FRAPCON-2 Developmental Assessment

FRAPCON-2 calculations using all mechanical and gas release options are compared with well-characterized experimental data and with calculations of generic fuel rod response by FRAPCON-1. These comparisons indicate that FRAPCON-2 is capable of analyzing the fuel rod response for the wide range of cases for which the code was designed and compares well with experimental data

Prevention of occupational diseases in Turkey : deriving lessons from journey of surveillance

Introduction: To prevent and manage the societal and economic burden of occupational diseases (ODs), countries should develop strong prevention policies, health surveillance and registry systems. This study aims to contribute to the improvement of OD surveillance at national level as well as to identify priority actions in Turkey. Methods: The history and current status of occupational health studies were considered from the perspective of OD surveillance. Interpretative research was done through literature review on occupational health at national, regional and international level. Analyses were focused on countries' experiences in policy development and practice, roles and responsibilities of institutions, multidisciplinary and intersectoral collaboration. OD surveillance models of Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands were examined through exchange visits. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to explore the peculiarities of legislative and institutional structures, the best and worst practices, and approach principles. Results: Some countries are more focused on exploring OD trends through effective and cost-efficient researches, with particular attention to new and emerging ODs. Other countries try to reach every single case of OD for compensation and rehabilitation. Each practice has advantages and shortcomings, but they are not mutually exclusive, and thus an effective combination is possible. Conclusion: Effective surveillance and registry approaches play a key role in the prevention of ODs. A well-designed system enables monitoring and assessment of OD prevalence and trends, and adoption of preventive measures while improving the effectiveness of redressing and compensation. A robust surveillance does not only provide protection of workers' health but also advances prevention of economic losses

Somatosensory profiling of patients undergoing alcohol withdrawal: Do neuropathic pain and sensory loss represent a problem?

Chronic heavy alcohol use is known to cause neurological complications such as peripheral neuropathy. Concerning the pathophysiology, few sural nerve and skin biopsy studies showed that small fibers might be selectively vulnerable to degeneration in alcohol-related peripheral neuropathy. Pain has rarely been properly evaluated in this pathology. The present study aims at assessing pain intensity, potential neuropathic characteristics as well as the functionality of both small and large nerve sensitive fibers. In this observational study, 27 consecutive adult patients, hospitalized for alcohol withdrawal and 13 healthy controls were recruited. All the participants underwent a quantitative sensory testing (QST) according to the standardized protocol of the German Research Network Neuropathic Pain, a neurological examination and filled standardized questionnaires assessing alcohol consumption and dependence as well as pain characteristics and psychological comorbidities. Nearly half of the patients (13/27) reported pain. Yet, pain intensity was weak, leading to a low interference with daily life, and its characteristics did not support a neuropathic component. A functional impairment of small nerve fibers was frequently described, with thermal hypoesthesia observed in 52% of patients. Patients with a higher alcohol consumption over the last 2 years showed a greater impairment of small fiber function. Patients report pain but it is however unlikely to be caused by peripheral neuropathy given the non-length-dependent distribution and the absence of neuropathic pain features. Chronic pain in AUD deserves to be better evaluated and managed as it represents an opportunity to improve long-term clinical outcomes, potentially participating to relapse prevention

Better than Expected or as Bad as You Thought? The Neurocognitive Development of Probabilistic Feedback Processing

Learning from feedback lies at the foundation of adaptive behavior. Two prior neuroimaging studies have suggested that there are qualitative differences in how children and adults use feedback by demonstrating that dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and parietal cortex were more active after negative feedback for adults, but after positive feedback for children. In the current study we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test whether this difference is related to valence or informative value of the feedback by examining neural responses to negative and positive feedback while applying probabilistic rules. In total, 67 healthy volunteers between ages 8 and 22 participated in the study (8–11 years, n = 18; 13–16 years, n = 27; 18–22 years, n = 22). Behavioral comparisons showed that all participants were able to learn probabilistic rules equally well. DLPFC and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex were more active in younger children following positive feedback and in adults following negative feedback, but only when exploring alternative rules, not when applying the most advantageous rules. These findings suggest that developmental differences in neural responses to feedback are not related to valence per se, but that there is an age-related change in processing learning signals with different informative value

Volatile profiling distinguishes Streptococcus pyogenes from other respiratory streptococcal species

Sore throat is one of the most common complaints encountered in the ambulatory clinical setting. Rapid, culture-independent diagnostic techniques that do not rely on pharyngeal swabs would be highly valuable as a point-of-care strategy to guide outpatient antibiotic treatment. Despite the promise of this approach, efforts to detect volatiles during oropharyngeal infection have yet been limited. In our research study, we sought to evaluate for specific bacterial volatile organic compounds (VOC) biomarkers in isolated culture

Scdap/relap5/Mod 3.1 Code Manual: Damage Progression Model Theory. Volume 2

The SCDAP/RELAP5 code has been developed for best estimate transient simulation of light water reactor coolant systems during a severe accident. The code models the coupled behavior of the reactor coolant system, the core, fission products released during a severe accident transient as well as large and small break loss of coolant accidents, operational transients such as anticipated transient without SCRAM, loss of offsite power, loss of feedwater, and loss of flow. A generic modeling approach is used that permits as much of a particular system to be modeled as necessary. Control system and secondary system components are included to permit modeling of plant controls, turbines, condensers, and secondary feedwater conditioning systems. This volume contains detailed descriptions of the severe accident models and correlations. It provides the user with the underlying assumptions and simplifications used to generate and implement the basic equations into the code, so an intelligent assessment of the applicability and accuracy of the resulting calculation can be made

Effective emotion regulation strategies improve fMRI and ECG markers of psychopathology in panic disorder: Implications for psychological treatment action

© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved. Impairments in emotion regulation are thought to have a key role in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders, but the neurobiological underpinnings contributing to vulnerability remain poorly understood. It has been a long-held view that exaggerated fear is linked to hyperresponsivity of limbic brain areas and impaired recruitment of prefrontal control. However, increasing evidence suggests that prefrontal-cortical networks are hyperactive during threat processing in anxiety disorders. This study directly explored limbic-prefrontal neural response, connectivity and heart-rate variability (HRV) in patients with a severe anxiety disorder during incidental versus intentional emotion regulation. During 3 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging, 18 participants with panic disorder and 18 healthy controls performed an emotion regulation task. They either viewed negative images naturally (Maintain), or they were instructed to intentionally downregulate negative affect using previously taught strategies of cognitive reappraisal (Reappraisal). Electrocardiograms were recorded throughout to provide a functional measure of regulation and emotional processing. Compared with controls, patients showed increased neural activation in limbic-prefrontal areas and reduced HRV during incidental emotion regulation (Maintain). During intentional regulation (Reappraisal), group differences were significantly attenuated. These findings emphasize patients' ability to regulate negative affect if provided with adaptive strategies. They also bring prefrontal hyperactivation forward as a potential mechanism of psychopathology in anxiety disorders. Although these results challenge models proposing impaired allocation of prefrontal resources as a key characteristic of anxiety disorders, they are in line with more recent neurobiological frameworks suggesting that prefrontal hyperactivation might reflect increased utilisation of maladaptive regulation strategies quintessential for anxiety disorders

Characterization of the gas-liquid interfacial waves in vertical upward co-current annular flows

[EN] For more than fifty years, hundreds of research works have focused on the study of annular flow because of its huge importance in many industrial processes, for instance, chemical, petroleum, etc., being of particular interest in nuclear industry. Specifically, interfacial waves play a vital role in the mass, momentum and energy transference processes between gas and liquid phases. This paper describes the new experimental measurements of vertical upward co-current two-phase gas-liquid flow carried out in a tube with an inner diameter of 44 mm. The liquid film thickness and the major characteristics of the interfacial waves have been measured using a non-intrusive instrument, a conductance probe. The physical phenomenon in which this device is based is the change in the electrical conductivity between air and water, i.e., the electrical signal collected in the sensor receiver depends on the thickness of the liquid film layer. The experimental measurements range from 2000 to 3500 l/min for the gas volumetric flow rate, and from 4 to 10 l/min for the liquid volumetric flow rate. Correlation of the experimental measurements of liquid film thickness and the major properties of the interfacial waves have been analyzed using non-dimensional numbers. An important part of the document focuses on the comparison of the experimental data and the fitting correlations against several of the most widely used expressions. Throughout this paper, in addition to present all the available correlations, the existing scattering found when comparing against other expressions have been also confirmed, underlining the existence of gaps of knowledge even today. Emphasize that the proposed correlations are the ones that better fit the data of all experimental series carried out under the present study for the analyzed variables, with almost all the experimental points covered by the +/- 10% error bands of the new correlations.The authors are indebted to the plan of I+D support of the EXMOTRANSIN project ENE2016-79489-C2-1-P.Cuadros-Orón, JL.; Rivera-Durán, Y.; Berna, C.; Escrivá, A.; Muñoz-Cobo, JL.; Monrós-Andreu, G.; Chiva, S. (2019). Characterization of the gas-liquid interfacial waves in vertical upward co-current annular flows. Nuclear Engineering and Design. 346:112-130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2019.03.008S11213034

Influence of the initial chemical conditions on the rational design of silica particles

The influence of the water content in the initial composition on the size of silica particles produced using the Stöber process is well known. We have shown that there are three morphological regimes defined by compositional boundaries. At low water levels (below stoichiometric ratio of water:tetraethoxysilane), very high surface area and aggregated structures are formed; at high water content (>40 wt%) similar structures are also seen. Between these two boundary conditions, discrete particles are formed whose size are dictated by the water content. Within the compositional regime that enables the classical Stöber silica, the structural evolution shows a more rapid attainment of final particle size than the rate of formation of silica supporting the monomer addition hypothesis. The clearer understanding of the role of the initial composition on the output of this synthesis method will be of considerable use for the establishment of reliable reproducible silica production for future industrial adoption