Comparison of 5-year progression of retinitis pigmentosa involving the posterior pole among siblings by means of SD-OCT: a retrospective study

The blockchain technology promises to transform finance, money and evengovernments. However, analyses of blockchain applicability and robustness typicallyfocus on isolated systems whose actors contribute mainly by running the consensusalgorithm. Here, we highlight the importance of considering trustless platformswithin the broader ecosystem that includes social and communication networks. Asan example, we analyse the flash-crash observed on 21st June 2017 in the Ethereumplatform and show that a major phenomenon of social coordination led to acatastrophic cascade of events across several interconnected systems. We proposethe concept of “emergent centralisation” to describe situations where a single systembecomes critically important for the functioning of the whole ecosystem, and arguethat such situations are likely to become more and more frequent in interconnectedsocio-technical systems. We anticipate that the systemic approach we propose willhave implications for future assessments of trustless systems and call for the attentionof policy-makers on the fragility of our interconnected and rapidly changing world

Role of biomechanics in the understanding of normal, injured, and healing ligaments and tendons

Ligaments and tendons are soft connective tissues which serve essential roles for biomechanical function of the musculoskeletal system by stabilizing and guiding the motion of diarthrodial joints. Nevertheless, these tissues are frequently injured due to repetition and overuse as well as quick cutting motions that involve acceleration and deceleration. These injuries often upset this balance between mobility and stability of the joint which causes damage to other soft tissues manifested as pain and other morbidity, such as osteoarthritis

Modulation of furanic-sulfonated isophthalic copolyesters properties through diols units control

International audienceA series of furanic sulfonated copolyesters containing 20 mol.% of sodium sulfoisophthalate units were synthesized via a two-step melt polycondensation process from (5,5'-isopropylidene-bis(ethyl 2-furoate)) and (dimethyl 5-sodiosulfoisophthalate) with different diols: alkyl (1,2-ethanediol, 1,4-butanediol, 1,6-hexanediol) or ether (diethylene glycol and triethylene glycol). Structural characterization of copolyesters was deeply investigated by H-1 and C-13 (1D and 2D) NMR spectroscopy and by SEC. The results showed that the final structures not only depend on the initial monomers composition but also on the process which can induce at high temperature etherification and decarboxylation side reactions. For the alkyldiols series low molecular weights were obtained when side reactions occurred and when the monomer excess was difficult to remove from the reaction medium. Finally, it has been displayed that the modulation of dials composition allows for tuning copolyesters properties. Thus the copolyesters are amorphous with T-g ranging from 19 to 66 degrees C whereas their liquid water sorption and hydrolytic degradation resistance are in relation with the flexibility of the chain and their water accessibility to the ester linkages

Design and noise model for CCD-based, time-resolved PHA measurements

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ESFR core optimization and uncertainty studies

In the European Sodium Fast Reactor (ESFR) project supported by EURATOM in 2008-2012, a concept for a large 3600 MWth sodium-cooled fast reactor design was investigated. In particular, reference core designs with oxide and carbide fuel were optimized to improve their safety parameters. Uncertainties in these parameters were evaluated for the oxide option. Core modifications were performed first to reduce the sodium void reactivity effect. Introduction of a large sodium plenum with an absorber layer above the core and a lower axial fertile blanket improve the total sodium void effect appreciably, bringing it close to zero for a core with fresh fuel, in line with results obtained worldwide, while not influencing substantially other core physics parameters. Therefore an optimized configuration, CONF2, with a sodium plenum and a lower blanket was established first and used as a basis for further studies in view of deterioration of safety parameters during reactor operation. Further options to study were an inner fertile blanket, introduction of moderator pins, a smaller core height, special designs for pins, such as 'empty' pins, and subassemblies. These special designs were proposed to facilitate melted fuel relocation in order to avoid core re-criticality under severe accident conditions. In the paper further CONF2 modifications are compared in terms of safety and fuel balance. They may bring further improvements in safety, but their accurate assessment requires additional studies, including transient analyses. Uncertainty studies were performed by employing a so-called Total Monte-Carlo method, for which a large number of nuclear data files is produced for single isotopes and then used in Monte-Carlo calculations. The uncertainties for the criticality, sodium void and Doppler effects, effective delayed neutron fraction due to uncertainties in basic nuclear data were assessed for an ESFR core. They prove applicability of the available nuclear data for ESFR optimization studies.JRC.F.5-Nuclear Reactor Safety Assessmen