Wireless, in-vessel neutron monitor for initial core-loading of advanced breeder reactors

An experimental wireless, in-vessel neutron monitor was developed to measure the reactivity of an advanced breeder reactor as the core is loaded for the first time to preclude an accidental critically incident. The environment is liquid sodium at a temperature of approx. 220 C, with negligible gamma or neutron radiation. With ultrasonic transmission of neutron data, no fundamental limitation was observed after tests at 230 C for 2000 h. The neutron sensitivity was approx. 1 count/s-nv, and the potential data transmission rate was approx. 10,000 counts/s

Book Reviews

Book reviews of: Hattiesburg: An American City in Black and White By William Sturkey. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2019. Acknowledgements, illustrations, map, notes, index. Pp. 442. $29.95 cloth. ISBN 978-0-674-97635-1.) Confederate Generals in the Trans-Mississippi, Volume 3: Essays on America’s Civil War. Edited by Thomas E. Schott and Lawrence Lee Hewitt. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2019. Maps, photos, notes, appendix, bibliography, index. Pp. xxiv, 374.$64.95 cloth. ISBN: 978-1-62190-454-0.) Mothers of Massive Resistance: White Women and the Politics of White Supremacy. By Elizabeth Gillespie McRae. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. Acknowledgements, Abbreviations, illustrations, notes, index. Pp. xiv, 343. $34.95 hardcover. ISBN: 978-0-19-027171-8.) Poll Power: The Voter Education Project and the Movement for the Ballot in the American South. By Evan Faulkenbury. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2019. Acknowledgements, illustrations, notes, index. Pp. xi, 200.$90 cloth, $27.95 paper. ISBN: 978-1-4696-5131-6.) Let Us Make Men: The Twentieth Century Black Press and a Manly Vision for Racial Advancement. By D’Weston Haywood. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2018. Acknowledgements, illustrations, map, notes, index. Pp. xi, 340.$55 cloth, $19.50 paper. ISBN: 978-1-4696-4338-0.) The Man Who Punched Jefferson Davis: The Political Life of Henry S. Foote, Southern Unionist. By Ben Wynne. (Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 2018. Acknowledgements, illustrations, notes, index. Pp. ix, 323.$47.50 cloth. ISBN: 978-0-8071-6933-9.) Desegregating Dixie: The Catholic Church in the South and Desegregation, 1945-1992. By Mark Newman. (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2018. Acknowledgements, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. Pp. xvii, 455. $90 cloth,$30 paper. ISBN: 978-1-4968-1886-7.) The Loyal Republic: Traitors, Slaves, and the Remaking of Citizenship in Civil War America. By Erik Mathisen. (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2018. Acknowledgments, illustrations, map, notes, index. Pp. xi, 219. $34.95 cloth. ISBN: 978-1-4696-3632-0.) Aberration of Mind: Suicide and Suffering in the Civil War-Era South. By Diane Miller Sommerville. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2018. Acknowledgements, notes, bibliography, index. Pp. 448.$105 cloth, $34.95 paper. ISBN: 978-1-4696-4330-4.) Women’s War: Fighting and Surviving the American Civil War. By Stephanie McCurry. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2019. notes, acknowledgements, index. Pp ix, 297.$26.95 hardcover. ISBN: 978-0-674-98797-5.) Lines Were Drawn: Remembering Court-Ordered Integration at a Mississippi High School. Edited By Teena F. Horn, Alan Huffman, and John G. Jones. (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2016. Acknowledgments, illustrations, map, notes, index. Pp. xi, 266. $35 hard back. ISBN: 978-1-62846-231-9.) Industrial Development and Manufacturing in the Antebellum Gulf South: A Reevaluation. By Michael S. Frawley. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. 2019. ix, 256 pp. Cloth,$45.00, ISBN 978-0-8071-7068-7.) Integration Now: Alexander v. Holmes and the End of Jim Crow Education. By William P. Hustwit. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2019. 8 halftones, 1 map, notes, bibl., index. 288 pp. $39.95, hardcover. ISBN: 978-1-4696-4855-2.

Announcing the Minderoo - Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health.

© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Landrigan, P., Raps, H., Symeonides, C., Chiles, T., Cropper, M., Enck, J., Hahn, M., Hixson, R., Kumar, P., Mustapha, A., Park, Y., Spring, M., Stegeman, J., Thompson, R., Wang, Z., Wolff, M., Yousuf, A., & Dunlop, S. Announcing the Minderoo – Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health. Annals of Global Health, 88(1), (2022): 73, https://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.3916.Plastic is the signature material of our age. In the 75 years since large-scale production began in the aftermath of World War II, plastic has transformed our world, supported many of the most significant advances of modern civilization, and enabled breakthroughs in virtually every field of human endeavor. But plastic also poses great and growing dangers to human health and the environment, harms that fall disproportionately on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations. The extent and magnitude of these dangers are only beginning to be understood.The funding is from the Minderoo Foundation, the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation

Primary pericardial malignant mesothelioma and response to radiation therapy

We report a case of a primary pericardial malignant mesothelioma. A 59-year-old male presented with episodic chest pain and dyspnea on exertion. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging revealed a large mass in the pericardium attached to the right ventricle. Partial resection of the mass was undertaken revealing malignant mesothelioma, byphasic type. The patient was treated with chemotherapy intermittently over a period of 3 years, but his disease continued to progress. The patient was then treated with definitive radiation therapy to 64 Gy to the primary tumor using a six field 3D conformal technique. The patient remains free of progressive disease 86 months from the time of diagnosis and 50 months from the completion of his radiotherapy

Successful radiation treatment of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma metastatic to the right cardiac atrium and ventricle in a pacemaker-dependent patient

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is a rare, aggressive malignancy, which is known to metastasize to the heart. We report a case of a patient with ATC with metastatic involvement of the pacemaker leads within the right atrium and right ventricle. The patient survived external beam radiation treatment to his heart, with a radiographic response to treatment. Cardiac metastases are usually reported on autopsy; to our knowledge, this is the first report of the successful treatment of cardiac metastases encasing the leads of a pacemaker, and of cardiac metastases from ATCs, with a review of the pertinent literature

Exploring the relationship between experiential avoidance, coping functions and the recency and frequency of self-harm

This study investigated the relationship between experiential avoidance, coping and the recency and frequency of self-harm, in a community sample (N = 1332, aged 16–69 years). Participants completed online, self-report measures assessing self-harm, momentary affect, experiential avoidance and coping in response to a recent stressor. Participants who had self-harmed reported significantly higher levels of experiential avoidance and avoidance coping, as well as lower levels of approach, reappraisal and emotional regulation coping, than those with no self-harm history. Moreover, more recent self-harm was associated with lower endorsement of approach, reappraisal and emotion regulation coping, and also higher levels of both avoidance coping and experiential avoidance. Higher experiential avoidance and avoidance coping also predicted increased lifetime frequency of self-harm. Conversely, increased approach and reappraisal coping were associated with a decreased likelihood of high frequency self-harm. Although some of the effects were small, particularly in relation to lifetime frequency of self-harm, overall our results suggest that experiential avoidance tendency may be an important psychological factor underpinning self-harm, regardless of suicidal intent (e.g. including mixed intent, suicidal intent, ambivalence), which is not accounted for in existing models of self-harm

A Review of Interventions to Reduce Mechanical Restraint and Seclusion among Adult Psychiatric Inpatients

Objective: This review examines nature and effectiveness of interventions to reduce the use of mechanical restraint and seclusion among adult psychiatric inpatients. Method: Electronic searches were conducted to locate post-1960 empirical studies of restraint and seclusion reduction in English. A total of 36 studies were identified, mostly from the USA. Analysis was conducted using a structured data extraction tool. Results: The majority of studies reported reduced levels or mechanical restraint and/or seclusion, but the standard of evidence was poor. There were no randomised trials. Most were retrospective studies of official records before and after the intervention was introduced, with varying follow-up periods. The interventions were diverse, but tended to include one or more of the following: new restraint and/or seclusion policies, staffing changes, staff training, review procedures and crisis management initiatives. The research was unable to address which of these elements was most effective. There was also evidence that some improved outcomes were achieved by substituting restraint or seclusion for each other or for alternatives forms of containment (medication in particular). Nurses’ attitudes, skills and approach to patient care were absent from the literature. Conclusions: Interventions probably can reduce the use of restraint and seclusion, but better designed research is required to demonstrate their effectiveness conclusively. More attention should also be paid to understanding how interventions work, particularly from the perspective of nursing staff. This is essential to the successful implementation of restraint and seclusion interventions across different psychiatric settings and treatment populations

Glutamine Anabolism Plays a Critical Role in Pancreatic Cancer by Coupling Carbon and Nitrogen Metabolism

Glutamine is thought to play an important role in cancer cells by being deaminated via glutaminolysis to alpha-ketoglutarate (aKG) to fuel the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Supporting this notion, aKG supplementation can restore growth/survival of glutamine-deprived cells. However, pancreatic cancers are often poorly vascularized and limited in glutamine supply, in alignment with recent concerns on the significance of glutaminolysis in pancreatic cancer. Here, we show that aKG-mediated rescue of glutamine-deprived pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDAC) cells requires glutamate ammonia ligase (GLUL), the enzyme responsible for de novo glutamine synthesis. GLUL-deficient PDAC cells are capable of the TCA cycle but defective in aKG-coupled glutamine biosynthesis and subsequent nitrogen anabolic processes. Importantly, GLUL expression is elevated in pancreatic cancer patient samples and in mouse PDAC models. GLUL ablation suppresses the development of Kras(G12D)-driven murine PDAC. Therefore, GLUL-mediated glutamine biosynthesis couples the TCA cycle with nitrogen anabolism and plays a critical role in PDAC