Efficient powder blending in support of plutonium conversion for mixed oxide fuel

This paper describes a unique system that is used to mix and blend multiple batches of plutonium oxide powder of various consistencies into an equivalent number of identical and homogeneously mixed batches. This system is being designed and built to support the Advanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES) at the Los Alamos TA-55 Plutonium Facility. The ARIES program demonstrates dismantlement of nuclear pits, retrieval of the plutonium components, and conversion of the plutonium into an oxide for eventual use in mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for nuclear reactors. The purpose of this powder blending work is to assure that ARIES oxide is converted into an unclassified homogeneous mixture and that consistent feed material is available for MOX fuel assembly. This blending system is being assembled in a selected glovebox a TA-55 using an LANL designed split/combine apparatus, a commercial Turbula blending unit, and several additional supporting hardware components

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol—which is a marker of cardiovascular risk—changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million–4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.</p

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol�which is a marker of cardiovascular risk�changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95 credible interval 3.7 million�4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

Geographic variation in osteoporotic hip fracture incidence: the growing importance of Asian influences in coming decades

Studies over the last few decades have demonstrated geographic variation in the incidence of hip fracture across continents and among different parts of the same region. This paper studies the epidemiology of hip fracture worldwide, with special emphasis on the geographic variation among Asian countries. Using the Pubmed database, keywords that were employed included hip fracture,incidence rate, geographic variation, osteoporosis, and epidemiology. Articles were chosen based on the basis of (1) focus: studies that were said to specifically focus on geographic variation in hip fracture from different continents with a focus on Asia; (2 language: studies that were in English; (3) methods: studies that used statistical tests to examine hip fracture incidence rates. The highest hip fracture rates are seen in Scandinavian countries and the US and the lowest in African countries. Fracture rates areintermediate in Asian populations. Among different ethnic populations, the highest fracture rates are seen in Caucasians and the lowest in blacks. There is also a north-south gradient, particularly in Europe, where more hip fractures occur in North Europe compared to the South

Remotely controlled reagent feed system for mixed waste treatment Tank Farm

LLNL has developed and installed a large-scale. remotely controlled, reagent feed system for use at its existing aqueous low-level radioactive and mixed waste treatment facility (Tank Farm). LLNL`s Tank Farm is used to treat aqueous low-level and mixed wastes prior to vacuum filtration and to remove the hazardous and radioactive components before it is discharged to the City of Livermore Water Reclamation Plant (LWRP) via the sanitary sewer in accordance with established limits. This reagent feed system was installed to improve operational safety and process efficiency by eliminating the need for manual handling of various reagents used in the aqueous waste treatment processes. This was done by installing a delivery system that is controlled either remotely or locally via a programmable logic controller (PLC). The system consists of a pumping station, four sets of piping to each of six 6,800-L (1,800-gal) treatment tanks, air-actuated discharge valves at each tank, a pH/temperature probe at each tank, and the PLC-based control and monitoring system. During operation, the reagents are slowly added to the tanks in a preprogrammed and controlled manner while the pH, temperature, and liquid level are continuously monitored by the PLC. This paper presents the purpose of this reagent feed system, provides background related to LLNL`s low-level/mixed waste treatment processes, describes the major system components, outlines system operation, and discusses current status and plans

Protecting worker health and safety using remote handling systems

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is currently developing and installing two large-scale, remotely controlled systems for use in improving worker health and safety by minimizing exposure to hazardous and radioactive materials. The first system is a full-scale liquid feed system for use in delivering chemical reagents to LLNL`s existing aqueous low-level radioactive and mixed waste treatment facility (Tank Farm). The Tank Farm facility is used to remove radioactive and toxic materials in aqueous wastes prior to discharge to the City of Livermore Water Reclamation Plant (LWRP), in accordance with established discharge limits. Installation of this new reagent feed system improves operational safety and process efficiency by eliminating the need to manually handle reagents used in the treatment processes. This was done by installing a system that can inject precisely metered amounts of various reagents into the treatment tanks and can be controlled either remotely or locally via a programmable logic controller (PLC). The second system uses a robotic manipulator to remotely handle, characterize, process, sort, and repackage hazardous wastes containing tritium. This system uses an IBM-developed gantry robot mounted within a special glove box enclosure designed to isolate tritiated wastes from system operators and minimize the potential for release of tritium to the atmosphere. Tritiated waste handling is performed remotely, using the robot in a teleoperational mode for one-of-a-kind functions and in an autonomous mode for repetitive operations. The system is compatible with an existing portable gas cleanup unit designed to capture any gas-phase tritium inadvertently released into the glove box during waste handling

Adanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES). Preconceptual design report

This document describes the preliminary conceptual design of the Advanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES). The ARIES is an overall processing system for the dismantlement of nuclear weapon primaries. The program will demonstrate dismantlement of nuclear weapons and retrieval of the plutonium into a form that is compatible with long-term storage and that is inspectable in an unclassified form appropriate for the application of traditional international safeguards. The purpose of the ARIES process is to receive weapon pits, disassemble them, and provide a product of either a plutonium metal button or plutonium oxide powder appropriately canned to meet all requirements for long-term storage. This demonstration is a 24-month program, with full operation planned during the last three-six months to gain confidence in the system`s flexibility and reliability. The ARIES system is modular in design to offer credible scaling and the ability to incorporate modifications or new concepts. This report describes the preconceptual design of each of the ARIES modules, as well as the integration of the overall system

The impact of an Omega-3 fatty acid rich lipid emulsion on fatty acid profiles in critically ill septic patients

Background: death from sepsis in the intensive therapy unit (ITU) is frequently preceded by the development of multiple organ failure as a result of uncontrolled inflammation. Treatment with omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids (FAs), principally eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), has been demonstrated to attenuate the effects of uncontrolled inflammation and may be clinically beneficial in reducing mortality from organ dysfunction. Fish oil (FO) is a source of EPA and DHA. Methods: a randomized trial investigating the effects of parenteral (intravenous) nutrition providing FO (0.092 g EPA+DHA/kg body weight/day) was conducted. Sixty consecutive ITU patients diagnosed with sepsis were randomised to receive either once daily parenteral FO and standard medical care or standard medical care only. Results: forty one patients (21 received fish oil; 20 controls) consented to blood sampling and blood was taken on days 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 13; because of deaths, patient discharge and withdrawal of consent, the number of blood samples available for analysis diminished with time. FA composition of plasma phosphatidylcholine (PC), plasma non-esterified FAs (NEFAs) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was determined by gas chromatography. EPA and DHA were rapidly in corporated into all 3 lipid pools investigated. There was a reduction in the arachidonic acid (AA) to EPA+DHA ratio in plasma PC and NEFAs. Fewer patients died in the FO group (13.3% (n=4)) compared with the control group (26.7% (n=8)) but this difference was not significant. A reduction in the AA/(EPA+DHA) ratio in PBMCs and plasma PC was associated with significantly improved survival. Plasma PC, plasma NEFA and PBMC FA profiles are rapidly altered by FO infusion in critically ill septic patients. Conclusion: the provision of high dose n-3 FAs resulted in a rapid and significant increase in EPA and DHA and a reduction in AA/(EPA+DHA) ratio. This latter reduction is associated with improved survival<br/