required in many situations. In some important applications, the computational cost can be significantly reduced by using a suitable approximation of the field in the integrated regions. This paper shows how Chebyshev polynomials are well-suited for field interpolation in magnetic field-line tracking, then discusses the conditions in which they are most appropriate, and quantifies the effectiveness of parallel computing in the approximation procedures
Error Field and Correction Coils in DTT: a preliminary analysis
The Divertor Tokamak Test (DTT) facility, construction starting at Frascati,
Italy, is designed to test different solutions for divertor in view of DEMO. A
preliminary analysis of the error fields (EFs) assumed a simplified model of
rigid and independent displacements and rotations. A methodology based on the
first order truncated Taylor expansion has been applied, linking the
displacement parameters and the EFs within the required accuracies. A system of
in-vessel copper coils has been designed to counteract EFs and the ampere-turns
necessary to force them back within the request limits has been calculated.
Here, the details of the analysis have been provided
Multi-Word Expressions in spoken language: PoliSdict
The term multiword expressions (MWEs) is referred-to a group of words with a unitary meaning, not inferred from that of the words that compose it, both in current use and in technical-specialized languages. In this paper, we describe PoliSdict an Italian electronic dictionary composed of multi-word expressions (MWEs) automatically extracted from a multimodal corpus grounded on political speech language, currently being developed at the "Maurice Gross" Laboratory of the Department of Political Sciences, Social and Communication of the University of Salerno, thanks to a loan from the company Network Contacts. We introduce the methodology of creation and the first results of a systematic analysis which considered terminological labels, frequency labels, recurring syntactic patterns, further proposing an associated ontology.Con il termine polirematica si fa generalmente riferimento ad un gruppo di parole con significato unitario, non desumibile da quello delle parole che lo compongono, sia nell’uso corrente sia in linguaggi tecnico-specialistici. In questo contributo viene presentato PoliSdict un dizionario elettronico in lingua italiana composto da espressioni polirematiche occorrenti nel parlato spontaneo estratte a partire da un corpus multimodale di dominio politico in lingua italiana in corso di ampliamento presso il Laboratorio “Maurice Gross” del Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Sociali e della Comunicazione dell’Università degli Studi di Salerno, grazie a un finanziamento della società Network Contacts. Viene presentata la metodologia di creazione ed i primi risultati di un'analisi sistematica che ha considerato etichette terminologiche, marche d'uso e pattern ricorrenti, proponendo infine un’ontologia associata
Can Metformin Exert as an Active Drug on Endothelial Dysfunction in Diabetic Subjects?
Abstract: Cardiovascular mortality is a major cause of death among in type 2 diabetes (T2DM).
Endothelial dysfunction (ED) is a well-known important risk factor for the development of diabetes
cardiovascular complications. Therefore, the prevention of diabetic macroangiopathies by preserving
endothelial function represents a major therapeutic concern for all National Health Systems.
Several complex mechanisms support ED in diabetic patients, frequently cross-talking each other:
uncoupling of eNOS with impaired endothelium-dependent vascular response, increased ROS production,
mitochondrial dysfunction, activation of polyol pathway, generation of advanced glycation
end-products (AGEs), activation of protein kinase C (PKC), endothelial inflammation, endothelial
apoptosis and senescence, and dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs). Metformin is a milestone
in T2DM treatment. To date, according to most recent EASD/ADA guidelines, it still represents
the first-choice drug in these patients. Intriguingly, several extraglycemic effects of metformin have
been recently observed, among which large preclinical and clinical evidence support metformin’s
efficacy against ED in T2DM. Metformin seems effective thanks to its favorable action on all the
aforementioned pathophysiological ED mechanisms. AMPK pharmacological activation plays a key
role, with metformin inhibiting inflammation and improving ED. Therefore, aim of this review is
to assess metformin’s beneficial effects on endothelial dysfunction in T2DM, which could preempt
development of atherosclerosis
Model for screening of resonant magnetic perturbations by plasma in a realistic tokamak geometry and its impact on divertor strike points
This work addresses the question of the relation between strike-point
splitting and magnetic stochasticity at the edge of a poloidally diverted
tokamak in the presence of externally imposed magnetic perturbations. More
specifically, ad-hoc helical current sheets are introduced in order to mimic a
hypothetical screening of the external resonant magnetic perturbations by the
plasma. These current sheets, which suppress magnetic islands, are found to
reduce the amount of splitting expected at the target, which suggests that
screening effects should be observable experimentally. Multiple screening
current sheets reinforce each other, i.e. less current relative to the case of
only one current sheet is required to screen the perturbation.Comment: Accepted in the Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on
Plasma Surface Interactions, to be published in Journal of Nuclear Materials.
Version 2: minor formatting and text improvements, more results mentioned in
the conclusion and abstrac
Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries
Abstract
Background
Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres.
Methods
This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries.
Results
In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia.
Conclusion
This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries
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