Effect of scintillator geometry on the energy resolution and efficiency of MAST neutron camera detectors

The efficiency and energy resolution of the MAST neutron camera detectors, based on liquid scintillator of the EJ-301 type, is lower than cylindrical detector of similar size. An experimental investigation has identified light attenuation as the main cause of this deterioration. This finding is supported by Monte Carlo electron and photon transport calculations

Coherent electronic and nuclear dynamics in a rhodamine heterodimer-DNA supramolecular complex

Elucidating the role of quantum coherences in energy migration within biological and artificial multichromophoric antenna systems is the subject of an intense debate. It is also a practical matter because of the decisive implications for understanding the biological processes and engineering artificial materials for solar energy harvesting. A supramolecular rhodamine heterodimer on a DNA scaffold was suitably engineered to mimic the basic donor-acceptor unit of light-harvesting antennas. Ultrafast 2D electronic spectroscopic measurements allowed identifying clear features attributable to a coherent superposition of dimer electronic and vibrational states contributing to the coherent electronic charge beating between the donor and the acceptor. The frequency of electronic charge beating is found to be 970 cm-1 (34 fs) and can be observed for 150 fs. Through the support of high level ab initio TD-DFT computations of the entire dimer, we established that the vibrational modes preferentially optically accessed do not drive subsequent coupling between the electronic states on the 600 fs of the experiment. It was thereby possible to characterize the time scales of the early time femtosecond dynamics of the electronic coherence built by the optical excitation in a large rigid supramolecular system at a room temperature in solution. © 2017 the Owner Societies.Multi valued and parallel molecular logi

Preoperative weight loss in super-obese patients: study of the rate of weight loss and its effects on surgical morbidity

OBJECTIVES: The incidence of obesity and particularly super obesity, has increased tremendously. At our institution, super obesity represents 30.1% of all severely obese individuals in the bariatric surgery program. In super obesity, surgical morbidity is higher and the results are worse compared with morbid obesity, independent of the surgical technique. The primary strategy for minimizing complications in these patients is to decrease the body mass index before surgery. Preoperative weight reduction can be achieved by a hypocaloric diet, drug therapy, an intragastric balloon, or hospitalization. The objective of this study was to analyze the results of a period of hospitalization for preoperative weight loss in a group of super-obese patients. METHODS: Twenty super-obese patients were submitted to a weight loss program between 2006 and 2010. The mean patient age was 46 years (range 21-59). The mean BMI was 66 kg/m2 (range 51-98) and 12 were women. The average hospital stay was 19.9 weeks and the average weight loss was 19% of the initial weight (7-37%). The average caloric intake was 5 kcal/kg/day. After the weight loss program, the patients underwent gastric bypass surgery. RESULTS: The statistical analysis revealed that after 14 weeks of treatment (15% loss of initial weight), the weight loss was not significant. All patients had satisfactory surgical recovery and were discharged after an average of 4.6 days. CONCLUSION: In super obesity, preoperative weight loss is an important method for reducing surgical risks. Hospitalization and a hypocaloric diet are safe and effective. After 14 weeks, the weight loss rate stabilized, signaling the time of surgical intervention in our study

Very low-calorie diet in candidates for bariatric surgery: change in body composition during rapid weight loss

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the changes in the body composition of morbidly obese patients induced by a very lowcalorie diet. METHODS: We evaluated 120 patients selected from a university hospital. Body composition was assessed before and after the diet provided during hospitalization, and changes in weight, body mass index, and neck, waist and hip circumferences were analyzed. Bioimpedance was used to obtain body fat and fat-free mass values. The data were categorized by gender, age, body mass index and diabetes diagnosis. RESULTS: The patients consumed the diet for 8 days. They presented a 5% weight loss (without significant difference among groups), which represented an 85% reduction in body fat. All changes in body circumference were statistically significant. There was greater weight loss and a greater reduction of body fat in men, but the elderly showed a significantly higher percentage of weight loss and greater reductions in body fat and fat-free mass. Greater reductions in body fat and fat-free mass were also observed in superobese patients. The changes in the diabetic participants did not differ significantly from those of the non-diabetic participants. CONCLUSIONS: The use of a VLCD before bariatric surgery led to a loss of weight at the expense of body fat over a short period, with no significant differences in the alteration of body composition according to gender, age, body mass index and diabetes status

First observations of confined fast ions in MAST Upgrade with an upgraded neutron camera

Spherical tokamaks are key to the successful design of operating scenarios of future fusion reactors in the areas of divertor physics, neutral beam current drive and fast ion physics. MAST Upgrade, which has successfully concluded its first experimental campaign, was specifically designed to address the role of the radial gradient of the fast ion distribution in driving the excitation of magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities, such as toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes, fish-bones and long-lived mode, thanks to its two tangential neutral beam injection systems, one on the equatorial plane and one that is vertically shifted 65 cm above the equatorial plane. To study the fast ion dynamics in the presence of such instabilities, as well as of sawteeth and neo-classical tearing modes, several fast ion diagnostics were upgraded and new ones added. Among them, the MAST prototype neutron camera (NC) has been upgraded to six, equatorial sight-lines. The first observations of the confined fast ion behavior with the upgraded NC in a wide range of plasma scenarios characterized by on-axis and/or off-axis heating and different MHD instabilities are presented here. The observations presented in this study confirm previous results on MAST but with a higher level of detail and highlight new physics observations unique to the MAST Upgrade. The results presented here confirm the improved performance of the NC Upgrade, which thus becomes one of the key elements, in combination with the rich set of fast ion diagnostics available on the MAST Upgrade, for a more constrained modeling of the fast ion dynamics in fusion reactor relevant scenarios

The global build-up to intrinsic edge localized mode bursts seen in divertor full flux loops in JET

A global signature of the build-up to an intrinsic edge localized mode (ELM) is found in the temporal analytic phase of signals measured in full flux azimuthal loops in the divertor region of JET. Toroidally integrating, full flux loop signals provide a global measurement proportional to the voltage induced by changes in poloidal magnetic flux; they are electromagnetically induced by the dynamics of spatially integrated current density. We perform direct time-domain analysis of the high time-resolution full flux loop signals VLD2 and VLD3. We analyze plasmas where a steady H-mode is sustained over several seconds during which all the observed ELMs are intrinsic; there is no deliberate intent to pace the ELMing process by external means. ELM occurrence times are determined from the Be II emission at the divertor. We previously [Chapman et al., Phys. Plasmas 21, 062302 (2014); Chapman et al., in 41st EPS Conference on Plasma Physics, Europhysics Conference Abstracts (European Physical Society, 2014), Vol. 38F, ISBN 2-914771-90-8] found that the occurrence times of intrinsic ELMs correlate with specific temporal analytic phases of the VLD2 and VLD3 signals. Here, we investigate how the VLD2 and VLD3 temporal analytic phases vary with time in advance of the ELM occurrence time. We identify a build-up to the ELM in which the VLD2 and VLD3 signals progressively align to the temporal analytic phase at which ELMs preferentially occur, on a ∼2−5ms timescale. At the same time, the VLD2 and VLD3 signals become temporally phase synchronized with each other, consistent with the emergence of coherent global dynamics in the integrated current density. In a plasma that remains close to a global magnetic equilibrium, this can reflect bulk displacement or motion of the plasma. This build-up signature to an intrinsic ELM can be extracted from a time interval of data that does not extend beyond the ELM occurrence time, so that these full flux loop signals could assist in ELM prediction or mitigation

DEVOLVENDO AUTOESTIMA, FUNÇÃO E ESTÉTICA EM PACIENTES COM DEPENDÊNCIA QUÍMICA POR MEIO DO USO DE RESINAS COMPOSTAS

No atual contexto da Odontologia, é cada vez mais frequente o atendimento a pacientes dependentes químicos, pacientes estes mais propensos a adquirir patologias da cavidade bucal, como lesões cervicais não cariosas, diminuição do fluxo salivar e ansiedade durante o atendimento odontológico. A finalidade com este trabalho é relatar a conduta de atendimento para um dependente químico. Na anamnese, o paciente relatou ter sensibilidade dentária, que a estética bucal o incomodava, que fumava e que era dependente químico. No exame clínico, verificaram-se lesões cervicais de abfração, desgastes oclusais e fraturas nos dentes anteriores. Iniciou-se o tratamento com a visita domiciliar em que se confirmaram as informações anteriores, e acrescentou-se que o paciente estava sob tratamento psiquiátrico. Nas sessões subsequentes foi feito adequamento do meio, instruções de higiene e restauração das lesões cervicais de abfração melhorando a função mastigatória, o que motivou o paciente a acreditar na sua recuperação da saúde bucal. Para os dentes 12, 11, 21 e 22 fraturados, optou-se pela técnica da guia de silicone, em que se realizou a moldagem, modelo de estudo e o enceramento, restaurando a anatomia desejada. Confeccionou-se a guia de silicone sobre o modelo encerado, que permite a transferência da forma obtida no enceramento. Durante esses procedimentos o paciente foi colaborador, mantendo a sua higiene bucal adequada. Os dentes números 12, 11, 21 e 22 receberam incrementos de resina segundo a técnica preconizada, buscando a função, a estética e a longevidade do tratamento restaurador. Ao concluir o tratamento, obtiveram-se resultados satisfatórios, devolvendo funcionalidades e autoestima ao paciente, estimulando-o à higiene bucal, contribuindo para sua saúde geral e psicossocial.Palavras-chaves: Dependência química. Higiene bucal. Estética dentária

Elective cancer surgery in COVID-19-free surgical pathways during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: An international, multicenter, comparative cohort study

PURPOSE As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19–free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19–free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19–free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19–free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score–matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19–free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks